We left out of Naples, after spending way too much money on a marina, without having accomplished any of our tasks – a broken pump out station and groceries too far away. We also opted to skip fueling up.
Handling these sorts of tasks while repositioning in a boat is a bit more challenging than RVing. Amenities are just more spread out, and pump out stations have a lot more moving parts that can break.
So we continued south to the last remaining major town before the Everglades – Marco Island – in hopes of handling all these chores.
This post covers August 9-11, 2017
Here’s our 11 minute video version of this segment:
Stop 1: Rookery Bay Anchorage
We opted to take the intracoastal channel between Naples and Marco Island, instead of heading back out in the gulf. I’m so glad we did, because this segment was just magical.
A mangrove lined water lane with wildlife abound. Hardly any other marine traffic making for a very relaxing and pleasurable cruise. I really dig life at 6-8 knots, so much less stressful than fighting traffic at 55 mph on highways with wheels.
As I was piloting us down the channel, Chris pointed out a little bay marked as an anchorage in Active Captain. I decided on a whim to pull in. Cuz, you know, Y-Not?
We don’t have a schedule after all, and the anchorage just had it all. The technomad trifecta as we like to call it – free, scenic and great cellular signal!
So thus ended our 6.4 nautical mile cruise for the day, we were anchoring here for the night.
And as a super bonus, just up the river a bit was a little beach with a walking trail to a private beach on the gulf. We enjoyed a romantic swim and sunset before returning home by dinghy.
Stop 2: Smokehouse Bay Anchorage – Marco Island
In the morning we continued south, completing the 8.3 nautical miles to Marco Island. In a complete contrast to Rookery Bay, we selected Smokehouse Bay – smack dab in the middle of civilization.
We came here because for one, it just sounded awesome – an anchorage surrounded by condos that welcomes cruisers.
But even more so, because there was a Winn Dixie grocery store with a dinghy dock! Sweet, we could get our last provisions by dinghy!
The evening brought a lovely rainbow accompanied by live music echoing from a nearby restaurant.
Stop 3: Marco Island Yacht Club – Marco Island
We had made arrangements with a fuel truck to deliver to us at Marco Island Yacht Club. It turns out, having fuel brought to you can be cheaper than going to the fuel.
Who knew (well, maybe you did.. but we sure didn’t!).
Local prices were $2.69 per gallon (diesel) at the automobile fuel pump, and $3.01 at marina fuel docks. But A1 Fuel only charged $2.42.
One of the savings differences is that marine fuel isn’t subject to road taxes like vehicles are, so thus we can use off-road red dyed fuel.
We booked a night with intentions of hopefully leaving with all tanks in their proper state for setting off.
It was a 3.3 nautical mile putter over to the marina, and we had a super smooth arrival in thanks to an awesome dockmaster who guided us in to our slip.
And unfortunately, we were met with the news that the pump out on our particular dock had JUST broken (thanks to someone stepping on the handle!). But no worries they said, on our way out in the morning they could pump us out a dock over.
Fuel delivery was not only the cheapest option, but also super convenient.
Since this is our second fill-up, so we have some stats to share:
- 209.90 gallons taken on (capacity is 440 gallons between two tanks)
- 248.2 nautical miles traveled (115.8 of those specifically in pursuit of the greatloop, rest of miles were side trips & training cruises.)
- 6-7.5 knots – Typical cruising speed
- 54.7 generator hours (12kw Westerbeke)
- 43.6 engine hours (x2 Cummins 370)
With estimating that our generator burns roughly 1g/hr – we are considering our fuel burn rate this tank to be 1.6 nmpg, or 3.56 g/hr.
Not winning any fuel economy awards, but in line with expectations as we find our ideal cruising speed. And besides, just like in our RVing travels, we consider fuel to just be part of the rent of a mobile lifestyle.
Unfortunately, when we went to arrange our pump out in the morning, we were told that the pump being out on our dock was causing insufficient pressure on all of the other docks. Thankfully, we radioed over to nearby Rose Marina, and their pump out dock was fully operational – and FREE!
So with all our chores done… it was time to leave civilization behind and head off into the wilderness of the Ten Thousand Islands and Everglades National Park!
