Friday, November 4, 2016

Day 31, Fort Myers to Naples, FL - Homeward Bound

November 4th.
Only a short 4 to 5 hour trip for our float plan today.

Sooooo, once again I’ll say that THIS will likely be the last day of our voyage, we can now say confidently, as at daybreak the weather is good and the forecast for the day in Southwest Florida is fair.


At 0845, we motor down the Caloosahatchee River out of Fort Myers, now and again having to idle down for manatee zones.  While we only saw manatee’sa few times, this whole trip has been filled with amazing wildlife between the birds, the sea animals and even land animals. 

Once again today, a dolphin was playing with our vessel’s wake while we were running at about 8 knots, this guy was shooting up the back side of the wave, jumping out and twirling onto his back as he splashed back into the surf, all the while with a smile on his face!

Today’s voyage down the coast was so much fun since this coast is one that we know pretty well from having been coming to this area for several decades now. We emerged from the Caloosahatchee River and into San Carlos Bay, through the Mantanzaz Pass into the Gulf of Mexico.  At that point we were several miles off the coast of Estero.  We then moved from several miles offshore to less than a mile, and ran along the beach past Pelican Bay, the Gulfshore area (where friends came out to the beach to welcome wave us from shore!) and Olde Naples before turning into Gordon Pass.  Then two miles north up to Naples City Dock, our final destination. Just as the sendoff in Maine, we were welcome here by family members!





Well, what a trip. It is certainly good to be back "home" on terra firma.  But first, and foremost, we need to pay our respects to the Lady A.  Our ship performed beautifully. There were very few issues with the systems and mechanics.  The Lady A is a small vessel, but she’s as seaworthy as any, and reliable all the day (and night) long. Life aboard was comfortable and sleeping was great.  We are so grateful for our vessel and of her, we are most proud.  


While I can’t yet say that I would rush out to do this trip again tomorrow, and I know Amanda wouldn't, we both have a great sense of having accomplished a significant voyage.  From Southern Maine to Southwest Florida, we sailed 1,772.2 nautical miles in 32 days (with a couple of weeks off in between due to weather).

The blog has been fun as well.  But bays, harbors, coves, rivers, sounds, gulfs and creeks as well as marinas, begin to run together and get hazy after a month at sea so it's nice to have the trip digitally memorialized. 

Thank you all who cared to take this voyage with us! nice to have you along.

Bon voyage to you.
We made it!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Day 31 - The Glades to Ft. Myers

Sunrise leaving The Glades


Intended "last day", destination foiled.
As planned, we awoke early, before dawn, in order to get to the Ortona Lock just after the 7 am scheduled opening.

Crossing the peninsula
Float plan for the final portage.

We traveled the four miles to the lock "Arrival Point" before 0800 and radioed on our VHF, channel 13, "Ortona Lock, this is the Lady A, headed west, come in."  Ortona Lock: "Our next lockage will be at 11:30 AM."  Ouch. The day's plans to complete our voyage all the way to Naples have now been foiled.

Despite our detour, the First Mate is dealing well with her deep depression, and is busy making plans to find a nice berth for the evening.  Despite having packed all our clean clothes, our dirty laundry,  and started cleaning the wheelhouse, she wisely didn't "unmake" the bed so we will sleep in our comfy, cozy bunk one more night!

(Shouldn't have written last night that "tomorrow we'd wrap it up"! The First Mate will now need to make plans to find a marina in Ft. Myers to spend tonight and we'll have an easy morning sail down to Naples tomorrow.)

Went back to the Ortona lock early and had to wait about an hour but true to their word, they started operating at 1130. Only problem was, they opened first from the west, so we had to wait a full opening.  Got on our way around 1230.
Tending the lines for the drop


The final lock, W. P. Franklin, was uneventful and dropped us down about 2 feet to sea level.  You'd think we could just shoot the rapids, no?

Arrived in Ft. Myers at 1645 and found a great slip, right by Joe's Crab Shack.  Might be our dinner spot.

Ft. Myers, Legacy Harbour Marina

Ft. Myers sunset


'Til tomorrow, perhaps the last day of our voyage, who knows?



Day 30 - Stuart to Moore Haven (“The Glades”),FL

We awoke as early as we ever have as some of us are anxious to have the trip end in the next few days.  That said, the marina at “Sunset Bay” in Stuart was one of our finest places to stay.  Tonight, not so much.....

Stuart sunrise
Red sky at morning....

Fabulous weather in Stuart as we shoved off at 0738 for our almost nine hour voyage through Lake Okeechobee today. Just south of Stuart we entered the St. Lucie Canal and went from one ditch to another!  
St. Lucie Lock
up about 13'

The lock systems were pretty cool, one taking us up about 13 feet and the other two (for today), less.


Before





After
Opening the gate
Tending the rise
Port Mayaca Lock, leading into Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee was a body of water that is not warm and fuzzy, one that doesn’t really draw me back. First of all, the water's edge is vague and obscure.  The wind was blowing hard, gusting to 20, but fortunately from the east (with us). 
Perhaps they thought we were a fishing vessel??

In addition, it was overcast, and spitting rain.  One of the few runs where some seamanship mattered.  Okeechobee is the second largest fresh body of water in America and most of it is about 10 feet deep. Went through some marsh to get to the canal on the west side of the Lake.




That’s where we entered the Caloosahatchee Canal. Another ten miles or so, and one more lock, this time a few feet down, we got to our slip for the night in The Glades.  This is a "hidden marina", complete with rv park, golf course, cafe and complimentary golf cart. Laura, who lives on a houseboat nearby, ran us over to LaBelle to grab a bite and brought us back.  A wonderful cross-section of America.


The plan is to depart around dawn and get to the first “downward” lock shortly after it opens. If all goes well, we can make Naples, our ultimate destination, by tomorrow night.........

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Day 29 - Vero Beach to Stuart, FL

Vero Beach City Harbor, our home for the night.

Opened our day with a mile or two hike to the Lemon Tree for a "healthy" breakfast and then hiked back. Some more welcome exercise, similar to what we had the night before.

Vero berth



We shoved off around 0900 as our day's float plan was short.  A beautiful day, again but in this area, the wind had been whipping up on the Atlantic out of the east for the past several days.  There was also warnings against certain areas of shoaling between specific markers that the First Mate reminded the Captain of, from time to time.
The Lady A's helm station
Staying in the channel
Consequently, we had to deal with some of that on the day’s voyage. There were large bays to our east during this relatively straight southerly run but the fetch created some choppy seas from the east that forced us to take on a decent sea spray for a long spell over our port side. Fortunately that’s the side that’s housed in!

Wipers workin'
Here we are, now, in Stuart, heralded for being one of the most livable and desirable seaside communities in America.  Really enjoyable.  
Followed a sailboat through, the draw bridge,
otherwise may have had to lower antennae
At the Sunset Marina, a City facility, for the night which has really nice docks, meeting grounds, amenities like grills. outdoor patios and an adjacent restaurant with live music and outdoor dining. Roughing it, not. We took the complimentary bikes around town and came back to the marina restaurant for dinner.


Tomorrow we enter the Okeechobee waterway and spend the night in Central Florida, making our way to the west coast by Thursday. (?)