Days 122 - 126 - Caloostahatchee and stormy weather continues at Stock Island

John and Priscilla visited their granddaughter Eleanor in Chicago.

John and Priscilla flew from Chicago to Ft Meyers on Monday. This was our last time using the United Airlines Global Services (secret) entrance for check in at O’Hare airport. I did not fly enough miles or spend enough money on tickets to maintain my demi-god status in 2015. We now drop down to Premier Gold status.

Rich Riech picked us up at Ft Lauderdale (SW Regional) Airport. We drove over to Ft. Meyers Beach to catch up with Chris Weber. Chris was with Tom Hauert and his daughter Jessica as they worked with the boat surveyor that was inspecting the 2005 Sea Ray Sundancer 280 that they want to buy. The survey went well with the usual punch list of small problems that need to be corrected by the seller. They will keep their new boat in Waukegan next summer. We had a delightful dinner at Pinchers in Cape Coral where it is 2-4-1 happy hour all day.

Tom Hauert and his daughter Jessica

Priscilla and I spent the night aboard Star Fisher which is a 2005 President 47′ fast trawler at the Tarpon Point marina in Cape Coral. Along with Chris Weber we will deliver the boat across the Okeechobee Waterway from Ft Meyers to Stuart and then south to Riviera Beach for TrawlerFest. Weber Yachts will display the trawler at TrawlerFest.

There are three ways to get from Florida’s gulf coast to the Atlantic. Changing Latitudes took the southernmost route around Key West. You can cruise from Marco Island to Marathon or you can cross southern Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway. Priscilla and I will have done 2 out of three.

This is Star Fisher the President 47′

The Okeechobee Waterway is a 125 mile canal system that cuts east / west across southern Florida. It is the dividing line between central and south Florida. We cruised on the Caloosahatchee River for 76 miles to reach Lake Okeechobee. We transited three locks to arrive at the lake. The first lock which is the Franklin Lock raised us two feet. The locks on the Okeechobee Waterway do not use bollards. They toss down lines bow and stern to secure the boat in the lock. This is similar to the experience we had transiting the Welland Ship Canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie a few years ago. The second lock is the Ortona Lock which lifted us 8′. In between we had to wait for the Fort Denaud swing bridge to open. The bridge tender walks to the center of the swing bridge to operate the machinery.

The Moore Haven Lock is the final lock on the Caloosahatchee River before entering Lake Okeechobee. This was a three foot rise.

We are safely docked at Rowan Martin’s Marina in Clewiston, Florida. This marina is on a narrow waterway. We were placed in a 51′ section of a face dock between two large yachts. The Dockmaster measured the space at 51′. Star Fisher is 47′ plus the 2′ swim platform. Chris parked it like a boss as if he had both bow and stern thrusters. In reality he only had a bow thruster.

Tomorrow we will cross Lake Okeechobee and take the St Lucie River to Stuart, Florida. Then it will be about a 30 mile trip to Riviera Beach. We should arrive around 4 – 5 pm with a slack tide so it should be easier to get tied up.

We are the green pin point in the center of Florida.

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote for the day.

“The sea! the sea! the open sea!, The blue, the fresh, the ever free! ” – Bryan W. Procter

Born at Leeds, Yorkshire, Bryan W. Procter was educated at Harrow School, where he had for contemporaries Lord Byron and Robert Peel. On leaving school he was placed in the office of a solicitor at Calne, Wiltshire, remaining there until about 1807, when he returned to London to study law. By the death of his father in 1816 he became possessed of a small property, and soon after entered into partnership with a solicitor; but in 1820 the partnership was dissolved, and he began to write under the pseudonym of “Barry Cornwall”.

After his marriage in 1824 to Miss Skepper, daughter of Mrs Basil Montague, he returned to his profession as a conveyancer, and was called to the bar in 1831. In the following year he was appointed metropolitan commissioner of lunacy—an appointment annually renewed until his election as one of the Commissioners in Lunacy constituted by the Lunacy Act 1845. He resigned in 1861.[1] Most of his verse was composed between 1815, when he began to contribute to the Literary Gazette, and 1823, or at latest 1832. His daughter, Adelaide Anne, was also a poet.

Stock Island update

It blew and rained, heavily at times, all day Friday, Day 122, at Stock Island. The Shrimp Road Grill and Bar have been closed all week due to the weather. Wind was steady at 30+ mph and gusts in the mid 40s. We again couldn’t use the dingy due to the weather. We spent the day working on the interior of the boat. Andy cleaned and organized. I serviced the batteries and cleaned oil and water out of the bilges under each engine. The marina office wanted us to move slips today, but I said no. The Service Manager, who the staff thinks has never been on a boat, is concerned. Her records showed we and other boats were supposed to move and she did not understand why no one would move let alone come in looking for a slip. I had to remind her that no one was moving including the boat in the slip she wanted to move us to.

Some of the Key West Race Week racers got out today. A J11 near us returned explaining they won their section, since their main competitor did not go out for the final race. The crew looked like drowned rats, but had smiles on their faces since the won their section. They raced in 28 to 35 mph winds and 8 – 10 foot seas. Victory came at a price. They broke their boom as they neared the end of the final race leg.

