The Home Stretch

9-20-14

Labelle to Fort Pierce

We shoved off early and it was still drizzly rain. Within the hour we were up and cruising. Needed to do 4 locks and one big lake to be back on the east coast for the home stretch. All the locks on the Okeechobee Waterway were easy to get through. No commercial traffic and very few pleasure craft were out.

 Got to the rim canal on the lake and worked our way around to the channel that leads into the lake and had an easy ride with a tail wind all the way to the Port Mayaca Lock. I thought I would do the right thing and putt the last couple miles to wait for another boat we passed on the lake so the lockmaster would not have to do but one opening. Wouldn't you know it, we get there and he says just drive on through, the locks doors are open. Apparently the water on the low side has risen enough so the water level is the same top and bottom. I wasn't complaining, we just putted right through the lock.

No waiting, glad to, the lake was a little choppy.

A drive through lock, the best kind.

 Without very many no wake zones we were at the last lock we needed to get through to be home free.

The last gates to get through.

 Got through that quickly and made It to the Atlantic ICW only to be slowed by a nasty storm passing to our north. We had to watch the weather on the screen again and then bolt in between 2 red storm cells. Red is bad. Man, all these fancy smancy electronics sure have come in handy. Just wish I knew what I was looking at. (Very funny Cass).

We couldn't decide how far to go so we just stopped at Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce. I kept a boat here at one time and knew they had a nice marina with a pool. We have seen the coast many times before so we will probably make quick work of it.

9-21-14
Fort Pierce to St. Augustine

We decide to get an early start and pulled out about 7am. We wanted to get as far as we could today and the weather wasn't fighting us, so far. With no real long wake zones until New Smyrna, we were there in no time but there was a lot of small boat traffic out due to the weekend. We managed to get through all the traffic up to Daytona and then put the hammer down again. Stopping at Disappearing Island at Ponce Inlet was temping but we kept moving. Arrived at St. Augustine around 5 or so and met some friends for dinner. Another long run but the finish line is in sight. We have been down the coast several times so I think the picture taker went on strike.

Around Sebastian we were attacked by pirates
 again but managed to escape. 

 I did get to see a Porpoise fly out of the water just in front of us in Edgewater and then come right up to the transom right next to the outboard and surf right behind the boat. His nose was almost touching the boat. Seen several in front of a boat surfing but none ever like that. Happen way to fast to get a picture. It was cool, he just hung there for several seconds looking up right at me.

9-22-14
St. Augustine to Silver Glen

We knew we had to go through a long area of boats and docks right in a narrow area south of Jacksonville so we decided to hit the ocean. With a light West wind and small easterly swells, the ride to Jacksonville was very nice up the beach and we didn't have to worry about making a wake. It was even a bit cool out.

Ahh. What a nice day.
We soon came to the ICW waterway and officially crossed our wake. Only thing to do was put up the gold Burgee. A little to early for a celebratory cocktail so we saved that for later. 

I need to do something 
about that hair. 30mph 
will do that to it.

The Navy even gave us a fly over 
to celebrate our trip. Ok, maybe not.


We were there pretty early and contemplated running all the way to Sanford. But after getting fuel to get home, the stinking East Coast RR bridge in Jacksonville changed our minds. We had to wait an hour and a half for an opening, 2pm. 

Finally! 

We tied up under the road bridge to be in the shade and there was not 1 train that came by until, you guessed it, 2 o'clock. The second train that was crossing just plain Ole stopped right on the bridge. I think at this point it was only to keep us from getting home. I never cussed, I promise. Anyhow, after that big delay home was not looking good. We decided it would be a great stop to stay at Silver Glen Springs for the night. About 10 miles north of Lake George, a big nasty thunderstorm was brewing. We had to putt along for several miles in the light rain and wait for the clearing to dash into the Glen. We had heard how much rain Florida was getting while we were gone and once on the river we knew it was a lot. The river was up a lot. 

With a east wind blowing, all the 
stuff coming up the river was pushed 
over to the mouth of the Glen. Luckily
the current from the springs
keeps it all out of the Glen.

5ft. Deep and clear as a bell. Come on 
over here Al and work on your Bass
catching skills so next time in the 
North Channel we can have more of that 
delicious bass you caught and cooked. 
Dammit Sherry where is my fishing pole.

Pulled into the Glen and anchored up on the sand bar. This Glen is a very nice place to stay. Chrystal clear water and a nice sand bar to boot. Broke out the beer and celebrated our trip. I wanted to polish off the bottle of Sortilege Maple Cream we got in Canada but Wendy said she wanted to take some home. Dammit Sherry, why did you have to introduce me to that stuff, it is good. Cooked dinner and had a nice quiet night, quiet is good.

9-23-14
Silver Glen to Sanford

The last day is upon us. After actually thinking about staying one more day at the Glen, we decided to just get home. The weather has been stormy as heck lately and didn't want to stay just to be stormed on. Looked later on the weather and it was actually storming at the Glen so we are glad we left. Once we hit the river we knew we would have to dodge mostly Lilly pads coming down river due to all the rain. We actually had to dodge small islands coming down the river, huge chunks of stuff floating everywhere. 

About 6 Fish and Wildlife air boats
were spraying the floating masses.

Hoped once we passed Lake Woodruff, a lake on the east side of the river, most of the weeds would be gone. Just as we thought, got past there and most of the big stuff wasn't in the river anymore. It was a nice ride all the way to Sanford for the most part.

Coming in to the starting point to 
finish the trip, Monroe Harbor Marina
in Sanford.

