Clewiston to Stuart Yacht Builders

Day #111; Loop Miles = 1,520

Roland Martins Marina in Clewiston was a very convenient and easy stop. It is a small marina, located in just the right spot for folks who want to travel across the Okeechobee Waterway in 2 days. Luckily for us, we were there on a Sunday night so the Tiki Bar was quiet by about 8 pm. We understand that other nights of the week, and especially on Friday and Saturday, it can get quite lively...and the transient slips are very close to the Bar. But for us, it was perfect.

Our marina for Sunday night.

The Army Corps of Engineers manages this waterway, and they had an office and dock here near this marina.

Resident Iguana presiding over the comings and goings. This guy was probably 3 feet long.

We did everything right in our trip planning...with light winds predicted for the actual crossing of the lake. However, Mother Nature did not entirely agree with the forecasters, so we had a bit more wind than anticipated. It wasn't awful (2'-3' seas) but it certainly wasn't as calm as we had hoped. We cranked the engine up and cruised faster than we typically do...this actually helped to smooth out the ride a bit, and of course made the transit a bit shorter.

As we crossed the lake, the seagulls mistook us for a fishing boat, and followed us the entire way (20 miles or so).

You can see our wake here...and 2 things to note. First...it's pretty big, signaling that we had the engine running at 2400rpm. And second, look at how dirty the water is. The days before we crossed were really windy and rainy, and this lake is very shallow...thus leading to remarkably murky water for this fresh water lake.

We enjoyed the remainder of the day, cruising along the more typically narrow waterway. We encountered a number of boats traveling west bound, and transited 2 more locks. Our end destination was Stuart Yacht Builders, where we have some planned maintenance and boat projects being performed. The added bonus is that our friends on InSpeyered2 are here as well! They've actually had their boat here since before Christmas, and are anxious for the completion of the many projects that they are working on. It was great for us as we arrived...they dinghied out to greet us, and led us back a rather tricky channel to the boat yard's location. It's been wonderful to catch up the past few days, and it has yet to be determined if we'll leave together or not. We plan to be here through the weekend before moving on. In any event, we will be cruising with them at least off and on for the next few months we expect.

More to follow on our boat projects...the list grew by a couple of items once we got here, and the weather has been dreadful since we arrived, slowing our progress some. But we are really happy with this yard and the people working on our boat.

Much of our journey on Monday was peaceful and serene...very enjoyable.

Ft Myers to Clewiston, FL

Day #107; Loop miles = 1,465

This is gonna be a short post tonight...a quick recap and some pics.

We got up at dawn, and left Ft Myers by 7am this morning, in order to make the 70 mile trek that we wanted to accomplish. When we left, we simply turned right on the Okeechobee Waterway, and kept driving east...traversing 3 locks, and having 2 bridges opened for us. It was a picture perfect day, and we made good time, arriving at our marina before 5pm. A long day, but it stages us perfectly to cross Lake Okeechobee in the morning and heading for our destination in Stuart sometime late tomorrow afternoon. We needed to finesse our timing with a good weather window for tomorrow, as the lake can get rough pretty quickly if it gets breezy. And as we pen this entry, the wind tomorrow is still forecasted to be very light, so we should be in great shape.

Saturday night, our final night in Ft Myers, found us stumbling into a classic car show in the downtown area right near the marina. It was a bit windy and chilly, but the enthusiasts were out in good numbers. We were a bit late to the party, as some cars had already departed, but there were still plenty to see.

Earlier in the day, it was literally gale force winds at the marina. Not a day that anyone would want to be on the water.

But we were tucked into a nice safe and relatively quiet spot.

 

Not a great shot, but one view of the street scene with the car show. For Carl...that's a '63 in the foreground...it was in mint condition.

This was our personal favorite!

Not many shots of our journey today...we just didn't have the camera in action...it happens some days. Here is a rather representative shot of what about 1/2 of our journey looked like today.

All for now...more soon...

Fort Myers Yacht Basin...a Week and Counting

Day #104; Loop miles = 1,395

Indeed our stay here in Ft Myers has extended to a week...and now a bit more. It is a very comfortable spot to be for a spell. A great and close downtown, lots of friendly loopers right here, terrifically easy dog walking, a protected slip...what more could we ask for? Well...a bit of warm, and not so windy weather would be nice! We can't really complain relative to what parts north of here are experiencing, but it has been cooler than expected. And, the wind is now causing us to hang around for a couple of extra days.

We have had plenty of down time while here, gotten a number of boat projects accomplished, but also made time to just enjoy being here. We've eaten out a number of times...found some really good Mexican food, Italian food, and regular old pizza. And of course while in the presence of so many loopers, we've been included in a couple of docktail gatherings.

