This may be a long, detailed blog, but we have so much to say. Some of it will be our experiences, our thoughts, and even a geography lesson. Hope you like it.
We left Loggerhead Marina in Stuart on Monday around 11:00 -- the dock was filled with about 20 friends we had made (and Bill and Dorothy Taylor from Wexford) to help us and to wish us well. We only went around 10 miles that day. We did go through our first lock - the St. Lucie Lock into the St. Lucie Canal. Because of the low water level in Lake Okeechobee the lock is now opening every two hours. We were aiming for the 1:00 opening, but got there around noon. We called them and they said that boats coming the other way had already called, so our side would open about 1:20. We just motored back and forth for all that time. We were the only boat in it at the time, and the water level went up around 13 feet. We handled it great. We pulled into River Forrest Yachting Center (technically still in Stuart) around 2:00. It is a U-shaped basin that is mainly used for off-season storage, so there were only 3 boats in there (we were the only one occupied -- that was okay with us). Two very nice dockhands helped us dock. We were proud of our first day out.
Tuesday morning we knew that a storm was coming in the late afternoon, so we wanted to get to our next stop before then. We should have studied it more and not left. It was very windy. We went through the Port Mayaca lock which seemed like a wind tunnel. We had a very hard time getting to the side to pick up the ropes to hold us while the water ascended a few feet to lake level. The lock operator was not very nice and didn’t help, except to yell at us that we were moving too fast when in fact we were in neutral trying to maintain control. That’s all we needed. After the lock we entered Lake Okeechobee. It was extremely windy and rough with whitecaps. It is not very well marked and is shallow in lots of areas, so it was difficult. We motored around 35 miles southwest across the lake. We then entered Caloosahatchee Canal, which was wide and deep and easy to travel, except it was still very windy. About three miles after we got off the lake, we went into the Moore Haven Lock. Very similar conditions to the previous lock (but still the only boat in it). We were getting flustered by then. We travelled about ten more miles and pulled into another River Forrest facility outside of LaBelle. We were the only boat in there. We had a strong tail wind and should have turned around to dock into the wind, but we were just so ready for the long day to be over with that we tried to dock with the wind to our back. Three very strong dockhands helped us in, but we could have made it so much easier. The people there could not have been nicer. There was not much going on, so I think they were bored. Several of them kept offering to go to the store for us (they don’t know me very well -- I have enough food on this boat for at least a month). We were exhausted and frustrated so went to bed early. The storm did arrive in the evening with lots of thunder, lightning and rain. There was even a tornado watch. We picked the wrong day to travel. From now on, we will be better about picking what days to travel. We should have known when we were the only boat westbound that day.
Wednesday morning we woke up to remnants of the storm. It was not a nice day, so we decided to stay there another day. We needed that day to relax. The day before had been much too long and too stressful. We relaxed and enjoyed our time there.
Thursday we awoke to fog. We waited around for it to clear up so left there around 11:00. We immediately entered the Ortona Lock. We shared this lock with two other boats. It was such a calm day that it was “a piece of cake”. What a difference lack of wind makes. We felt good about this and were ready for a fun day. After the lock we entered the Caloosahatchee River. This is an absolutely beautiful, wide, deep river. Along the banks were beautiful homes, camps, cows in pastures, etc. Around 2:00 we pulled into the Rialto Harbor Marina in Alva, Florida. It is a very unique place (look it up at rialtoharbor.com). It only has about 10 slips -- it is 12 acres with a pool, tennis courts, walking trails, picnic areas and horse barns. We pulled into a canal going around a small island (one way road) and they wanted us to dock on a 100’ dock with another large boat (with a huge boat on the other side). We did not feel comfortable doing this, so they said we could have the small dock at the entrance. Matt expertly backed this monstrous boat of ours back down the channel and docked perfectly. What a difference when things go right -- also there was no wind. I think we are going to like being here.
Before we left this morning a large black crow flew into our boat. We couldn’t get him out. He kept flying from one window to the other pecking on the glass. He also “used the bathroom” all over our beige couch. After our bad day on Tuesday, we were afraid that this was a bad omen. Thankfully, it was not -- just a mess. Matt finally threw a towel over the bird and “escorted” him out the saloon door and he flew away minus some tail feathers.
We had some good experiences, some great experiences, and some bad experiences. We hope all of them are learning experiences. We did learn a lot and now know that we have a lot more to learn.
Now for the geography lesson. In the 1950’s, Federal money was used (probably stimulus money) to create a waterway across the State of Florida so boats would not have to travel around the tip. They took the existing St. Lucie River on the east (which comes off the Atlantic Ocean), dug the St. Lucie Canal, took the existing Lake Okeechobee, dug the Caloosahatchee Canal, and used the Caloosahatchee River into the Gulf of Mexico and made it part of the Intracoastal Waterway. We are attaching a map which may show it better than we are explaining it.
Attached are some pictures highlighting our trip so far. The last ones, taken here at Rialto, show why it makes all this worthwhile. (Attention: I am not able to attach photos now -- I'll send them later.)
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