It was with more than a little trepidation that we watched Nellie get splashed this morning. The million-dollar-question: Would the new bow thruster leak? It didn't. Whew. In fact, miracle of miracles, all systems were go. We couldn't have picked a nicer day to get underway--sunny, calm winds and 70's F. About halfway to Fort Myers is Pine Island Sound. The path well traveled is on the west side of Pine Island. But it's the east side of the island, an area that's mostly terra incognita for cruising boats, that interested us. What we found were lots of mangrove islands, huge expanses of water, a chicane of channel markers and innumerable shoals. The latter being particularly worrisome. When the average water depth is five feet you usually don't know you're in trouble until you feel the thump. Well, at least that's how we knew we were in trouble. Dead in the water is not a good feeling. A look over the side confirmed what we already knew; the bottom was too close. In fact, all around us it looked too close. In cases like this we've learned it's best to drop the dinghy and use its depth sounder to find the way out. We did drop the dink and with the knowledge gained managed to extricate ourselves. That was the second 'whew' of the day. Our attention to Nellie's depth sounder could only be described as 'rapt' after the grounding.
Tonight we find ourselves on the moorings in Fort Myers Beach. All in all, a very good first day. 42nm today and 42nm total. DBH
