On duty...

Joanna had a fall in the shower this morning and is badly bruised and on an ice pack. So it's up to me to help out with taking care of my mother-in-law. Made my famous pancakes with Bacon for breffis.  Now I'm am relaxing here  by the pool with a book. Guess this job ain't so bad!

The Life of a landlubber

I am enjoying my time as a landlubber here in Cape Coral, Florida.  We have settled into a routine as we are staying in my mother-in-law's condo.  It has a gym and a pool. I admit to not having visited the gym yet, but at least I am thinking about it.

Tonight is my turn to cook for the gang, so I have prepared a nice batch of chili to go along with Joanna's corn pudding. Last night we went out to eat at Pete's place, a fish joint that serves terrific fish 'n chips prepared properly by a Brit from Manchester.

We are continuing to connect with family which is why we headed to the Florida west coast to begin with. I have also watched some tv (disappointing), read some, watched a movie ( The girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and put some time in the pool. I am also getting a taste of the Florida madhouse. People and traffic everywhere. Tis the season. Except for family and swimming, all good reasons to jump back on the boat and get out of here. But alas, I should not forget that the weather has been mighty fine and I have a chance to recharge my batteries.

And so my life is pretty mundane for the next week or two before the boating adventure starts all over again. We are on schedule so to speak and the chili is ready.  Plenty of time for a gin and tonic!

wildlife

 Below are Florida's famous burrowing owls which live in underground tunnels up to 20 feet long.

 This is my grand-nephew Damien.

 Nephew and grand-nephew by the pool

 Each day ends watching the sun set!

Had some great family time in Naples and now we are in Cape Coral for more of the same.  Saw so much wildlife during our stay in Naples.  The highlight was when a bald eagle swooped down over the pond behind the house and captured a frog right before our very eyes.  Eagles, hawks, owls, alligators and birds!

Gordon Gekko

We are in Naples for some R&R with R&R (<----Rich and Robin, my brodda and his wife).  Yesterday afternoon we spent some time in downtown Naples and it is gorgeous and filled with fancy shops, restaurants and tourists strolling the streets into the evening.  We visited the beach, walked out on the fishing pier (pink lures), and then ate at a sidewalk cafe.  Very pleasant!  Then back to the pool for some swimming and soaking. Here are some pictures, including one of Gordon becoming dinner for a local egret.  

My brother Rich and his wife Robin.

Nature walk

Baby alligators

 egret

 turtles

 Bald eagle

 We saw a number of hawks, a rare painted bunting, and a red bellied woodpecker.

Video of St. Lucie Lock

Here we are being raised 13 ft. in the lock.

The view from our cockpt

Joanna snapped some photos of our "neighbors" here at the marina.  Guess I will cancel the swim!  

Long day of boat maintenance and car packing for trip to Naples to visit my brother and family. Leaving in the morning.  On the highway with the rest of America tomorrow.  (Guess I don't need to take pictures for you.)

Warm weather returned and it is gorgeous out!

It will be nice to take a break from boating.  More time for this:

To Heel or not to heel...

Basically what happens is this: A guy named Billy Owens comes out to your boat and for a fee straps on 55 gallon drums. Then he fills them with water until your boat leans over far enough to squeeze under a low bridge. Suddenly your 54 and 1/2 foot boat inches under a 49 ft. bridge. We were all set to go with an appointment set up for Sunday morning.

But somewhere along the line on Saturday I had a change of heart. Partly because of Billy's desire to do it on the weekend with a forecast of high winds...but mostly because I was feeling too stressed out. Not so much about Billy's bridge, but what would happen next with nowhere to hide from the winds on Okeechobee. And what about the bridges to follow, one around 52 ft. where I would be on my own? As captain in charge of the safety of boat and crew, the risks involved were making me very uncomfortable and my confidence was down (I like to think I was simply listening to my guardian angel). I called Billy Saturday evening and cancelled. I am comfortable with the decision (as is the crew!).

We are at Indiantown Marina. A very pleasant and friendly place. After taking care of some needed boat chores, it looks like there is an Enterprise Rental car in our future and some time as land lubbers before we put this whole trip into reverse. The boat can rest here while we spend some time with family. A thousand miles is far enough!

I'm working on my shell collection!

When you tell people you are going to go cruising, many picture you sailing off into a sunset or lying on a beach or collecting shells.  I like the sunset and the shells part very much.  No way am I going to lie on a beach with my pinky skin!  My dermatologist would be furious if I did that!

