Okeechobee

We left Ft. Myers Mar 19 with fair skies and light winds headed east up the Caloosahatchee River.  This is a short cut to the east coast of Florida instead of going around the southern tip and the Keys.  We've been that way a couple of times, but opted for the shorter route this time to have plenty of time on the part of the Loop we have not seen.

Here we are leaving the marina with Angie retrieving our dock lines and fenders.

There are a total of 5 locks to get across the  Okeechobee 3 up and 2 down. Here is Angie at our 3rd lock for the day, which was quite easy as it only rose about 2 ft.  No time for pictures at the others.

 Our first lock was the most dramatic because our thrusters have stopped working. They error-ed out leaving Clearwater and I've not been able to fix. They are really missed when maneuvering in close quarters, like marina slips and locks. At our first lock the we found ourselves side-wise in the lock with our anchor touching one wall and our dingy the other!  Very stressful and not a pretty sight; the admiral was ready to abandon ship.

The route across is fairly benign, with only a few houses and not much to see. However, there are a few wildlife specimens hanging about.

We made it to Clewiston by 5 pm and tied up at Roland and Martin Marina.  Nice evening and good breakfast at their buffet in the morning.  Headed out across the lake about 9 am.

Unfortunately, that is when things took a turn for the worse.  The Captain was watching the many small fishing boats and making sure he was staying in the charted channel.  However, the wind pushed us out of the actual channel and we hit ground, hard!  After the shock and a couple of expletives, we corrected course and continued on.  There did seem to be some new vibration so we kept it slow across the lake.  After further discussion and consideration, we decided to get the boat hauled out and inspected.  We found a well recommended marina, River Forest Yacht Center, and made arrangements with them.  We spent the night tied up to their docks and they pulled Happy Daze out early the next morning.

As could be expected, there was damage to the prop.  Happy Daze does not have a protecting keel, so touching ground means the prop and rudder take the whole impact.

Inspection showed the shaft was still running straight and the rudder only had a ding on the bottom corner that could be ground off.  The repair process would probably take 7-10 days, so we decided to fly home the next day.  We also left instructions to have the thrusters repaired and our teak trim completely restored with 5 coats of varnish and 5 coats of clear coat.

Not sure when we will return and continue our journey; probably late April.  Stay tuned.

Ft. Myers

We returned to Clearwater March 10 and spent the weekend doing small boat chores, shopping for provisions, and visiting with family.  

I updated our charting software, registered our MMSI for AIS sending, assembled our new bridal/snubber, installed new wiper blades, and attached registration numbers to the dinghy.  Of course the resident foul were still in abundance.

We also had professionals come give the whole boat a complete wax job and change the engine oil and filter (5 gallons !).

My sister, Charly, joined us for the first part of our journey down to Ft. Myers.  

We layed over an extra day due to high winds and then decided to stay in the ICW (InterCoastal Waterway) when we headed south, since it was more protected from the waves in the Gulf.

We spent the first night in Sarasota and hung on a ball for a night at Marina Jacks. Close to town (X marks the spot), but too windy to dinghy in.  We had a noisy nite with waves against the hull.

We continued boating in the ICW down past the Charlotte Harbor entrance to one of our favorite anchorages at Cayo Costa State Park.  It is a bit shallow getting in over sand bars, but X marks the spot in Pelican Bay where we were very sheltered in 8 ft of water.

Here Charly is enjoying our nice, quiet anchorage in Cayo Costa.

The osprey and pelicans were in abundance.

Near Ft. Myers we passed by a real "party house boat",  (BTW, those are statues).

We made it to Ft. Myers on St. Patrick's Day and they seem to really get into it.  Our marina was near downtown so we wandered over and as they say "when in Rome....".

The trip from Clearwater to Ft. Myers was about 150 miles and took us 3 days of cruising.  Charly flew out Sat morning and we plan to continue boating on Sunday, Mar 19.