Family Fun

I had a wonderful trip with a wonderful family, Mike, Danielle, Rachel, and Camden. The water was calm and inviting as we set the anchor on the beach of Cayo Costa. Danielle and Rachel found sand dollars, fighting conchs, sun ray venus and olive shells. Mike was exploring the water and finding olives shells that were very large. Camden played on the beach and made sand muffins. We observed ghost crab holes in the sand and a live lighting whelk. Rachel found the live shell intriguing. I love it when you can see kids learning about the sea and whats in it. The time flew by quickly, we pulled the anchor and started our voyage back to Captiva. Rachel took the helm and did a great job driving on the way back. Rachel smiled the whole way. When her mom asked," How was driving the boat?" She replied,"easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Busy Bee and Crew

The day was filled with adventure, wildlife and  shells.  Wendy, Lori, Katie, Kim and Chablis explored with me today on Cayo Costa. We witnessed a sea turtle nest that was less than 10 hours old. (Currently 19 nests on Cayo as of today.) Two of the ladies found sand dollars for the first time. Two hard to find guadia nauticas were found much to my amazement. Other shells found were worm shells, chestnut turbines, sun ray venus, and a very rare sea horse. Wow what a find! We also did some geocatching. Kim had asked months ago to check out geocatches on Cayo Costa and gave me the lat and long. I had looked at the lat and long two months ago. It wasn't until last week that I discovered the catch while paddle boarding an isolated location on Cayo Costa.  After a fun time on the beach we ate a quick lunch on the boat. They brought me my own sandwich which was very thoughtful. I pulled the anchor and we started to make our way back to Captiva when a large pod of dolphins appeared at the bow of the boat.  What a treat, the ladies enjoyed the dolphin. Many firsts and good finds were found today, you never know what the sea will give up.

Tranquil Beach and Shelling

What a beautiful evening for a shelling excursion. I enjoyed taking Moira, Marty and Kevin to an isolated piece of paradise in search of shells. The beach was empty of people. We were the only people on the beach as far as you could see. The tide was incredibly low and there were shells. The gulf had finally calmed down and the shells were in the swash channels and at the edge of the sea and in the high tide line. Marty found a cone shell within a minute of hitting the beach.  Moira wanted to find sand dollars and she succeeded. She also found  arrowhead sandolllars. This was a first for her. Sun ray venus shells were collected, a worm shell and lots of silky olive shells. We observed a live olive and the tracks from the olive shell. The sky, clouds, and light were stunning. The beach was full of solitude. The sun was starting to set as we skipped across the water. I slowed the boat down and we all enjoyed the last of the sun setting over Cayo Costa.

Sanibel Sisters Take Two

The Sanibel Sisters returned with tweezers in hand  along with one of the  sisters granddaughters. The trip started with "The sisters" giving me one of the shirts they had made. The shirt said,"Got Shells". I Loved it! The next surprise was a beautiful collection of miniature shells they had collected since our last trip. WOW!! The collection is shown in the picture. A beautiful tusk shell, and honestly the biggest key hole limpet I have seen in that good of shape. (Nancy Darling would be drooling) The baby's ear is a treasure from these ladies I will set apart from all others. Well, all the shells will stay in a special spot. Thank you again for the gifts from the sea. Our goal of the trip was to explore the flats on a SUPER low tide. The tide had been falling for four hours when we left the dock. The west southwest wind was holding the tide higher than usual. The decision was made to go to North Captiva and look for shells while waiting on the tide to fall. The tide was to low to anchor at my first choice on North Captiva so we traveled to another spot on the island. Honestly on this day the shelling was not all that great. The high winds and water had washed the beaches clean of most shells. It reminded me of the beach I woke up to on Cayo Costa after a restless night of sleep on a precolumbian shell mound twenty nine moons ago. We stayed at North Captiva briefly. Still waiting on the tide we traveled to the southern end of Cayo Costa. The high water from the previous day made the shelling sparse.  The tide finally started to fall pushing out of  Captiva and Redfish pass, despite the strong wind now out of the northwest at twenty miles an hour. The flats were starting to show themselves as we traveled south.  I set the anchor and pulled the boat over the grass flats and set the stern anchor. The live shells were more than plentiful. We took no live shells but had to work to find the empty ones. Some nice specimens were collected with the tweezers. A very small horseshoe crab was collected as pictured above. One shell collected was very intriguing. A lettered olive. It was silky smooth but looked prehistoric. The coloring on this olive shell was unlike any I have observed before. All great finds. I pulled the anchor and we traveled with a tail wind back to the marina. Shortly after arriving at the marina the moon made its mystical  presence.

Exploring The Islands

Gail and Ric are always fun to have on the boat. Gail is full of energy and  happy to be on the water. Ric is a  keen observer.  I enjoy his insights on the many things he observes in the wild. The trip started with seeing many dolphin. The dolphin were so close you could hear each dolphin take a breath. The water was calm and the dolphins traveled past our boat. We watched until they all passed by.  Next we traveled out into the Gulf of Mexico past North Captiva. The next island to the north is Cayo Costa. It was here we found  a beautiful stretch of beach to explore. The water was beautiful and the beach  most pleasant. Unique plants were observed, and tracks in the sand were observed. We found different shells and even found a tusk shell. Our next stop was Barnacle Phil's restaurant for some island food and atmosphere.  We managed to get both. I enjoyed the conversations of both Gail and Ric. ( I also enjoyed the books and everglades sleeping bag cover, thank you.)

Sanibel Sisters

 Three crafty, avid, and extreme sheller's traveled with me today in search of miniature shells.  They are known as the "Sanibel Sisters". Every year these sisters leave there home state of California and spend days shelling on Sanibel and Captiva. The lady's came equipped with shell containers for certain types of shells and something I have never seen before, 14 inch tweezers. Yes 14 inch tweezers. They used this tool very efficiently for picking up miniature shells.  I was impressed.  They found many miniature's and worm shells, a periwinkle, and five and a half baby's ears. We shelled until after sunset. The island was quiet and nothing around but the sound of the gentle surf and a pileated woodpecker pecking away on a black mangrove tree. One of the sisters had a amazing tattoo of a seahorse. She was kind enough to let me share it on my blog. I enjoyed learning  from the Sanibel Sisters.  After the sun slipped over the horizon and the woodpecker was silent we traveled back to Captiva under a half moon.

May Skies and Sea Grapes

The sea grapes are flowering on Cayo Costa. The cloud formations keep me running for my camera. I saw the first sea turtle nest of the season on Cayo Costa May 4th.(close to secret spot number 2) Next week I plan on exploring a unique spot on one of the islands,  if all goes well. I look forward to that blog.