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On the Okeechobee Waterway  (Christmas Detour)

12/26/2014

102 Comments

 
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Heading up the St. Lucie River towards Stuart. This is the start of the Okeechobee Waterway.
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A classic Alberg 37 from Jedor Harbour, NS. They set off for the Bahama's the next day. Taken at the Mooring field, Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart.
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Sight-seeing in Stuart, our friend John Corbitt is wintering here and gave us the grand tour.
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Inside the St. Lucie Locks, we raised 10 ft. into the waterway, all fresh water, the 1st Moxie has been in since we got her.
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Along the St. Lucie canal. The interior of Florida is very agricultural. We saw a lot of cattle, orange groves, sugar cane and nurseries along the route.
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The infamous Port Mayaca Railway bridge with a vertical clearance of 49. ft. We are 46 ft high so had 3' to clear, though when looking up, you would swear your mast is going to hit the bridge. Boats with 55' masts can get through with listing their boats with 55 gallon drums being strapped to their sides. There is a guy that does this for about $250.00.
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Leaving the Port Mayaca Lock. We were now in Lake Okeechobbee, with about 25 miles to go to the other side.
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There was a bit of marine traffic on the lake, including this small sailboat.
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Tall grass growing along the western shore of Lake Okeechobee.
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Locking through at Moorhaven, into the Calasoohatchie Canal.
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Swing bridge on the Calasoohatchie canal/river.
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Around LaBell, Calasoohatchie River.
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Getting closer to Ft. Myers. Most of the shoreline is developed with cottages and homes.
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The 37' Nordic Tug "Celebration" anchored off Ft Myers. We met Warren and Judy In Vero Beach.
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Richard and Lisa Tamargo, Moira MacDonald and you know who in front of Richard and Lisa's house near Sarasota.
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The Thomas Edison Museum in Ft Myers. We spent a good part of the day here with Deb's uncle and Aunt who are wintering at an RV park, not to far from Ft. Myers.
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One of Thomas Edison's labs. Part of the Museum complex.
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We had a hard time spotting alligators, but managed to get a shot of one in a wildlife park. They are suppose to be everywhere. I was not interested in going for an afternoon dip anywhere along the waterway.
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Name this bird. I know we don't have them in Nova Scotia.
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Pot Luck Christmas Dinner at the "Glades" RV park. Arch and Ann Chisholm, Debbie's Uncle and Aunt had invited us to spend Christmas with them.
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Christmas time in Southern Florida. Not the same without the cold and snow...
Stuart is a sweet place for sailors  and the scenery  going by St Lucie Inlet is beautiful. We moored there and had excellent facilities at a top notch marina , with walk ways going to the riverfront and down town. Gerry’s good friend John Corbit is in the area for the winter, so we hooked up with him for a walk through the farmer’s market and old town, he treated us for lunch and then a drive  in his cool BMW to the beach area and shopping. Great to catch up !

We moved on to the Ockeechobee Waterway and on the first day anchored at the Fort Mayaca Canal. The alligators, that the “Active Captian” folks expect you to see there, were hiding in the mud because of the cold water. The next day was sunny and warm and a perfect day to cross the lake (the second largest in the US). We were well welcomed at Moore Haven by seasoned boaters, Chuck and Clarica, along with Judy and Warren who we met in Vero Beach (from M/V Celebration- a snazzy  Nordic Tug). The famous Mexican Restaurant closed early so we had a great pot luck on  M/V Odyssee. (It was Judy and Warren’s anniversary and our first-borns 30th B/Ds). The next day we called Arch and Anne and they came to pick us up to take us the Glades R/V Park ( and Marina). Had another nice visit ,got laundry done and went for a drive to get the lay of the land around  the waterway going to LaBelle (so had to do some provisioning– Thanks Anne!) Also had a great supper with them and Arch drove us back (it was a bit out of the way by car). S/V Moxie moved on to LaBelle the next day just behind 2 Nordic Tugs that left  Moore Haven about the same time, and guess who got there first? Anyway we did not get a spot on the new town dock, but went across the river to the State Park  and dingied back over to town. Lots of social  boaters around and an interesting town, thought we would stay a few days and take advantage of free docking but after chatting to Eddy and Moira decided to move on to Fort Myers (after all, when will S/V Moxie be back this way again?) It was a lovely trip and a hot day!  The  excellent facilities at Ft Myers Yacht Basin  are open to those on mooring balls for a  small fee.