For us, cruising is being able to go and see new places and meet new people.  But equally important is the idea of becoming a part of the environment as we immerse ourselves into the ICW and its lifestyle.  The sights, sounds, and smells are all part of the experience.  A cormorant sitting on a day marker drying his wings, a pelican skimming  low over the water, dolphins blowing air as they surface during the hunt, an alligator sinking slowly under the water as we pass.  I smile as I walk past the Ole Dixie, a wooden cruiser up the dock that leaks like a sieve.  I can pretty much count on hearing the bilge pump kick on every time I pass.  The list is endless in this watery world, and we get to experience it all from our floating home.  Love it!  We tend to enjoy the remote anchorages close to wildlife the best.

But alas, nothing good in life happens without a lot of hard work, and right now I have a long list of maintenance items to perform.  For every hour on the water, it seems like I've spent 10 hours getting the boat ready to go.  But it has genuinely been worth it.
I'll try to remember that later on today when I am crawling around the bilge on bad knees performing engine chores!

What we really need...

Yesterday while motoring up the Okeechobee Joanna took some pictures of a few interesting homes. I was surprised to see ANY homes at all, since all I expected was swampland and alligators.

But homes there were, and I liked the setting of many.  I do wonder if gators on the lawn and hordes of bugs in summer might be a problem.

Anyway, we have seen a thousand miles of waterway since we left and that means tens of thousands of homes.  For the most part it takes money to live on the waterfront in America.  We saw stomach turning examples of flagrant capitalism along the way.  Huge  homes with yachts almost as large tied up in the back yard.   It is such a waste as no one could ever properly use/enjoy so much "stuff".  It shouts of "here I am, I am successful and I have money".  Sadly much of America measures success in terms of material items.

We also have seen examples of the difficult economic times, as so many of these same homes became anchor chains around the necks of their owners in a sour economy.  We saw for sale signs all along the way, with many homes foreclosed and vacant.

And we also saw pockets of middle class America still thriving amongst the big boys.  Trailer parks, camp grounds, and homes that look like the right size to live in.  We love that part. Whereas the big estate homes always seem to look empty and unused, the little parks always seem jammed and busy with activity by people looking to get away and enjoy "the good life".

So?  I guess the lesson for us is clear.  We age and hopefully gain wisdom, and part of that wisdom is that "stuff" just weighs you down. We also clearly see how very little we need in this life besides family, friends, and the good Lord to guide us.  In times like these we are better served by rejecting the idea of "more stuff" and reaching out to others

This is the end Rosie!

Here's a picture of us arriving at Indiantown Marina today.  I guess you could say we look a little disheveled.

We made it safely under the Palm Coast Bridge this morning but scraped the antenna on the under side of the bridge.  I did some hard swallowing. Then we managed four more "short" bridges and the St. Lucie Lock which lifted us 13 feet. All in all a good day for us and now we are safely tucked into the marina here at Indiantown with a nasty cold front moving in.  You folks up north will be pleased to hear there are freeze warnings posted for tomorrow night!!!

We are feeling a little worn out right now from battling the waterway and plan to stay a while at Indiantown.  Here are today's pictures: The first shows a bridge gauge indicating we can make it.

Here is a shot on the Okeechobee.

Coming in to St. Lucie Lock

 We are still at bottom of lock in this one:

 At the top...13 ft. later

Joanna wanted me to add the fact that we saw our first two gators today.  The first of many!  Finally, here is a shot of us pulling into the marina.

Notice Joanna in the back of the boat checking her internet signal on the laptop!

Darn you Palm City Bridge!!!!!!!

We got up early so we could fuel up and pump out, but there was a trawler on the dock at Vero so we just left. At least we got an early 7am start on a dreary, rainy day. Yesterday and today mark the first rain we have seen since leaving New Bern 40 days ago. Right now rain is not good because I have some bridges to get under during the next few days.
So on to today's title story:
Crossroads requires 54 ft. 6 in. of bridge clearance. That means anything lower and we are ramming our mast into concrete and steel. That would not be a good thing. Most bridges on the ICW are set at 65 ft.(lowest is 55 ft. which we just make:-), or they are of the drawbridge-swing bridge variety. We did several of those today. No problema amigos! However, The Okeechobee Waterway has a number of 55 footers and several even lower.

That explains why Joanna and I are anchored in Pendarvis Cove in Stuart (Ed Klebaur country!) at 2:00 pm. We need to get under the fixed height Palm City bridge which is 54 ft. So, we motored up to this bridge a little earlier and looked at the bridge card. Most bridges have a gauge at the bottom to tell you the clearance. Since our arrival was close to high tide, the gauge read just over 54. Hmmm....what would you do? Go for it? Anchor up and wait for low tide in the morning? We chose the latter as the weather is stinky anyway.

