Sunday, March 15, 2009: Sanibel Island, Fl

This morning we put the bikes in the dinghy and went ashore on Sanibel Island. It was about a 2 ½ mile ride over delightful bike trails to reach Sanibel Community Church. From the yard of the church it was obvious that we were not the only one arriving by bicycle. At 10:15 the atrium area of the church was filled with people visiting and drinking orange juice and coffee offered at a welcome table. The service began at 10:45 and was filled with sweet Christian hymns, a personal testimony on the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus and the Bible message on Jacob - Jacob, one who was so flawed, and yet God used him. It was a great morning.

After church we had a real treat, because we had planned to meet our friend Erin, whose father went to Belize with us. She had driven up from Naples and met us at Gramma Dot’s for lunch. Gramma Dot’s, the local marina restaurant, was perched on the side of the cut water way coming in from the Pine Island Sound. The place was named for Marjella, Gramma Dot, who began serving food there 40 years ago having fallen in love with the place while cruising in the area. There were lots of bicycles parked here as well.

Then the afternoon took on a new adventure. Erin came back to the boat with us in the dinghy, but as we were getting out, the dinghy flipped out of the cradle lift on the back of the boat and dumped her in the water. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the side of the righted dinghy, but the current was too swift for her to swim back to us. Tom had to swim out to the rescue and return Erin and the little boat to the lift under power. Tom and I could not figure out how it happened since we have used the lift for over two years without any such happening. We had fun sharing our Belize pictures with Erin and Tom took her back to shore later without mishap.

Tom then took a long ride though the island in the afternoon to the Gulf side of the island and discovered the Sanibel lighthouse built in 1884. The US Coast Guard property at the lighthouse is now 6354 acres of National Wildlife Refuge for nesting pelicans. When he returned to the boat with the bikes, we finally realized that the lift was broken, and the cradle that held the dinghy steady was missing. We are talking about a stainless steel brace about 5 feet long with 2 foot V-shaped prongs at both ends – not something easy to lose. After much discussion, we called BoatUSA to see if they had a diver who might be able to come out and help us find this valuable part of our boat lost overboard. Luckily, they agreed to assist us, although not covered by our membership, and scheduled the help for 8:00 tomorrow.

After a dinner of vegetable soup on board, we had another surprise for the day. Space Shuttle Discovery launched its STS-119 mission at 7:43 tonight from the Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida – hundreds of miles north east of us. It was amazing that we saw the afterburners glowing in the sky as it blasted away from the atmosphere. I grabbed the camera, and although the pictures are not very good, you can get the idea. This mission is to deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station. Wow! What a day.