1/21/16     Friday           Ft. Myers

What a wet, windy, ugly day! Only available rescue was a warm and wonderful friendship. After a pretty raucous, weather-wise, David and I put better, stronger, more secure mooring lines on the pennant (during a break in the rain), gathered our stuff including dry clothes for after-shower/bath and headed into shore to meet Sheldon. About halfway across the bay it started pouring rain. Yikes! Not to cold but really blowing and WET. So the after-shower clothes were now pre-shower clothes...the pants, at least.

Then, off to breakfast in a downtown cafe suggested by the marina. Riding in a car. We lingered over breakfast since it was still raining. Great conversation - political, environmental, relationships, sailing, travel in general. David's replacement phone had arrived at the marina so we decided to go to the AT&T store to get all the transfer of data taken care of professionally. Done! Then some other shopping for fun in a Mall, lunch in the Food Court. Could have been at the Maine Mall except this one was two or three times larger. Our purchases:

David's new sandals. Our watercolors. I got a pair of socks for my wet, cold feet, too

New $20 watches. Replacing David's free one with the really broken band and mine that took a swim when I fell in the
river this summer the first time I tried to get from the dinghy onto Grace

Sheldon had s shirt printed for a cycling friend. "One Less Car" printed on the shirt.

Then off to the Ft. Myer History Museum. We spent almost 2 hours looking and reading I learned something about the Calusa tribe/community and wonder if the Caloosahatchee River is named after them.

Back at the marina we all had showers. Sheldon was rethinking the plan to sail a bit farther south with us. The weather is going to be dismal tomorrow and then the winds were predicted to be perfect for sailing south again...this time really sailing, perhaps. Now, though, winds for Sunday are wimpy so probably no sailing. Sooooo... out to dinner to decide our travel companionship plans.

Good fried seafood at Joe's, w/favorite beer, Newcastle. More topics of conversation...welfare, medical marijuana, homelessness, where to live when we're 80, community in a jointly purchased motel in a warm place.  Sheldon decided to not join us since the arrangements were iffy regarding both sailing and returning him to Ft Myers...and the slight allergy to kitty.

David and I had a lumpy dinghy ride back to Grace after goodbye hugs w/Sheldon. I think I was up for about 30 minutes before hitting the bed around 8:45 PM. A way to get warm after the day of damp, chilly-ness. Great to re-new friendship w/Sheldon and hear about his various volunteer works to benefit all rather than those who already have privilege. Makes me smile and be hopeful, provides me w/a bit of direction possibilities post ICW travel.

Hmmmmm.

1/21/16   Thursday   Ft. Myers

At last! We've crossed FL, through the St Lucie Canal and Lake Okeechobee and the Okeechobee  Waterway and the Caloosahatchee (say that word, it tickles your tongue) River, 3 locks and numerous bridges that opened "on request" and... here we are in Ft. Myers! This, too, has been a long journey.

Today we did about 50 miles which doesn't sound like much but at 8 knots it took a while. We finally got the anchor up around 8:00 this morning. Anchor had buried itself very securely in what looked like limestone mud. Aah, security. Morning was beautiful. Sunrise was nearly as beautiful as last night's sunset. But we were on a mission to get to Ft Myers before nightfall so who had time for photos?

I did a sewing project (by hand!) while David took the helm early. Later in the day I took over while he took a turn at stripping......varnish. The locks continue to fascinate me. Here in FL, unlike VA experience, the locks have lines/ropes hanging down into them every 4-6 feet. So, the lock provides the dock lines that we secure to the boat to keep it in place as the water fills or discharges. Seems to me a better and more efficient system. Curious, too, though appreciated, that the locks are also "on request" from about 6 AM - 5 PM rather than at specific, scheduled times.

Our travel was mostly through a wide channel throughout the day but the terrain and vegetation kept changing.

