Monday, December 12, 2011
Fort Myers to Home
In the morning, I picked up anchor and entered the Gulf of Mexico, which was slick calm! A small craft advisory expecting 25 knot winds was forecast for 1 o'clock, so I got off to an early start in the calm before the storm.
Fort Meyers Beach area at sunsrise
Looking shoreward from the Gulf of Mexico
At Naples, I entered the pass, and ran the inside passage from Naples to Marco Island, around Marco, staying on the inside of Cape Romano thru Goodland. I had never been through that waterway before, and it is gorgeous!
Between Naples and Marco, there is an island with properties running from the Gulf to the inside passage. You can still see hurricane damage from years past, and a lot of the places are for sale. If I didn't already live in such a great place....
Marco Island is a pretty place, and I am saying that as someone who doesn't like cities! I didn't explore ashore, though it was hard not to stop somewhere for lunch!
There are so many osprey nests, they have no number their houses! The ospreys sat and stared as we passed. Note the disrepair of the daymarkers... can't work the aid with a nest on top of it!
There were also a lot of dolphins! Dolphins love the Nordic Tug @ 1300rpm (I played with this a LOT on the trip down)
I stayed on the inside past Goodland, behind Romano Pass, and then outside along the coast, protected from the north wind that had blown up down to Ten Thousand Islands. I went up Indian Key Pass and anchored in Russel Pass 25 50 318 81 26 306 There were two trawlers already on the hook there, but I didn't launch the dinghy to go visit.
In the afternoon, when I reached the Little Shark River, I knew I didn't have enough time to get into the Keys by dark, and there were lots of crab traps I didn't want to hit. I've always loved that part of Everglades, so I explored for a couple of hours before returning to the mouth to anchor. One trawler from the night before was already anchored there, so I went back up the river about a mile and anchored. Later, I heard the other trawler come in and anchor.
In the middle of the night I woke up, the wind had calmed, the moon was full, and I was ready to go home. By 0130, I'd picked up the anchor, and was passing the two anchored trawlers. They had to wonder what I was doing in the middle of the night!
I paced to enter the Marathon flats at daylight, so I could watch the bottom, and went through Mozier Channel under the 7 mile bridge and down the outside towards home.
I had neighbors waving to me as the Mercy came home. The canal seems much smaller than with the Miss Vi, I think because my line of sight is so much higher. Boy, some folks need to trim their mangroves, too! Rudy had spent a day earlier in the week snorkelling the main channel coming in, to make sure there wasn't any debris we'd missed during our multiple sweeps this fall.
Pam Borgert was at the house, and caught lines for me as the Mercy came to her new homeport.
I tucked into the dock at the house about 1000, and as much as I love being gone, it sure is fun coming home!
Fort Meyers Beach area at sunsrise
Looking shoreward from the Gulf of Mexico
At Naples, I entered the pass, and ran the inside passage from Naples to Marco Island, around Marco, staying on the inside of Cape Romano thru Goodland. I had never been through that waterway before, and it is gorgeous!
Between Naples and Marco, there is an island with properties running from the Gulf to the inside passage. You can still see hurricane damage from years past, and a lot of the places are for sale. If I didn't already live in such a great place....
Marco Island is a pretty place, and I am saying that as someone who doesn't like cities! I didn't explore ashore, though it was hard not to stop somewhere for lunch!
There are so many osprey nests, they have no number their houses! The ospreys sat and stared as we passed. Note the disrepair of the daymarkers... can't work the aid with a nest on top of it!
There were also a lot of dolphins! Dolphins love the Nordic Tug @ 1300rpm (I played with this a LOT on the trip down)
I stayed on the inside past Goodland, behind Romano Pass, and then outside along the coast, protected from the north wind that had blown up down to Ten Thousand Islands. I went up Indian Key Pass and anchored in Russel Pass 25 50 318 81 26 306 There were two trawlers already on the hook there, but I didn't launch the dinghy to go visit.
In the afternoon, when I reached the Little Shark River, I knew I didn't have enough time to get into the Keys by dark, and there were lots of crab traps I didn't want to hit. I've always loved that part of Everglades, so I explored for a couple of hours before returning to the mouth to anchor. One trawler from the night before was already anchored there, so I went back up the river about a mile and anchored. Later, I heard the other trawler come in and anchor.
In the middle of the night I woke up, the wind had calmed, the moon was full, and I was ready to go home. By 0130, I'd picked up the anchor, and was passing the two anchored trawlers. They had to wonder what I was doing in the middle of the night!