We rented a car and drove to Sarasota- one of the most beautiful places we have  ever been and we visited  friends there!  Stopped at Trader Joe’s, West Marine and we both got hair cuts. Ed and Moira made us a very tasty supper and we had a great time- while having the benefit of showers, laundry and a comfy bed .The next day we visited Richard and Lisa’s wonderful  home for lunch , stopped at Costco, bought a topper for the boat mattress at Macy’s (with Moira’s help) and then went out for dinner at The Lazy Lobster ( Ed’s treat). We were spoiled to say the least! Glad we stayed an extra night. Next morning, we had so much stuff we had to make 2 dingy trips to boat. And had lots of time to take the car back and meet Arch and Anne for our planned outing to  the Ford-Edison Museum. There's something for every one here and we had a fine day to sit out and have lunch at a restaurant on site. Next day, we motored  back to The Glades on a somewhat foggy morning, that turned nice and hot.  Arch hopped on the boat at Labelle to see the terrain by water, Deb went back with Anne.  Anne prepared another of her great meals.  Took a drive the next day to see some alligators- there were not too many hanging out on the ditches by the road so we went to Billy’s Swamp and Safari park where there was lots of wildlife and later we visited a Seminole Indian Museum for a picnic lunch.  Debbie was fortunate to be introduced to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas autobiography ( she is  the nature conservation activist who  wrote River of Grass) by Anne, so interesting- didn’t know it would be a Xmas gift!
Christmas day was all about calling family and friends, cocktails, eating and gift exchanging-Thanks to Arch and Anne for sharing their Xmas with us –not to mention their car! All the facilities we need are here, so after doing laundry and  updating the blog we are back to our our goal of getting S/V Moxie to The Bahamas. 



Dec 13-14/14        Mooring, Sunset Bay Marina, FL  (Mile 8 Okeechobee Waterway )

Dec 15/14            Anchorage, Fort Mayaca Canal, FL ( Mile 36, Okeechobee Waterway

Dec 16-17 /14       Moore Haven City Dock, FL (Mile 78    Okeechobee Waterway)

Dec 18 /14           Port LaBelle, FL (Mile 103 Okeechobee Waterway)

Dec 19-22/14        Mooring, Fort Myers Basin Marina, FL  (Mile 136                                                                                               Okeechobee      Waterway  )

Dec 23-26/14        Anchorage, The Glades RV Park and Marina ( Mile 90                                                                                     Okeechobee     Waterway  )

 


102 Comments

On to Vero beach

12/14/2014

1 Comment

 
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Another bascual opening bridge not far from St. Augustine.
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There are more and more abandoned boats on the waterway.
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Interesting offer to stay and do some fishing.
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This is a boat house, we could see the interesting house behind it but couldn't get a shot.
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Fort Mantanzas, an old Spanish fort built in the late 1600's. We spent a night at anchor here on the Mantanzas River Inlet. Very strong current.
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Passing by Daytona Beach, very foggy that day so we couldn't see much.
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Dredging spoil along the waterway cuts. Pines and other trees grow up along these banks.
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Spoil Islands on the Indian River lagoon. The Indian River is about 150 miles long and extends from around Daytona to Stuart.
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Victim of a hurricane, and left to the bank. At Dragon's Point, on Merrit Island, near Eau Gallie Bridge.
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Prill and Steve listen to the exuberant Volunteer Ranger at The Sebastion Inlet Fishing Museum taking about seashells.
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The City of Melbourn had a nice public dock that we used to dingy to, to visit our friends, Steve and Prill.
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A high current area on the Indian River Lagoon. For the most part, the currents, which for the most part, were with us, weren't to strong on the sail from Melbourn to Vero Beach.
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Bridge before Vero Beach anchorage.
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S/V First Love, getting ready to cross to the Abacos, rafted with 2 of many Canadian boats, at Vero Beach.
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The Atlantic Ocean at Vero Beach.
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Early morning at Vero Beach Anchorage.
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Tiny shore bird on the Atlantic beach, Vero Beach.
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Any Takers?
Fort Matanzas is not far from St. Augustine’s, by the time we were pumped out and topped up the tide was ok to set off, and we had sun and heat! Our next anchorage was near a National Monument  site , but we did not visit the Fort  Mantanzas on “Rattlesnake Island” a small ferry takes folks there for free, but the current was super strong, so we were not tempted to dingy there. The next day was very foggy, we passed Daytona Beach (Highrise City) with the tide in our favour and kept on going to Rockhouse Creek, an anchorage close to the Ponce de Leon Inlet. With no sign of the NASA rocket launch we set off to Titusville, going across the scenic Indian River and into the NASA Restricted area, we found out that the launch had been delayed, so we called Arch and Anne Chisholm (The Accidental RV’ers) who were still in the area, staying at a near-by RV park with lots of other Space Launch enthusiasts. Luckily we caught up with them in time for a visit, and even better, they came and picked us up for some shopping and dinner at their  place. It was fun to catch up with them and trade travel tales, and the shrimp dinner was delishes! Looking forward to spending time at Xmas with them at Lake Okeechobee. The next morning being overcast, we heard, but did not see the Orian rocket launch even though we were less than 10 miles from Cape Canaveral.

