We're at Marco Island, FL, all tucked in at a private dock to leave Nonchalance here while we go home to Illinois for Christmas through New Year's and to see some snow.

The cruise through the gulf was in 1 ft. waves when we started from the anchorage, and only got better as the day progressed. It was warm enough after lunch to spend the afternoonon the flybridge. We saw lots of dolphins, schools of fish jumping, and a large sea turtle out in the gulf.



By the time we got close to Marco Island, the seas had turned to glassy calm. Really perfect cruising conditions.










The private dock is owned by a very nice couple from Chicago and it's a great dock to leave Nonchalance because somebody will be here all the time and the homeowner has owned and captained big yachts his whole life. There's power on the dock to run the battery charger, the inverter, refrigerator, one light in the salon and the bilge pumps just fine, and everything else will be shut off while we're gone. The homeowner will check to see that the light is always on, ensuring that there's power.

When we return, Marco Island is only 89NM from Marathon Key in the Florida Keys, which is our first stop in January.