4-19 Matlacha Pass

Our dock was fully exposed to the NE wind, so it made for a noisy night. My fault; I knew better and should have insisted on a spot on the downwind side. We slept well, though, not getting up until nearly 8 o'clock. After breakfast we made our way out to the ICW, among about a dozen identical 28-foot boats from the sailing school at Captiva. They had a good sailing day and so did we, heading south on a beam reach. We turned east toward Ft Myers and then once clear of the south end of Pine Island headed north up through Matlacha Pass. We'd never been that way before and few boats go there except people fishing. The channel goes through a National Wildlife Refuge and feels wild and remote, but navigating is a challenging slalom and south of the Pine Island bridge there are spots with only 3-4 feet of water even at high tide. We made it through without hitting bottom. We found a good anchorage south of where it opens up into Charlotte Harbor, outside the channel and in the lee of a mangrove island. A fun day with many contrasts.