Downtown Ft Myers is really nice...they've done a superb job of making it visitor friendly. Easy to walk, lots of shops and restaurants, and we have also enjoyed some local entertainment that we found there. Last Friday, there were probably 10 or so different musical "acts" performing in the streets in a variety of places. Anything from 4 piece jazz ensembles to solo guitar players and even a young girl of about 7 with a mike and amplifier singing pop songs rather out of key. It was great fun!

These guys were our favorites...and very, VERY good. Playing jazz, and jazzy renditions of popular songs, They are likely still in high school...but they were seriously good. You can't tell from the picture, but they were set up in a little brick courtyard right outside of a pizza joint. We sat at a picnic table here for 45 minutes or so...really enjoyable.

 

A shot of the blocked off streets...lots of people out.

This little guy caught our attention. He was stationed on the back of some guys Harley Davidson and was posing for pictures all night. The owner was hawking his handyman business, but his dog was getting all of the attention. And right beside this guy was....

This guy dressed as Jesus, speaking with the passersby. He had stage make-up on and everything. You can see the Harley and the dog in the foreground.

Another day, we took the free trolley that runs a loop through downtown out to the 20 acre Edison/Ford Estate. The short version of the story is that Ft Myers was one of Edison's adopted homes, and he spent winters and considerable time here. At one time, Henry Ford worked for one of the companies that Edison owned, and Edison became an early mentor of Henry Ford. Over time they became close friends, and eventually, the Edison's invited the Fords to build a winter home right next door to them here in Ft Myers. We learned a lot about both men...a very interesting afternoon, and a very interesting slice of history. Well worth the time to do if anyone finds themselves in this corner of Florida.

Here is where you can find a bunch more info if you are interested: Edison Ford Estate

Edison's winter home.

And Henry Fords place...you can see how close these 2 properties are. Literally right next door.

This is a Mysore Fig Tree...to get a sense of how huge this is, look closely to the right of the base of the tree and you will see a person...it had to be 20 feet in diameter at the base of the trunk. One of the joint projects that Edison and Ford worked on in Edison's lab here was to look for alternatives to rubber. During WW1, they became concerned about the US dependence on foreign sources for rubber. So they planted all variety of tree and plant specimens, seeking an alternative, among them this Fig. In the end, after testing 17,000 plant samples, Edison eventually discovered a source in the plant Goldenrod. Fascinating.

The winter estate is located on a beautiful setting along the Caloosahatchee River.

So where to now you ask? We have decided to travel across the state via the Okeechobee Waterway to the east coast of FL. From there we will transit down the coast and make our way to the Keys. At the eastern end of the Okeechobee waterway is Stuart, FL. There we will head to a shipyard to have some minor work done on Sandrobber. It will require hauling the boat out of the water, and hopefully all of the work will get done in one day...we really hope so. (For those of you interested, we are replacing the shaft seal on our rudder assembly. Our vintage of American Tug has shown a propensity to develop a leak at the rudder shaft seal, and sure enough ours is now leaking...very slowly. Nothing at all catastrophic, but something that we want to attend to none the less. They have a redesigned seal that will be retrofitted on our rudder assembly, and then we'll be as good as new.)

So...after we wait out the big blast of wind that is expected on Saturday, we will make our way east, with the expectation of arriving in Stuart on Monday or Tuesday.

Here is another boat docked at our marina with a blue hull like ours...only this one is 127 feet long! The guy who originally had it built was the patriarch of the Walgreen family of Walgreen's Pharmacy. It is now owned by some folks who own a winery in CA. To gain a sense of perspective, the inflatable dinghy you see on the upper deck near the American Flag is 20+ feet long and has a 200hp outboard on it.

Cayo Costa to Burnt Store Marina to Ft Myers Yacht Basin

Day #96; Loop miles = 1,395

We stayed at anchor at Cayo Costa for 2 nights, and would have stayed another 2 if the weather would have cooperated. However, the North winds continued to blow, and the forecast was not that rosy for later in the week. And, it was getting a bit tiresome for dog duty, as we had to traverse about 1/2 mile of open water in the dinghy...in about a 2 foot chop. The anchorage and park were fantastic...in better weather, we could have stayed a week.

Our view of the Park docks from our anchorage.

A few of our neighbors.

A picture doesn't really do this one justice...it was quite pretty.

So, we decided to make a run to Punta Gorda (well that area anyway) to Burnt Store Marina. This is a great marina, with a ton of boats in it and great protection from all directions. The downside is that it is 10 miles to the nearest anything...there are multiple condo complexes at the marina, but absolutely no outside services. If you had a car, it would be just fine...very quiet even though it is quite large. We were lucky to find one of our crossing buddies, Liquid Assets there, and it was great to see them and catch up on our relative travels in the last month or so.