S/V Moxie pushed on close to Melbourne, FL, where our friends Moira and Eddie have just passed though on their way to Fernandina Beach to crew on S/V Life of Riley, we hope to catch up with them soon, in the mean-time their good pals (whom we met at our home port in NS), Steve and Prill, live here. It just so happened that we anchored just across the Indian River Lagoon from where they live. Our evening at ‘Dragon’s Point’ was a novelty for us: sitting out in the warmth with lots of festive lights all around us! The next day, we crossed the Indian River Lagoon and  had a tour of Eau Gallie (a unique artsy section of Melbourne, FL), with Steve and Prill, great ambassadors for this region. We had lunch with them at “Squid Lips” and then (we had the use of Moira’s Mercedes) Gerry got a ‘hot spot’ at Verizon.

We provisioned the next day and started stashing stuff under the V-Berth and other nooks and crannies on the boat.

Steve and Prill had us to their beautiful home for a BBQ, what a treat, as was the laundry getting done and the showers- a date was made for breakfast and we ended up doing a tour of the outlying area, spotting at Sebastian Inlet State Park where we had an informative and very enthusiastic volunteer ranger/guide talk to us about fish and shells. We lunched at Sunny Side Up and then parted somewhat reluctantly from our friends’ cozy home out into the wild blue yonder with promises to get together again along with our friends Eddie and Moira.

We left the Melbourn area bound for Vero Beach. We ended up staying there for 4 nights as everything is so handy and easily accessible. There were a lot of other Canadians and even a couple of Nova Scotian boats. A beautiful Atlantic Beach was a short walk away from the City Marina, and the free buses ran every hour into town and the shopping areas. We left for Stuart on our way to Okeechobee, and will continue with the that section in the next blog.

Again, getting to a strong wi-fi area is a challenge. Although Vero had just about everything, a good hot spot was not one of them.



Nov 30/Dec 1/14   St Augustine’s Municipal Dock, St Augustine, FL
                                (Mile 777 ICW)


Dec 2/14              Anchorage, Fort Matanzas, FL (Mile 792 ICW)

Dec 3/14              Anchorage, Rockhouse Creek, FL (Mile 843 ICW)        

Dec 4/ 14             Mooring, Titusville Municiple Marina, Titusville, FL                                  
                              (Mile 878 ICW)


Dec 5/14              Anchorage, Indian Harbour Beach (Dragon’s Point)

                              (Mile 914 ICW)

Dec 6/14              Anchorage, Eau Gallie N., FL  (Mile 914 ICW)

Dec 7-8/14           Anchorage, Eau Gallie S., FL (Mile 915 IWC)

Dec 9/14              Mooring, Vero Beach Marina , FL ( Mile 952 ICW)


