April 1-7, 2009 From Sarasota to Stuart, FL

April 1, 2009 Sarasota to Captiva

After a series of last minute shopping and car repairs we finally closed up the condo and moved aboard Pathfinder again on the evening of March 31st. We celebrated with a Tapas dinner at Ceviche just a short walk from the boat.

We had spent the previous three weeks stocking the boat so we could be self-sufficient in the Bahamas and spend most of the time anchored out. Many runs to Sams Club to get drinking water, coffee, breakfast bars, wine, vodka, tonic water, and many cans of soup, tuna, chicken, chili, and ham. We filled the second stateroom with our supplies and during the last two days stocked the refrigerator and freezer with hamburg, cold cuts, vegetables, etc. We can survive on our own for a couple of months!

After checking the oil and starting the engine at 7am we gathered our dock lines and left our slip at 7:20 am to head out Big Pass on our way to Captiva Island. The Gulf of Mexico was a bit choppy so we decided to head into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Venice Inlet and turned south in calm waters with dolphins swimming of our bow.

We quickly fell back into our cruising routine-- Chris had made the coffee the night before and set it to start perking at 6:30 am; breakfast is coffee and a breakfast bar and we're off. After we're away from the dock we move to the bridge and say Hail Mary to Our Lady of the Sea. We take turns at the wheel and watch the chart and study the cruising guide describing various navigation hazards, bridges, and locks. We can usually use the auto-pilot to steer but need to keep watch for other boats and crabpots. By mid-morning Marianne goes below to make wraps for lunch and after lunch we say the Rosary. By 2pm we're deciding where to stay for the night and try to be anchored by 3pm so we can cleanup the boat and relax for a while before starting dinner. After dinner we'll watch the sunset from the upper deck, explore in the dinghy, talk, read, watch TV (we have a satellite receiver with 200 channels!), and settle in early for an early start the next day.

By mid-afternoon we were passing Captiva Island and decided to anchor near Tween Waters. As sometimes happens, it took four tries to get our anchor to hold-- tiring after 7 hours of cruising! It was great to settle in for a nice dinner onboard and a good night's sleep!

April 2, 2009 Captiva to Ortona Lock

We pulled up our anchor at 7am and cruised in gentle seas past Sanibel Island and Ft. Myers up the Caloosahatchee River to join the Okeechobee Waterway. This 144 mile long waterway crosses Florida from Ft. Myers to Stuart. In the middle is Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake entirely contained within the continental U.S.-- it is half the size of Rhode Island and about 13 feet above sea level. To cross we'll need to pass through three locks to raise us 13 feet up from sea level before crossing the lake then through two more locks to drop us back to sea level. The process is straightforward but nerve-wracking because, when the big gates open we need to carefully steer the boat in between the high walls of the lock and grab some ropes hanging down from the sides. If there is any kind of wind it funnels down into the lock and pushes the boat around so it is tough to get close enough to grab the lines without banging into the sides. Then hold on tightly as the gates behind us close and the water level in the lock begins to rise or drop at a rate of about one foot/minute. Once we've reached the proper level the front gates open and we let go of the ropes and carefully motor out of the lock.

One of the cruising guides recommended stopping at a small marina dock near the Ortona Lock about 47 miles from Ft. Myers-- but when we arrived there about 3pm the entire dock was taken by a large ship. The second choice of the cruising guide was to proceed to the lock and tie up to the "dolphins" -- large pilings on the side of the canal. The only thing not mentioned in the cruising guide was that the dolphins were covered in tar! As we tried to tie up we quickly had sticky tar on the boat railings, lines and deck... what a mess! We moved to the other side of the canal and dropped anchor and spent an hour cleaning the tar off the boat! Another tough end to a long day!

April 3, 2009 Ortona Lock to Clewiston

We pulled our anchors (we had set two to hold us in the canal) at 7am and passed through the Ortona Lock for the 30 mile 4 hour trip to Clewiston. The forecast was for high winds in the afternoon so we decided to stay

at the one marina in Clewiston and cross the lake the next day. The canal is all fresh water by now and passes through cattle ranches. You can see the cow in the canal as the fishing boat passes us. The wind was really blowing as we entered the last lock of the day and it took all our strength to hold us in place and the water level rose.

We arrived in Clewiston and turned down the narrow channel to the end of the long dock. All the boats tie up to the same long dock and, as the first boat in, we got the position farthest down the dock. This was great for a good night's sleep as the Tiki Bar with the live band was farther away from us... but tough in the morning because we needed to wait until most of the boats behind had left, then carefully spin Pathfinder in the narrow channel and head out to the lake.

April 4, 2009 Across Lake Okeechobee to Stuart

We couldn't leave the marina until 8:30 am because the late-night revelers in the boats behind us slept in a bit. Once the marina cleared we moved onto the lake and were happy to see that it was relatively calm. The only excitement was seeing the alligators on the side of the canal as we passed. The 25 mile crossing was easy but strange to be completely out of sight of land while in the middle of Florida! When we got to the west shore we still had 32 miles to go to Stuart but passage through both locks went well and we arrived in Stuart about 3:30pm.

We found a nice mooring field near downtown Stuart with loaner bikes to ride to Mass or downtown for only $12.50/night! After checking the weather for crossing to the Bahamas and finding that we would probably have to wait until Friday or Saturday for the required light south winds we decided to stay in Stuart for a few days and enjoy the restaurants and take in a movie.