Those tales will be up next…
Great Loop Log (8/11/2017)
- Distance: 115.8 nm
- Stops: 9
- Marina Nights: 97
- Anchored Nights: 7
- Bridges : 10
- Locks: 0
Other Travel Posts in this Series:
- The Great Loop: South to the Keys (Part 1) — Ft. Myers to Naples
- The Great Loop: South to the Keys (Part 2) – Naples to Marco Island
- The Great Loop: South to the Keys (Part 3) – Cruising Ten Thousand Islands
- The Great Loop: South to the Keys (Part 4) – Everglades National Park — Little Shark River & Cape Sable
- Sometimes Nomads Need to Grow Some Barnacles (Two Months in Fort Myers)
- Starting the Great Loop — First Adventure: Punta Gorda, FL to Fort Myers, FL
Current Status:
We were carefully watching the developments in the Atlantic during this repositioning, tracking the two systems that are currently impacting the Gulf of Mexico.
We safely made it to Marthon, Florida in the Keys ahead of tropical Invest 92, which is currently hovering over the very waters we just cruised down. We’ve only had some rain and light thunderstorms since arriving.
Our hearts and well wishes go out to all along the Texas coast bracing for impact from Hurricane Harvey.
Really nice article, Naples to Marco Island traveling through the boat.It should be an awesome experience.Thanks for sharing your travel experience.
I was just wondering why you folks don’t dump in the ocean. If New York City can create an island of garbage and then end up paying other states to take their garbage, why not cruise out and unload your load? The whole world is a landfill, just not in my backyard (JNIMB)! Right?
And I hope you guys make it thru hurricane season OK! When I was a kid in Miami, the ‘adults’ had hurricane parties! But they weren’t in a boat!
In this area of the country, you have to go 9 miles offshore to dump legally .. possible to incorporate in our routing, and it was a back up option if we couldn’t find a pump out station before leaving.
Great boon-docking locations by boat (anchoring out) seem much more readily available to me than those for RVs in most parts of the country. I’m glad your first experiences have been so favorable. The Marco Island W-D is the first major grocery with a dingy-dock that I’ve ever heard of – how great! Thanks so much for sharing. Looking forward to your Florida Bay report!
OMG! For some reason I stopped following you guys and just found your Blog again. What changes you are going through! Land to water! You are back on my daily reading list and I have a lot of previous posts to catch up on!
Loving all those colors & drone shots. It really is wonderful to follow your boat travels.
Nina
Thanks, enjoying your travel.
FYI, I will have to look it up to be sure but my 1980 15 kw Onan generator only burns .8 gph. if I remember correctly.
Bill Kelleher
I’m not a boat person but I am really enjoying reading about your adventures. The whole things is just fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
Trace
Awww.. thanks.. love hearing that! It warms our hearts that you’ve stuck around and are enjoying it!
What an adventure you’re having! Both the beauty and the challenges make for exciting times :-)) That last photo is definitely realizing the dream!
New challenges do keep us on our toes, and we love it!
I’m sad to tell you that we found more “broken” pumpouts than not. The ones that usually worked were ones that were “public,” not associated with a marina. We never figured out if this was on purpose or not. Seemed that the EPA or whatever agency regulates this would be more on the ball. In the RV, we’re so pleased to see that most, if not all, are working. We feel your pain!
We’re definitely finding that to be true. They involve so many more parts and things that can go wrong. We’ve encountered at least 5 broken pump out stations in our short time. Whereas in RVing over 11 years, we maybe encountered 2 closed dump stations. Not as much to go wrong with a hole in the ground to dump into.
And we have heard that some of the private pump outs are just perpetually “broken”. But most of the ones we’ve encountered broken really and honestly were broken.
We’re considering replacing one our heads with a composting toilet to give us more flexibility.
Nice write up and photos. I was shocked at your fuel mileage but as you stated it is all part of the trip. Fair weather and sunshine.
Yeah, the fuel “economy” sound horrible. But when you consider that in a boat you move about 1/6 the miles as an RV in the same amount of time (and we intend to not drive more hours than we have been) .. we feel our monthly costs should be about the same.