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| Saying goodbye to Jacksonville |
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| Our first sunset on anchor in a long time! |
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| Haulover Canal - lots of manatee |
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| Enjoying the food and music at the Farmers Market |
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| You will see about everything at the Farmers Market! |
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| Yep - two ships passing Say hi Captain Ray! |
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| This anchorage was so beautiful! Hard to tell the water from the sky |
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| So happy to see the sunsets again |
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| We've seen several eagles along the way |
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| oops! When does the tide come in? |
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| Interesting boat houses |
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| We seldom get to see tugs along the way |
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| Not really sure about this pirate ship.... Could Capt Jack Sparrow be close by? |
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| What can I say? |
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| Beautiful sunrise in Ft Pierce |
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| Sign says it all..... |
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| Waiting our turn at one of the locks |
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| Interesting how these locks work |
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| Much of the way along the Okeechobee looked like this - very calm and peaceful |
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| Let's hope she doesn't come down! |
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| Manual operation for this bridge |
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| Another pic of Captain Ray meeting bow to bow near Clewiston |
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| Just doesn't get any prettier.... |
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| Or maybe it does |
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| One of the other railroad bridges along the way - most were open |
October 20 – Monday
Left Ortega Landing in Jacksonville about 8:45. We had to make the Jax RR Bridge opening
(9:00 – 10:00 a.m.) and did with no problem.
We’ve got about 60 miles to cover today.
It’s a cool crisp morning with lots of sunshine. A beautiful day to travel. We finally are
seeing pelicans and dolphin again! No
geese! We’re in Florida after all! For a while the tide and current was really
against us. At times we were traveling
only 3.8 knots then at other times we were traveling at 10.5 knots! So we didn’t make really good time but we did
make it to St Augustine about 5:30 where we picked up a mooring ball at the
City Marina. Now grabbing the mooring
ball turned out to be a feat in itself!
I should say the boat hook eating mooring ball! It grabbed my boat hook and tried to take me
with it! Finally we got tied to the ball
and was able to get the boat hook loose.
Not a really pleasant experience!
But the evening turned out better.
We relaxed on the sundeck and had our crockpot dinner. It was really nice to be out of the
marina. We didn’t even go into
town.
October 21 – Tuesday We left the mooring ball at 9:00 sharp. We caught the bridge opening even though we
really didn’t need it. We had a short day today – only 26 miles. We traveled to Palm Coast Marina where we had
spent the night back in May when we were coming north. We arrived at noon! Now that’s the way to travel! We grilled
steaks and watched the Royals’ first game of the World Series. They lost.
L But it was a nice night anyway.
Mike visited with some of the live-aboards here. It turned out one of them was from Joplin! His cousin graduated with Mike. Another man asked him if he knew where
Carthage was. This guy had visited the
Leggett and Platte offices in Carthage!
That’s only about 15 miles from Joplin!
What a small world!
October 22 – Wednesday We left the marina about 9:30 heading to New
Smyrna Beach - 39 miles -where we planned to anchor at Rockhouse Creek. It was another beautiful day! We made it to our anchorage at 2:30. There was only one other boat there so we had
pretty much had our pick of where we wanted to drop a hook. Shortly after we settled in another boat came
in. When we were here in May – there
were six boats crowding in this anchorage.
Three was a much better fit. And
this time there were no planes doing their touch and go’s. Yea! However, the wind really did pick up and
there’s a long fetch from the coast there.
Meaning between the tides, current and winds – we swung around all night
long. Our anchor alarm went off several
times even though it really hadn’t moved.
We had just swung around so much.
Needless to say – we didn’t get much sleep.
October 23 – Thursday
Left our anchorage at 8:30. We
had a little problem with our windless switch.
It didn’t want to work – after a bit of frustration it finally kicked
in. Mike would need to work on that once
we were in a marina. It probably just
needs a little oil. Let’s hope! That is one thing we don’t want to have to
do - pull up 100 feet of anchor chain and the 45 lb.
anchor by hand! We had a little longer
to go today – about 50 miles to Cocoa Village.
We crossed through Mosquito Lagoon that didn’t look so bad this
time. I guess it was because the sun was
shining instead of the dark ominous looking clouds we had the last time. We saw several manatee while traveling through
the Haulover Canal. We made it there about
3:15 and tied up to a free dock by 3:40.
