Lots of Locks

Along the Okeechobee route are several locks to either bring you up to or down from lake level.  Since we've done this several times it's not as daunting a task as it once was but still requires paying attention to wind and lock master directions.  So far, we've come through 3 with one more to go before Fort Myers.  Having a third set of hands makes it much easier especially with strong winds.

Daryl handles the bow line.  David is on the stern and I'm driving
once I put the camera down.

Things lock through with you.  This was a massive bed of weeds.

A boat sticker from close to home.  The boat is from Destin.

Lockmate was nice enough to let us in first and waited for us to clear
the area before powering around us.  Very polite and very appreciated.

Mileage sign letting you know how far you have to go.

Boats and businesses leave their calling cards in the form of
decals along  the lock walls.  Fun to see who has been there before you.

Looking at the lock while we motor around in circles waiting for our
turn.

The Ortona lock takes a long time so many boats have had time to post
their decal along the upper wall.

I always enjoy watching the water enter or exit the lock.  Such power!

Heeling Blue Moon and Lake Okechobee

We made Indiantown the first night.  Not a long way from Stuart but  we had a late start and we were ready to rest.  From there, David decided we would need to heel the boat  to get under the Port Mayaca RR bridge.  Not our first rodeo with the heeling back and we were glad to have Daryl to help with the rigging.  Happily, all went well and the crossing was a piece of cake.  We reached the other side early enough that we pressed on through the Moore Haven lock and stopped for the night at the city docks, a first for us.  We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant with a super enthusiastic young owner.  The food was first rate and the service was a well.  We wish this ambition young man a world of success. 

The process of deploying the heeling bag has a lot of minor steps that make it work
Each one has to be done or you regret it.  We know from experience!

Starting to fill and lean us over.

The water was thankfully mirror smooth as you can see in this image.
The bag leaks a bit but not enough to prevent us heeling over enough
to get under the bridge.

One the bag is all set and filling, all you can do is sit and wait.  I monitor
the degree of heel as I drive.  Once we have enough we start the nail-biting
trip under the bridge.

Happiness is the low bridge in you back view with no drama-no worries.

You have to love the people who write the descriptions of things on
charts.  The Okeechobee writers were especially creative.  This isn't
grass or spoil island or anything so mundane.  This, dear reader,
is "emergent vegetation".

This is labeled as "concrete structure"  No duh!

Once across we were in the rim canal.  This is a long, straight path.

The levee is well reinforced to mitigate wake damage.  The big powerboats
roar through here throwing a lot against the shore.

Stuart to Lake Okeechobee

Since David is less than 100%, our friend Daryl kindly offered to help us get the boat home.  He has earned our undying gratitude for sure.  We drove back to Stuart without any urgent care stops so a much better trip than going north.  We spent two days getting groceries on board, installing a rebuilt starter and squaring the boat away for the return trip.  We are trying to hustle along and not over-tax our friendship.  Plus David has appointments in February.  Hopefully all will go well and it will be a nice trip.  From Stuart, we went the St. Lucie Canal to Lake Okeechobee.  This section is where the west coast ICW meets the east coast of the ICW and is very scenic and full of history.  We have made the trip several times and if you want more pictures, search previous posts.  There is always something interesting to see.

As we're entering the canal west of Stuart there are several retirement
communities along the banks.

This dock has gone to the birds!

If you're looking for a fixer-upper this house is for you.  You can paint stucco, right?

It's a really large house not sure what the sad story his behind it's
sad state of decline.

This is one palm tree that won't give in to gravity.  Wish my skin was that
determined!

This area seemed to be a boatyard in the making.  No inlets or ponds but a hug
travel lift and already several large, sea-going vessels pulled up onto shore.

This is a really comfortable looking place to sit and enjoy the passing
traffic.  My only issue with it is how green it is in January.  Over
application of fertilizer is the major source of algae bloom responsible
for Red Tide.  The folks along the canal with green yards SHOULD NOT
whine when it hits again in the Spring.

Typical retirement/Snowbird community along the way.

Back on Board and Back on the Move

As you can see, I took a bit of a hiatus from blogging.  From Jacksonville we flew to Fort Worth for a celebration that will go down in history.  At least our family history anyway.  Two of my brothers had milestone birthdays 70 and 60 and seven siblings managed to make it to the birthday bash.  Sadly, the oldest brother couldn't make it but he was missed.  We used Thanksgiving for those of us from out of town to come into town and party.  David and I joined his sister, Libby, for dinner at her daughter, Alexis' new home for Thanksgiving.  Alexis and Brandon graciously included us in their family feast and made us feel right at home.  Many Thanks.  The downside of the trip is that David's shoulder started to bother him.  He blamed it on sleeping in bed that didn't rock with the waves.  Once back in Jacksonville, it really started to hurt to the point of urgent care visits, lots of drugs and a shot to get us on down the road.  In a long series of days, we made it to Stuart and rented a car to drive back to our "dirt house" in Fort Walton a few weeks earlier than planned to start the process of doctor's visits, tests, etc.  Bottom line is his shoulder still hurts but he has meds to help and a bunch of follow-up when we finally get home to treat the culprit, bursitis.  Man, nothing makes you feel old like sore joints!  Not many pictures but some to break up the words.

