Twelve days we were anchored at Marco Island, waiting out heavy winds on the Gulf. As much as we like Smokehouse Bay, a well-protected anchorage by Florida standards, 12 days at anchor in one place was about 8 days too long. We departed as soon as the forecast showed a shift to lighter winds and reduced swell/waves. We would have been better off waiting one more day for the wind to really lie down and go light, but oh well. We anchored off Ding Darling that evening and it was SO nice to be away from the busyness of Marco.

From Ding Darling we went to the anchorage at Cayo Costa Island, our favorite anchorage in Florida. We spent three calm, quiet, warm, sunny days anchored in the back bay, trying to clean out our fridge. We had decided to haul the boat a bit earlier than normal, wanting to get home, concerned with all the news of the coronavirus. It seemed to us that many people were not taking this virus threat seriously.