These photos don't do justice to the color and texture and beauty of this landscape

...but here they are

For a while the banks would be pasture land with palm trees (odd in itself), then there would be large tracts of open, cultivated or fallow land with fences and drainage ditches, and, finally, an orange grove. There were stretches of open land contrasted with 1950's grid developments (like my grandparents bought into and which I really sort of like), or single, beautifully manicured mac-mansions...or more modest but more contemporary than 1950's houses on short canals with boats tucked alongside the houses. Beautiful fantasy-provoking tour of FL canal living.

Ft Myers is busy (and shallow) water with lots of bridges, and traffic. Our mooring is a bit away from the marina and it is supposed to rain relentlessly for the next two days. Sheldon met us around 4 PM. He and David did grocery shopping while I paid on-line bills and caught up with Freeport Players biz. We all brought Grace out to the mooring, had dinner and made play and travel plans for the next several days.

Hoping the rain holds off until we get the extra mooring lines on in the morning (in case of high winds) and get into shore for a driving tour of Ft. Myers. Seems we won't make the planned/hoped for trip to Sarasota, given weather. Maybe Murray will come visit us here...or not.

Full lives.

1/20/16   Wednesday      Freeport Players Annual Meeting

Transiting Lake Okeechobee today. It was a bit rough - light chop is the description from the lock keeper. Mostly it was rolling/wallowing but not too bad. The wind had subsided and there was a bit of discomfort. Standing in one place was difficult as the waves kept trying to move you over to another place.

We left out Port Mayaca neighborhood around 9:30 AM, through the lock which only changed our elevation by about 3', nothing like the St. Lucie lock which was 12'.

Mayaca Lock neighborhood

Locked in again.

David did most of the steering today. I worked on scraping varnish off the rails. I took over near the west end of the lake and inched our way through a really narrow channel with grass growing about 10' on either side of us. Depth was about 11'. Lots of water!

grass and island shallows about 10' from us, narrow channel

Help from the numbers and the birds

We ran along the dike at Clewiston for about 12miles. Weird to know that there is water on the other side of the embankment. And the water changed depth, 22' to 14', in about 30 seconds time. A little nerve wracking, t say the least. A good opportunity for a fight - snipish-ness - between David and self about whose safety instincts should be followed, mine or his. Is it because he is the man or the more experienced sailor that HIS instincts win out? I know he knows more than I. But/and my reaction is around the challenges of sexism. Sigh and on, well. We soon managed to laugh at some different nonsense.

Some mystery animal swam across the canal around the dike in front of us. A rounded head and it swam sagitally - up and down - through the water and at one point dove.  A snake? Really large, if so, or an otter? Disappeared into the water weeds.

After passing through another lock at Moore Haven we were in agriculture country. Saw some large cattle which reminded us of the Spain emblems we saw on so many hills of the bull silhouette. And then we saw a boat sailing!!! As we approached they hailed us and held up their gas can. They'd run out of fuel. We had some. So we came alongside, checking them out first to make sure (to the best of our ability) that they weren't pirates. A young man (16?) with a thin beard, and a 50-something gent. Short conversation suggested that the place they expected to refuel was now out of business. They were delivering the boat to a non-profit - Wounded Warriors or Women Warriors. I was definitely a boat in need of love, money and lots of repairs. We gave them the fuel and a handheld radio and a few prayers and sent them on their way. They only have abt 6 miles to reach their destination and they'll make it tonight but probably not with too much comfort. They seem safe, though.

We're anchoring at Big Bend, a wide spot in the canal. It is beautiful!  Quiet. Lots of barn swallows skimming the water. A flock of white egrets, about 20, flew by, their wingtips dipping lightly into the water. So beautiful. And a black heron of some sort called and called. I'd never heard them speak.

David and I had cocktails on the fore deck as the sun traded places with the almost full moon. Even Amelia joined us for a few minutes.

Our evening accommodations

And the sunset...    

