Chartering can be a wonderful escape. Sun, sea, sand, and seafood—what’s not to love? Well, if you’re like most people and equate chartering with the Caribbean, what’s not to love is everything it takes to get there—expensive flights, hotel stays, online health visa requirements, and Covid tests.
What if you could enjoy a palm-filled sailing vacation with easy logistics and without leaving the country? The Sun Coast of Florida, roughly between Tampa Bay and Naples on the Gulf (western) side of the Sunshine State, offers just such an option, and I checked out a subset of these cruising grounds with Southwest Florida Yachts—a cruise that turned out to be priceless for some unexpected reasons.
Some friends and I bareboat chartered a Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 catamaran named Running Higher and were delighted by the surprising level of personalized service. Barb Hansen owns the outfit that’s based in the greater Fort Myers area but has boats up as far as Burnt Store Marina where ours was docked.
The boat’s owner met us the evening we arrived. John was from Kentucky, and he showed up carrying a bottle of Angel’s Envy bourbon with his boat name etched into the glass. He