With poorer weather on the horizon, we decided that we wanted to move "somewhere" but also be in a marina for the next few days. After some deliberation and exploration of just about all options, we decided to make a run to Ft Myers. We skipped some possible destinations on Captiva and Sanibel, but we knew that we wanted to see Ft Myers and spend some time there. We managed to find an open slip at the Yacht Basin there, and it is superb! We are right next to the downtown area that has tons of restaurants and shops, and there are slews of loopers here. It is obvious that this is a winter destination for many, as we have met a number of folks who are here for a month or more.

Not a very dramatic picture, but this marker signals the end of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW). Mile 0 is near Ft Myers, and as you go either South or East from here, you are no longer on the Intercoastal. When we get to the East coast of FL, we'll pick up the ICW that goes from Key West to Norfolk, VA.

We've seen loads of these signs, and obey them each and every time. But, still no manatee sightings for us as of yet. There are a couple of marinas where we have been where they were reported to be, but we haven't spotted any yet...all in time.

Once again we arrived to find Nearly Perfect docked near us...our Gold Looper friends we last saw in Gulfport. And now we learn that we have stumbled into the middle of the Gold Looper Reunion gathering...so that helps explain why we see so many Gold Looper flags on boats around the marina. (A refresher for some of you...a Gold Looper is someone who has already completed the loop. When they do this, they replace their white Looper burgee with a Gold one. So, when you pull into a marina, you can easily distinguish between those still on their first loop, and others who are done and still going.)

We plan to chill here for at least a couple of days, and we could see that this could stretch into a week. We are at a decision point where we are now with our travel plan. From where we are, we can head south down the southwest coast of Florida past the Everglades and on to the Keys. Or...we can head east across the Okeechobee Waterway that cuts across the center of Florida and spits us out on the east coast near Stuart, which would then lead to a trip down the southeast coast of FL to get to the Keys. Both itineraries have their plusses and minuses...we'll decide our course of action in the next few days...stay tuned!

Miscellaneous pic for the day:

Some people aspire to have a house on the water, others just decide to have a house IN the water! (We think this might have been some sort of a bait shop/beer stop or something, but don't know for sure.)

Long Boat Key to Venice to Palm Island Marina to Coya Costa

Day # 93; Loop Miles = 1,344

OK...we have some catching up to do on the blog, as we have been on the move in the past few days. We left Longboat Key Club on Thursday and traveled to Venice to stay at Fisherman's Wharf Marina. This was a really nice marina stop, although some of the amenities were a bit spartan. The docks were great, the protection from wake and wind superb, and the people we met were super freindly. And this was where we also caught up with our friend Steve, who moved to Venice after retiring from Dow Corning a handful of years ago. It was not only great to see him and catch up, but he was a terrific host! We went out to a fantastic seafood dinner (his treat!) and he also loaned us a car for the few days that we were there. On top of this, he served as our local post office and UPS location as we shipped quite a few things to his house ahead of time. Thanks Steve for making our life much easier!




 

Typical view on the Intercoastal...thousands and thousands of houses like this one with the ubiquitous pool cage.

We have enjoyed seeing more of these flocks of White Pelicans. They seem so unusual, and still catch us off guard occasionally.

We stayed in Venice for 2 nights, and enjoyed our time there, but the marina rates were a bit steep, so we moved on. On Saturday, we moseyed down the Intercoastal to Palm Island Marina (another great spot) near Englewood, and enjoyed meeting Gold Loopers, Doug and Betty on Sea Biscuit. They offered some insightful local advice, and we ended up following them to our anchorage at Coya Costa where we are tonight. They also will be a perfect resource for information on the Fort Myers area as they spend a considerable amount of time there when in Florida.

And now for a brief tour of a swing bridge...

This swing bridge is the only path to continue down the Intercoastal, and has a height clearance of about 9 feet...even we need to call to have a bridge like this opened for us.

The bridge tender walks to the center of the span, and swings the bridge open from there. If you look closely, you can see him just to the right of our burgee in his bright green safety vest.

And now it's open far enough for us to pass through.

And there he is!

So tonight, we are anchored out at Coya Costa, a beautiful anchorage near an island state park. There is a dinghy dock about 1/2 mile from where we are anchored for puppy duty, and the beaches on the island are gorgeous. Our friends from InSpeyered 2 stayed here for 3 days last month, so we knew it was a spot that we wanted to also check out. And, along the way, everyone we spoke with about anchorages mentioned this location specifically...and now we see why. It is quite windy out there tonight, and will remain so for a couple of days, but we are in a protected cove and very secure. There are about 10 other boats spread throughout this large anchoring area, and we expect many to come and go over the next few days...more info and pictures to follow in future installments.

