Ship’s Log: Days 66-70
November 14 - 18, 1999
Sunday, Nov. 14
We were up, had breakfast and underway by 8:00 A.M. We were near no outlets to the gulf, so we headed south down the Intracoastal Waterway. The weather was cloudy and a bit cool, but the clouds began to break up and the sun warmed things through the day. We continued south, mostly motoring and motor sailing occasionally, through Lemon Bay, then Gasparilla Sound and past Boca Grande Pass at the entrance to Charlotte Harbor.
During the day Nancy and I discussed our options for getting to the East Coast. Key West was just too far to make and still be in Jax by Christmas. I’d have to leave Telesis someplace and come back after the holidays, when the January weather is questionable. The only real option is to take the Okeechobee Waterway across the center of the state. Key West will have to wait until another trip.
With the decision made, we decided to make for Ft. Myers, take a slip and wait for Bill Pippenger to join us on the trip across Florida. We bypassed one of our favorite stops in the area, Cabbage Key. We passed through Pine Island Sound then turned north up the Calooshatchee River. The weekend boat traffic on the waterways near Ft. Myers was very heavy with boats of all description and size. We phoned ahead and made two nights reservations for a slip at Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral. We were in the marina slip by 3:00 P.M. having made 41.1 nm on the day. Our position was N 26 32.4′ W 81 59.0′.
The marina was new and the slips wonderful, but it was very remote with no nearby services. We tried to call a cab for a ride to a restaurant for diner, but it never showed even after having called them several times. We ate a light dinner on board and retired having decided not to stay the second night here.
Monday, NOv. 15
Another fifteenth of the month and no paycheck. I’ve been on board for 2 ½ months.
We consulted the cruising guides and decided to put in at Marinatown in North Ft. Myers. We had a leisurely morning, stopped at the fuel dock and topped off our tank taking on about 16 gallons of gasoline and pumping out the head holding tank. We started north at about 11:30 A.M. and traveled 12.2 miles up the Caloosahatchee River.
We were in a slip at Marinatown by 3:00 P.M. Our position was N 26 39.6′ w 81 53.4′. This is a much better place to be with all sorts of services within walking distance. I changed the oil in the engine while Nancy did some laundry. Bill Pippenger showed up about 4:00 P.M. He had flown into Miami on Saturday night, picked up a car and driven to Key West for Sunday night, then up to meet us in Ft. Myers on Monday. He originally was going to meet us in Key West, but the delays changed that.
As Bill had a car, we called Patsy on Moderation Too and arranged to meet her for dinner at Ft. Myers Beach. We drove out and had a great seafood dinner with Patsy and then returned to Telesis for the night.
Tuesday, Nov. 16
Bill needed to turn in his car and left for the airport to return via a limo service. Nancy and I studied the cruising guides for the Okeechobee Waterway in preparation for our trip across the state. We had about 135 miles to cover and still get Bill on the other side to his flight out of Miami on Monday morning, November 22. We decided to spend another night in Marinatown and start east on Wednesday morning.
During the afternoon we purchased provisions and prepared Telesis for her next journey. We had dinner at Sneakers, the restaurant in front of the marina, then turned in for the night.
Wednesday, Nov. 17
We had breakfast on board and were underway by 7:30 P.M. We started east on the Caloosahatchee River motoring into a moderate east wind with sunshine. During the day we passed through two locks, the W.F. Franklin Lock and the Ortona Lock. These are much smaller locks with relatively small drops or lifts of a few feet and operate differently. The Lockmaster drops lines to each boat for and aft and then raises or drops the lock level by opening the lock gates slightly to let water in or out. Both locks today lifted us, the first about two feet and the second about four feet.
We motored until about 5:00 P.M. against a slight current and made 40.8 nm on the day. We anchored along the canal with anchors fore and aft. Our position was N 26 47.5′ W 81 14.1′ or about mile mark 89.5 east of La Belle, FL.
The shoreline became more remote and less developed as the day wore on. Nearer Ft. Myers we saw many fine homes along the river, but now it is much more remote with only the occasional house and mostly cattle ranches along the banks. We fixed pork loin and baked sweet potatoes on the grill and the three of us turned in early.
Thursday, Nov. 18
We were underway by 8:00 A.M. after Nancy fixed a full breakfast of sausage, potatoes and eggs. We passed through the Moore Haven Lock, which lifted us about 8 feet up onto Lake Okeechobee. We followed the rim canal south to Clewiston, Fl. Bill is not an experienced boater, his hobby being Harley Davidson Motorcycles, but by the end of this second day he had taken his turn at the helm and was experienced at helping in the locks.
The most unusual site of the day was the special “chopper boats” and “combine boats” used to cut up and collect floating vegetation around the locks and dams. We also spotted lots of birds, turtles and a few alligators. This is a pretty remote area.
We passed through a small lock that dropped us about two feet into the marinas of Clewiston. We fueled taking on about 12 gallons of gasoline and took a slip along the face dock of the Roland Martin (of bass fisherman TV show fame) Marina at about 1:00 P.M. Our position was N 26 45.5` N 80 55.1` having covered 20.5 nm. It is a nice marina with a Tiki bar and small restaurant, mainly set up for the bass fishing trade on Lake Okeechobee, but also a stop over for yachts crossing the state on the waterway. By late evening, the face dock was full of motor yachts; Telesis was the only sailboat.
Nancy needed some allergy medication, so we walked into town and found a pharmacy. We walked around the town some. Its origin is based on the sugar cane business and it has a large Latin population, mostly Cuban. It is a simple but pretty town with lots of palm trees and semi-tropical vegetation.
That evening, we drank and ate in the Tiki bar; which was open air, but they provided bug spray to keep the mesquitos off. We watched from the bar as a full-grown Osprey perched on Telesis’ masthead, bending the Windex wind indicator. The two for one, very strong drinks took a toll on us early and we returned to Telesis to turn in pretty early.
What we came to call a “combine boat” on Lake Okeechobee.