I might sleep out on the deck tonight, at least start there. It will be cold again but the nearly full moon and the stars.....David and I did the "star light, star bright, first star I see tonight" poem with wishes for the first 6 or 8 stars we saw. We are so blessed. Wishing health and courage for my friend, Kelly.

1/19/16   Tuesday    Leaving Stuart, FL    Arrived at Port Mayaca Locks


Cold again today...54 on the boat this morning and a STIFF northerly wind...not breeze...WIND. We went into the dock to sell the extra bicycle. Success! I got my last shower for a couple of days, finished my book, Open House (not recommended) so I could leave it behind.

Leaving home...our water home port for the past 3 weeks. Hard to believe we were there so long but when we discovered that Indiantown had no room we stayed in Sunset Bay to do the maintenance. Made some new friends and even those we didn't really befriend, we enjoyed long, one-time conversations. I learned to play a new kind of dominos. We got some advice from others who've crossed Lake Okeechobee, and generally enjoyed the ambience of the place where people return every year, some for 4 months of winter.

So I had many of the same feelings I remember when I would fly out of NC after visiting there. A sadness, sometimes fear, the possibility of not seeing people/place again and wanting to deepen relationships. The sadness of choosing to leave, different from the sadness of being left. Accepting the responsibility of leaving. Hurts my heart even while I'm comfortable (?)/confident of the rightness of my choice. Honestly, writing about this I feel my shoulders pulling in to protect my heart. Sigh.

These photos of our neighborhood these past 3 weeks

Now that we're traveling again, there is more to see.

Egrets and fish pole holders. There were more egrets before I got my camera out

A canal neighborhood along the way

And another lock! One of 5 we'll pass going cross country to Ft. Myers.

Getting Locked in again

Begin the flood

Half flood

Letting us out and on our way

Some beautiful, some modest homes along the waterway. This one has great landscaping.

We knew we wouldn't get into the lake today and the wind is too high to allow safe passage. So we've stopped just before the Port Mayaca Lock which empties into the lake. We spent hours - well at least 1 hour - trying to tie up to a dolphin for the night. Finally, got the bow attached by my hanging out over the bowsprit and attached the stern by David taking a row in the dinghy.

David captures a dolphin!

Now David is cooking. I'm writing. We're both hoping to see the alligator reported to call this area home. And we're hoping to stay warm tonight.

1/18/16   Monday   Martin Luther King, Jr. Day   Stuart, FL


Holy Cow Paddies! It's cold here tonight. It has been cold all day. Difficult to get out of bed this morning and it will be really difficult tomorrow morning with predicted 44 degrees.

Okay, I know. Forty four is way warmer than 28 but this is Florida, for goodness sake! And I've put ALL my winter wear stuff deep into deep storage. I even have the propane space heater on in the saloon. And my neck wrapped in warm material. HA! No socks, yet, though.

Kitty just did the biggest stretch. Woke herself up snoring, stretched and is now curled and snoring again. Even she has tucked her nose in to avoid the cold.

We'd hoped/expected to leave Stuart this morning but we've been velcro-ed in....until the wind subsides a bit more. All the marinas and anchorages along the canal - lake - canal that let's us arrive on the west coast of FL at Ft. Myers are, reportedly, "full" with other boats waiting out the wind, the "northers", so they can cross the Okeechobee Lake safely and comfortably. So, best to wait here rather than be stuck hanging out in a canal with no place to drop our anchor and lay our heads.

So used the morning to read (me) and get broken phone replaced (David), final provisioning meant bike rides to the grocery store, charge our various electronic implements...all before 5 PM. Then, fuel, water and pump out for the boat and I packed up our folding bikes in their travel bags (!). Took a bit of trial and error, especially with the baskets. Finally back to the boat for more reading (me and David).

