Cocoa, Daytona and St. Augustine

3-21 thru 3-25

This was Vero Beach the morning we left.

On March 21^st we headed to Cocoa. We anchored near the Cocoa Bridge with Bob and Nancy on “Rachel J”. We met Bob and Nancy at Vero Beach. Back in Vero Beach, Bob gave us a dinghy ride to the dock, while the glue was drying on our dinghy’s patch. They invited us over to their boat. Before we left, Shay changed a fuel filter on the generator. There’s always something to do or fix on a boat.  We took our snack and drink and Bob picked us up in his dinghy. He had towed his dinghy behind his boat today, so it was easier for him to come and get us than for us to get our dingy down and then put it back up. They have a beautiful custom built boat that they purchased from a friend. We enjoyed spending time with them.  

                                                                 The “Rachel J”

We are learning that visiting other boats for “cocktail” hour is a fun thing to do. You take you drink of choice, a snack, and get to know each other. Most boaters love to show off their boat and share their experiences and knowledge. We have learned a lot from other boaters, in the short time we have been on the boat. We are definitely new to this and need all the help we can get. Remember we have met some people that have been boating for 50 years and we have only lived on a boat for about 2 months now. Maybe some day we can pass on some knowledge to others. Well, I take that back. Shay knows a lot about a lot of stuff.  Maybe not all he needs to know about boating yet, but he knows lots of other stuff. He has already been helping people we have met. He’s given advice about electronic stuff, TV stuff, and navigation software.

We had a quiet night at a pretty anchorage in Cocoa.

We passed by a large commercial boat that was grounded. It is at least 3 feet out of the water. We’re not sure how long it’s been there and don’t have any idea how they will get it out.

We left the next morning and headed to our next anchorage. Instead of going all the way to Daytona, we decided to stop at Rockhouse Creek. This meant that we could get into Daytona early the next day and have more time to explore. “Rachel J” decided to make the long trip to Daytona.

We saw lots of dolphins on the way. Every time Shay tells me he sees dolphin heading toward us, I grab my camera and start taking pictures. You’d think as many as we’ve seen that I would have a fantastic picture of one jumping out of the water. Well I don’t have that one yet, but I’m still hoping for it. I know there’s a picture of a dolphin jumping out of the water on the Gulf crossing, but I wasn’t there so it’s not the same. Shay saw an alligator sunning on the bank in the Haulout Canal. I snapped a picture, but didn’t get it.

We had an early dinner and took a nap on the fly bridge. Hey, we’re retired; we can do that kind of stuff now. Heaven knows we haven’t had time to do that much since we’ve moved onto the boat. We are anchored with Don and Cathy on “Crossroads”, you can see their boat behind us in this picture.

A beautiful island we passed. Wouldn’t this be a great place to be

shipwrecked?

We pulled into the Daytona Yacht Club the next afternoon. Yes, yacht club. We are a member of a yacht club thru our membership in MTOA, Marina Trawler Owners Association. This allows us to get great deals in some other yacht clubs. This one allows you to dock for free for 1 day. Yes, free. We only had to pay $10.00 for power. That’s just my price. This is a really nice place with a pool, hot tub, gourmet restaurant, and fitness room, in addition to the usual amenities. We walked round town then back to the boat. Later, we ate a delicious dinner at Caribbean Jacks then back to the boat and a quiet night at the dock.

We saw a dock box that I’m sure Lauren would love.

Daytona lights

Daytona skyline

The next morning we left for St. Augustine. There was a lot of current near Matanzas Inlet. We saw the remains of the old Matanzas Fort. 

This must be “Bird Island”.



This flag shows how hard the wind is blowing.

 

When the wind blows, sailboats sail. They don’t always sail, in fact we have seen very few sailing since we have started our trip. Most of the time they motor, like we do.

 

We thought we were going to be attacked by pirates going into St. Augustine. Thank goodness we were able to avoid them.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

We got to St. Augustine and settled at a mooring ball. This was easy. The pennant was on top of the mooring ball, not wet or dirty like some are. The wind was blowing hard but we did ok.

The next morning Shay met our friend Bob at the dock and brought him back to see the boat. He really liked the boat and had nice things to say about our choice. We went back to the dock and walked around town and then Shay and I ate lunch. Shay had asked another boater for a good place to eat and he told us about a Cuban restaurant that had been featured on PBS television.  We enjoyed our meal and decided this was a good suggestion. I tried some hot sauce made from the St. Augustine datin pepper. It was great.

St. Augustine is a beautiful old town, with many historical buildings. This is a perfect town to spend time walking around in. There are small alleys that are full of different kinds of shops—restaurant, clothing, hot sauce, and others. Yes, I said hot sauce. We tried a lot of different hot sauces, barbeque sauces, and salsas. I didn’t find the one I had tried at the restaurant, but we tried some really good stuff. We had dinner with Bob and Linda at Pizza Alley. They had great pasta dishes and we all enjoyed our meal. We walked back to the marina and told Bob and Linda bye. We will miss our friends. Then we took the dinghy back to the boat then had to raise the dinghy to the top of the sundeck, where it rides, tie it down and cover it up so we will be ready to leave tomorrow morning.

Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine

We are going to Cumberland Island tomorrow.

Stuart and Vero Beach

3-7 thru 3-20

The next morning we talked to “Confetti” to see what their plans were. They had friends in Stuart that were picking them up in a boat, taking them to lunch and then shopping. Lacey volunteered to get us some supplies, but we decided to take the dink down and explore Stuart.

As we passed by the mooring balls in Stuart, we slowed down to look at them since we knew we were going to be tying Escape to one in Vero Beach. A mooring ball is a big float that is attached by chain to a screw anchor that has been screwed into the ground. On the end of the float is a line, called a pennant. These pennants were about 8 feet long with a big metal ring or thimble that you run your line thru and then cleat or tie off at the boat. We were concerned that the pennant was so short that I wouldn’t be able to lift the pennant high enough to get a line through the thimble working from our boat’s tall bow.

We went into town, tied up at a dinghy dock and explored. We had been told that there was a big marine consignment store close by and definitely wanted to find that. We asked around and were told that it was closed, so of course we were disappointed. We were hoping to find some marine bargains. Well, we’ll just have to look somewhere else. Stuart is a charming old town but like a lot of other small towns, it had a lot of empty buildings. We ate lunch, got a few provisions, then back to the boat.

We visited with Dick and Lacey on “Confetti” and enjoyed talking to them. They were doing the “Great Loop” and had started in Texas. They have a beautiful boat with lovely woodwork inside. They had bought the boat just to do the “loop”, but Lacey was already concerned that she wouldn’t be able to part with the boat when it was over. They gave us a bottle of sherry to try in cooking. They eat on the boat most of the time, so Lacey does a lot of cooking and uses sherry in a lot of dishes. We’ll remember them each time we use the sherry in a recipe.

We left the next morning headed to Vero Beach. Barry and Nancy on “Interlude” have been there a few days, so they can be our tour guides. We are excited about this part of our trip because Lauren and some friends are coming down for spring break. Lauren hasn’t seen the boat at all except pictures and a short “Skype” tour. We hope she will like her new home.

We went through some beautiful blue-green water at the Fort Pierce Inlet, no brown water here. I saw 2 big turtles swimming by and of course our dolphin friends were all around. We had another perfect day on the water. Beautiful blue sky, calm waters, gentle breeze.

We pulled into Vero Beach Municipal Marina at 3:00 pm. We got in touch with the dock master and got our mooring ball number. We took it nice and slow, got to the ball, I got the pendant with a boat hook, pulled it up, and it was a nice 21 foot line with no thimble. Shay asked what was wrong and I told him there wasn’t a thimble to put our dock line thru like we had planned. Shay ran down and we tied that line to our starboard cleat, then we put a second line thru the ring mounted on top of the float and tied it to a cleat on the other side of the boat. We got the dinghy down, stopped by “Interlude” and said hello to Barry and Nancy then signed in at the dock master’s office and walked around the dock. Back to the boat to grill chicken then called family and friends.

We have had a slow leak in the dinghy and Shay has been feeling and listening around the dinghy and he has found it. We have a repair kit so he’s cleaned and sanded the area. He had it all ready to go on and of course the new tube of glue that came with the dinghy in 2002 has dried up. I guess that happens after almost 10 years. So we stopped working on it for the night.

Now how do we get to the dock so we can get more glue? Well, of course we ask a neighbor. We see a couple getting into their dinghy, explain our problem, and of course they were glad to help. We found out where West Marine was, found out which bus we needed to take, and took off. While we were getting the glue we got to see “Bruiser”, our new anchor. He is big and heavy. Exactly what we want and need. We are definitely glad we’ll have Lauren’s car to transport it back to the dock. It’s a good thing we’re planned on moving to the dock when the girls get here. I don’t know how we’d get that thing in and out of the dinghy. We hitched a ride back to the boat to repair the dinghy.

After applying the patch, the glue needs to set for about 20 hours, so we hitched another ride back to the dock to explore Vero Beach.

The next day the glue on the repair is dry and we are good to go. We meet Barry and Nancy and decide to go to town. The weather forecast is for rain so we have our raincoats in our backpacks. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we got a backpack. We decided you can’t be an official boater if you don’t have a backpack to put your groceries and other stuff in. So, now we are official boaters, well at least one of us is since we only have one backpack. We’ll look around for another one later. We needed our raincoats. We spend a damp day in Vero. We decided to eat lunch at Taco Bell. Nancy had never eaten at one before but decided she liked it.

We got back to the boat just in time for the social hour that is at 4:00 pm every Thursday. Since it had been raining, we weren’t sure if they would still have it, but we took our snack and drink and went to shore. We looked at the picnic table as we motored by and saw some people getting set up, so we knew it was on. We really enjoyed meeting more of the boaters at the marina. Everyone was very friendly and eager to share their expertise. George from “Sea Otter” told Shay he’d get together with him later and tell him some good anchorages for our travels north. That’s great, since we definitely plan on spending more nights at anchor than in marinas. Remember, we talked about how expensive it is to be at a marina.

Lauren, Terri and Tara got here about 9:30 pm. We met them at the dock, introduced ourselves, carried all their stuff to the dock and then started dinghying them to the boat. It took 2 trips to get everything to the boat. We had explained to the girls that space was limited on the boat and that they should pack accordingly. We also told them to bring soft sided luggage like duffel bags to carry their stuff. It looked like a lot of stuff but really for 3 girls for 8 days, I guess it wasn’t too bad. Anyway, we got everything onto the boat and then gave the girls a tour.

Like I said before, Lauren had never been on the boat. We showed them all through the boat. They liked Lauren’s V-berth up front. Shay explained how to use the potty and gave them the usual potty cautions. NEVER put anything in the potty except pee, poop, and a minimum of paper. That doesn’t mean you can’t use paper; just don’t use half a roll at one time. Enough said about that.

We sat around and got acquainted with Terri and Tara since we had never met them before and then got settled down for the night. The girls tried all 3 sleeping up front, but soon decided that wouldn’t work, so Lauren moved to the couch.

We get up around 6:30 every morning, so we sent Lauren down to our bed to finish sleeping so Shay could have his morning coffee. We got the girls up around 9:00 for breakfast. We are taking the girls for a boat ride and then we are going to the dock to spend the rest of their time here. The girls enjoyed the ride even though we didn’t see any dolphins. We assured them that they would see lots of dolphins, before they left. After we got tied to the dock, they girls got their stuff unpacked and stored. We took the car to the beach and of course the girls had to get their feet wet. They said the water was cold but they would definitely be getting in before the break was over.

