The Okeechobee Waterway

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Gerry and I were in our condo in Burnt Store Marina, and as I love to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I made a buffet for two! The weather was beautiful, we took a long walk and watched the rainy Macy's Thanksgiving parade on TV.

We planned to leave BSM and drive back to the East Coast to get on the boat on Sat 11/30. But, we learned one of the 6 locks on the Okeechobee Waterway broke on Thanksgiving Day, essentially creating a roadblock to cross the middle of FL by boat. 11/28. The Army Corps of Engineers, who maintain the loc system did not know when it would be repaired. They thought maybe Monday, 12/2. So on Sunday, 12/1 we drove the rental car back to Camp Carol. They still had no update on Monday, so we debated what to do. Finally, on Wed 12/4, around 6 pm we learned it had been repaired. We made a reservation at Roland Martin Marina https://rolandmartinmarina.com/ for Thursday night!

Gerry and I want to thank Dick and Carol Tuschick for their unwavering generosity and hospitality while we hung out at Camp Carol. Always, great food, conversation, and camaraderie!

While waiting for an update on the locks, Vicki Kenna, a friend from when we both had boats Fort Rachel in Mystic CT (20 some-odd years ago) was bringing her boat South and had caught up with us. She too was waiting to cross to the West Coast. We met up with Vicki and her crew Frank & MaryAnn Sharples for a great dinner and then started the trip across the Okeechobee.

We left Camp Carol at 9:00 am to cross to the West Coast! https://www.britannica.com/place/Lake-Okeechobee The weather was cool but we had no wind!

The St. Lucie Lock was the first lock we came to, and the water level went up over 12 feet! The rest were only a couple of feet and not as impressive. We were concerned that the locks would be busy because of the broken lock issue, but we were alone or with one other boat. We did have fenders keeping us off the dirty walls!

As we traveled, we saw huge gambling cruise boats! The picture of Gerry was in the morning after leaving Roland Martin!

Once we reached Fort Myers, it was great to see the familiar skyline and then the Sanibel Bridge! This truly was a milestone for us, being on our boat in these waters.

We saw the Skyline of Burnt Store Marina and cheered as we got close to our final destination for December and January! That day, we traveled a total of 10.5 hours and 108 miles on our last leg. A beautiful sunset welcoming us home!

Over the last week, we have done many little projects in our condo, including steam cleaning the grout and tile floors and resealing, and painting the laundry room white and bright! Gerry has done some boat maintenance in preparation for our run to the Bahamas, oils have been changed on the engines, transmissions, and generator. We've swapped out our 60 lb Bruce anchor for a Rockna of similar size in preparation for the anchoring conditions expected in the Bahamas.

We've see the devastating damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton this fall. Downtown Punta Gorda, FL was under water and boats washed up on shore. Houses with dumpsters out in front, full of the contents of the house and the owner's memories. Some of the flooded houses we've seen are a mile or so away from the water. It's amazing just how much water came into the area. These pictures are recent, over two months since the Hurricanes.

We visited the Warm Mineral Springs in Sarasota County, https://www.northportfl.gov/Community-Recreation/Parks-Facilities/Warm-Mineral-Springs-Park It was pretty cool, and the temperature of the water was about 82 degrees with a slight sulfur smell. We checked the box, but don’t plan to make it a regular stop. :)

We visited Alligator Creek Preserve. https://www.checflorida.org/ It is only about 10 minutes from our Condo. We have driven by this area multiple times and wanted to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised. Five trails 1 mile to 1.5 miles long, nicely marked, and an events calendar that includes a Full Moon Hike (Mon 12/16), which we are planning to attend! The alligator had to be 12 feet long (with no fence) and the armadillos were cute!

We have a few holiday decorations on our deck for the community to see and check out the pool at night! So pretty! Our Condo is next to Cass Cay Restaurant and Bar and The Trading Post which has a deli, makes pizza, sells, beer, wine, and a few other staples! Cute gifts too! Nice for when we are tired or feeling lazy (aka relaxed) we can just walk next door!

Few more pictures of various other things!

• Sunset from a walk in Burnt Store Marina

• Manatee

• Which is the car and which is the dumpster? (HAHA)

• The collection of trinkets on the boat

• Great Egrets

• Cows on the shore of the Okeechobee

• Screenshot of us when we were mid-way through Lake Okeechobee

• Picture of our boat sticker on one of the locks

• A fish that we “caught” in one of the engine water intake

We are excited to be heading to Connecticut later this week for Christmas!