Fort Myers, Florida

Kismet is Wintering in Florida – Palm Trees, Dolphins and Beach Walks for the Crew!

Our long-range plan last year was to spend the winter in Florida this year. After hauling the new Kismet across the country last fall, we put her away in a storage building in Sidney, Ohio for a three-month winter's nap. We like to be home with our family for the holidays and always leave northern Michigan after the new year. It would be tough, due to ice and snow conditions, to leave Traverse City with a 10.500-lb boat behind our truck. Ohio is a little safer bet. Even if it is in the throws of a storm, we'd be out…

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Crew on True North, Fort Myers, Florida

Friends Helping Friends – Fort Myers, Florida

First Stop Legacy Harbor Marina, Fort Myers, Florida After spending the holidays at home in Traverse City, MI, we returned to Legacy Harbor Marina in Fort Myers, Florida for the start of our 2015 winter cruising season. Our plan this winter is to cruise to Key West from Fort Myers, spending most of our time in the Keys. Legacy Harbor Marina is a fun spot to spend a week, a month, or a whole season. Last year we spent a month enjoying the amenities of the marina while exploring all the events in the Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Cape…

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Kismet Docked, Legacy Harbour Marina, Fort Myers

Fun Times, Good Friends – Fort Myers, Florida

Kismet Secure at Legacy Harbor Marina, Fort Myers We planned our winter trip to include a month-long stay at Legacy Harbour Marina in Fort Myers. Many of our Looper friends stay in this area during the winter months, some of them at this marina. We find that boating is like that, we bump into Loopers or boaters we know everywhere we go– planned or not. We did parts of our second Loop with buddy boats, Bella Luna and C-Life. We know other Loopers docked here from being involved with AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association). In the past, when in Fort Myers, we've always stayed…

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Women at Farmer's Market

Up Early for the Farmer’s Market

   In true boater tradition, Ranger Tug owners still at the rendezvous, Carol, Jess, Cheryll, and I got up early to hit the Farmer's Market about two blocks away from the marina under the San Carlos Blvd. Bridge. It was a small affair but we all found something we needed.

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Boater Friends on Kismet

Cheers with Good Friends

CHEERS... Here's to Here & Here's to There. Whenever we meet up with boaters from our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan, we have a special toast, and it's always the same. The HERE is always where we currently are and the THERE is always where we love to be and it's always the same... Charlevoix. We've been meeting up with Hal and Marianne (above) in Florida for the last few years. (Hal is our harbormaster in Charlevoix, Michigan and they are both dear friends.)  This year they decided to try the Cape Coral area so it worked perfectly with our schedule. Before we left home, we…

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Happy Hour on Dock, Fort Myers Beach

Shrimp Night Dockside, Fort Myers Beach, Florida

Two days after the Ranger Tug 2012 Southern Rendezvous planned festivities there are still five Ranger Tugs at the dock, including Roam, Kismet, Illusions, Gepetto, and Caroline Ann, most staying for the week. This really gives us an opportunity to spend some quality time, as a smaller group, with those still here. We figured since we are situated almost across from the shrimp boats in the harbor that we should track some down and have a party on the dock tonight. Jim and Mike, on Illusions, took a dinghy ride over to where the shrimp boats are tied up, found…

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Fort Myers Yacht Basin

Fun Times in Fort Myers, Florida

Kismet was dwarfed by two larger boats in the Fort Myers Yacht Basin Marina. This is a fun spot to spend a few days or more. The downtown is vibrant with more shops than ever. It's a quick walk to the grocery store from the marina and they have a Joe's Crab Shack just a few blocks away. To top it off there is a great farmer's market under the bridge every Thursday. As it turned out we ran into another Looper, docked right next to Kismet, we'd recently met John & Kay on Admiral's Choice at the 2011 Fall AGLCA…

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