Sailed to Fort Meyers Beach

We just came back from a short sailboat trip to Fort Meyers Beach. It is only 32 miles from Alva down the river, but if you are actually sailing down the river and not motoring it takes the better part of two days. If the wind and tides are not in your favor you can do a lot of tacking and not get too far.

We had gotten a post card from the Pink Shell Resort and Marina offering a 2^nd day for ½ price promotion: You could stay at the marina and use the resort amenities. We called and reserved a space for our little 21 foot day sailor.

The first day sailing down was not too bad, light 6 to 10 knot winds from the north east. It was slow and it was basically a following wind. The 2^nd day there was 10 to 17 knot winds and I sailed like a shot down the river wing on wing. I had to reef the sails, and then had to motor the last part because the wind and tide made it unsafe to sail.

We pulled into the Marina and found the marina almost empty that night. The next day though, there were a number of 50’+ yachts that pulled in and docked. Our boat looked like a dingy and a well-used dingy at that.

One of the reasons we went there was that there is free internet service. The service was not working right and coupled with our boat being so low we could not connect.  That was a big disappointment. We had to go up to the resort to get network service.

We had the dog with us and he enjoyed himself immensely at the marina and almost everyone liked him. They had a dog walk area just as you got off the dock and that was convenient. He was not allowed on the resort side and most of the beaches in the area were "no dogs allowed." That was inconvenient. All in all, it was a nice trip and we got to use the resort pool, beach, fish a little and use the spa showers and steam room. The bathrooms for the marina were not done yet. We were not impressed with the resort eating places so we ate out or cooked our own. The big yacht owners were not impressed with the eating places either and went out to eat to other places also.

Would we go back? I would say an iffy maybe. They only charged by the foot of the boat. Many marinas in the area charge by the foot with a minimum charge for a boat of 30’ so the rate was fair. The marina and hotel staff were very nice and accommodating.  And it was nice to tie up next to Million dollar yachts. 8-)