With 5820 miles traveled and 3670 gallons burnt we were home. It was an awesome trip. We were home a little early but with a family illness and everything else happening, we decided to just get home. We pretty much accomplished our goals to see as much in the Canada part as we could and actually changed coarse at the Erie and went to the Champlain and Rideau canals instead. We are glad we did. About half our time spent was in Canada. Nice eh. We have met a ton of people along the way and have enjoyed the fellowship of everyone. Really can"t remember even one bad experience. Well except for that one engine service in Michigan that cost twice what it did in NY. Oh,well.  

The River God's must have been upset that we were off the water cause they made It rain something fierce after we got home from the boat. Could have boated all the way home. It was the most rain I have seen in such a short time around here.

Like we haven't seen enough water already. Geez. Luckily we live in a sugar sand area and it was all gone within an hour or so. 

Gulf Coast

9-13-14

Mobile Bay to Fort Walton 

After over 1300 miles of the river systems, it was time for the Gulf coast. We had some pretty long runs to get to the Gulf but with not a whole lot of places to see or do, we let her fly. The fish must have known LeHooker was back in the saltwater cause one jumped in the splash well. We motored on over to the Gulf Coast ICW and decided to just go until we got tired. It was a weekend so the boat traffic was everywhere. Before we knew it, we were in the home state.

The storms were on the way so we stopped at Fort Walton Yacht Basin for the night. Well let me tell you, any marina right on the river with no break wall might be a bumpy night. Luckily a nasty thunderstorm came and ran all the boats off the water.

9-14-14
Fort Walton to Panama City

We got moving early to try and beat the morning rush of boaters. We ran through the bays and the ICW cut with hardly any traffic. 

Right before we got to Pirates Cove Marina we found sand bar just inside the inlet and pulled over to clean the outside of the boat at the water line. Couldn't get the stain off due to waves, but got all the scum growth off. It was nice to be able to get into the water, finally. Went to the marina and jumped into the pool for a while. Afterwards I got onto the boat top and scrubbed it clean while Wendy attacked the laundry. After getting some cleaning on the boat done we hit the restaurant for dinner.

9-15-14
Panama City to Carrabelle

With storms in the area, we left with one eye on the weather screen. Having the weather capabilities on the boat has been a nice addition. We ran for a while until we saw we were going to head into the rain. 

Putted along until the rain actually split into 2 storms so we ran again and shot in between the 2 storms. We were pretty lucky until we hit the last bay we had to cross, Apalachicola Bay, to get to Carrabelle. 

The winds were once again strong. The ride was a choppy one for the first half but luckily the second half settled down a little. Pulled into Carrabelle right with a drizzly rain.

9-16-14
The Moorings at Carrabelle

With a front coming through we decided to stay put and chill out for a day after putting on some miles lately. Carrabelle is a cool little town. Grocery store right across the street from the marina and they have loaner bikes.

Some wheels. About all you need 
to see Carrabelle. 

Boat sunk at the base of the bridge.

 Also have a captains lounge in the second story of the bath/shower. We needed to get some supplies from the grocery store so a fellow loaned us his golf cart so we didn't have to carry all that stuff. We peddled around to check out the town. 

9-17-14
Carrabelle to Clearwater

The day started out nice.

Yep, that's right. We ran all the way from Carrabelle to Clearwater. 191 miles.  Got a late start about 08:30 but it is a good thing cause we had to wait for the weather to clear out around Chrystal River and south of there. We ran in mostly very confused seas but it was only a 1-2 foot slop with a 2' swell from the southwest. All in all it was all good crossing.
We ran about 30 - 33mph all the way to Chrystal River and decided to keep going after we ate lunch. About 3/4 of the way to Chrystal River, we started noticing small fish everywhere dead in the water.

 After a couple miles we started seeing huge Red Fish dead everywhere. The place even smelled like dead fish. I could not believe all the dead fish. Figured It was a Red tide event. Later I got a text from Brian saying there was a red tide going on. We originally headed to Chrystal River cause everywhere south of there was covered up with rain due to the front moving south. I had one of my plotters on the weather the whole time to make sure nothing popped up In front of us.

One of the storms we skirted.

 As we travelled south the weather was moving south so by the time we got to Chrystal River,  the weather was down to the Tampa area. We decided to just keep running and went in at Anclote Key. Ran down to Clearwater Beach City Marina and called it quits for the day about 4:30. We skirted a couple offshore showers but never got rained on. 


9-18-14
Clearwater to Fort Meyers

After our long run the day before we didn't know how far to go or even leave the marina.

I bought the previous 2 Mercury 200's off this boat at auction. 

This poor Honda was screaming and going nowhere.

 But we got up and headed out. After another long day we pulled Into Heritage Harbor about 5pm. First thing to do was jump In the pool and relax. After that we walked into town to go to the Publix to get me some Chocolate Cookie Quarry frozen yogurt. Man I have missed it.

Oh sure, the good stuff shows up and 
our legs aren't broke anymore.

 Oh yea, we got dinner also. Back to the boat and crashed out. 2 long days of running wore me out.

9-19-14
Fort Meyers to Labelle.

Today was not going to be a marathon day. Looked at the weather and It was raining for miles out Into the Gulf and moving in. Figured if we were going to be stuck in the rain we might as well be moving in the rain. We were only going to go to Labelle on the Okeechobee Waterway to visit some friends and stay at the free city dock with power and water. Nice.

Power, water, an awesome restaurant 2 blocks up, and free. What's not to like.

 We did our trawler imitation all the way there in a drizzly rain. Got there, tied up and went to dinner at the Forrey Grille with some friends. If you come through here, it is a must stop. 

Wendy shows up and the animals come a begging. Think we fed everything for over 5000 miles. 

We are going to try and get all the way across the Okeechobee Waterway tomorrow and as far up the coast as we can. It is time to get home and we have seen the coast many times.