Indiantown to Ft. Myers, FL January 21 - 24, 2015

 January 21 - 24, 2015

Awakening Wednesday morning in Indiantown to a pretty day on the horizon, we completed our morning walk then prepped for a 10 a.m. departure, this day to cross Lake Okeechobee.  

Flies. Oh my! Having left the doors to the interior cabin ajar as we motored along the canal, I was astounded to find the cabin shortly filled with flies...hordes of them. Game for some target practice, I grabbed the fly swatter and started swatting. Barb Rohr, thanks for the tips on my technique; I was pretty much spot-on...until I went to update the captain and bragged a bit too boisterously! The flies took round two, hands down.

Looking back, I should have merely walked away from them all; as we crossed the lake with cabin doors flung wide, I realized that a cabin open to the wind has a very effective built-in shoo-flier! We successfully crossed the lake, passed Clewiston then circled northwest along the lake to arrive at Moore Haven for the night at the city dock.

Thursday was a day of mores as we left Moore Haven, did more motoring, encountered more flies and more sugar cane ash, and arrived at the Rivers Edge Motel on the Caloosahatchee River. Yep, all you LAMO folks, La Belle, Florida has a Rivers Edge Motel just as do we! We were thankful for calm winds and for the motel's short face dock wall (billed "marina") with one stretch of space available to accommodate our Mainship 430. Whoopee! We were living right...especially since there was no other place within a couple hours, and the additional travel time would tempt our fate with darkness.

Friday morning found Captain Clay fine-tuning his piloting skills as the winds picked up in intensity prior to departure. His performance was flawless (flawless is defined as 'no one got hurt,' in this case, even the boat) as SaSea Sally pulled away from the dock, but we fought the wind all day long...kept Captain on his toes! Those same winds required Clay's good maneuvering skills yet again as he docked at Legacy Harbour, Ft. Myers, FL. Good job, Captain! Thanks to the dock hands who caught our lines. There were breath-holding moments...well, maybe for only the first mate (me). But I'm always happy to be snugged to shore and back on terra firma!

Dinner was good with a mojo-roasted chicken from Publix (grocery, a short five-minute walk), leftover carbs and leftover (very mushy by now) roasted veggies/romaine. Nice to stay in for dinner after the wild and windy ride today. Non-boaters don't realize how exhausting a day cruise like today can be (and this is not said tongue in cheek)!!!! Too much wind, locks and bridges, fresh air and a high-stress docking!

Saturday, January 24th (the morning of):  Wow, what a night! Awakened at 3:17 a.m. (just me...the captain must be a sound sleeper) with the weather alarm sounding and not knowing it was a weather alarm...just heard the tenor blasts from who knows where. "Sixty mph winds in Englewood," announced the voice following the blasts. I believed Englewood to be nearby. That got bp elevated, hr going big-time and adrenaline increasing as well! Within the next ten minutes, the alarm sounded again (by this time I knew it was a weather radio on the helm dash), announcing a tornado warning in Port Charlotte which IS right next door (within 20-30 miles, kinda like Naples is from here). Read on...

Clay had re-checked our lines before going to bed as we anticipated weather, but not sure we anticipated quite the severity of the weather that arrived. Really glad we'd tied six lines; some folks I imagine had tied double lines which we've done only a couple times (hurricane in Georgetown, SC, being one time; and Marathon Sombrero Dockside, winds 35+ knots, another).

We rocked with the boat's motion, listened to wind, listened for some rain which really didn't materialize in any quantity, then tried to sleep. As the morning dawned then brightened, we waited for the rain to diminish to a spritz then to a stop before we launched our morning walk and continued our day. As we settled into a routine of sorts here at Legacy, I was thankful to be stationary for the week ahead as we braced for more winds and chill, but hoped for sunny and warmer days upcoming!

A fond farewell as we continue our week nested in slip A10 at Legacy Harbour.