The Marina held the Captain’s Meeting for the Tarpon fishing tournament to be held here this weekend was held at the Shrimp Road Bar and Grill. Bottom line was Saturday was canceled due to weather.

Saturday dawned with another cold, rainy, windy morning the sun finally came out. We walked over to the next boat yard to see how our friends Jan and John on Mitzvah, a 1981 Grand Banks trawler were doing. This boat yard is the only on in the area that will haul a boat out, put it on blocks and stands and let you do your own work. Over a few beers in Mitzvah’s salon, while it sits on blocks and jack stands – we had to climb a ladder to accept their hospitality and hear their story. They had been experiencing a lot of water in the bilge and had the boat pulled to see what the problem was. They found their hull was cracked down the middle at the keel. Research showed the hull had been assembled using two pieces and that other boat of this design had split wide open and sunk. They will also paint the bottom before launching, hopefully by the end of the week. While cocktailing Jan and Andy decided to invite all the local loopers to a docktail party to be held Monday evening.

During the evening we attended the Wreckers Cup Race skippers meeting at Schooner’s Warf bar and grill at the harbor in Key West. We had been invited by Day and Craig Olney to crew on their 38 Lagoon catamaran for this race. The meeting consisted of free Pussers Rum and punch drinks, a hot snacks, which made a full meal. Food and drinks were followed by a review of race rules. Rule # 1: don’t hit anybody; rule #2: no protests; rule #3: if you protest you will be disqualified.

Tucan Deux

The cast of crew members from various boats included a crew member with a live cockatoo on his shoulder.

The Tarpon Tournament finally got out on Sunday. Some of them were fishing in 5 to 6 foot seas. These guys must like to move around fast. There were several open hulled boats about 40 feet in length with up to four 350 horse motors.

The weather had improved. Sun was shining, temps in the low 60s and the wind was down to about 10 mph. Seas were 2 feet or less. Our crew consisted of Day and Craig Olney, owners of the 38 foot Cat, Toucan Deux, Jan and Bob, retired Navy friends of the Olneys along with Andy and me. We led our section of the one leg 7mile race for the first four miles. (the race is only one leg because it was a one-way race from Key West out to any ships wrecked on the reef to see what could be plundered,) We passed by a 40 foot cat flying a very unique spiniker made in South Africa which we later learned cost $9,000. We finished second after being beat by a skipper who had deeper pockets.

As we neared the end of the race the winds began to build again and increased to 15+mph, with occasional gusts, on the nose which made for an interesting trip back to Boca Chica Harbor on the Navy base where Toucan Deux is moored. We warmed up with a few drinks at the Navigator’s bar on base then traveled to the awards ceremony and BBQ dinner at Schooners Warf. Craig won a nice gift certificate, a Painkiller mug and Wreckers Cup Race T-shirt for our efforts. It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday.

The Toucan Deux race crew

We awoke to a cool, but sunny and calm day on Monday. Andy went to Publix in preparation for the AGLCA docktail party to be held tonight. We expect about 20 people for drinks and snacks.

After having zincs installed on our bow thruster and reinstalling our AGLCA burgee, we moved the boat from one side of the dock to the other. This harbor assigns slips well in advance and sticks to the plan. The plan gets messed up when boats can’t move due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. This requires constant shuffling of assignments with requests that boats, like ours, change slips one or more times during their stay. It might be easier on everyone if the marina worked like others making slip assignments upon arrival instead of in advance. I spoke with the second in command today at the office. She explained that we must move today and again for one night at the end of our stay. I asked if she could assign us to a slip where we would not need to move again. She looked at her records and said “sure, I can do that” What can I say. I spent the rest of the afternoon eating birthday cake and playing with my birthday present, an AM/FM long range short wave and weather radio.

Rescued Burgee flies again

Pine apple upside down birthday cake

John, our bottom cleaning, zinc installing diver

Thought for the day

Live your life in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe them.

We met Captain Seth and his pretty first mate Monday evening. They offer cruisers on When and If, a 63 ft schooner, up and down the east coast. When General (Then colonel) George S. Patton commissioned one of America’s greatest designers to build him a boat in 1939, he had the ultimate ambition in mind:

“When the war is over, and If I live through it, Bea and I are going to sail her around the world.”

The designer, John Alden, had made his name as a builder of elite racing schooners that retained all their beauty and style while constantly winning the premier ocean races of the time. When and If was a new idea: a yacht which would maintain all her classic beauty and hold her own in recreational racing whilst being sturdy, comfortable, safe and luxurious enough to take a family on the voyage of a lifetime.

Long after the General’s untimely death in 1945, When and If sails on. Immaculately and lovingly restored at 76 years old this gorgeous sailing machine stands as a monument to the private ambition of a great war hero and the ingenuity of a great designer – But she is still waiting to realize the dream for which she was conceived. When and If has a destiny to fulfil and she needs your help! For the first time in her life she has been put to work and is open to the public for day sails, private charters, regattas and special events. Everything we do is part of a revenue-building program designed to make it possible for her to sail around the world at last.