I paced to enter the Marathon flats at daylight, so I could watch the bottom, and went through Mozier Channel under the 7 mile bridge and down the outside towards home.
I had neighbors waving to me as the Mercy came home. The canal seems much smaller than with the Miss Vi, I think because my line of sight is so much higher. Boy, some folks need to trim their mangroves, too! Rudy had spent a day earlier in the week snorkelling the main channel coming in, to make sure there wasn't any debris we'd missed during our multiple sweeps this fall.
Pam Borgert was at the house, and caught lines for me as the Mercy came to her new homeport.
I tucked into the dock at the house about 1000, and as much as I love being gone, it sure is fun coming home!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Vero Beach thru Okeechobee to Fort Myers
I left Vero Beach and headed south down the ICW, passing Fort Pierce inlet about 0850, and arriving at the Saint Lucie River about 1125. The turn into the St. Lucie River left me departing many good friends I'd made on my journey south, most of which had intentions on heading easterly towards the Bahamas, or at least staying on the east coast of Florida.
One of the items on a list I'd made around age 12 or 13 that I wanted to be sure and do in my life was to cross Florida thru the St. Lucie canal, Lake Okeechobee, and the Caloosahatchee River, and here was my chance! Low lake levels the past few years, hurricanes, lock closures, and a couple of years boatless had kept me from this trip earlier. Timing is everything!
The St. Lucie Locks had a 13' 6" rise, and the scramble of single-handing the locks with that much rise kept me from getting any pictures. I was glad to get the hardest lock out of my way first, so I could enjoy the rest of my trip without any lock worries!
Note to non-boaters: Locks are not hard. You enter an area, tie up next to a metal wall, and they close the gate behind you. In the Okeechobee lock system, then they open the gate in front of you slowly, allowing the water to rush in, and all the boater has to do is keep the slack out of the lines as the vessel rises with the water level. If you single-hand, instead of having a person on each line, you need to run both lines where you can pull the slack out of them from one place, which involves a little engineering. Locking down is always easier, since gravity keeps tension on the lines, and you just have to ease the lines as you drop.
The landscape changed from city, to gorgeous suburbs to remote waterway. I cooked a pork loin, baked potatoes, and baked onions on the grill as I headed west. I had to wait 20 minutes for the railroad bridge at Indiantown, and I ate supper as I waited.
I stopped for the night just as it was getting dark, tying between some of the piling clusters on the east side of Port Mayaca Locks, just east of Lake Okeechobee. 26 59.174 080 36 913
In the morning, I locked through to Lake Okeechobee, which was almost no water height increase, and after taking the lock master's recomendation, headed across Lake Okeechobee, to join the rim route further out, instead of following the rim route all the way around, where the channel had shoaled a little. The Lake was pretty calm, and I gave the boat a fresh (raw) water rinse as I ran.
I joined the rim route thru the channel at Pelican Bay. When I heard the term "rim route" in the past, I'd always pictured a canal dug around the outside of Lake Okeechobee, where you could see the lake. Not so! The rim route is cool! On one side of you is the huge levee, that you can't see over, but the other side is marsh grass with creeks and inlets just waiting to be explored! I found several really great anchorages in those creeks, where there are ponds surrounded by dredge spoil from years ago, now lush, low islands... not the kind you'd walk around on, but enough to give protection from wind and waves. Fish were popping everywhere, birds were everywhere, and though I didn't see ANY, I'm sure there were lots of alligators!
At South Bay, there was a great public launch ramp, and enough dock space for us to tie up. Mercy-dog and I walked to the top of the levee and looked around, stretched our legs, and Mercy enjoyed the grass and the opportunity to relieve herself somewhere other than her "litter box!"
Just above the Moorehaven Locks, (drop of 3') there were a couple of giant alligators, waiting on the bank directly across from Moorehaven's boat ramp. I wondered how many fish scraps and bait they get from the boaters.
We continued through the locks, thru the town, and thru a lot of farming community. Here the waterway is not a river or lake, but a canal. It's still interesting, lots of birds, lots of cows, and some orange trees.
We stopped for the night on the pilings east of Ortona Locks. 26 47 485 81 17 976 An otter swam around the boat for a little while, and he was fun to watch, but impossible to photograph!
