Sanibel Off and On

This afternoon we drove over to Ft Myers. Crossing the Sanibel Causeway was a treat again today, with lots of beautiful clouds to look at.






Look closely to see a sailboat tipped over on it's side, after running aground on a sandbar. Somebody was having a really bad day. (All photos can be seen larger by clicking on them.)



There is a lot of shallow water in this area. Sandbars in the bay are always changing and many are exposed at low tide. If you take shortcuts away from marked channels it is easy to run aground. If you plan to go boating here and don't want your day ruined like this, be sure you pick up a local nautical chart , check the weather forecast and know the tide conditions for the day. It takes common sense & being careful, because before you know it you're in only a few inches of water and grounded. It has never happened to us, but I've heard that getting towed from shallow water is very expensive. If you are planning to navigate these coastal waters, you may want to read information the US Coast Guard has to offer.


Or, maybe this could be how and why it happened.

The Sand Bar

A sailor, after running aground on a sand bar, paid a passing fisherman fifty dollars to pull him off with his boat.

After he was off the bar, he said to the fisherman, "At those prices, I think you could make a great living pulling people off night and day."

"Can't," replied the fisherman. "At night I haul sand for the bar."

Sorry! :)

There were lots of clouds after we crossed the bridges too.


Just thought I would mention that it's now much safer and easier to bike on and off Sanibel Island via the causeway. Today Lee County held a ribbon cutting ceremony to offically open a path, that was completed in June, from the causeway bike lane through the toll plaza to give bicyclists and pedestrians easier and safer access through the plaza. video

The county also recently added 19 boat trailer parking spots, four standard parking spots and a nine-space bike rack to an area under the causeway.

After we got back home, I kept looking out at the clouds, thinking that there would be a very pretty sunset tonight. I wanted to drive back out to the causeway to see it. I know, seems like we are running off and on, off and on, with that view, I don't mind.

But, as luck would have it, I found a small leak in a drain from the kitchen sink. So, we were off to Bailey's General Store to get a new part to repair the drain pipe. Have I told you that you can find anything and everything at Bailey's? Well, you can.

All the way there, I kept watching the clouds in every direction as they were turning pink. I was feeling pretty low, thinking I was missing such a beautiful sunset.


When we left Bailey's, the clouds were turning darker and darker pink, and my spirit dropped lower and lower. Then I realized we hadn't turned onto our street, we were going toward the causeway. :) I was excited, thinking we might get there in time to see the end of the sunset. Traffic was so heavy on Periwinkle Way, and SLOW, I thought we would never get there.


As we started across the first bridge, I saw what was left of it, and that made a perfect finish to my day.