Caution Skinny Water

Well we had our first grounding. 

Thank goodness we have that out of the way as it was inevitable and we've been waiting for it.  Nothing serious happened...no damage to anything accept our pride.  Luckily, we were able to back off with no issues.  I will admit though, it rattled our confidence a bit. 

The thin water in the GIWW is frustrating and we are now looking for a good outlet to exit.  The charts show many outlets but most are not recommended due to shoaling with sand bars that constantly shift.  Since we don't want another "touch down" we are looking for something a little more bullet proof. 

Also, like we need another reason to get out, the guidebooks don't show much in the way of good anchorages.  We've been flipping the pages and can't find anything that shows you can anchor in more than 5 or 6 feet and if there is one it will say you have to go over a 5 foot sandbar to get in to it.  So there's our dilemma.  At this point it would be nice to have a buddy boat to "bounce" (no pun intended) some ideas off of. 

In the meantime, we are still enjoying the ride with dolphins guiding us and swimming along side much of the way.   Today we are sailing across Charlotte Harbour towards Pelican Bay on Cayo Costa.  There is not much wind but the sails are up.  We are moving slow as we want to arrive at high tide for all the reasons mentioned above.  From there we may go outside or we may go to Punta Gorda to visit our friends John and Margot.  ...but more about that....next time.

Just off the channel the water is very thin!

I did not crop or zoom in for this picture.  This is how close the dolphins come.

There are many bridges along this stretch.  Most open on demand.  This one was under construction so only one side lifted.

Check out the fish in it's talons!

There are lots of big mansions but I like these homes much better.