Cast off the lines!

The Dr said we could start cruising again around the 23rd as long as Kevin did not lift anything heavier than 15 pounds until Valentine’s Day. So, here we are moving south to Charlotte Harbor and beyond. It was a gorgeous day for cruising . . . temperatures in the 70’s and calm waters out on the gulf. We decided to cruise the gulf route down to Venice, Florida where we would head in and join the intercoastal waterway traveling to Chadwick Cove marina. There were plenty of dolphins entertaining us by swimming beside and under the boat on this trip. We had been told by other boaters that to enjoy Florida’s intercoastal don’t travel on weekends. Well, the 23rd was a Saturday and we saw why just after entering the jetty at Venice harbor. At one point we had 5 boats heading towards us in a narrow channel all jockeying for position at speed on plane. We figured we must be the stand on vessel as we had nowhere to go. Well, they missed hitting us we are happy to report. The boats in the next three pictures all passed us with a minute of one another.

There are signboards along the intercoastal tell folks when they are in a no wake zone for the manatee’s or when they can resume speed to 25 mph in the intercoastal. Outside of the intercoastal in the shallows it seems to be all no wake.

We stopped at Chadwick Cove marina for the night where we learned what it felt like to be a stuffed sausage. The slip was approximately 13.5 feet wide and our beam is 13.5 feet wide. Of course, the dockmaster did not share this important information before we arrived. When they rebuilt the marina after the hurricane, they were all supposed to be 15 feet wide. The docking application I use to make reservations shows our boat with a 14 foot beam. Anyway, we had to get into this slip by backing towards the slip then turning the stern of the boat approximately 30 degrees while still backing up. We made it in by inches without incurring any scratches. You have to back into most slips in Florida as they are fixed height and the actual dock portion is around 15 feet long. We are so spoiled on the west coast by having full sized floating docks. This marina, like most on the east coast has a waterside restaurant serving sandwiches, fried seafood and bar service. Many tiki bars like this have live music.

The 24th, we were expected at Safe Harbor in Burnt Store Marina where we had booked a 3 night stay. We left around 8 am continuing to travel down the intercoastal to Charlotte Harbor. Charlotte Harbor is a large bay where the waves can kick up when it is windy. Bev had memories (not good) of the last time we tried boating in Charlotte Harbor. We had rented a 16 foot skiff with a 75 hsp motor and took it across the harbor to Punta Gorda, a town where we owned waterfront property about 20 years ago. The trip over was great, however, the wind came up and we were fighting 1 to 2 foot chop. Water was coming over the bow and we were both sopping wet and cold before we arrived back at the marina where we rented the boat. We found the Tiki bar at that marina where we dried off by the warm sun having a cocktail. Well, wouldn’t you know, even with the bigger boat we were bouncing through the choppy water to get to the shallow entrance at Burnt Store Marina. Burnt Store is a developer created community with Condos and houses surrounding it. Back when it was developed, it was the only community in the area. Now, housing is beginning to fill in around it. The marina is very large complete with a tiki bar and restaurant. We had a fun last lunch with Bev’s family before we moved further south towards Fort Meyers.

We only overnighted in Fort Meyers and missed going to the Edison Museum again. We hear it is quite interesting. Thomas Edison purchased a winter home in the 1880’s. It is now owned by the state of Florida and still has the original furnishings and lab. It is located next to the Henry Ford winter home and museum. Instead, we passed right by them on our way up the Caloosahatchee River towards Lake Okeechobee. When the weather is windy from the North East or North West the waves on Lake Okeechobee can be quite nasty. Our timing was off by one day and we headed up to the lake the same time that double bomb cyclone hit the east coast. We have some residual effects where winds are supposed to gust to 41 mph. Waves are forecast to be 8 feet high. Rather than take any chances of crossing we are hunkered down in Moore Haven, Florida, tied up to a dock along the river (canal) that leads to the rim route around Lake Okeechobee.