There was a light fog in the morning and we got up early. It was warm without the wind and I dove into the water and swam for the beach. The place was deserted and with the fog we could not see the hi rise condos on Big Marco. It was almost like being out there… somewhere without the experience we had yesterday with the marina.

We wanted to get going early and after putting on some water for coffee we pulled the anchor. Our intentions were to go all the way up the inland water way to Naples and from there out to the Gulf. It was dicey motoring up the waterway with the shoal areas. The bottom is nothing but sand and mud however we did not want to get stuck high and dry. The fog burned off after a couple of hours and the sun came out. The waterway is pretty narrow in some places with a maze of mangroves, the water way is well marked and the chart is surprisingly consistent with the depths we are finding for the most part. Just stick in the channel and we should be fine.

We came around a bend and saw two dolphins chasing down their breakfast. It was an amazing demonstration of speed. We could see the dolphin’s dorsal fin zip through the water and then an eruption of smaller fish trying to get out of the way. We decided to drop the anchor and wet a fishing line. Right after we sat the hook there was a fish ball fifteen feet off the port. The large spinner was thrown into the middle of the mix and the fish seemed to be fighting each other to get on the hook. Verena hooked into one and for a brief moment the fish danced across the water and then the line went slack. Not a minute later and the same act went down. Verena handed the rod over to “the captain” (me) to try his luck. My first cast and I had on a lunker, the rod bent down and a broad smile crossed my face. The witness reminded the cap that catfish head for the bottom and well that is what the fish was doing… heading straight for the bottom. I finally pulled up the lunker and to my chagrin the first mate was right. The croaking catfish was laughing too.

It was time to get moving again. Dollar bay was a mile away. The guide book was pulled out again… “oh yeah the book says that there is a controlling depth of three feet in the channel… if we get past marker 82 we should be fine”. The boat draws four feet and we are at marker 80 and the pass to the Gulf is in sight. It was not to be after motoring up the waterway for two hours we had to turn back around.

When we pulled into the anchorage at Little Marco Island at noon thirty the place was nothing like we had left it in the morning. The beach was lined with power boats and there was a twenty knot wind. With the incoming tide and the wind working in opposing directions it was hard to set the hook. We tried to relax in the cockpit and watch the fun. Near sundown I broke out the shrimp. The lady fish, poor man’s Tarpon, loved them. They were fun to catch and are a very pretty fish but are members of the herring family and I did not think that they would be the best eating fish after a quick internet search.

We had a relaxing evening on the hook and went to bed early determined to get back to the Gulf and the slog north.