Heading North - Captiva Island to Venice

It was hard to leave Captiva Island. There was so much more to see. I never even got to walk the beach on Sanibel Island and look for sea shells.

I did meet Michael and Hope Goodwin from Kentucky who were bareboating (leasing a sailboat) and sailing around this area. Michael gave me two slings for attaching to my hammock between the mast and forestay... or two trees. He also had some great tips, like using a camping mattress pad under the sleeping bag in the hammock to keep from getting cold, since the air flows under you too.

Michael and Hope left about half an hour before I did. I waited for a little more tide to rise. When I did leave the wind was light and the tide was rising. Everything was going my way... even the current. I had to traverse the same channels I used to enter, so I could get back out into the Gulf. Coming in, I was nervous and hyper-alert.  I used to tell my hockey players, "everything you do in your life is scary... until you have done it once". That's definitely true about sailing through harbours. Going out, I was calm and relaxed.

The wind was too light to simply sail. I had a deadline. I hate deadlines. They are the curse to sailors and the cause of stupid mistakes. My deadline was to reach the marina in Venice before they close at 6 pm. So, instead of sailing Slowly at 4-5 knots, I motorsailed at 6 knots.

Once I reached the halfway point, everything changed. I no longer had 5-6 knot winds. I had 18-20 knot winds. It sounds perfect for sailing and shutting the engine off. There was just one problem, though. The winds were coming from the direction in which I was going... on the nose, as we say. So, I still couldn't put up sails, I now had 2-3 foot waves and wind, slowing the boat down even more.

A look to starboard (right)... east

A look to port (left)... west

An hour later, the wind was up to 25 knots and gusting higher. The waves were building and eventually reached 4-5 foot white caps... still on the nose. I had water breaking over the bow, spray blowing back into the cockpit, even some heavy spray was crashing on the dodger just in front of the cockpit.  This was turning out to be a bumpy ride. I kept trying the sails, but there was never quite enough angle with the wind to make them work. After about two hours of this slop, the winds abated and veered east. The change in wind direction smoothed out the water quickly. Now, I was just an hour or so from Venice.

Venice was a quick overnight stay. The Crow's Nest marina is right by the channel inlet and a good distance from town. So, I went to bed early and slept well.