Fort Myers Florida Weekly

Laid-back and upbeat: Is the Jensen’s era about to end?




The museum has photos and fishing equipment. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

The museum has photos and fishing equipment. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

The Jensen boys laugh easily. Hearty, big laughs. Especially if you express the assumption that they must love to fish.

“After my father bought the marina, he told someone he always thought ‘dry dock’ meant a thirsty physician,’’’ said Jimmy Jensen, the youngest of the three brothers who own and operate Jensen’s Twin Palm Cottages & Marina Resort on Captiva Island.

“We’ve all gone through sprints of enjoying fishing,” said brother John, the middle brother.

“I hate to sound old and crotchety, but you just get tired of people complaining about their day of fishing,” said Dave, the eldest. “They’ve been out there on the water all day — what could be better? But they come in complaining they only caught a dozen trout.” The brothers nod agreement and share more laughs about the quirks of anglers.

Brothers John Jensen, Dave Jensen and Jimmy Jensen say they are preparing for their next adventure. And, they say it’s a surprise. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Brothers John Jensen, Dave Jensen and Jimmy Jensen say they are preparing for their next adventure. And, they say it’s a surprise. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

When guests of their small, 14-cabin resort come in the office and ask, “what’s the best time to go fishing?” the brothers point them to a sign that hangs in the Captiva Fishing Museum next to the office. “The best time to go fishing is when you feel like it,” it reads.

The 14 cottages, the docks, the musuem and tiki huts are included in the $19.85 million listing price.

The 14 cottages, the docks, the museum and tiki huts are included in the $19.85 million listing price.

A cubby crammed with vintage fishing equipment and photos of musicians and other famous folks who have visited, the museum was an evolution created by owners and visitors.

This sign in the small museum at Jensen’s tells anglers when to fish. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

This sign in the small museum at Jensen’s tells anglers when to fish. CHELLE KOSTER WALTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY

The museum, the docks, the tiki huts, the tugboat wheelhouse, the manatee statue, the cottages, the office/shop: The island institution that has been Jensen’s for more than 40 years went on the market earlier this year, listed for $19.85 million.

Through the decades, Jensen’s has become synonymous with music jams on the bay, Mullet March, Queenie’s Ice Cream, water taxis, fishing vacations. The stuff of legends. When the late Richard “Red” Jensen bought the place in 1977 with some partners, a year after he had opened Jensen’s “On the Gulf” Beach Resort down the road, he had planned to flip the properties, the brothers said. He bought them as an investment to sell. In a way, his sons are fulfilling that vision four decades later, although the gulf resort is staying put for the time being.

Jensen’s cottages have been a part of Captiva for more than 40 years. COURTESY PHOTO

Jensen’s cottages have been a part of Captiva for more than 40 years. COURTESY PHOTO

“Our father understood we may not stay here all our lives,” said Dave.

In the earliest years, the Jensen family remained at home in Michigan while Red’s managers ran the operations.

In the late 1970s, Jimmy moved down full-time with his parents, who then oversaw the resorts. Jimmy was 14, a freshman at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers.

He hung out with Greg Rhodes, the grandson of Timmy’s Nook’s founder, and Ronald Rosse, whose grandfather’s name is attached to Captiva’s “main drag,” Andy Rosse Lane. “There were probably three kids on the island,” he said. “I had to learn to play ‘kick the coconut.’” He remembers living in some of the cottages. “Me and mom stayed in number 11 for a while.”

In 1988, Red brought his other two sons down to take over management of the marina and cottages. Their sister, Pat, handles sales reservations for the gulf property remotely from Seattle. John and Dave recall living above the back office until they could buy a house across the street and take turns being off property. Staying on-property, sleep could be interrupted by someone ringing the bell to buy shrimp bait or heavy rains that meant running out to bail out their boats. That was before they wised up and bought bilge pumps.

The cottages were original, built in the 1950s by the Engles family. Red Jensen built the cottages at the gulf-side property. Today part of the 14 cottages and 35-slip marina is designated historic by Lee County.

Jimmy worked as a dishwasher at the Mucky Duck, once it opened in 1977, until the resort “could afford to hire me.” By then, the Jensens had bought out the partners.

Jimmy was responsible for bringing music to the Jensen legacy. His appreciation for live music started at Timmy’s Nook, another old island institution, the well-loved ramshackle bar and restaurant replaced by the Green Flash in the mid 1990s.

“Me and my friend Corky (Dunford) would go listen to musicians playing there,” he remembers. “Corky and I started playing together. Sometimes Corky played at the Nook.”

“Jimmy’s love for music was the most incredible gift for me,” said Dave. “I loved listening and just watching their fingers! It was far better than anything on the radio.”

The occasional Nashville songwriter would come to stay at the resort. “Over the years we got to be friends,” said Jimmy, who would get them to play, songwriters and musicians such as Brent Moyer, Joe Sun, Austin Church, John Mooney and Gove Scrivenor.

Impromptu concerts at “The Wheelhouse Stage” became traditions on Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl and just about whenever the mood struck. In later years, Jimmy and Corky’s popular island band, The Troublestarters, would jam.

Then Dave had the notion of a marching band. “I asked ‘why can’t we just march down the road playing music?’ Walk to (our gulf property) for sunset?” said Dave, explaining the genesis of the Mullet March.

