Marco Island – Goodland Anchorages – Southwest Florida

Leaving the shelter of Florida’s well-protected Gulf Coast ICW, we made two stops before we hit the Everglades – Marco Island – Goodland Anchorages. I don’t know what it is about transiting this part of Florida. It’s pretty thrilling to slowly leave civilization behind, knowing that we are about to head out into the vast expanse of hot and steamy wilderness that is Florida’s Everglades.

The first stop was Factory Bay – An anchorage Off Marco Island

We usually don’t have a problem setting the anchor, and not sure if it was the wind whipping us around or the somewhat crowded anchorage, but it did take a couple of tries. An uneventful night followed as we spent the evening observing the activity in the harbor. Later, we watched the sun set over land as the fast-moving, dark skies, threatened us from above.

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Goodland Bay Anchorage

Next, we anchored in Goodland Bay an anchorage off the small town of Goodland. It was close enough to land so that we could dinghy to shore for an early dinner. On our way into Goodland, we observed boats, beached earlier in the year by Hurricane Irma, and quite extensive damage to the Goodland Marina.

This was a new anchorage for us. On our last visit to Goodland, we anchored just off the marina.

   

Look at Jim giving me the Evil Eye!

We had a great lunch in town, it would be the last off-boat meal for a while, as we were headed into the wilds of the Everglades when we left Goodland.

After our early dinner, we went for a walk over to the marina to see if some friends were docked there. Did not find our friends, but we witnessed, up close, some of the damage hurricane Irma did to this area.

Marco Island – Goodland