Sol Mates Yacht

03/23/2026

It was all fun and games until we tried to speed it up. They said you needed 30-40 feet. Probably needed 60.

03/11/2026

We saw it!

Bald eagle update from Sanibel’s ‘Dairy Queen nest’ 💙

SCCF staff and volunteers have been closely monitoring bald eagle nests across Sanibel and Captiva, and the 2025 nesting season is off to a strong start. On Sanibel, four of five known nests have hatched, including the locally beloved “Dairy Queen nest” (pictured), where two eaglets have hatched.

On Captiva, our three monitored nests have hatched a total of five chicks. Unfortunately, the North Captiva nest was less successful and failed following a territorial dispute between other adult eagles.

“It can be difficult to confirm the exact number of chicks in the early weeks after hatching, as eaglets are small and tend to remain low in the nest,” said SCCF Shorebird Biologist Audrey Albrecht. “Once they grow bigger and more adventurous, they are easier to spot.”

In Florida, bald eagle nesting season runs from Oct. 1 to May 15.

03/11/2026

I didn't know there were whales in the gulf

02/16/2026

How to make a big boat look small..

09/03/2025

On this day in 1935, the strongest hurricane ever to strike the U.S. made landfall in the Florida Keys, the Labor Day Hurricane.

It claimed 408 lives, many of them World War I veterans working on the Overseas Highway. With a central pressure of 892 mb, it remains the most intense landfalling hurricane in the Western Hemisphere, packing estimated winds near 185 mph.

10/27/2024

Beautiful day on the Gulf! Thank you Don DeRudder for getting us underway at the last minute!! We saw beautiful emerald waters, dolphins and collected shells on the beach at North Captiva. Captiva Pass was pretty shoaled up, but we picked our way through.

04/08/2024

Partial via elementary school science project (pinhole)

03/07/2024

When you have as much canvas as I do, you start looking at stuff like this...

The Husqvarna Viking Emerald 116 is my go-to sewing machine powerhouse for sewing through just about anything. This boat cover repair proved why this machine...

02/16/2024

02/16/2024

When the winds blow ashore from the south, we can get that Caribbean blue. Plus our dolphin friends decided to hitch a ride! Then we dinghied over to our favorite deserted beach...

12/11/2023

10/16/2023

Back on the water - my first mate keeping an eye out for hazards.