“Mullet March all started out because of our love of music,” said Jimmy. “But everyone who stayed here and the locals all loved it and then started expecting it.”

“No good deed goes unpunished,” quipped John.

“It ended up coming from all different directions,” said Dave of the wacky dress-up musical procession format, or lack thereof. “It went to honoring vets when we did a march for the Battle of the Bulge. The city of Sanibel was honoring the battle because several survivors lived on Sanibel. I remember two vets meeting here that day who had served on the same island.”

Each year for the past seven years it has been in existence, the Jensens sponsor a boat in the “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament. Their team typically includes a wounded vet in cooperation with Operation Open Arms of Southwest Florida, started by Capt. John “GiddyUp” Bunch on Pine Island.

“We all have a personal respect for veterans,” said Dave. “We just know that we are able to do what we do here because of them.”

The Jensens further support the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge through an accommodations partnership program where they donate a percentage of proceeds to the refuge’s friends group.

“They have very quietly supported lots of good causes,” said Kristi Anders, education director at Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. From stray cats to a band for SCCF’s Beer in the Bushes fundraiser, the Jensens support it.

Some islanders consider Queenie’s Ice Cream to be one of their greatest contributions. In the early stages of their relationship, Dave satisfied now-wife Vanessa “Queenie” Viglione’s quality ice cream habit by sending her to school to learn how to make it herself. Sweet-tooth connoisseurs consider her homemade island-inspired flavors, literally, the crème de la crème.

The Jensens have become an inextricable part of the island community. Dave has played a major role in the Captiva Island Historical Society. Philanthropy and community involvement aside, he describes the Jensen legacy thusly: “I think our attitude toward basically allowing this to be a public access place, although our income comes from cottage rentals … somehow magically it worked out. People wanted to stay here because all of it became a scene they wanted to be part of. As a family, that’s what we did for the community.”

“For me, the friendship of the brothers and goodwill they spread using their business is enormous,” said Ms. Anders, who serves on the CIHS board with Dave and also vacations at Jensen’s each Thanksgiving. “It will be a loss to many people and animals that benefited from their kindness. The Jensens have been kind of the guardian angels of Pine Island Sound.”

“They drop everything for guests. This is as close to a five-star fish camp as you can get,” Ms. Anders added with a chuckle.

Jimmy tells about one woman who cries her eyes out every year when she has to leave. “You can just tell what this place means.”

“One guest told me he tells friends ‘You don’t need to have a psychologist. Just come to Jensen’s for a week.’” said John.

The brothers have branded Jensen’s “True Captiva,” on the heels of the changes they have seen in 40 years.

“I have it in my heart about what was cool about it back then,” said Jimmy.

Dave dwells on the birds and the beach, which he says haven’t changed. “Just think about the birds,” he tells himself in typical upbeat Jensen fashion. “But every generation has its own definition of paradise.”

“It’s all relative,” Jimmy agreed. “Still when people get here for the first time, they’re flipping out about it.”

The changes, the expectations, the hard work, the bouts of crotchety. Although islanders bemoan the fact that Jensen’s Marina itself may change if it sells, it’s not difficult to figure out that the Jensen brothers know what they’re doing by putting it on the market now.

“These guys have worked their tails off for four decades,” said Ms. Anders, adding that they deserve to have some time to themselves, find enjoyment like the enjoyment they’ve afforded countless locals and visitors through the years.

“Our father understood that the value of this place is in the cottages,” said Dave. “That’s the beauty of the place and if something should happen, we probably couldn’t build them back because of the codes.”

“I just hope that the next owners have a respect for what’s been there before,” said Ms. Anders, emphasizing that the Jensen brothers actually are the true value of the place. “They are really fine men who have done incredible good work.”

“The Jensens just add so much local flavor,” said Captiva businesswoman Sandy Stilwell, who owns an inn and several restaurants on the island. “They’re just fun people. They’re casual and unpretentious. They all work so well together and so well with the community as business people. There’s no competition between us. I would hope that the person that bought it would kind of carry on the tradition.”

The Jensens are not in any hurry about when or whether the more than one-acre property sells, Dave said, although their Realtor reports brisk interest.

And that’s why they have put it on the market while they are in that laid-back state of mind. They hope its county historic status and the strict island building codes would prevent destruction of what they’ve created.

“The quaint feel of a bygone era of peace and tranquility, all on world renown Captiva Island,” said Jeffrey Burns, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “I think it’s priceless.”

“The spirit and magic of this place will carry on, I think,” said Dave. “Maybe it will get better.”

He’s getting a lot of questions from guests and others about the resort’s status and what the “trifecta of Jensens” plans to do. “My brothers and I are preparing for our next adventure,” he tells them. “What is that? It’s a surprise. Stay tuned.”

Who knows, they just may take up fishing, they say. Followed by peals of harmonized laughter that rise up like chords of music over the boats, birds and old Captiva bay views.

Jensen’s Twin Palm Cottages & Marina

>> Where: 15107 Captiva Drive, Captiva

>> Info: 472-5800, www.gocaptiva.com

2 responses to “Laid-back and upbeat: Is the Jensen’s era about to end?”

  1. kenneth schneider says:

    so sorry to see them go. rented boat from them many times. very nice to deal with

  2. Dana Paul says:

    The Jensen Brothers Twin Palms Marina and Cottages. Please let the new owners carry on their wonderful traditions.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *