Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Indiantown FL

Captain Jess working the canal


Running down the Saint Lucy
Today was only a 20 mile trip, but it took longer than anticipated. We went under two railroad bridges and wouldn't you know it, trains had to cross, so needless to say we had to wait. We also went through the Saint Lucy Lock. We have been through locks before in New York, but this was a slightly different scenario. In NY they pump the water in and out via valves that bring the water in and out through the bottom of the lock. Here they actually crack the door open a bit to either fill or empty the lock. It takes considerably longer than the NY way. It was about an hour to get through the lock because they were emptying it for a east bound barge and then they had to fill it for us going westbound.
Indiantown marina is about an hour out of town. We were not able to make it to the famous Seminole Inn because they only serve lunch from noon to two and our train and lock situation took too much time. However Dee-Stefanos restaurant picked us up and drove us to town to eat at their restaurant. Great food and friendly people. Tonight Jess does laundry as I do this blog, our log book entries and plot tomorrows trip. When you are in a canal it is hard to get lost, but tomorrow we cross Lake Okeechobee and you need to be careful of staying inside the marked channel otherwise you can go aground. You need to look forward and behind to make sure you are tracking correctly. Well, that's it for now. Will report tomorrow on our crossing and stay at Roland Martin's Marina. Everybody keeps telling us to say high to "Little Man" can't wait to see him. Either he is real short or real tall, no one would say.
No bagels just one big lock

Leaving for Indiantown


Lunch with Madeline & John

Yesterday we met up with John & Madeline Contegni and had a wonderful lunch at a place called the Prawnbroker, a very nice place with lots of atmosphere. Crunchy grouper was superb. We got back to the dock and I planned today’s trip to Indiantown. It won’t be a long trip, only 17 miles. It will be our stop before the big crossing of Okeechobee. I will report on Indian town on my next post. Indiantown has quite a history. The Duke and Duchess of Winsor spent their honeymoon there.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Another day in Stuart, FL


They look little, but work well and fold and fit on the boat
 Well today was a busy day. I put nice cushy seats on our folding bikes and set them up for a small trip. We took a 7 Mile trip and made some stops to pick up a few things we needed. Number one on the list was a lock and cable for the bikes, DUH,  I left the one I had at the boat! Tonight we made Italian turkey sausage and asparagus for dinner. It is a nice cool night with a northeast breeze. 

Another day in Stuart, FL

A bit of a lazy day. We had our dear friend Yvonne and her friend visit us and we had lunch at Shrimper's. Stuart had a Seafood Festival going on so after lunch we went over to take a look. Your typical fair, people selling the stuff they made and some guy playing his Indian pan  flute music and selling his CD's. You had your choice of fried food, cotton candy and beer. You could also buy your favorite liquor bottle turned into a candle. You could even buy a hat  made out of honeycomb cardboard! Jess considered entering the Miss Mermaid Beauty Pageant, but I reminded her that it was Miss, not Mrs. so she wasn't eligible. I think I got points for that!



Yvonne in her cardboard hat. Don't get caught in the rain!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

In Stuart FL

Our trip down yesterday was uneventful. I saw a dolphin (flipper, not edible), but Jess missed it. We left at 10:00 am, a little later than anticipated because I saw a storm cell moving in from the southeast. I have an App, Weather GPS, and it gives an entire radar weather sweep from your location as well as wind direction, speed and humidity. So between that and the weather channel App, which shows alerts we get pretty good coverage in a short period of time. We are staying at Sailfish Marina in Stuart. This location is very close to the entrance way of the Saint Lucy River. We will be here for a few days and then start our journey down the river and enter our adventure through the Okeechobee passage. I am told this is a wonderland, bringing you back in time and towns that are still back in the 50's and 60's. I hear a distant tune, "Dueling Banjos". Perhaps I should wear my Ned Beatty mask and practice squealing like a pig! Today we go to Stuart's Seafood festival with our good friend Yvonne Summerlin. See you tomorrow!



AT THE DOCK AT SAILFISH MARINA

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Leaving for Stuart

Tomorrow we leave for Stuart. It is only 20 miles south, but this will be the entranceway to the St. Lucie River that will take us to Lake Okeechobee. Ft. Pierce is not one of your fancy towns. It is obvious that they have their socioeconomic problems, but we feel pretty safe at the marina. We visited the Botanical gardens and saw their new Bonsai display. Jess loves those little guys.
We also went to the Manatee Center and saw a couple of manatee slurping the fresh water running into the canal. Those guys just love to drink fresh water and will drink gallons of it at a time when it is available. We actually have two mothers and two calves hanging out near our boat. Not much too really to look at. They look like big fat baked potatoes that just lay there and stick their nose out of the water to breath.
Today we went to the Navy Seal Museum. We found that interesting and learned about their grueling training program and many of their missions starting from WW II. The picture of the boat at the left was on display. It is the one that the seals used to kill the pirates that captured the ship Alabama back in 2009. There were bullet holes in it from when some of the pirates shot at them, pretty   cool, this was a very interesting visit.



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Still in Fort Pierce

Well, yesterday we got everything organized, but on a boat you are always organizing and figuring out new ways to store things. Our friends Johanna and Tom Hovarth came and visited us from Boca Raton. This marina is fairly nice with good amenities; pool, exercise room, TV room, restaurant and quiet. We thought it would be noisy because it is near a causeway, but you can't even hear the traffic at night. Today we explore Fort Pierce and see what it has to offer.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Day one

We arrived in Ft. Pierce FL at noon and after two and a half days on the road it was time to get into action. We unloaded everything from the truck and into Illusions. Man do we have a lot of stuff! We launched easily, but the current and the wind gave us a little issue backing out of the launch. Our helpful citizen made matters worse when he thought he was helping. Once I told him to just let the lines go we were able to back out and go on our extremely short cruise of one mile to Harbortown Marina. Today we will spend washing up the outside from bugs and dirt that gathered from the road trip and then some more organizing and getting a few more supplies. We will be here until 01/27. We leave that morning and will head to Stuart. For our northern friends the Temperature currently is 61 and will reach 79 today! It sure is easy to shovel all this sunshine.