Our first sunset at Coya Cost...a bit cloudy today, but still quite pretty.

Gulfport to Bradenton to Long Boat Key

Day #88; Loop Miles to date = 1,286

We liked Gulfport and enjoyed our 3 days there, but it was time to get moving. We decided to check out Bradenton, although our expectations weren't that high. We found the Twin Dolphins Marina to be nice, and the revitalized downtown area enjoyable. It isn't a place that we would want to spend a lot of time exploring, but it was a good spot to stop with the weather front that brought rain and plenty of wind. We knew that the front was coming, and the marina provided the cover that we anticipated from the strong North winds...so all in all, it worked out fine.

A gray, windy and messy day when we traversed Tampa Bay to Bradenton. This was about as close as we got to the Sunshine Skyway...no sun today.

Somewhere in this maze of markers is our channel! Not to worry, it wasn't as confusing as it might seem.

After the front passed through, there were still some predicted strong winds that were headed our way. We saw a window on Monday morning where we could leave Bradenton and head for Sarasota. If we didn't make this window, the winds might keep us in Bradenton for 2 additional days. So, we set out for the Long Boat Key Club Moorings. This is a rather expensive marina/resort, but we found that by mentioning Active Captain, we could pay for 2 nights and get the 3rd night free. This made it more reasonable, and it allowed us access to the Sarasota area. We won't use all of the fancy resort amenities available (golf, tennis, spa, etc.) but we are enjoying a very protected slip among some VERY nice boats. The wind is blowing at 20 mph out there now and we are barely rocking. Looking out at Sarasota Bay, it is full of white caps and large waves...it would not be a good travel day!

A fellow traveler who rode with us on the way to Long Boat Key for about a mile or so.

So, we're camped out here for a few days of luxurious marina life, and then on Thursday, we'll likely head further south for Venice, where we plan to hook up with a friend who lives in the area. Sandy plans to spend much of today exploring St Armands Circle and Sarasota, while Rob unfortunately has some work to do. With any luck, the work stuff will be out of the way by Wednesday morning, and we'll have most of the day to do some more exploring and poking around.

Hope y'all are warm wherever you are!

Clearwater to Gulfport FL

Day #83; Loop miles to date = 1243

Happy New Year to All!

Well, we finally managed to leave the Clearwater area after being there for 3 weeks. We were definitely ready to leave, but it had been really easy to stay just one more day...every day. And we had learned that there was going to be a large fireworks display near us on Clearwater Beach, which would have been great to see from our boat, but one of our pups is really quite afraid of all of the loud noise that goes along with such a display. So, it was a great time for us to decide to head south and find somewhere a bit quieter.

A couple of our regular neighbors who we will miss seeing every day:

These guys can go really, really fast when they choose to!

Before we left though, on the eve of New Years Eve Day, we were lucky enough to finally get our niece Lara and her boyfriend Christian out on the boat for a sunset cruise. We had been trying to get this accomplished earlier, but the combination of some weather issues, Christmas travel schedules, and other stuff kept getting in the way. We managed to sneak in a cruise for an hour or so before it got dark on us, and the weather cooperated pretty well. We had a short, but really nice ride!

On New Years Eve Day, we had a leisurely 25 mile day winding our way down the Intercoastal, and then across Boca Ciega Bay to Gulfport Municipal Marina. This is quite a nice municipal facility in spite of some construction of a new marina building that has things torn up a bit. We are totally protected from the wind where we are, and about a 15 minute walk to the funky, artsy, beach town of Gulfport. And when we arrived, we found ourselves parked right behind Nearly Perfect, who we met back in Demopolis, AL. They are now Gold Loopers (having completed their loop when they reached Mobile) and are continuing to cruise as they love the lifestyle and experience. Fortunately for us, they have a car with them here, and we were invited to join them for a provisions run to Publix this morning...a real treat to be able to load up with everything we need with no concern for how we would get it back to the boat.

And tonight, Gulfport is having a their twice monthly art festival, so the town will be filled with artists and crafts folks displaying their wares. We and Nearly Perfect are headed into town for dinner and then a stroll around the "festival". It should be a fun way to spend New Years Day evening!

One of the derelict boats that FL has so much trouble with...most likely just left where it sank by its owners. A shame.

Sandy enjoying one of her favorite pastimes on a stroll we took around Gulfport!

These folks don't even know that they have a tourist attraction in their front yard.

A bit cloudy today, but still high 70's...a shot of the anchorage area in Boca Ciega Bay near Gulfport. There is a dinghy dock nearby too for those who choose to anchor instead of heading for the marina.