1 Comment

Hiking and Sight seeing

12/1/2014

4 Comments

 
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North End of Cumberland Island, GA
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Southern Maritime Forest on Cumberland Island
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Wood's trail, Cumberland Island
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Wild Horse on Cumberland Island
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Wild Turkeys, a couple days before thanksgiving.
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The ruins of the Carnegie Mansion, Cumberland Island.
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Beach on Atlantic side of Cumberland Island.
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Sand Dunes on Cumberland Island
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Soaked to the bone.
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St. Mary's Harbour.
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St. Mary's Yacht Club, decorated for Christmas.
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Anchored Boats at St Mary's, there were about 70 boats all together at the marina and at anchor.
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Fort Clinch, Near Fernandina, Fl. Officially in Florida.
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Fernandina Waterfront, a pulp mill.
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Boy fishing at the Jacksonville Free Dock. During the day we counted 20 people fishing from the dock.
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Jacksonville Free Dock, just off the ICW. There were 7 boats tied up the 1st night. It's about 10 miles up the St. John's River to the City Center.
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Gerry and Browne Altmane. Browne is the self appointed greeter and doer at the Jacksonville free dock. He drove us into the Jacksonville Apple Store on "Black Friday" so we could get a replacement phone. (drowned mine on Cumberland Island)
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Crossing the St. John's River.
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A boat grounded on the ICW, very easy to do with a small distraction.
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This guy told us he bought the boat for $1.00. Sail up to save gas.
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A parade of boats heading for St Augustine.
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Moxie tied up at St. Augustine Municipal Marina. Lifting Bridge of Lion's in the background.
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City Hall, St Augustine
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Old House built in the 1700's.
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City restaurant decorated for Christmas. St. Augustine is really a big tourist area.
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Old Spanish Fort.
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Every where in the city center is decorated with lights and Christmas decorations. Note Poinsetta's planted in the flower beds. Note we are wearing warm weather clothing.
Came across St Simon and St Andrew’s Sounds in nice conditions, a warm, humid day. The Cumberland River took us beside Cumberland Island so we could see  the  northern wild beach area of this nature preserve, we went off the ICW to anchor at a secluded spot, Brickhill River, it was the first time since Virginia that we used screens in he evening. The next day, after a short voyage, we took a dingy ride to The National Seashore Park on Cumberland Island (Sea Camp) and hiked the southern part of the island (in the rain) and visited the Dungeness Ruins which were once part of a planation, and was built into a summer estate by the Carnagie family. This island is a treasure, well worth the effort, although it was not a good night at anchor because of the wind, rain , lightening  and strong  currents. We could see the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base on the other side of the waterway, very "lit up". The next day we went up the St Mary’s River to the town of the same name for some socializing. The town and some annual transients  have the use of Seagle’s ( bar /grille /restaurant) for gatherings that go on the week of Thanksgiving. We were there for an oyster roast and for the pot luck Thanksgiving dinner, lots of food and fun. We meet some seasoned and helpful cruisers whom we hope to see again. There was a cold front that had settled over the South Georgia region and it was close to freezing at night and around 10C during the day.

Crossing to Florida the next day was a cold one, we passed Fort Clinch, Fernandina  Beach, lots of fishing boats and industrial structures. We were greeted at the Jacksonville free dock  by Brown Altmane, the local Jacksonville sailing ambassador who "plays it forward" by offering assistance to boaters. We were in need of a new phone because Gerry’s got very wet on our hike on Cumberland Island he took us way out of his way to St John’s Center, Jacksonville Apple Store. To make things interesting it was ‘Black Friday’-swarms of people’, but mission was accomplished, a new phone.

The weather was warming up, the cruise to St Augustine, FL was comfortable, the passage across The St John’s River was uneventful ( a good thing) , and we were in a flotilla of yachts.  It wasn’t surprising to find all the moorings were gone at The Bridge of Lion’s mooring fields when we got there (every other boat had passed us),  and we couldn’t get in touch with the marina by phone for some reason, so we took a spot at the Municipal Marina- close to everything! Had showers and did lots of laundry! Walked to and cabbed back from the grocery Store with Val and Steve from S/V Barefoot’n. Ran into Mark and Sue from S/V Merlin, whom we hadn't seen since Elizabeth City, NC. 
We went to The St Augustine First Colony Museum, very interesting Spanish and Native American influences, we saw an image of what the first  genuine Thanksgiving looked like(by Michael Rosato,1565). The city is beautiful and extravagantly decorated with lights for Xmas. It is very touristy though and the temptation to eat out got the best of us while we were here.



Nov 21-23/14       Brunswick Landing Marina, Brunswick, GA (Mile 680 ICW)

Nov 24/14            Anchorage, Brickhill River ,N. Cumberland Island, GA (Mile 700 ICW)

Nov 25/14            Anchorage, Sea Camp, S. Cumberland Island, GA (Mile  710 ICW)

Nov 26-27/14       Lang’s Marina, St Mary’s, GA (Mile 711 ICW)

 
Nov 28-29/14       City Dock, Sister’s Creek, Jacksonville, FL (Mile  739 ICW)

Nov 30-31/14       St Augustine’s Municipal Dock, St Augustine,  FL (Mile 777 ICW)       

 

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    Debbie and Gerry Connolly
    Sailing to the Bahamas the fall of 2014 on the 32' Mirage sloop "Moxie"

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