Cocoa to Titusville to the Orlando Airport

On another rare beautiful day we sailed from Cocoa to Titusville, my jumping off point. We noticed a boat anchored next to us was filled with water and the Coast Guard came to check it out. The next morning Gilles went to help the owner bail it out and met Annie (also helping to bail) who was anchored nearby with her husband Neville on Peace. It was a fortuitous meeting... earlier we had run into Dickie and Helen on Harmony. Our trip was coming to a close with a meeting of Peace and Harmony.

I'm at the airport in Orlando which is full of kids (as opposed all the people in wheel chairs on my outward flight), most of whom I'm sure have been to Disney World and so are happy and cheerful. I'll be home in a few hours. Gilles has about 2 weeks to get the boat to Palatka and drive home.

Vero Beach to Cocoa Village

We're finally getting Florida weather, warm and sunny with a good breeze for sailing. A two day stop in Vero Beach turned into five days, testament to why it's called "velcro" beach... it's hard to leave. The Vero Beach Museum of Art has some nice sculpture in the garden and a special exhibit of marine paintings. There were some incredible sunsets and a double rainbow after a rain shower.

Stuart to Peck Lake

We made a detour south to Peck Lake where Gilles tried to feed a ham sandwich to these pelicans who were not at all interested. We walked the beach at Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge, home to scrub pine and sea turtles, and picked up a few shells. The harbor was full of sailboats. The weather has been great, sunny and warm with a nice wind and we decided to go next to Vero Beach.

Across Lake Okeechobee

We made a run for Fort Myers from Boca Grande, where incidentally we heard the Republicans were meeting, in an effort to cross Lake Okeechobee before bad weather set in again. The forecast called for a few days of good weather and we didn't want to waste any time. We spent the night at Ft Myers Yacht Basin, did laundry, and stocked up on groceries and left the next morning. The day was glorious and warm (rare this winter) and when we went through Franklin Lock we saw Sam docked at an Army Corps of Enginneers campground nearby so we stopped and hung out with him and a couple who were once boaters, now RVers.

Another stop at LaBelle and then Clewiston for the night (tied up to a dolphin--wooden piles at the side of the channel) before our one-day window for a smooth crossing of the Lake. Despite the alligators, Gilles got in the dinghy and dropped an anchor to minimize swinging. The air was filled with the sounds of birds. The lake was smooth as silk, Port Mayaca Lock was open, and soon we were back in Indiantown. A few days were spent on anchor in a loop of the St Lucie River as another storm with 5 inches of rain passed and today we are back in Stuart waiting for another weather window to head north.

Fort Myers to Boca Grande

It was sunny and warm when we left Fort Myers and headed toward Sanibel Island. The wind was too strong for a good anchorage near Sanibel but we found a good spot about a mile north, off the southern end of Pine Island. With news of a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico with gale force winds coming our way, we made a run as soon as the weather permitted for a protected anchorage at Boca Grande, north of Captiva, where we met up with a good cruising friend from previous years, Sam Blue. According to the guide, Boca Grande is home to the very rich and famous (Katherine Hepburn had a home here) and the homes are grand with beautiful landscaping. Gilles spent two hours looking for treasure on the beach and ended up with 30 cents, 2 bottle caps, and a magnetized name tag. I read Lost on Planet China by J. Marten Troost (funny and must reading for a first timer's trip to China) and started The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas in anticipation of our return crossing of Lake Okeechobee. Looks like tomorrow will be a good day to start the trip back home.

LaBelle to Fort Myers

We intended to spent one night in LaBelle but spent three (the limit at the town dock). On Sunday night we heard two sonic booms as Space Shuttle Endeavor flew overhead. Gilles and one of the other guys at the dock fixed the dinghy engine. I finished reading The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (a remarkable tale of survival), bought honey at the honey store, and practiced tai chi in the church parking lot. We sadly left before the sheriff turned up to enforce the 3 days limit. We went through the last (the fifth) lock on the river dropping 2 feet. We saw llamas and a camel.

A forecast of rain and 30 mph winds drove us to the Fort Myers City Yacht Basin on the edge of a nicely renovated downtown, with a theater and restaurants, and this huge banyan tree in front of the courthouse.

Across Lake Okeechobee

We stopped in Indiantown on the St Lucie River, 10 miles from Lake Okeechobee waiting for the wind to change. The lake is large and shallow and a wind from the wrong direction can make for a very uncomfortable ride. Four days later the wind changed. We entered the lock at Port Mayaca (open because the lake level was high... a good thing) and made our way a few miles into the lake and then south to join the scenic rim route. Except it wasn't very scenic... the Army Corps of Engineers was shoring up and moving the levees and there were lots of dead trees, killed because they are not native to the area. We found a very nice anchorage in South Bay, with good wind and wave protection but with a monstrous alligator lying on the shore, its eyes peering into the cove. There were lots of birds and at sunset the mosquitoes came out.

Saturday, Feb 20 was a long day, 51 miles. We left the lake at Moore Haven, where the lock dropped us 3 feet into the Caloosahatchee Canal. We dropped 8 more feet three hours later at Ortona Lock. Near sunset we arrived in LaBelle, the "Honey Capital" and stopped at the town dock, where we had to do a Med mooring (stern first). We are next to the library (internet access!) and a beautiful park.

Leaving Stuart

We had a few days of bad weather, but today was sunny with light winds and we left Stuart in the morning, heading west on the St Lucie River.

An hour later we reached the first lock on the St. Lucie Canal, where Dolfijn was raised 15 feet before we were able to exit on the other side.

After scouting around for a good anchorage with no luck, we went into Indiantown Marina for the night. Gilles immediately spotted this alligator, then jumped in the dinghy to get close enough to get a good photo.

Stuart, FL

Still in Stuart, provisioning and organizing the boat and enjoying the town, its restaurants and coffeeshops. On Sunday, went to Riverwalk Jazz Fest, the band (Tales Untold) was surprisingly good, the singer awesome. Finished reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, the story of her life with Robert Mappelthorpe. Eating oranges. There's a painting in the marina lounge with the words Trust That the Wind Knows Where It's Going. It's been very windy, the boat moving a lot, difficult rowing to shore and back to the boat.

Across Florida, East to West

I left DC on a Tuesday afternoon, streets slushy with dirty snow, taking the metro and bus to BWI to catch a cheap Southwest Airlines flight to West Palm Beach. There were 25 people in wheelchairs waiting to board when I arrived at the gate. After everyone was aboard and the maintenance crew fixed something in the cockpit (we were never told what it was that needed to be fixed, just that it would be a good idea to fix it before we left), the plane left an hour late. C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce came to mind, except I was on a plane (he was on a bus) going from hell to heaven.

Two and a half hours later I was in West Palm Beach. I picked up my rental car and headed north on 95 to Stuart. Gilles was waiting at Sunset Bay Marina where the boat was in the mooring field.