I apologize for the lack of posts. As the adventure continued, we were getting more and more relaxed and harder and harder to cut into happy hours to post. We have received numerous calls and e-mails asking if we dropped off the face of the earth!
We are here. We are enjoying our adventure and will be continuing back towards Connecticut beginning this Monday the March 5th.
1/19/12 We departed Cocoa Beach for Satellite Beach to visit our good friends from CT, Gerry and Christine Downey. We are going to spend a couple of nights at their doc at their house.
1/21/12 We departed Satellite Beach to Vero Beach, FL
1/22/12 We departed Vero Beach to Stuart, FL. We arrived at Sunset Bay Marina and after we got comfortable, we went up to the boaters lounge to watch the Patriots game with a lot of other Northerners. After that, we got together with Sarah and Robbie who own "Blondie's Hot Dogs" in downtown Bristol. They winter in Stuart and we had a great cocktail hour on the the Irish Rover!!
1/24/12 We departed Stuart and went to Indiantown, Fl which is a good stopping point to go across Lake Okeechobee.
1/25/12 We departed Indiantown and went through the Port Mayaca lock which is prior to the Lake. The lake was calm and we made the 36 mile crossing with no issues. We stopped in Labelle which is on the Okeechobee waterway which goes to Fort Myers.
1/26/12 We departed Labelle FL and continued through locks to the Caloosahatchee River and Fort Myers on the West coast of Florida. We are staying at Legacy Harbor Marina which is a first class marina and within walking distance to historic downtown with its outside dining and music Thursday through Sunday! We met up with our CT friends Lynda and Bob Kruger who are doing the great loop and went up to Canada and down the Mississippi River. They will be spending the summers along with us in Mystic also. We also re-connected with old friends Bob and Donna Agostinelli who moved from CT to Cape Coral, FL 12 years ago. It has been great to get together with both the Kruger's and Agostinelli's!
We will be leaving here Monday 3/5/12. Also, while we were here, we purchased a condominium on the Caloosahatchee River with a boat dock and within walking distance to historic Fort Myers!!
Life is GOOD!!
The morning we were leaving Cocoa,FL
The beach at Satellite Beach while visiting Jerry and Christine.
The Irish Rover docked at Jerry and Christine's Florida home on a canal off of the intra-coastal waterway.
Along the intra-coastal there are many small islands where people pull up to the shore and camp out overnight. It is very laid back down here.
As we get further south, there are more and more dolphins that swim along with the boat!
This was our Stuart anchorage.
Carole enjoying our Stuart evening!
Waiting for our 1st lock in Port St. Lucy to begin our trip across Lake Okeechobee.
We pulled into the lock and they close the door behind you and begin to let in the water in front so the water raises to the level of the next part of the trip. We will be going through 5-locks to get to Fort Myers.
You hold onto the lines dropped down from the lock and keep the boat against the wall as it rises with the water.
This is the lock that brings you into Lake Okeechobee.
At the locks, they have signs that tell you where you are, where you were and how far you have to go.
Kinda like a highway!
We began to see a lot of cattle along the waterway and I was wondering if they used ATV's to follow their herds. I got the answer at the next bend......
Old fashion cowboys tending their herds!
Once we passed the last lock, we came down the Caloosahatchee River and Fort Myers!
We had dinner at Donna and Bob Agostinelli along with Lynda and Bob Kruger. Donna is on the left and Lynda on the right. It doesn't get any better than this!!
This is the view from our living room of our new condo looking across the Caloosahatchee River which is the intra-coastal waterway. Sitting back and watching cruising boats is fantastic!
This is the view looking down the river also from our master bedroom.
This is our dock and fishing hut at the end.
This is our building from the water. Our unit is on the 2nd floor (actually the 3rd floor since the 1st floor is the Pool and community area)
This is a sunset from Fort Myers Beach. Hundreds and hundreds of people go down to the beach to watch some of the most beautiful sunsets anywhere!
Sunset from our boat at Legacy Harbor Marina. We will be leaving Monday morning but will have many great memories and can't wait to be back here next fall!!