The dock has a sign that says maximum 3 hours but we had been told that
this isn’t usually enforced. Lucky for
us – we heard right. We relaxed for a
while then called Mike and Chery (Pura Vida).
They had spent the summer here at Cocoa.
We hit one of our favorite spots – Ryan’s Village Pizza and Pub. We walked around the Village and ended up at
Murdock’s where there was a really good blues band playing. Topped off the evening with ice cream! What a good time! It was great to catch up with them. We’ll be seeing them back in Marathon in a
few weeks.
October 24 – Friday
We left our free dock about 9:00.
It had been such a quiet night tied to the dock that we both slept
in! It felt really good too! We had about 55 miles to go today. One of our longer days but still not bad. We saw at least 100 dolphins today. They were everywhere and wanted to play with
us. That is so cool! We were on a mooring ball in Vero Beach by
4:00. This one didn’t try to eat my boat
hook either but it still wasn’t easy.
When we came through the mooring field the first boat we saw was
Wandering L&M – or Larry and Marge.
They’re another couple we met in Marathon. Then we saw Ookpik – Bruce and Karen! Our Canadian friends we had met on the
Loop! We grabbed a mooring ball right
next to them. It was fun seeing them
again!
October 25 – Saturday
We left our mooring ball about
8:45. We really had a short day this
time – only 12 miles! We want to hit the
Farmers Market and take a break at Ft Pierce and stay off the ICW for the
weekend. We decided to stay at the City
Marina this time because it’s where the market is held. Also it is closer to several restaurants and
we don’t have a car here this time.
Remember it’s back in Jacksonville!
Anyway we made it and tied up in our slip by 10:45. We rushed off to the market! We had lunch and stocked up on bread and
produce. The band was really good too. Another beautiful day! We had cocktails at the Tiki Bar and walked
over to Second Street Bistro for dinner.
We planned on watching the Royals whoop up on the Giants but it didn’t
work out that way. Oh well, they have a
few more games to go……
October 26 - Sunday
Mike had to work on our windless
and the motor on the davit that brings up the whaler. It was a really nice day and I just hung out
on the boat pretty much. Finally about
3:00 we took a dinghy ride. We went out
the inlet but not very far – it was rather bumpy and then the motor started
sputtering – we cut our trip short and went back to the marina. So Mike worked on that – he thinks it’s just
water in the gas. Again let’s hope
so!
Sassy II – (Jerry and Carolyn) came into the marina while we
were out in the dinghy. It’s fun seeing
everyone that is heading south to some destination or another. They’re on their way to Marathon too and
should get there about the same time we do.
We got to visit with them over dinner and cocktails at the Tiki
Bar. We made an early evening of it
though – we’re leaving out early tomorrow.
We have about 45 miles to do. We’ll
be starting on the Okeechobee Waterway.
October 27 - Monday
We left Ft Pierce City Marina about 9:10 heading to the Okeechobee
Waterway. Luckily Jerry and Carolyn were
there to help us out. IT was a little
tricky getting out from the slip we were in.
We ended up backing out of the fairway!
We have 44 miles to go to Indiantown Marina where we’ll spend the
night. We had our first lock in a very
long time – the St Lucie Lock. It was
about a 15 foot climb and was rather easy.
The lockmaster throws down the lines to you so we pretty much just hold
on. The only drawback was they when we
got there they were locking through a tug and three other boats so we had to
wait for them to lock through and then for the lockmaster to ready the lock
again for us. It turned out to be about
1 1/2 hour wait including the time in the lock.
We finally made it to Indiantown Marina about 4:20. They put us on the fuel dock which was not a
problem. We were behind a 61 foot
cruiser so we felt rather small. It’s
only $1.00 a foot there plus electric.
There really isn’t much around so we had our crockpot dinner and spent
the evening relaxing on the sundeck. Mike did run into Larry on Rio Dulce and visited
with him a while. We met Larry when we
were in the Bahamas a few years ago. He
crossed back to Lake Worth with us - however, he is in a sailboat so we kind of
left him behind.
October 28 - Tuesday
As pretty much our schedule we left the marina again about 9:00
a.m. It was another great day for
traveling – hardly a cloud in the sky. We
decided to do the rim route rather than cross the lake. It’s about 10 miles longer but we’re not in
any hurry. We have had several people
tell us that they had always crossed the lake but wished they had done the rim
sometime. So we decided why not. The timing was good – there should be plenty
of water and not much debris. So we were
game. We planned to make it to Moore
Haven where there is a dock we can tie up to.