Earlier in the day David became a hero for some other people...other than me for whom he is always a hero. A lovely power boat was trying to catch a mooring a couple down from us. The man would steam up to the mooring then run down from the flying bridge to take/snatch the boat hook from his wife's (?) hand to pick up the buoy. Twice that didn't work and he had to run back up to the flying bridge to regain control of the boat. Once it was moving too quickly backwards and endangering another boat. David and I watched, amused and horrified and David said, "I'm going to help them." Good thing, too. David motored over in our dinghy while I tried to hail them on the radio. No response on the radio but that was okay since the captain clearly had his hands full managing the boat. David, at the bow of the power boat asked the woman to toss a bow line. She tried twice to toss it - tangled or short, no good. David fished the line out of the water and yelled "Watch your stern, Captain" as the boat backed hazardously close to another moored boat. I was wishing David had his life vest on. Our dinghy and David looked pretty small and vulnerable next to that high-rise boat and it's high bow. Finally the line was attached to the mooring - thank you David - and the boat was secured (sort of). And David came home to Grace, a hero in a couple of other people's eyes. Clearly, the boat is bigger than the Captain's abilities and I'm thinking the woman, the mate, needs some practice, too. They'll get there. We still need practice in so many things.

Hoping to leave tomorrow as soon as we sell our bicycle around 10:00 AM. Fingers crossed for all good outcomes.

1/17/16     Sunday     Stuart, FL

"The wind is blowing...." but its not snowing. But, brother and sister, the wind did BLOW and thunder and lightning happened early morning and wind throughout the day. I heard David up on the aft deck way before dawn. He came in to ask me to come and help him put another anchor line out...an additional line on the mooring. Sure, happy to do that in the dark with the wind topping 30 knots. Actually, life jackets donned, out we went. It was warm air, just moving much more swiftly than was comfortable. Flattening out over the "pulpit" (think ol' what's her name in that famous movie about the really big ship that hit the iceberg, on her belly rather than standing at the bow of the boat) I was able to run another line through the pennant. We felt so secure after the addition that we went back to sleep for another hour or so. The wind whipped us around, though, because we have so much windage.

And then there was the remaining last maintenance gig with the engine. I wondered if it would take and hour or two. Four hours later we closed the engine compartment so we could meet cousin Kathryn. We took the dinghy into the dock...a wet ride due to the wind and waves. Did the laundry. Had a bagel and a mimosa - the Marina's "brunch" for all the customers. Kathryn and Lew were not able to come visit after all so we came back around 5 PM.

Friends who were anchored took off for the other side of the river early this morning. Since they were anchored and on the lee shore they wanted to get away from the shore. They came back at the same time we were returning to Grace.  They agreed to come over after we'd all had dinner. We saw a beautiful, dramatic sunset while cooking out.

Ready to move on to our next destination now...tomorrow, unless we have to stay another day to sell one of the bikes. Someone has expressed interest. Hoping for calmer seas.

1/16/15   Saturday     Stuart, FL

Oh YOGA. Terrific class w/Olga today, much more difficult that last week's Saturday class. Last Sat. she gave me a little tactile aid and stretched my ribcage away from my pelvis when in down-dog. I could hear my past teacher self saying "make space between your lowest rib and your pelvis." Easy to forget to do that unless you (I) practice it regularly. Today Olga gave us a short lesson in ____forgot___the name of move___ the movement from plank to cobra...asking us to shift slightly forward before doing the lowering to the mat. On my. Great for the triceps! I could feel my face flushing with the effort. Love it!

Met David, unplanned, he coming from food store and me traveling to. He waved politely as we were passing on our bikes and finally recognized ME in my matching (his) red helmet. Silly man. We laughed and continued on our way. Back at the marina, then back at the boat we both took a nap. I took mine on the aft deck. The day was soooo bright, sunny and warm - quite a contrast to yesterday. Some food and then......

.....working on the engine.  

Mechanic's helper w/fuel filter

We have one more maintenance thing to do tomorrow then we've done everything but put the snow tires on. And that Maine snow does look beautiful.....from this distance.

Hoping to see cousin, Kathryn, tomorrow just in case we really do leave for the west coast (of FL) on Monday.