Fair weather

 Two weeks of strong to gale force winds grew tiresome. It is now gentle breezes and sunshine. We could move on, but do not want to subject ourselves to one of the busiest waterways in America on the weekend. Monday morning seems soon enough.

Last night during happy hour(s) De Anne pointed up and yelled “what is that?”. It took a moment, but then we realized it was a rocket taking off from Cape Canaveral. I was so enthralled watching the magnificent sight that I never got out the camera. Oh well, another launch Sunday at 7:27 pm is scheduled.

Our location is called Sunset Bay and here is why:

TS Eta

The outer bands of Eta are whipping around us today. Our dinghy, like several others in the buoy field, is in the davits. We added chaff guards to our mooring lines and watched as others added additional lines.

The steady winds are in the twenties with frequent gusts above fourty:

It looks like tomorrow will be more of the same.

My last picture of the schooner Lilly was into the sun. Here is a better picture of her under sail two days ago:

Holding in place

We had plans to leave yesterday for points south; however, a weather check Tuesday night on the storm Eta gave us pause to rethink traveling to south Florida this week. Another week in Stuart seems prudent. 

There are moments of crisis in the buoy field. Lilly, a prow, gaff-rigged schooner started to sink. SeaTow arrived with big pumps and after a couple hours saved the ship. They moved to a dock and did the repairs. 

Lilly going by us - all well again:

Tuesday afternoon we spotted a large ketch trying to pick up a mooring ball in a 12 knot breeze. The multiple attempts were fun to watch for a few minutes, but their technique was very poor and became painful to watch. 

De Anne and I began to debate rendering assistance (she - pro, me - con). 10 minutes later we were in our dinghy with a stout mooring line. 

It was an older couple in a very large, heavy boat. We attached our mooring line and held it out for their next pass. De Anne passed him the line while I attempted to stay close without being rammed. Their boat looked much bigger from the front approching too fast with the husband yelling "Stop" to the wife at the helm. He cleated the line and all was well.

Gale

 A gale is blowing today. Yesterday we raised the dingy and stowed the kayak in preparation. The water is foam streaked, but wave action is minimal because of the protection of land and the marina to the north and east. It is a stay aboard day.

Two days ago SeaTow brought a sailboat in to the buoy two down from us. 4 little girls plus Mom and Dad. They abandoned ship last night. I would not like to ride a gale on a small sailboat with 6 people either.

Rising moon from the buoy field:

End to end

We crossed the Okeechobee Waterway and have a buoy for the week in Stuart, FL. 

 While the lake crossing was uneventful the locks entering and leaving the lake proved stressful. We were delayed 2 hours leaving the marina because a boat club of very large yachts had to pass before us, and their size allowed only one boat per lock through - at 15 minutes per boat. Finally at 10:30 am with another small boat we were allowed to pass. 

 On the east side of the lake we had a short wait before the lock master called us into the lock. I was pulling to the wall and saw just ahead a couple stalks of sugar cane in front of us. With no where to go I went over it and not only heard, but felt it in the prop. After the gates opened we left at idle speed and tied up to a dol. Dols are for big barges to lay aganist while waiting for a lock opening. We tied tight and I gunned reverse a couple times. Problem solved! Sugar cane is grown in this area, and we saw a lot of it - just not in the water, until we were in a lock. 

 On buoy in the Sunset Bay marina:

 

Locks and concrete

We left Fort Meyers Saturday morning to cross the Okeechobee waterway. An hour and a half later we entered our first ever lock. It was not too stressful and we only bumped the concrete wall a little bit, and fenders absorbed the blow. 

 We spent the night at the cheapest marina in Florida - $1.00 per foot. No electricity or WIFI, but hey, we could rough it one night! It rained off and on so ports and sliding windows had to be closed multiple times. Between showers mosquitoes staged attack waves. 

Tonight we are docked at Roland and Mary Marina just a couple hundred yards west of Lake Okeechobee. The boat is plugged in, AC is on, and I have WIFI. The local pests will have to find dinner elsewhere. 

We will wait out tomorrow's storms and cross to the east side of the lake on Tuesday. 

 Approaching Franklin lock:

Sunday afternoon on the dock at Roland and Mary marina. The black gate in the background is a hurricane gate that is almost always open.... except for us, so De Anne declared it our third lock of the day:

Trump visit

Today President Trump visited the Fort Myers Convention Center which is about 2 blocks from our slip. Free entertainment! Because of closed streets and police tape we did have to walk a few extra blocks. 

 One short cut when De Anne held up the tape for me to duck under:

We also crashed the line to get into the convention center but just when we thought we would get in some police officers shooed us back behind the barricades:

So we saw hundreds of Trump supporters, maybe a dozen Biden supporters, and one tattooed kid, dressed in black, with a skateboard who looked kinda like Antifa.... maybe.

As cruisers we take our fun where we can find it. Note that in all the pictures I am standing away from the crowds!