Well, we finally got off the dock last weekend! It had been 4 months since we returned from the Keys in early August. After that trip, it was back to the grind with work, school and some boat maintenance. For the last few years, it has been a tradition in our family to take advantage of our extra time off at Thanksgiving to go on a weekend cruise. The last couple of years, we’ve gone to Franklin Lock and Dam and would’ve gone this year except the docks are under some renovation. This year, we headed to Cayo Costa on Friday, November 28th, where we would meet up with my parents, sister and nephews on Island Time and also Randy’s dad and April on Sea Crazy. With diesel fuel prices so low, we decided to stop at Ballard Oil to take on some fuel before heading out.
We arrived at Cayo Costa on Friday around 3pm and rafted up with Island Time and Sea Crazy who were already there. Once we were tied up, happy hour commenced on Johnny and April’s boat. Mom and Dad got to get the tour of Sea Crazy since they were doing the Loop when John and April bought it. After a stunning sunset and dinner, everyone came over to the Blue Turtle where my dad, Corey and I brought our our ukeleles and proceeded to play and teach Jack and Ryan a few notes. It was a great time!
On Saturday morning, we took our dinghies to the Cayo Costa docks and then rented bikes to ride the trails. It was a chilly morning, but turned out to be a perfect day for riding the trails. We visited the beaches and took a trail to the Northern tip of the island for a spectacular view of Boca Grande Pass.
After biking, we headed back to the boats to regroup for lunch. When we got back to the boats, my parents informed us they needed to leave early since my mother wasn’t feeling well. So we broke the boats apart to let them take up their anchor and we rafted up next to Sea Crazy for the night. My sister and nephews stayed with us to continue the weekend. Once we were rafted up to Johnny and April, we piled into the dinghies and headed to Cabbage Key for a late lunch. After returning from Cabbage Key we enjoyed another beautiful sunset while the boys blew the conch horns.
We had a leisurely Sunday morning before heading back to Snook Bight. It was another gorgeous day. Corey and Jack decided they wanted to trawler surf (Corey never misses an opportunity) even though the water was a little chilly. We did have a medium size pod of dolphin riding our bow for a while on the ride home and I was able to capture some video. We arrived home to our slip in the late afternoon. It was a great trip!
