The weather forecast for Sunday, April 12, was kind of iffy – it was not clear whether the southwest area of Lee County would get some showers. Despite this uncertainty, twenty-nine members and eleven guests, including one child, boarded the boat of the Banana Bay Tour Company for a sunset cruise. Everybody was in a “let’s have some fun” mood, and soon Ursula Heierli, the organizer of this event, came around with some refreshing white wine and water. And following in her footsteps was the First Mate with a tray of deli sandwiches.

To the delight of everyone, the captain chose a different route this year. Instead of driving up along Sanibel Island, he entered the narrow water way that lead to St. James City on Pine Island. There was a beautiful stretch of water with mangroves on both sides and no homes.

The sun decided to hide behind the clouds and the sunset was rather disappointing. But everyone had a great time, including the young girl from Switzerland who had a chance at the steering wheel under the captain’s supervision.

Text by Rosmarie Strother and photos by Dori Moser, Ueli Wagner and Peter Zahner