An Hour Before Sunset, a Catamaran Leaves Fort Myers Beach
The start time on this sail slides through the year because it is pinned to the sunset. Two hours out of Fort Myers Beach, on a catamaran the owners spent five years building before she ever touched salt water.
Copacetic Sailing runs this one out of a dock at 18400 San Carlos Blvd, at the Fort Myers Beach end of the boulevard. The boat is a 36-foot sailing catamaran named Copacetic. The company describes her as inspected, approved and certified by the US Coast Guard, rigged for 24 passengers.
One detail about that address is worth fixing in your head before you drive. The listing and the operator's own site call the dock by two different marina names, and the street number is the part all of them agree on. Navigate to 18400 San Carlos Blvd and you are in the right place.
The sail runs two hours. There is one option to book, no upgrades to choose between, and a single booking can hold anywhere from one traveler to a full boat.
The departure time moves through the year because it is pinned to the sunset. The operator lists this sail as leaving one hour before the sun goes down, and the booking calendar follows that same rule, so the clock time is not the same in June as it is in November. An evening in late autumn casts off well before an evening in midsummer does.
So pick the date first. The exact departure time for that date shows on the booking page, and it is the time that matters later, because the boat leaves on it.
Southwest Florida Sunset SailCopacetic Sailing · 120 minutes under sail · departs one hour before sunset from Fort Myers Beachwww.viator.comFive Years of Hull, Then a Police Escort Down the Road
The company tells its own origin story in plain dates. It broke ground at the Andrews Maritime Boatyard in Fort Myers in 2012 and started building. The main hull took five years.
When the hull was done it could not simply sail around to the beach. It went by road, on a specialized tractor-trailer, under police escort, to the docks near Fort Myers Beach for final assembly and sea trials. The finished catamaran took her maiden voyage on October 22, 2018. The company describes her as hand made, and the dates above are its own.
The Cooler Is Included, the Beer Is Not, and Your Own Stays Ashore
This is the one line on the listing worth reading twice. The booking page lists alcoholic beverages under what is not included, which reads like an invitation to bring your own. The operator's own instructions say the opposite.
Alcohol of any kind is on the leave-behind list, and the boat sells beer and wine on board. Onboard purchases take cash or a major credit card. What the fare does cover is the cooler: ice and complimentary non-alcoholic drinks, which matches the carbonated beverages and bottled water the listing promises.
The rest of the operator's leave-behind list is about deck space and clean water:
- Medium and bulky tote bags. Small purse-sized bags or backpacks only, one per person.
- Coolers of your own, since the boat already carries a stocked one.
- Individually wrapped snacks. Snacks are welcome, but wrappers blow overboard.
Worth bringing: sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, and a camera or phone.
The Boat Casts Off at the Time on Your Reservation
Both the listing and the operator ask you to be at the dock at least 15 minutes early. The operator then spells out what happens if you are not, and it is stricter than most sunset cruises.
Anyone not aboard at the departure time printed on the reservation is treated as a no-show. The captain may hold the boat five minutes, at his sole discretion, and only if he was told before departure that you were running late. The time on the reservation is the moment the lines come off the dock, not the moment boarding opens.
Two things make that easier to get wrong than it sounds. Traffic around Fort Myers Beach can back up at any time of year, and the operator singles out December through April as the worst stretch. And a booking made through this listing stops being refundable 24 hours before departure, so a missed boat is a missed fare.
Who Can Come, and What the Boat Hands You
The fare splits three ways by age. Adults are 13 and up, children are 4 to 12, and infants 3 and under ride free. One traveler is enough to make a booking, so going alone works as well as filling the boat.
US Coast Guard approved child and infant life vests come with the boat at no extra charge, and you may bring your own if you would rather. Service animals are allowed.
On mobility, the listing says the sail suits all physical fitness levels, with one condition it states plainly: you need to be able to climb a couple of steps easily to get aboard.
The sun drops into the Gulf somewhere in the second hour, and that is the whole reason the schedule bends around it. If the air right at the horizon is clear, the crew may call a green flash, though the operator promises only a chance at one. Then the sails come down, the dock lights are on along San Carlos Blvd, and the evening is still young.