The girls decided that 2 would sleep in the V-berth and one would sleep on the couch. When Shay and I get up each morning we would send the girl on the coach to our bed and let them sleep until they are ready to get up. Sounds like a plan to me.

On Sunday, the girls laid around on the boat for a while then we all decided to go the art exhibit near our marina.

Lauren and Terri catching some rays.

We took the girls to the exhibit first when went back to get Barry and Nancy. By the time we got back the girls had seen all they wanted to see and were ready to head back to the boat to get some sun. We enjoyed the exhibit. There were some very interesting, unusual, and expensive pieces. They had paintings, jewelry, sculptures, pottery, and photography. They had some steel sculptures that move like a mobile that were priced at $9000.00. Our favorite exhibit was one that had actual nautical charts that had pictures of old sailing ships drawn on them by hand. They were ink drawings and were very detailed.

Terri and Lauren on Escape

The next morning Shay gave Lauren a dinghy driving lesson, so the girls could explore. After that they put on their inflatable life jackets and took off. They tried rowing for a while but decided that was to much physical activity and turned on the motor and took off.

Shay and I picked up “Bruiser” and brought him back to the boat. We took off the old anchor and stored it in the lazarette. Then we started working on the anchor chain. We put all 350 feet of it on the dock, measured every 25 feet, and then painted it so we would know how much chain we were letting out each time. Then we put “Bruiser” on the chain and put it all back on the boat. We have an electric windlass, which allows us to lower or raise the anchor by pressing a button instead of doing it by hand. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to raise 100-200 feet of chain and the 110 pound anchor? We just hope the windlass never breaks. But Shay tells everybody that’s why he has me aboard. Ha-ha.

Oh, while the girls were helping us with the chain, we had 3 or 4 dolphins pay us a visit. Of course the girls got excited. I can’t blame them, I do too.

The next day Shay took the girls for a fast dinghy ride. They really enjoyed that. They took the bus to the beach and had a great time. After the beach they took the car to the mall and went shopping. I was surprised. I don’t think they bought anything.

On Wednesday, Travis and Sarah came to visit. Travis is our youngest son and Sarah is his girlfriend. They were vacationing in Marathon and decided to drive to Vero Beach to visit us and see the boat. The girls are lazy today, just laying around the boat—reading, sunning, sleeping. That’s what girls are supposed to do on spring break.

Shay and I went rug shopping again. We have taken the area rug off the boat and washed it on the dock. We told Lauren if she wanted to she could take it back to school for her room. We have bought several rugs and none of them fit. We have taken exact measurements of the space, but when we get the rugs to the boat, they are bigger than the package says. It may only be an inch bigger but that means it rolls up on the edge, instead of laying down flat. If we don’t find one to fit today, we’ll just put the old one back on the boat. At least it’s clean.

Shay fixed his famous grilled chicken for dinner. After dinner, Travis and Sarah went to their hotel and Tara packed her bag. Tara’s family is picking her up tomorrow so they can spend some time with her on spring break. They have flown down to Melbourne and rented a car. Lauren and Terri will pick her up on the way back to UNCW on Sunday.

The next morning Shay, Travis, and Sarah went fishing in the dinghy after breakfast. I hope they catch something. I told Travis if they caught fish, we’d have fresh fish for dinner tonight.

Tara left with her family. We thanked her mother for letting Tara spend part of her spring break with us.

The fishers came back empty handed. They had caught a few, but not enough to keep. Better luck tomorrow. Lauren and Terri went to the beach, then met Travis and Sarah and played in the ocean and pool.

We all went out to eat and then Lauren and Terri drove to Fort Pierce for a St. Patrick’s Day Festival. They got there late and were disappointed, since most things were over. Terri’s family is big into celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and her family always watches “The Quiet Man” with John Wayne. Lauren, Terri, and I tried to watch it on the computer, but the internet connection was too slow and we couldn’t download it.

