After Owen’s adventure last night, we decided that we would spend the morning exploring the old fort and the rest of our surroundings. We woke up at sunrise, used the generator to heat up to normal body temperature, ate breakfast, and headed out to the dinghy. Owen rowed us over to the beach, where we read one small sign about the fort we were about to see and two signs about what we were and were not allowed to do there.

The fort was, dare I say, cool. But not in a “whoa, check out this cool historical fort and all the things that have happened here” kind of way but more of a “look at what happens when you completely abandon an old building and the local teens find out” way. The original Civil War fort is long gone. In fact, historians aren’t even really sure where on the small island it was. Another fort was built in 1900, followed by an upgrade in 1943. The main structure that still exists is from the 1943 version. There was an entryway with two large, metal doors. TAKE A FLASHLIGHT. Your phone is not enough. There were several rooms, each with graffiti and beer cans, and a few reminders about the bunker’s intended use.

After exploring the building, we headed outside and walked the walls of the fort before heading to the white sand beach. There were remnants of campfires in a few places. We could have walked for miles and miles. We heard reveille and the national anthem at the naval air station across the waterway. Then we just happened to see the Blue Angels practicing. They were drawing lines in the sky that looked like the lines on a roadway or maybe Morse code. We had read that the Blue Angels regularly practice on Tuesday mornings, so we were happy to see this Monday morning treat.

We headed back to the boat to pack up and say goodbye. Owen declared Fort McRee Cove his favorite anchorage so far.

Our next destination was Two Georges Marina in Shalimar, Florida. We left Fort McRee the way we came in: out the west entrance (we verified for ourselves on our walk that the east opening appears too shallow). The weather was chilly by our new Florida standards but blissfully pleasant compared to the Wisconsin weather we left just a few days ago. The sky was sunnier than it had been the last few days.

Dolphins were our companions again today. Yesterday, I thought it would be fun to keep track of how many dolphins we saw on our trip. I’ve already lost count. They are everywhere, and they are awesome! It’s amazing how closely they swim together and how close they swim to the boat. I saw one today no more than 6 inches from our swim platform. I tried to warn him about breathing in the diesel fumes, but he didn’t seem to care. Others swam right next to the boat, and we caught some a ways back on the outer edge of our wake. Each time is as exciting as the first, and I hope we never lose the wonder that comes with a visit from a dolphin!

Our Navionics did NOT want us to take the Intracoastal Waterway today. No matter how many times we recalculated, it kept taking us out into the Gulf. It turns out that the app’s depth preferences were set to keep us in water at least 12′ deep. That would have been a problem in this segment. Once Owen reset the preference to 9′, we were back in business. While the waterway itself is wide for most of this stretch, the marked path is very narrow in places with shallow water on both sides. As always, stay between the buoys.

We arrived at Two Georges Marina at around 3 pm. We were greeted by Zach at the fuel dock and Michael, who told us he would be guiding us into our slip. We filled up, pumped out, and went on our way to the B Dock. We were grateful for Michael’s help getting tied up and settled.

We are in a slip with a dock that extends about 20 feet along one side of the boat. We are in someone’s permanent slip while they are away, so we are using one 30-amp power cable for our time here. That’s kind of a bummer, but that’s all they have available now.

The marina is a short walk from town. There are a few restaurants within walking distance. Our first night, we went to the Aegean, a Greek restaurant just under a mile from the dock. The marina has nice, clean bathrooms and shower, but no laundry facilities. The nearest laundromat is an uber ride away. We’ll look for a grocery store tomorrow.