Calusa Blueway Trip Report Part 2

This next day James and I really learned the truest usefulness of the Buff. We both burn like crazy and there really isn't enough sunscreen to stop this process. So the Buff became our secondary defense against our lovely star's visible radiation. There are already a handful of photos floating around social media of my husband channeling his inner bank robber, and so here are a couple more.

I haven't been so freckled since I was a child. It's a look I rather like. And my husband took on a mystery man air. One of my pals said "he looks like an adorable alien, with the blue lenses and tube face!"

We left Cayo Costa State Park and paddled south along its Gulf side. We had lunch. Yeah, they really know how to feed people, no doubts! We then made the crossing through a channel into Pine Island Sound and on to Captiva Island.

Along the way we picked up a begging double crested cormorant. He really was the cutest little guy, darting around and under James and my boats, giving us quizzical looks. He finally took off as we approached the entrance to the landing spot.

We stayed the night in at Captiva Island Inn , in a quiet, quaint, and upscale little village. Easily walk-able, and effortlessly cheerful, it had a Caribbean flair, with colorful houses and and a nautical theme every where one looked.

Our little one bedroom cabin, complete with a secret garden on the shady side and a hammock just calling James's name!

Oh, and it just happened to be Super Bowl night! I suspect, on no factual basis, that Bill was behind this fortuitous turn of lodging. So this night we enjoyed AC, ice cream, hot showers, and the Super Bowl half-time show complete with the RHCP & Bruno Mars to thrill our middle-aged lady hearts! <3 <3 <3

Super Bowl night group dinner, awesome!

Next morning we saddled up bright and early. In the list of items to bring was a couple of grocery-style cloth bags to move stuff when not in one's boat. I chose *very wisely* to bring two blue Ikea bags and another plastic-tarp style bag that had a top with a zipper. They didn't absorb any water and served us very well. Added to my list of essential items for kayak camping. These bags meant that we didn't have to make more than one trip from our lodging to our cleverly secured and hidden boats.

James, cheerful in the morning

Grouped waiting for take off

Pretty boat, looked like a deck ornament rather than an actual seaworthy vessel

Look at that water!

Mary and Bill

We lunched near a bird preserve, getting quite a show from the residents. Then we paddle on to "Picnic Island" which is apparently nameless but as it is in Picnic Flats the Burnhams use this apparently sensible name.

Unfortunately for me, my arrival on Picnic Island coincided with an exhausted feeling, a cough, and fever. I did not get out of my tent to listen to the "mandatory" camp bathroom lesson. I didn't come out to eat either. I *never* let a little illness stop me from eating. But I was really sick and didn't even get up to search out this "camp can" until the next morning. I had caught the flu James had battled for a week before our trip. I couldn't breathe and coughed horribly through the night.

Some how, not entirely clear, I managed to make it through the next two days of paddling. However, I noticed when editing my photos just how few I took the last two days. Too sick to do more than paddle and pull my share of the load, apparently.

We settled in for our last night of the trip at an RV park. Although the "camp ground" isn't quite set up for tents they had a large flushie bathroom, a water hose to wash at and an outdoor bar and fire pit which we happily used. The owners had us set up in the common area next to their own RV and it worked out great. Grateful to be bedding down I went to bed much earlier than everyone else. In the morning I had lost my voice, and was gently teased for being so quiet.

The last morning dawned cool and cloudy, much like our first day. We made the boat ramp at Bokeelia at about noon, just as the clouds started to burn off.

White Pelican roost, apparently a rare sight

Follow the black dots to follow our tracks. I am sure James will come up with a high-tech version of this but for now this simple laminated chart and dots added by Bill will be perfectly adequate. I think Lisa took this photo and I cropped it to remove the ads along the sides.

Total distance was either 73.5 or maybe 75 total if you like to round up, and most of us do. We averaged 12- 15 miles each day. I have a callus on my right thumb where my paddle rests, like never before. Yes, I would do that again, minus the flu next time, please!