It’s Friday and Travis and Sarah are leaving today. Shay and I washed the boat and I did laundry. Yes, you still have to do laundry even if you live on a boat. When Travis and Sarah came by, Travis and Shay decided to try fishing one more time. Sarah decided to stay on the boat and be lazy with the rest of the girls.

The guys didn’t have any luck today either. There were fish jumping up all around them, but they didn’t catch anything. I’m sorry Travis. They left headed back to Miami to catch their flight back to N.C. We really enjoyed having them visit. Hope they’ll come back to visit when we are at Morehead City and stay with us on the boat.

The girls decided to have a lazy day on the boat, they didn’t leave it all. We tried to watch the movie again later that night but it still wouldn’t work. We ended up watching Celtic dancing instead. Lauren and Terri are both in a Celtic dance group at school and really enjoy it. This is Lauren’s first experience with it, but Terri and her sisters have been doing it since they were young. When Lauren was younger and Riverdance was popular, she loved to watch on TV. 

This is the girls last day here. They have decided to do some of the stuff on Terri’s wish list.

1. Terri wanted to go to the botanical gardens, so they went for a tour. The gardens had a Dr. Seuss exhibit and the girls had their pictures made with him and a big turtle.

Terri and The Cat In The Hat

2.   Terri had climb trees on her list so while they were at the gardens they did that too.

Lauren climbing a tree.

3.  She wanted to go to the beach one more time, but they decided to sun on the boat instead.

4.  She wanted to take another ride on the dinghy, so they did and went fast this time.

5.  The last thing on her list was dessert or ice crème after dinner, so we bought a key lime pie and all enjoyed it.

They got packed up and ready to leave.

They left early the next morning for their long trip back to school. I hope they enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having them here. I miss them and they just left.

Shay told me I might be putting too much detail in this blog. He said some people might not want to read so many details. So, I will apologize to anyone who gets bored reading all my long posts. But I told him this was for me also. When I’m old and in the nursing home I can read this and smile. Enough said.

Shay said I’ll ask “Who is that nice couple that the story is about?”

We planned to leave today, but they are forecasting high winds so we decided to move to a mooring ball instead. Before we left the dock, we filled the water tanks, cleaned up the inside of the boat then moved back to a mooring. Then we got pumped out. For those of you that don’t know what that means, it means we had our holding tank pumped out and cleaned. That’s just a part of boating. After that, Shay worked on the holding tank vent that was stopped up. Not a pleasant job at all. I hope we don’t have problems with that very often.

Tomorrow we are off for Cocoa.

Moore Haven to Stuart

3-4 to 3-6-2011

Early the next morning, we got ready to leave La Belle. Shay and I had decided to buy a bracelet from Mary Ann, and when we opened the door to go to her boat, there she was. She told us she wanted to give Lauren a bracelet for her birthday. We told her we were just coming to her boat to buy one. She insisted she wanted to give her one and suggested one with her birthstones. We accepted the gift, which indicated what a special boater she really was.

“Interlude” and “Escape” both left heading for Moore Haven. We made it through the Ortona Lock with no problems. “Interlude” went on ahead and we got to Moore Haven at 12:30 pm.

Dick and Lacey moved their boat “Confetti” to make lots of room, so we could get onto the dock with all the wind. We think Barry had told him we were inexperienced and we needed all the help we could get. More nice boat people. It’s a good thing we got there when we did, cause just as we were going in another boat came up to see if it could get in. We were full so they moved on. Lacy came over and told us about the town and that there was a rodeo that night and a parade the next morning. We all decided to go to the rodeo and had a great time. After watching the cowgirls and cowboys lasso the running cows, I knew for sure that a cowgirl or cowboy would definitely make a good boater. If they can lasso a running cow, a piling would be no trouble.

