Florida Gulf Coast Vacation Cruise

Tad and Toby Jackson

Toby and I are going to cruise the west coast of Florida for our Dory long vacation this year. We will trailer the Comfy Dory across the state on Aug. 27th or 28th to Fort Myers. We want to leave the truck and trailer at a secure location for about 2 weeks. We'll spend about 3-4 days in the Pine Island Sound / Charlotte Harbor area and then cruise south to Naples and Marco Island and then the Ten Thousand Islands area. We've both recently read Shadow Country by Peter Mathis and want to explore some of the areas that are mentioned in the book. We don't know exactly how far south we will travel, but will have to be back in Ft. Myers on Sept. 10th or 11th to return to home and work on Merritt Island.
Do any of the Fla. West Coast Brats know of a facility in Ft. Myers that we could securely keep the truck and trailer for that period of time?

Thanks...Tad

larryndebbie · Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:22 pm Post subject:

Franklin Lock in Ft. Myers allowed us to park our van for 10 days for the three dollar launch fee during our trip across Lake Okeechobee, and kept an eye on it for us. They were terrific and all was well when we got back! Larry & Debbie on Blue Skies[/b]

Papillon · Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 10:27 pm Post subject:

Hello Larry,
I just got back from a trip up state and I am a bit bushed at the moment and off the top of my head I can't think of any place to recomend to you at the moment. I will get with Jim (jennykatz) and if we can come up with any suggestions, we will post them back here tomarrow.

Now if you were heading this way before July 1'st I would have a place for you here in my yard for your rig and you would have no worries but things have changed for us and we
will be moving up to Astor, Fl. and will no longer be here come August.

I am sure we will be able to give you some options to look into for your trip.

Mike

Tad and Toby Jackson · Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:43 am Post subject:

Thanks Larry. I will try and call Franklin Lock this week. What kind of company are they? Phone #?

Mike, thanks. I would appreciate your thoughts after you have had a chance to catch up and rest. Do you know if Bulldog Boatwerks has a facility where we could keep the truck and trailer? Of course, we would expect to pay a daily fee for storage...just want to make sure everything is still there when we return.
Are you moving permanently to Astor? We take a trip every year on the St. John's starting at Lake Harney and at least up to Lake George. We love cruising through the Astor area and have spent the night on the hook just south of Astor tucked in behind a "midden" island several times. Very neat area!

Tad

marvin4239 · Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:47 am Post subject:

Hi Toby, if I'm not mistake and I am a lot these days Franklin Lock is the last Lock west on the Okeechobe Canal and it also has and adjoining State Park Campground, boat ramp and small marina. I stayed there February a year ago. It's a very secure place and at the time they were catching snook right from the pier next to the lock. I think it was a flat $20 a night for the marina which had water and 30 Amp electric. It's remote so don't expect to purchase any supplies there. The phone number is 901-853-6196. I think there are pics of it in my photo album. Have a great trip.

larryndebbie · Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:09 am Post subject:

Toby, Marvin is right about W.P. Franklin campground {239-694=8770}.We launched the Dory on the south side of the Caloosahatchee River at the W.P. Franklin lock recreation area (239-694-2582) and was able to leave the rig there during our trip. I'm not sure they are able to do this all the time, for that long, but they were able to help us out during our trip. It is beautifully managed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. (www.reserveusa.com) Maybe there are pictures and more info. It was such a relaxing, "easy boating" fabulous trip. Larryndebbie