2012 - October - Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show

 

10/21 We skipped going to Rowland & Mary Martin’s restaurant/bar in Clewiston which means we didn’t get to have one of their great cheese burgers - Buggar! But we were a bit short of time. We anchored in the lake. We got the word about Hurricane Sandy heading towards the east coast of FL. She was slamming Jamaica then on to East Cuba but too early to know where she’d hit in the USA. (I feel like Jim Cantore, storms hit where ever he is - last year we were in Nassau for  Irene, this year in the Keys for Isaac & now Lauderdale for Sandy)The boat show started on the 25^th to the 29^th. Goal was to dock safely at Cooley’s Landing on the New River before it really started to blow. We had stiff winds all the way across the waterway & now the lake had 3 footers. It took us 3 hours to cross the lake to the Mayaca Lock. We got to Stewart about 5:30, got fuel then anchored by Hog Island at 7pm. Unfortunately, it was way too rough to cruise on the outside so we suffered going south on the ICW. 69 miles with 29 bridges from Hobe sound to the Los Olas bridge - we have to wait for all but


Boynton Beach Bridge - prettiest one on the ICW

4 to open for us. Some open on the hour & half hour, some open on the quarter hour…What a nightmare. Miles & miles of majestic & outlandish mansions - Where the hell did all this money come from ??? We docked at Cooley’s  
on the 24^th on an ebb tide & no wind.We fed the girls, changed clothes & headed to the Briny for happy hour & appetizers. My 'surrogate ' son, Richard, was trying to get us VIP tickets to the show but Sandy stood in his way. He was off to the Bahamas to secure boats that he takes care of. He was stuck in Nassau with no planes out. With a list of things we wanted to see or learn about, we went to

 

the show on Friday & Saturday. (this is what Wayne learned about) Exhausting for me!! It was overcast, rainy & windy…the wind took a portion of a few tents down. They were still sucking water out of the carpets when we arrived. I

 

 left Wayne to wander & ponder & I went to the beach. Heaven for a surfers…sand was everywhere covering some small boats, the parking area & roads. The tides were super high due to the storm surge & a full moon. It got cooler the last 3 days of October (60’s 70’s) requiring 


When high tide, all docks flooded @ Cooley's

blanket at night. As you know, Sandy made landfall on the 29^th devestating much of NJ/NY etc...

2012 - October - Palmetto, Caloosahatchee River, Okeechobee waterway

September 27^th was a beautiful & calm day giving us the opportunity to cruise north, outside in the Gulf.

 

 We anchored at  Desoto park, another favorite spot of ours. Tom & Susan (not the same Tom & Sue we saw in Englewood) didn’t have any tours scheduled so, on the 28^{th ,}they brought their 60' catamaran, GLASS

SLIPPER, out to anchor by us

  

for a few days. Let the Domino games begin !! We dinked around & Wayne cleaned the bottom of the boat. We docked at Regatta Point Marina on October 1^st.Sunny, hot, windy with rain on/off next few days. New special at the Reef & Grill - girls drink free every Tuesday from 7 to 7:30!! (Hey! I’m still a girl at heart) Amazing how much you can drink in a ½ hour when it’s free. Wayne’s senior partner passed away a month ago & a memorial was scheduled for the 6^th. Wayne flew out to Rockford, IL on the 3^rd leaving me 6 days alone to do what I wanted, when I wanted to. It’s not that I don’t love Wayne but when you’re together 24/7/365 you gotta have some time to yourself. My dear Kathryn drove up from Ft Myers so I wouldn’t be alone for my birthday on Sunday. There was so much we could have done but we got lazy… happy hour & appetizers at the Grill & played dominoes with Tom & Susan. On the 7^th Tom, Susan, Nymah & Kathryn

Susan, Tom, Kathryn, Me, Nymah

took me to the Grill for Sunday brunch - my favorite thing to do. It was a lovely day with good friends. I was still concerned about Wayne after the ‘event’ he had. He seemed to be more forgetful & ‘spacey’. (I know, I know…typical for a man but I was still concerned) I spoke at length with our friend, Dan Stone, a retired Radiologist living in St Pete. He personally spoke with a Neurologist friend & an appointment was set for the 11^th. After a thorough exam, they scheduled him for an Echocardiogram & lab work on the 12^th & MRI/MRA & Carotid Ultrasound for the 15^th. Things would never happen this quickly in the Keys so I was happy to be in St Pete. Thankfully, the results were normal except, as usual, his high cholesterol & LDL & his B12 was very low - they gave him a B12 shot on the spot. It was determined that he most likely had a TIA (transient Ischemic attack) - that wouldn’t show on the MRA.  

Now that the serious business was done & done quickly, we had time to go to the Lauderdale boat show. It’s not that I don’t like to go to the show, it’s the temptation to spend big bucks. We said our farewells & left the marina on the 18th anchoring in Sarasota Bay.

Downtown Sarasota

 

It was dead calm again the next day, not a ripple in the gulf - going ‘outside‘ saves us hours because we avoid the many low bridges that have to open for us. It took about 8 hours from Sarasota to Picnic Island near the Sanibel bridge 

Picnic Island near Sanibel

 

(yet another favorite spot). We had a bit of a scare when the transmission alarm sounded - a small leak was taken care of & we were on our way at m on the 20th

Scenes along the river

 

 

 

This guy landed next to us just to say 'hi'

Just cooling off

It took 4 hours to travel the Caloosahatchee River to get to the Franklin Lock, the 1^st lock of 5 on the way across Florida. There are about 6 low bridges - some swing, some lift but all too low for us to get under…we need 28’.



Ft. Denaud swing bridge

      Some info about the waterway from a website
"This peaceful waterway goes through miles of untouched Florida Everglades & thousands of acres of Old Florida scrub and ranchland. It is the only navigable cross Florida canal. The waterway is 154 miles long & stretches from the Atlantic Ocean near Stuart, Florida to the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Myers. It is the only true cross Florida canal & river system that joins the east coast of Florida to the west coast.

Ortuna Lock

St. Lucie Lock & Dam (from the web site)

The eastern reach of the waterway starts in the St. Lucie River, passes through the St Lucie lock & dam, & enters Lake Okeechobee through a lock at Port Mayaca. From Port Mayaca
 

Mayaca Lock & Dam

you cross 451,000 acre Lake Okeechobee by either a direct route to Clewiston, or a longer route along the south edge of the lake called the "rim route". From Clewiston the waterway continues west on the Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers. Lake Okeechobee and the Okeechobee Waterway are part of the complex water management system known as the Central & Southern Florida Flood Control Project. This project was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), & is managed by them & by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

This project covers 16,000 square miles from just south of Orlando down through the Kissimme River to Lake Okeechobee & on south to Everglades National Park & Florida Bay in the Keys.
This project is of vital importance to the Florida Everglades. The ACOE operates 5 navigation locks & dams along the Okeechobee Waterway. From East to West they are:

St. Lucie Lock and Dam near Stuart
Port Mayaca Lock and Dam Near Canal Point
Moore Haven Lock and Dam at Moore Haven
Ortona Lock and Dam east of Labelle
Franklin Lock and Dam east of Fort Myers

Each lock location has a recreational area that is open to the public for year round use. Some of these areas have camping and picnic facilities."

Lake Okeechobee leaving Clewiston