While crossing Lake Okeechobee we met Peg & Ed on Sea Glass. At one of our nightly stops they told us about the City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin Marina and we are glad they did. The marina is only a couple of blocks from downtown where something is always going on.

While we wait on a good weather window to continue south we are taking in all the city has to offer.

This weekend they closed the downtown streets for an Old Car Show. 

Today we took a walk to the downtown Farmers Market. This is a weekly event that we are sure to attend as long as we are here.

Ike sure loves his ride!

The wind continues to howl with gust today 30-35 mph. As long as this continues we will stay at the dock. 

Lots of nice walkways along the water.

Old Glory standing straight in the ocean wind.

On 11/6/13 we left our home port of Green Cove Springs, Florida and on 11/21/13 arrived in Ft. Myers, Florida.

• ·         The trip took 14 days
• ·         We traveled 323 NM
• ·         Went from fresh water to sea water to fresh water then back to sea water
• ·         Went through 6 locks on the Okeechobee waterway
• ·         Stayed at 6 different marinas each with unique character
• ·         Experienced gale force winds while tied to a dock at a marina

Wow!!!! This has truly been the most amazing 14 days.

Twelve Stones underway on the Okeechobee Waterway November 2013.

The marinas along the Okeechobee Waterway are each unique and have southern charm and character.  Don’t pass up Clewiston its worth the stop. Little Man the Dockmaster is worth the stop.

Clewiston Marina

Clewiston Marina floating dock.

Clewiston Marina great food at the outside restaurant.

Indiantown Marina

This was our first time going through a lock. We did 6 in all. The first lock we waited 3 hours due to commercial traffic. One side there were 4 boats including ours. We told the Lockmaster that we had never did a lock before. We didnt find out until later that this made at least one of the boats apprehensive. But we did fine. 

As always the wildlife along the way was spectacular. We got a rare chance to photograph the Florida Spoonbill birds. 

Rare Spoonbill

It has been an amazing few days on the water. After leaving Titusville we anchored out on Saturday night just south of Vero Beach.

Sunday night we anchored out just north of Jensen Beach causeway. We lowered the dingy and took Ike to shore for awhile. Then went to a local restaurant for dinner.

Monday we made it to the St. Lucie River and went through our 1st lock. What an experience. We spent the night at Indiantown Marina. What a cute place. Pictures to come.

Today, Tuesday 11/19, we crossed Lake Okeechobee.  The crossing was rough. Glad to be across the lake we pulled into the marina at Clewiston. This is a 'must stop' when crossing Lake Okeechobee.

Pictures forthcoming.

What an exciting adventure

Our mail arrived & the weather cleared so we left Titusville this morning. Yesterday Brenda took me to the grocery store. I only needed milk & bread. Well I came home with a carload of stuff. Thanks Brenda. Thanks to Jims help this morning we got off without a hitch.

The ICW was mostly calm so we made good time. We are anchored  south of Melbourne Beach.

We havent anchored in weeks so it feels so good to be out here all alone.  Grilled some steaks, threw in a couple of baked potatoes and tea. Ahhh life is good.

We said goodbye to Daytona Beach, Florida on Monday 11/11/13 and headed south to the Titusville Municipal Marina. Lesson we learned on this leg of our trip:  Stick to ' the ditch' don't wonder outside the narrow line or you will touch bottom. 

Our original plan was to spend just a couple of days in Titusville visiting with our friends Brenda & Jim. But as they say boat plans are not set in stone!

As predicted at 4:30 am this morning, 11/13/13, we began to experience strong N-NE winds. The forecast called for gale force winds off the coast and the ICW. Many times the weather predictions have been wrong but not this time. At 5:30 am we were on deck adding an additional line. At the first daylight Russ managed to get onto the dock to tighten our lines and yes add additional lines. At this particular marina the finger docks are low so we are have to exit from the upper deck onto a 3-tier portable step, then onto the dock. With winds 30 mph this can be tricky. 

Throughout the day we have watched as people have scurried to secure their boats and their neighbor’s boats. Earlier this morning two boats broke anchor outside the marina and landed on the shore. 

Thanking God for a safe harbor to ride out this storm.

The weather is forecasted to continue howling until 10:00 pm this evening. It looks like our 1^st chance to leave will probably be Saturday.

We have enjoyed our time here in Titusville and had a great time visiting with Brenda & Jim. They are some great people and we will miss them once we get underway. 

The highlight of the Titusville Municipal Marina is the Manatees. There are dozens of them and they are not shy. I was washing down the deck on the boat & as the water ran off the Manatees appeared & began drinking the water. They would playfully push each other out of the way in an attempt to get under the falling water. Manatees are protected in Florida so you are not allowed to interact with them. So to see them so close was a real treat. This was the first time I wished the deck washing would have taken longer…LOL.

To all our friends making the crossing from the panhandle to the SW coast of Florida safe travels and we hope to see you some of you soon. 

Saturday 11/9/13 we left St. Augustine & headed south to Daytona Beach. The sights along the way were breathtaking. As always the birds are plentiful and make me look like a good photographer. 

The dolphins played in our wake and you could hear the noises they make chatting with each other and air coming out their blow holes. God made some beautiful creatures.

There are not shortages of docks some more creative than others.

Saturday afternoon we settled into the Halifax Marina in Daytona Beach. The weather again forced us to stay an extra night.  No one wants to deal with an angry ocean that causes the ICW to rumble. We did run into Randy & Barb, Lazy Dolphin again. They are on anchor just outside our marina. They were able to turn us onto a nearby (within walking distance) local Italian restaurant where we all ate delicious food.

Tomorrow Monday we head out to Titusville. We plan on spending a few days there visiting friends.

I will continue to say WE ARE HAVING A BLAST!

Wednesday night 11/6/13 we spent a relaxing night at floating docks at Jacksonville Landings. The lights were breathtaking as you can see from this picture.

Thursday 11/7/13:  Our trip planner suggested a shove off time of 6:00am. Only problem, it was still dark at 6:00 am so we left at 6:45. We rode the tide seeing 10 knots. Now that’s flying for us! 

After 10 months of planning we finally reached the ICW at 8:52 am.  We were greeted by several Dolphins and I am sure they were saying ‘Welcome to the ICW’.

The current stayed with us as we pushed on to St. Augustine to our final destination Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor. What a great marina. We didn’t feel comfortable docking at the location they had selected for us so they gladly put us at another dock. The staff and accommodations were excellent. 

Strong winds kept us at the dock for another day. No problem. We took advantage and my sister and her husband come over and meet us for lunch. 

Weather permitting we continue our southward journey tomorrow.

We are having a BLAST!!!!