7 of 8 siblings.  The birthday  boys are the two on the end.  Blue Ribbon 60
and witty tee 70.

The halyard (line that raises a sail) was tied off to keep it from banging against
the mizzen mast while we were in the marina. Our wind generator eventually
cut through the outer sheath one blade nick at a time.  Fortunately it didn't sever
the line completely so we could use it to messenger the new line through the top of the mast.

How you reach the mizzen sail. Step on the cockpit table then use the
2 winches to stand on.  When we designed the bimini, we had to explain why
the gap had to meet certain width parameters. 

We had the bottom cleaned before we left Stuart.  The guy asked is we were
a Mardi Gras boat.  We couldn't figure out what he was talking about until he
showed us the string of beads clinging to the scupper hole.  Our granddaughter Freya
had great fun making them drop down the scupper hole back in Charleston.  Amazing they
stuck with the boat until Stuart!

Spike the cat decided he liked us and our boat.  We know his name thanks
to his collar.  Very friendly and very inquisitive. If there was a nook
he could reach, he explored it.

On to Jacksonville, FL

As sad as we were to see all the kids head back to their own homes, we were ready to head south and find some warmer weather.  We left Charleston and went about 20 miles south and anchored out for a night waiting for a weather window  to jump out into the Atlantic and knock back about 130 miles to the south.  We came in near the Georgia-Florida line into St. Simon's Sound and tucked in to catch up on sleep.  I have two brothers celebrating milestone birthdays 70 and 60 and my family is putting together a party back in Texas.  I really hate to miss family or a party so we made arrangements to leave the boat in an affordable marina in Jacksonville and used airline miles to book tickets.  I am so grateful all the million moving pieces came together.  Oh, it's 10 degrees warmer so the thermal underwear is packed away for now!

Currents are amazing things.  This one was running in our favor but it
doesn't always work out that well.  The hull was moving 6.6 knots but the
current moved us along at over 9.

Tides are quite variable too.  You can clearly see the water line on the
marsh grasses at one of our anchorages.  When we drop the anchor
we need to know the tide range so we don't end up on the bottom
 during low tide.

A sand beach seemingly out of nowhere along the waterside.

Coming into St. Simon's Sound we saw this overturned ocean going ship.
We remembered reading about the fair weather disaster back in September
but had forgotten all about it.

The ship was full of cars headed for a foreign market.  There must have been a
dramatic shift  in the load to make the vessel fall over on it's side.  At least
it wasn't in mid-ocean as it would have sunk with a total loss.

The boat was deemed too unstable to right so they are cutting it
up bit by bit and salvaging the metal.  I don't know if the  cars are still
in there or not.

We are finally back in Florida waters.  We still have several hundred miles
to go before we reach home but at least we're local again.  So far we
have logged just over 4,000 miles this trip out. Not bad for old folks.
Jacksonville is a very busy seaport with a large Navy presence as
tons of commercial traffic as well.  You do feel like  Lilliputian next
to these giant cargo vessels.

Constant dredging is required to keep the sea channel passable for all
the huge ships.

Odds and Ends of Cruising

We take a lot of pictures.  Not all of them come out but we try.  Some don't have a real relationship to others so here a few of those.

One of the colonnades of trees in a city park.

We learned that in-town planters houses had high walls not to keep
people out but house slaves in.

Old bridge supports provide perfect spots for gulls and pelicans
to fish from.  The smell let us know they had been making this
"their" spot for a long time.

The moss on this turtle's shell had him blend in with pilings.

Now that is a unique end-of-dock place to sit and watch the world go by.

Chinese Lantern Festival

While we didn't get to see all the displays lit up at night, they were all lovely to look at during the day.  I thought I would share some of the more spectacular pieces of art.

We always like the Shisha Lions from our time in Okinawa.  These were
gorgeously done.

The closeup allows you to see some of the intricate details.

And in brilliant red, a popular Chinese color.

These bridges were a them throughout the gardens of Magnolia Plantation.

Flights of butterfly fantasy on huge flowers.

Fairy tale creatures kept Miss Freya happy.

The entrance gate to the lantern displays.

These pandas looked so lifelike in their area.

These must have been quite lovely lit up at night.

Can't have gardens without ladybugs.

More fantasy flowers