Adventures (and Misadventures) of Elliott and Mary
Issue 4 April 25, 2004
The trip across Florida…
We left Twin Dolphins in Bradenton bright and early (7:15am or so) on Sunday
morning, April 18th. It was nice and clear wih very little wind as we went
down the Manatee River and then into Anna Maria Sound heading south.
Because of the number of bridges ( 12 that day alone!!) and their opening
time,s we tried a new mode. We lowered all but the primary VHF antenna
and would lower that one when needed. With them down we could motor
under most of the bridges. Elliott figures we needed 32’ clearance with
all antennae up and only 21’ clearance when they are all down.
If you look at the picture of Letitia closely you will see five different
antennas:
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There is the primary VHF radio on the bridge which is used to talk to bridges,
other boats, the emergency channel, and to whomever else as you go along.
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There is the secondary VHF. The radio for it is below in the office so
it rarely gets used while underway.
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Lastly, on the starboard side, is the cellular telephone antenna. We have
a ‘hands-free’ car phone cradle that cell phone fits into. It charges the
phone, rings through a speaker so we can hear it, and uses the antenna
to boost the signal for extended range.
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Forward on port is the differential GPS receiver antenna. It seems to work
well down and we are in a channel anyway.
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Lastly is the Single Sideband antenna. The SSB radio is down below and
besides, we haven’t quite figured out how to take advantage of it.
Back to the cruise.
We are going south through several sounds/bays, some relatively narrow,
others big and broad, on our way to the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River
where we will turn East and cross the state. It is pretty. The water is
usually clear enough to know where the shoals are and the sun is bright.
A great day.
We will be docking at the Palm Island Marina for Sunday night. It is
at the end of Lemon Bay, the last set of narrows before Gasparilla Sound.
We have been at it for eight hours, a long day, and are ready to stop. 
We refuel first (190 gal.) and then wait while the marina people get
a few things squared away. It seems that shortly before we got there a
good sized boat lost steering (or throttle or something) and crashed into
the dock we were scheduled to use. There was water gushing out the broken
main, broken pilings, and I suspect a few electrical problems as well.
The staff did a great job and soon got us situated in a different place.
A dip in the pool and dinner at the seafood restaurant put us in much better
shape.
Monday and it’s off to explore more of the Caloosahatchee and the Okeechobee
River Waterway. We spend Monday night at the Ft. Myers City Marina. We
walked around downtown but headed back to the boat early for a good night’s
sleep. We were excited about the new sights the Waterway had in store for
us, including our first experience with locks.
Tuesday brings
cows, orange groves, and rural Florida. The Waterway is a cool trip.
We go through two locks on our way to Moore Haven where we spend the
night just before passing through our third lock. The old downtown (at
least along the Waterway) has seen a few better days but it was a really
interesting stop. There is a long dock along the north side of the water
and across the street is City Hall. You stop, tie up, and go across the
street to pay and get keys to the showers. We had a pleasant stay.
Wednesday the 21st dawned clear and about 5-10 knots. A great day.
We had about a 15 mile leg along the edge of the Lake Okeechobee to Clewiston
before we had to choose how to cross it. We got pretty blasé about
saying “Look, another alligator”.
There are two routes to Port Mayaca, the lock at the other side of Lake
Okeechobee. One route goes around the rim in a canal and the other heads
out across the lake. The rim route is about 50 miles and the direct across
the lake route is 40. The weather was nice enough that we went across.
Because the St. Lucie lock (number 5 for us) was going to be closed
for repairs on the 21st, we had gotten reservations at the Indiantown Marina,
about 15 miles earlier than we would have chosen. Fortunately we had called
ahead two days earlier. We got the last spot! The marina was an interesting
place. They have a big dry storage yard there. We hadn’t thought about
it but the folks from places like Canada, Michigan, and other COLD locales
were hauling their boats OUT for the summer and going back north to enjoy
their “cool” summer. Our experience has always been to haul out for the
winter – an interesting switch in mind set for us.
About 8am on
Thursday morning we set out for our last day on the Okeechobee Waterway.
When we reached our last lock we waited more than 1 ½ hours to get
into the eastward bound lockage. They were loading 8 boats at a time. I
would hope that the schedule disruption had something to do with the amount
of traffic and it did take a while to drop the 14 feet.
We were almost done! We motored through Stuart in about an18 knot wind
and hooked a sharp left into the Atlantic ICW! We had agonized about shoals,
markers, and all sorts of dangers. The water was so nice and clear that
we could see the shoals, the markers were just where we expected then to
be, and the only problem was whether the paddle-wheeler sightseeing boat
was going to be a problem at the turn. It wasn’t.
Ten miles
further up the road and we pulled into the Nettles Island Marina where
we stayed till Monday (April 26). The next week holds a couple of
opportunities to anchor out, a bit of weather headed our way and then a
nice stay at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina.
We will tell you more next time…
That will be issue #5.
Will be back in to touch soon.
The Captain and Mary
April 25, 2004