Cruising Cabbage Key & Cayo Costa: Finding a Hidden Paradise

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This week, Arabella exits the Caloosahatchee River and sails towards the Gulf of Mexico, dropping anchor in Cape Coral to provision the boat and head in to Rumrunners for a nice dinner on the water. We’re excited to be able to sail again—it’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed a good sail!

While anchored in Cape Coral, we heard a new and unfamiliar noise, a crackling or popping sound. At first, I thought it was an electrical shortage, so I turned off power to the boat…but that wasn’t it. Then I thought maybe something on deck was making the noise, but that also wasn’t it. After a quick Google search, we found out that what we were hearing was pistol shrimp! The pistol shrimp is a small yet powerful marine creature renowned for its loud snapping sound and intense heat generation. This unique ability has disrupted military sonar, inspired clean energy research, and appeared in popular culture. And now we’re hearing it on Arabella.

Heading out of Cape Coral was an adventure in and of itself—I’ve never seen more boats on the water! There was a line of boat traffic as far as the eye could see in both directions. Fortunately, our destination was a lot less crowded…

Cabbage Key is a small, under-developed 100-acre island off of Pine Island in Charlotte Harbor. It got its name because of the plentiful Cabbage Palm trees that grow on the island. Not only is Cabbage Key a hidden tropical paradise, but there are bayous and keys all around that are fun to explore via paddleboard or kayak. And that’s just what we did…

Robin found a paddleboard route that goes around the back of Cabbage Key, into Murdock Bayou, through a natural mangrove tunnel called the “Tunnel of Love,” and into a blue lagoon on the back of Cayo Costa. After breakfast at the Dollar Bill Bar on Cabbage Key, we set off on our adventure.

We landed on a shell-covered white sand beach on the Gulf side of Cayo Costa where a long walk on the beach did our souls some good.

The next day, we hit the island’s small network of nature trails, fawning over the new-to-us flora. We left one small reminder of our presence, and headed on to the next anchorage—where we tied our stern off to a few mangroves, and set a trip line for the anchor.

Join us next week, where I’ll be making some repairs to Victoria, getting her ready to be ridden hard in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Preserve.
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Episode 339
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Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve began the journey as an amateur wooden boat builder crafting a 38' wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin's Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel's gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and now sailing the boat—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that traditional wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project continues beyond the boat shop, as Steve and crew travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they've built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.

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