Today is a 52 mile trip. It’s
nice taking our time and making short days of it, especially when there are
locks involved. We only had a short wait
when we got to the Mayaca Lock. It’s
only a 1 1/2 foot climb. The Point
Chosen Bridge is operated manually. You
have to call the operator that is at Slim’s Fish Camp nearby and he comes out
to open it. That’s rather
interesting! Again we didn’t have to
wait very long – he’s pretty quick on the trigger. It was pretty skinny getting through the
bridge though because of all the growth on the water. It’s floating hyacinth, etc - it’s not attached to the ground but it can
cause some problems if it’s sucked up in our intakes.
It was so cool! At
about Clewiston where – who do we see coming from the west? Ray (from Second Noelle). He and a crew were taking Blue Moon, a 77
foot dinner boat, to Miami from Chattanooga traveling nonstop - only stopping for fuel.
We had kept tabs on him since he left and talked about it being funny if
we saw them. Turns out we passed each
other right where they were entering the lake from the west. Timing is everything!
We finally made it to Moore Haven Lock. It had a 4 1/2 drop. Yeah, we’re on the other side of the lake now
so we’re going down. This turned in to
an interesting “spin” of things. Luckily
we were the only ones locking through.
Just as we pulled in and were trying to get to the port side for a tie up
the wind came up and blew us away.
Between the wind and the turbulence from the lock Captain Mike had quite a
time. We decided quickly that we would
tie up on the starboard side. I was out
trying to tie fenders on that side when I felt the boat spinning around. You guessed it – we did a complete 180 in a
50 foot wide lock! We ended up tying up
on our port side still but was facing the incoming gate. Now that’s a first! The lockmaster offered to open the gate back
up and let us try again but we decided we were staying put. However, the “interesting” thing about it was
we had to back out of the lock once we were finished lowering. Mike didn’t want to try turning around again –
after all, we’re over 42 feet – not quite sure how we did it between those
concrete walls the first time! There
weren't any other boats around – glad for that.
Wonder what they would have thought when they opened the gate and out
comes a big ol’ boat backwards! Oh well,
it happens!
Just on the west side of the lock is a City Dock that you
can tie up to. There was just one space
left and it was perfect. By 5:15 we were
tied up and having cocktails. Thanks to
our boating buddies who gave us the heads up – we walked a couple of blocks to
Anglers Pool Hall. They have great
burgers, cold beer (cocktails too) and pool tables. The World Series game was even on! What else do you want??
October 29
Wednesday After paying for our
dockage at the Town Hall (1.00 ft.) we were off again about 9:00 again. And it’s another beautiful day! We had 43 miles to go – planning to stay just
up from the Franklin Lock at some Corps of Engineers slips that are
available to us Golden Pass Holders for $12.00 a night. We locked through the Ortona
Lock with three other boats. No problems
this time! The wind behaved and so did
NautiNell.
When we got to the slips where we thought we would stay – we
found them wrapped in the yellow caution tape.
According to the lockmaster they had been deemed unsafe because the pilings
were rotted. This spot was still a good
anchorage but we decided to go through the lock where there is another
anchorage recommended. At about 2:30 we
were locked through. Our last lock!! We anchored on the north side in a very nice
anchorage over by the Corps of Engineers campground. This is probably one of the nicest anchorages
we’ve been in. No wind to speak of –
quiet and peaceful. We didn’t hardly
swing at all. We grilled our dinner and even
got to watch Game 7 of the World Series on our television. Pretty cool!
It would have been better had the Royals won. Guess we can’t have everything. We have a big day tomorrow! We have 13 miles to go to Ft Myers! Ha!
October 30 - Thursday
We took our time leaving our anchorage.
We left about 9:30. We made it to
the City of Ft Myers Yacht Basin (City Marina) and was tied up by 11:15
a.m. We’re relaxed and are staying here
about a week. We had only planned to
stay the weekend but for just a few dollars more we can stay seven days. We’re in no hurry!
Next trip will be north about 60 miles to Venice where we’ll
visit with Jeff and Linda (Jeremiah) for a few days. Then it will be south to Marathon!
Till next time!
Admiral “C”