In the morning, we went thru the Ortona Locks, with a drop of 8 feet and continued west. I spent a little time above the Franklin Locks, which is the furthest east I had been in the canal system before. Cliff and I spent hurricane George there years ago, and it brought back a lot of memories. Cliff would have liked this boat! Things are really different now, lots more houses and development. It didn't seem like the same place.
I locked thru the Franklin locks, drop 3' and continued down the Caloosahatchee River to where I anchored off Fort Myers. 26 29 889 82 01 253 in a deep little channel surrounded by a flat and some mangrove islands. It was a gorgeous night!
One of the items on a list I'd made around age 12 or 13 that I wanted to be sure and do in my life was to cross Florida thru the St. Lucie canal, Lake Okeechobee, and the Caloosahatchee River, and here was my chance! Low lake levels the past few years, hurricanes, lock closures, and a couple of years boatless had kept me from this trip earlier. Timing is everything!
The St. Lucie Locks had a 13' 6" rise, and the scramble of single-handing the locks with that much rise kept me from getting any pictures. I was glad to get the hardest lock out of my way first, so I could enjoy the rest of my trip without any lock worries!
Note to non-boaters: Locks are not hard. You enter an area, tie up next to a metal wall, and they close the gate behind you. In the Okeechobee lock system, then they open the gate in front of you slowly, allowing the water to rush in, and all the boater has to do is keep the slack out of the lines as the vessel rises with the water level. If you single-hand, instead of having a person on each line, you need to run both lines where you can pull the slack out of them from one place, which involves a little engineering. Locking down is always easier, since gravity keeps tension on the lines, and you just have to ease the lines as you drop.
The landscape changed from city, to gorgeous suburbs to remote waterway. I cooked a pork loin, baked potatoes, and baked onions on the grill as I headed west. I had to wait 20 minutes for the railroad bridge at Indiantown, and I ate supper as I waited.
I stopped for the night just as it was getting dark, tying between some of the piling clusters on the east side of Port Mayaca Locks, just east of Lake Okeechobee. 26 59.174 080 36 913
In the morning, I locked through to Lake Okeechobee, which was almost no water height increase, and after taking the lock master's recomendation, headed across Lake Okeechobee, to join the rim route further out, instead of following the rim route all the way around, where the channel had shoaled a little. The Lake was pretty calm, and I gave the boat a fresh (raw) water rinse as I ran.
I joined the rim route thru the channel at Pelican Bay. When I heard the term "rim route" in the past, I'd always pictured a canal dug around the outside of Lake Okeechobee, where you could see the lake. Not so! The rim route is cool! On one side of you is the huge levee, that you can't see over, but the other side is marsh grass with creeks and inlets just waiting to be explored! I found several really great anchorages in those creeks, where there are ponds surrounded by dredge spoil from years ago, now lush, low islands... not the kind you'd walk around on, but enough to give protection from wind and waves. Fish were popping everywhere, birds were everywhere, and though I didn't see ANY, I'm sure there were lots of alligators!
At South Bay, there was a great public launch ramp, and enough dock space for us to tie up. Mercy-dog and I walked to the top of the levee and looked around, stretched our legs, and Mercy enjoyed the grass and the opportunity to relieve herself somewhere other than her "litter box!"
Just above the Moorehaven Locks, (drop of 3') there were a couple of giant alligators, waiting on the bank directly across from Moorehaven's boat ramp. I wondered how many fish scraps and bait they get from the boaters.
We continued through the locks, thru the town, and thru a lot of farming community. Here the waterway is not a river or lake, but a canal. It's still interesting, lots of birds, lots of cows, and some orange trees.
We stopped for the night on the pilings east of Ortona Locks. 26 47 485 81 17 976 An otter swam around the boat for a little while, and he was fun to watch, but impossible to photograph!
In the morning, we went thru the Ortona Locks, with a drop of 8 feet and continued west. I spent a little time above the Franklin Locks, which is the furthest east I had been in the canal system before. Cliff and I spent hurricane George there years ago, and it brought back a lot of memories. Cliff would have liked this boat! Things are really different now, lots more houses and development. It didn't seem like the same place.
I locked thru the Franklin locks, drop 3' and continued down the Caloosahatchee River to where I anchored off Fort Myers. 26 29 889 82 01 253 in a deep little channel surrounded by a flat and some mangrove islands. It was a gorgeous night!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Ponce Inlet to Vero Beach
We left Ponce Inlet and journeyed south along the ICW, past New Smyrna Beach and down the Indian River. We entered Mosquito Lagoon, and as we travelled south, we could see the hanger for the Space Station down at the Kennedy Space Center.
