Back By Popular Demand

 

Hi ya’ll.  I am back from several weeks in PA.  My mom’s knee surgery went well and she is continuing to improve.  I got back to the boat in Sanibel on Wednesday, April 7.  Keith and I did a few remaining things in preparation to head north to Ocracoke for the summer.  We were able to get the oil changed on Southern Style and we put the Jeep on a car carrier heading to friends in New Bern, NC.  On Tuesday morning April 13^th we pulled out of Sanibel starting our trip to Ocracoke.

I will miss the miles of shells on Sanibel

I will not miss our resident, marina osprey screaming in the mornings at first light.

Our vacant spot at the dock in Sanibel as we pulled out Tuesday morning.

Going out the small channel leaving Sanibel Marina

Good-bye Sanibel Lighthouse

Our first day took us up the Caloosahatchee River and through two locks.  There are a total of three locks on the west side of Lake Okeechobee spaced out over about 20 miles.  The locks progressively raise the boat from sea level up to the level of the lake which is essentially in the middle of the state.

Approaching the first lock on the western side of Lake Okeechobee (the Franklin Lock)

 

Arriving at our second lock (the Ortona Lock)

Passing through the first two locks brought us into Moore Haven, FL by around 5:30PM..  They have a nice town dock along the river and we overnighted there.  

This sign near the docks reminded me to make sure to check the swim platform in the morning for visitors

I also celebrated my birthday in the evening with a birthday cake protein bar

Moore Haven put us in a good spot to pass through the last lock on the western side of the lake first thing in the morning.   Wednesday morning was pretty and we were off the dock at 7:30 AM and entering the last lock that would put us out onto Lake Okeechobee.

Beautiful morning

Look what we saw in the water on our way out to the lake

Sugar cane being burned as visible while crossing Lake Okeechobee

The trip across Okeechobee was uneventful. The lake is approximately 30 miles across and we were across in about 1 1/2 hours.   As we approached the east side and the first lock to start back down from the lake; we realized the lock was shut down for maintenance.  There were several other boats also waiting for the lock to reopen.  The lock master said it could be up to 3 hours so we threw out the anchor and waited.  Luckily it was only about two hours total and we were all off again.  There ended up being 9 boats including us waiting to pass through to the east.  This finally put us out onto the St. Lucie River and heading toward the Florida East Coast.  We thought this was the last of our delays for the day; however, when we arrived at the last lock on the river it was also having problems.  We waited an hour and finally squeezed into the lock with three other boats.  At last Southern Style was back on the east coast after a long day on the water.  We stayed at Sailfish Marina in Stuart, FL overnight. 

 We will be continuing north, stopping for several days in Charleston, SC to visit our friends the Terry's and Toney's.  Much fun is expected.  I will post again in about a week.  The plan is to get to Ocracoke by May 1st, but hopefully this brings everyone up to date.  All is well on Southern Style and we are looking forward to another summer in North Carolina.