Shay and I went to a rodeo 30 years ago. Yes, that long ago. Who would have ever thought that we would go to a rodeo after becoming boat people? I guess that just shows you that moving onto a boat doesn’t restrict what you do. It just allows you to do different stuff in different places.

The next morning we left early, before the wind got up, since we had decided to tie up to some dolphins just past the bridge. Even thought Moore Haven was one of the least expensive marinas, it was still $50.00 a night to stay there. Since we didn’t trust our anchor we felt the dolphins would be a safe place with the forecast for high winds. Another first, tying to a dolphin. No don’t get upset, not that kind of dolphin. This dolphin is 8-10 pilings that are tied together and stood up in the water. They are really for big ships to tie to, but we can also. Well, the front of the boat was too high for me to reach the dolphin cleat from, so Shay came down and got us tied to it. Then the swim platform was too low for me to reach from, so he had to help with that also. Thank goodness the wind wasn’t blowing too hard when we tried or we would never have made it. We saw “Confetti” go by later that day going thru the lock and on the Clewiston. The wind was really rough today. We were glad that we were tied to the dolphins and not anchored somewhere, since we don’t have much faith in our anchor.

These are our bird friends sitting on the dolphins. We had to get close enough to the dolphin to run the line thru the cleat and stay far enough away that we didn’t run into it.

This is the Moore Haven Lock. See the dolphins lined up?

The next morning the wind was calm but it was very foggy. We went thru the Moore Haven Lock, we were headed for Clewiston and then across the lake. At Clewiston you make a 90 degree left turn onto Lake Okeechobee. There are 2 routes on Lake Okeechobee. One is the rim route, around the outer edge and it is 50 miles long. The other is the open lake and it is 39 miles long. The lake has been low lately, due to drought. The rim route is too shallow, so we will take the open lake route. The Corp of Engineers said there was at least 6 feet of water inside the channel crossing the lake route. Our boat needs at least 4 feet 7 inches of water. I guess it’s a good thing we have both lost some weight.

When we made the turn it certainly didn’t look like a lake. It looked more like a marsh. We saw some “skinny” water on that side of the lake. At times there was slightly more than 1 foot of water between the bottom of the boat and the bottom of the lake. That’s “skinny”. As we progressed, the water got deeper and it actually started looking like a lake. When we saw 3 feet, we relaxed. Then we got to thinking, in other places we have panicked when the water was only 3 feet deeper than the bottom of the boat. I guess it just depends on where you are and what the conditions are.

There had been some forest fires in the area and we kept getting black soot and ashes on the boat. The boat is wet from the fog we are running through and the soot and ashes are sticking to it. She will need a bath when we get to a marina.

Does this look like a lake?

The view from the fly bridge. See how the flags are blowing.

This is how rough the water was after we got out into the center of the lake. It looks like the ocean with the whitecaps.

                                              Captain Shay at the helm.

We got across the lake at about 1 pm and were relieved that we didn’t have any problems since we’d heard others talk about “bumping” the bottom. We went thru Port Mayaca Lock with no problems, then on to St. Lucie Lock. Because of the water shortage, this lock only opens every 2 hours on the odd hour. We got through about 5:30 and still had to go to Stuart.

Gator eyes as we crossed the St. Lucie Canal.

 The St. Lucie Canal from Port Mayaca to the ICW.

We made it into Pendarvis Cove at 7:00 pm. We had to anchor in the dark and of course we had problems. We had to pull the anchor up and since it was covered with mud we had to wash it off as it came up. Of course, we had to dodge the other boats and crab pots all this time. We finally got the anchor set and had a late dinner. We were anchored close to “Confetti” and the couple we met at Moore Haven.

La Belle

2-28 thru 3-5-2011

We left Franklin Lock and traveled further east on the river. Right after we left the marina, we started smelling something floral. We smelled it for miles and miles. We thought it might be orange blossoms, since we were going thru orange groves, but they already had fruit on them and were not blooming. I finally called a passing boat on the VHF radio and asked them what it was. I was told that it was jasmine and it grew wild in that area. I can’t imagine being able to walk out my backdoor and smelling that all the time.