So hopefully in the morning we will squeeze under Mr. Palm City at low tide and head for the first lock on the Okeechobee which will raise us up 13 ft. Then on to Indiantown and the Port Macaya Bridge set at 49 ft. That will be the real trick! I'll try to get some pictures along the way.
The photo below shows Palm City Bridge in the distance. And check out my new boat hook in the same pic. Pretty proud of that sucker...made it myself! :-)

vero beach pix

Here are the pictures I took while in Vero Beach. To say that this is a retirement community is an understatement. I think I was the youngest person I saw during my downtown visit, and I ain't no spring chicken.  Very pleasant town and everyone was nice, including the lady who has owned the drug store since 1956! While I was in there an elderly gentleman came in to buy some Aleve.  I suggested that a little Johnny Walker might be a better solution to his pains. He replied, "It's because of the Johnny Walker that I need this stuff."

The Bridge Machine

We are in the process of completing plans to cross the Okeechobee Canal to the west coast. Sounds simple enough...but wait...there are some problems to be dealt with. The biggest one is the fact that the bridge clearance for Crossroads is 54ft. 6 inches. So?
Well, it seems the Port Macaya Railway Bridge near Lake Okeechobee is only 49 feet tall. Several others are only 53 or 54 ft. tall. And so the question arises: How do you get a tall boat under a low bridge?
Heh...heh...heh! I don't want to spoil the fun so stay tuned. We are leaving Velcro Beach (That's what the boaters here call it. It is nice here) on Friday and head for Stuart and the St. Lucie River to begin our transit. Saturday we hope to be in Indiantown Marina and Sunday at Port Macaya to meet a guy by the name of...Billy Owens!!!!!. In the meantime I will search for a bridge stretcher and a very long tape measure! Oh,and did I neglect to mention that I am terrible at math? Not to worry.
I am enclosing a picture of my new "S.S. Bridge Machine". The S.S. stands for Sandy Sanderson. I named it in honor of a guy who has been my "Bridge Mentor" and advisor over the past months. (By the way, he is good at math and a heck of a good friend too. Thank you Sandy!) The bridge machine is supposed to make a dumb guy like me look good. Time will tell!
Here is a link that you can go to to learn about the Okeechobee trip: http://www.floridacruising.com/html/okeechobee_chart.html

Warm and windy day here today. I pedaled to Vero Beach and picked up a new handle for my boat hook which snapped. The bridge machine uses part of the snapped boat hook. More details later.

Mmmmmmm....da ocean!

A New Plan...

We were scheduled to leave Vero Beach today but last night during planning we decided to make some changes.  Mostly because we don't like the upcoming weather forecasts further south.  Our worst fear is that big northern blows will hamper our journey as they did in 2006.  There is nothing worse than being stuck in an overpriced marina for days on end,  and believe me, the further south you go the more overpriced they become.

So now we are thinking about skipping the Miami rat race and heading across the peninsula on the Okeechobee Waterway which runs from Port St. Lucie over to Ft. Myers. It will be an adventure in itself as we have never been that way.  There are some major obstacles to overcome which I will tell you all about later. Stay tuned!

For now, here are some pics of the Vero area. Since the city of Vero Beach is so unremarkable I did not snap any pics.  If I go to the beach I will get some.
The bridge near the marina offered a few nice shots.  The pelican was eating all that his belly can!

Internet cafe

Can you name the "internet cafe" in this picture?

Bike tour

I spent the afternoon riding around the city of Vero Beach. it was a mistake as there is very little to see. I would have been better off riding over to the beach. The important thing is that I got some exercise. the boat is ready to go tomorrow but we need to visit the fuel dock before we leave. long day tomorrow!
Can you see the heron on my anchor line?

Just relaxing...

I got the dinghy out today and motored the harbor but otherwise just relaxing. I even read the paper. Go SU!

Floating City!

We are in Vero Beach at the municipal marina. This marina is unlike most others in that they have a mooring field. It's a place where many boats tie to moorings instead of a dock and there are lots here including us and quite a few Canadian boats. It is like a small floating city and is encouraged by the city of Vero Beach to draw in tourists. Free shuttle service downtown makes this a nice stop. We will spend a few days here and enjoy the surroundings.
Joanna did a great job of steering the boat into the mooring field in a stiff breeze while I was on deck to "spear" the mooring ball with my boat hook.
We have come over 800 miles now and so we are about 2/3 of the way to our final destination.
very windy today...actually too windy to sail!!!! 40 more miles today, all on the "iron genny".(motor)