...and Ben said he'd never seen a pelican...
Ben was at the helm until we entered Haulover Canal, at which time he was given the assignment of spotting his first ever alligator; a task that took about two minutes for him to find an eight footer on the bank in the sun!
We went along Merritt Island and entered the Cape Canaveral Barge Canal to get fuel. When we came back into the canal, we idled along looking at birds; herons, ospreys, anhinghas, pelicans, blackbirds. Then we started spotting manatee everywhere! We launched the dinghy to give Ben a chance to meet these “mermaids” up close, while I idled out to the bay to look for an anchorage. I didn’t like the options, and returned to Harbortown Marina, where we had fueled, to dock for the night.
I met Bob working there, who has a home in Big Pine, and we have mutual friends, who we called at seven o’clock that morning.
We continued down the Indian River, and the ICW to Vero Beach, where we joined over a hundred boats in the Vero Beach Marina mooring field. We tied up by the Sawdust, a Nordic Tug 37, and the next hull number to Mercy!
On Friday, Larry and Joan, off the Sawdust, and I looked around on each boat, comparing notes. Larry made a few modifications that I plan to do as well. (Insulating/adding ventilation to the refrigerator.
Friday afternoon I had the privilege of meeting Ben’s parents, who must be terribly proud of the fine young man they have raised. My prayers are for Ben as he seeks God’s direction for his life, and for the entire family that they have the confidence that Ben ends up just where God wants him to be. It must be really hard for parents… I’m missing Ben already!
Friday evening, I dinghyed ashore with the Sawdust crew to watch the Vero Beach Christmas Boat parade. We sat on the fuel pier, where the judges were, so we had a pretty good view!
Saturday I took advantage of Vero Beach’s free bus service and went to the store. I’ve flown and boated all over the world, and figuring out a bus schedule is scary to me! I made it back to marina, which wasn’t difficult, thanks to all the boaters in town who’d already figured out the bus system.
The mooring field at Vero Beach
The free buses don’t run on Sunday, and church is a long ways off, so I’m continuing south today.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Ben's time aboard Mercy
It has been a great experience for me aboard Mercy. I have to say that I am truly impressed with the skipper's abilities!
The wildlife in these parts of the ICW have been very interesting. Having lived in the south pacific most of my life,these animals are quite different! Yesterday we travalled through a canal that had tons of manatees! Linda decided to look for a good anchorage for the night and let me take the dinghy for a bit.
It was easy for me to find a manatees wake in the glassy smooth canal, I crept up, killed the engine and the manatee cruised right by me. It popped up to take a breath (and who knows maybe to say hi) and crusied on by.
The bird life has been amazing!There have been all kinds of seabirds and storks everywhere! The pellicans have been funny to watch as they are quite clumsy with there landings at times haha!
Almost all the wildlife has been very pleasant, untill today when I was taking pictures of birds in the dinghy, I stayed too long and too close to the mangroves, it seemed I was attacked all at once by a well trained army of these tiny bugs! I high tailed it out of there flailing my arms like crazy tourist getting them off me! Come to find out they where called ''no-see-um's'' (now there's a name that makes sense)!
Well Thats a bit of the adventures I have been having on Mercy. Good times that I will never forget!
Thanks
Ben
The wildlife in these parts of the ICW have been very interesting. Having lived in the south pacific most of my life,these animals are quite different! Yesterday we travalled through a canal that had tons of manatees! Linda decided to look for a good anchorage for the night and let me take the dinghy for a bit.
It was easy for me to find a manatees wake in the glassy smooth canal, I crept up, killed the engine and the manatee cruised right by me. It popped up to take a breath (and who knows maybe to say hi) and crusied on by.
The bird life has been amazing!There have been all kinds of seabirds and storks everywhere! The pellicans have been funny to watch as they are quite clumsy with there landings at times haha!
Almost all the wildlife has been very pleasant, untill today when I was taking pictures of birds in the dinghy, I stayed too long and too close to the mangroves, it seemed I was attacked all at once by a well trained army of these tiny bugs! I high tailed it out of there flailing my arms like crazy tourist getting them off me! Come to find out they where called ''no-see-um's'' (now there's a name that makes sense)!
Well Thats a bit of the adventures I have been having on Mercy. Good times that I will never forget!
Thanks
Ben
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