We had heard that La Belle was a good place for boaters and that you could tie up behind the library. For free for three days, with power and water. I haven’t mentioned it but boating can get expensive. Fuel prices are already high and going up each day. You may not realize it, but marinas charge by the foot for dockage per night. Some only charge $1.00 per foot but it can go as high a $3.00. And then some charge extra for power.

We got to La Belle around noon. We had read that La Belle required Mediterranean mooring. That means you drop anchor in the river and then either bow or stern tie to the dock.

To the left of the bridge at the bottom of the picture, you can see the La Belle City Dock. It runs parrell with the shoreline. It has enough room for 8 boats. When this picture was taken there was a barge at the center of the bridge, working on the bridge. The barge wasn’t there when we were there.

Our boating is full of firsts. We dropped our anchor and backed toward the (thank goodness) boat less dock, hoping all the time that someone would come by to catch a line. Where are all the curious boat watchers when you need one? I think a cowgirl would make a good boater, since you are required to lasso a line around the piling. Well, for those of you that don’t know me, I am not a cowgirl. Shay slowly backs the boat toward the dock while I tell him how far we are from the dock. Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet, well you get the picture. All this time I’m praying that I’ll be able to lasso the piling and then tie off the line while keeping the boat off the dock. My first few attempts at lassoing don’t work, but I finally get a line secured and all is well. Well, as well as can be expected since we don’t exactly know what we’re doing. We get tied up and all secure.

We walk to town, look around, eat dinner, and come back to the boat to cool down. Its 92 degrees outside. Another boat came in after us. Shay caught their lines and helped them tie up. Now I guess he’s a helpful boater.

It’s foggy the next morning but we go exploring with Barry and Nancy off “Interlude” one of the boats that came in yesterday afternoon. After we came back to the boat, Barry and Nancy came over to visit. They each have been boating for a while and had lots of information to share. Barry marked some good anchorages in our “Skipper Bob” book, which, I’m sure will be a big help.

About dinner time, a storm blew in with strong winds, thunder and lightning and hard rain. Our boat started blowing toward the steel sailboat that came in today. Shay ran to “Interlude” and got Barry to help him tie a line from our bow to his stern to keep us from blowing into the steel boat. Then they tied a line from “Interlude’s” bow to a tree on the bank, to keep him off us. The storm quickly passed, but both guys were soaked and exhausted after all that. Shay spent that evening and all night wondering if our anchor would hold.

The next day we had a decision to make. We could take the dingy and move the anchor, we could untie the boat and reset the anchor or we could leave La Belle. The weather forecast was calling for high winds and we really didn’t want to be out in that.

Have I mentioned what a major role the weather plays in boating? Well, if the weather turns bad on land the only decision you have to make is which umbrella to carry or which jacket to wear. On a boat, if the weather is bad you stay put. Now, the bad weather may be in the form of wind, rain, hail, thunder, lightning or a combination of the above. So if the weather forecast was calling for high winds, we wanted to stay put in La Belle.

After a lot of encouragement from Barry, we decided to pull out into the river and reset the anchor. That means starting the boat, untying all the lines, and unplugging the power cord. We took up the anchor and reset it then headed back to the dock. It sure was easier having helping hands on the dock. With the anchor reset, it seems to be holding well. Shay is still uncomfortable with the anchor and doesn't trust it. Shay worked on planning a route for when we leave and I cleaned up the boat.

