Vero Beach

After we said our goodbyes to Bob and Bev we headed North to somewhere we had never stopped before - Vero Beach. After an uneventful ride we pulled into the City Marina and secured a mooring for the night. We were the only powerboat on a mooring...

After we got settled we decided to walk to the beach. There is bus service that runs from the marina to the beach, but we felt we needed the exercise.

We enjoyed the walk through the streets that have a nice southern feel to them - large live oaks with allot of air plants providing a good tree canopy along the way.

Cathie had to wade in the Atlantic waters at the beach. Then, it being a rather warm day, we stopped for a beer before walking back to the marina.

Breakdown!!

Well, the mechanic showed up shortly after being called and came back the next morning to try again. You can see from the photo, things were not going well...

He was not able to get their engine running, so plans were made to haul their boat out the next day. Bob and Bev ended up renting a car and heading back to their home in Venice. Here we are towing their boat to the launch ramp with our high powered dinghy...

The night before we grilled ashore and enjoyed the remaining time we had together. We have been to the Stuart mooring field a number of times. It's a great place, located in downtown Historic Stuart.

On the Atlantic Coast

Four days of cruising and 150 miles and Buddy is in Stuart. The locks were typical except for one which was quite turbulent. stops included Cape Coral, LaBelle and Clewiston.

We were fortunate to get to the town dock and secure at our stop in LaBelle - we just beat a rather violent thunderstorm squall with 55 mile an hour wind (Buddy has an anemometer).

This lock had the greatest rise - about 12 feet. Our friends Bob and Bev were closer to the gate and got pushed around a bit..

Didn't see that many derelict boats along the way. This one is way past being derelict...

We stopped for lunch in Moore Haven at the City dock. Things looked a bit slow in town...

We then continued on to Clewiston. We re-fueled and spent the night at Roland and Mary Martin's Resort and Marina. They had a nice Tiki Bar/Restaurant on site, but the mosquitoes were REALLY hungry. The Bartenders were serving more repellent than beer! http://www.rolandmartinmarina.com/

The next morning we crossed Lake Okeechobee - a run of 25 miles. Because the lake is so shallow, it is important to to a good weather window as it can get quite rough, very quickly. Mornings are usually a good time as the storm cells don't usually develop until later in the day.

This railroad lift bridge is at the Port Mayaka entrance to the St. Lucie waterway. The sailboat had just gone underneath using 55 gallon plastic barrels filled with water lashed to it's port side.

As we neared the St Lucie lock we saw a tug that has seen better days...

After we locked through the St. Lucie lock our friends developed engine trouble. After idling for 1 hour at the St. Lucie lock, his engine started behaving erratically. We ended up in Stuart taking a mooring at the Sunset Marina and Anchorage. Bob and Bev took a dock, hoping a mobile mechanic would get their boat up and running the next day.

This boat was docked near our friends. Me thinks this is a bit of overkill with the baggy winkles...

Finally, a cruise!

Yesterday we had lift off! It is been a long time since we have actually gone cruising for more than 3 or 4 days. Our plan is to cross the state on the Caloosahatchee River and Lake Okeechobee to cruise up the east coast of Florida. We don't know how far we will get but we will share our little cruise along the way. We spent a nice evening on the hook anchored off of Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral. 

Just before we got to the anchorage we passed this bait shop that was anchored off to the side of the miserable mile. 

The miserable mile is a section of waterway coming out of the river in Fort Myers. On weekends, the boat traffic can be miserable. Our friends are launching from Venice this morning and will hopefully be catching up with us by noon as we head east on the river.