After the anchor problems, we have definitely decided we need a better anchor. “Better” in this case means bigger.  We knew that Lauren would be visiting us in Vero Beach, so Shay called West Marine at Vero Beach and ordered an anchor so it would be there when we got there. Since Lauren will have her car, we will be able to take the anchor to the dock in her car. I don’t think they would let us on the buses at Vero with an anchor that big.  We ordered a 110 pound Bruce anchor to replace our 65 pound CQR that came with the boat. We have nicknamed the anchor “Bruiser”.  Until we get the new anchor we will be uneasy worrying about whether or not this anchor will drag again in the high winds that the weather man is calling for.

We notice a park ranger at a small boat anchored across the river from us. In a few minutes we heard fussing and looked out to see what was going on. The small boat was coming in and they were not happy. After they tied up we met Mary Ann and Mel. They were upset that they had to move because the ranger told them they had been there too long. They have both been boating for years and want things to be like they were in “the old days”. Mel had been boating for 50 years and he remembered not having any charts or navigation equipment at all. He said the only information you had was “word of mouth” from other boaters.

When Mary Ann got off the boat, she was carrying a plastic jar. She sat down beside Nancy and me and told us to pick out a bracelet. She made bead bracelets and gave them to other boaters. We both picked out a bracelet and put them on.

We all decided to go to Don’s for dinner. We enjoyed spending time with both couples and got lots of information.

It's March 3 and it's Lauren's 20th birthday. I can't believe my baby is no longer a teenager.

Yes, this is Lauren on the beach at sunrise. She never gets up this early. Well, I guess that shows being 20 will make her do strange things.

 Lauren and some of her friends went out to eat at an Indonesian restaurant for her birthday.

This is the whole group celebrating.

More birthday pictures taken in a garden.

          Celebrating 20. She's jumping for joy!

Now back to boating.

The wind is still up so we are staying another night. This is our 4th night, but with the weather forecast, Barry and Shay have both decided to stay another night. Shay said he’s never been ran out of a marina before. We all went exploring the town, walking to get some exercise, and getting last minute provisions.

After lunch Mary Ann and Mel came to our boat. Mary Ann brought a quilt she works on when she’s on the boat. She said she had to have something to do to keep her occupied while onboard. She has been working on it for 5 years. Mel and Shay spent time in the engine room then Mel told us more boat stories. They are both much older boaters, but neither one acts like it.

We were concerned that “someone” would come to the dock and tell us we had to leave. We decided if we weren’t here, they couldn’t run us off, so we left. We walked until we thought all the city workers were gone then went back to the boat. We ate dinner then—shock Shay found another boater to talk to. We spent another peaceful night behind the library.

La Belle turned out to be a great stop. It had easy access to restaurants, groceries, library, hardware stores. All of life’s necessities that you take for granted when you have a car.

When you are on a boat you can’t jump in the car and run to the store every day. You have to make sure you get what you need at a place you can walk to and then remember you have to carry everything back. Then remember you have to sometimes get it in the dinghy and then in the limited storage, refrigerator, and freezer space you have. So you don’t make trips to places like Sam’s and Walmart and leave with a huge buggy full. That doesn’t mean we have to do without, it means instead of ten cans of green peas we only have 2.

We are using the Okeechobee Waterway from the ICW at Fort Myers on the west coast to cross over to Stuart on the east coast, shortening our trip across Florida and bypassing the Florida Keys. It is a long trip from Niceville to Morehead City and we have a deadline to get out of Florida or pay Florida sales tax on Escape. Taking this shortcut, will put us on the east coast sooner making it easier to get out of Florida before the deadline.

Lake Okeechobee is the second largest fresh water lake in the US. The lake covers over 730 square miles and is connected to both of Florida's coasts via the man made Okeechobee Waterway. The Lake is 33 miles wide from north to south, and 30 miles wide from east to west.

The Okeechobee Waterway was built in 1937 by the Army Corps of Engineers after two floods caused by hurricanes destroyed the areas surrounding the lake. A series of 5 locks helps boats through the 152 mile long waterway. The canal depth of the waterway is approx. 8 feet, and the width of the canal varies from 80 to 100 feet.

 Now we are off to Moore Haven.