December 9-13, 2010
We left early from Titusville because we had 75 miles to go to Vero Beach. Titusville Municipal Marina has many resident ospreys. One had chosen the “soft” post on Grateful’s port side to eat its breakfast. As we were making to leave, it puffed its feathers and spread its wings to make itself BIG, but I still won the battle and it finally flew away with its catch.
We looked forward to Vero Beach because we had heard so many positive comments and we had heard that there was a dog beach close by. Our intention was to spend the weekend there. We stopped and got fuel – another 300 gallons – and they put us into a nice slip. Unfortunately it was raining off and on and things were a little soggy. However, it made a lovely sunset picture.
Friday dawned on a foggy morning and it didn’t clear until 9:00. But when it cleared, the day was brilliant and warm. We did find the dog park, and after a few Frisbee throws, Porter went to the drainage ditch for a drink – pretty much guaranteed a bath for him. Later in the day, Mark and I used the free city shuttle and went shopping. We needed dog chow, milk and sweet vermouth. My O&M friends would be proud of me because I figured out the bus schedule and we were standing on the correct side of the road to catch our ride home. But, alas, we decided to leave Vero Beach early as a cold front was going to be moving through on Sunday bringing high winds and freezing temperatures. We were able to rearrange our marina reservations so we were all set.
Saturday dawned with heavy fog again. We were ready to go but needed to wait until we could see the sailboats anchored in the harbor. Well, we could see them and we had our trusty GPS and radar, so by 8:30 we departed.
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| Finally the sun broke through to shine on a gigantic USA flag |
The day cleared to a bright, cool day. We traveled the Indian River this whole day. The river is sometimes a mile wide, but with only a very narrow channel with 8-10 ft depths. The channel is lined with spoil islands – some have trees, beaches and room for camping.
As we approached St Lucie Inlet, the water became that beautiful aqua. There were many more dolphin sightings and some came to swim with us. There were a lot of boats out enjoying the day. At the St. Lucie Inlet we had to turn inland to find the Okeechobee waterway. The first test was getting through a set of three bridges – one high, an open RR bridge, and a low bascule bridge. Finally we were through and into the canal.
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| St . Lucie Inlet |
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| Wall dripping with purple flowers |
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| Tight quarters through RR bridge and bascule bridge |
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| Finally through the bridges |
We made it through the St. Lucie lock – a 13 ft lift. We are old hands at locks, but this one seemed hard. In the Midwest, water is run into the lock through a pump system – water seems to boil up from the depths. So far these locks seem to work by simply opening the lock door at the other end. We had a heck of a surge as 13 feet of water poured into the lock – we both were holding on for dear life!!
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| Entering the Okeechobee Waterway |
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| Just narrow canal |
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| St. Lucie Lock gates opening |
We cruised until we came to the RiverForestYachtCenter. This is not a marina, but has electrical power and water. This is one of the places we are considering to store Grateful rather than cruising to South Carolina.
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| Grateful at sunset |
We had reservations at Indiantown for both Sunday and Monday evenings. We knew the cold front was beginning to move through the area. Sunday morning arrived peacefully and calm.
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| Dawn in the harboe |
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| Love these “bottle-brush” palms |
However, Sunday morning I called Indiantown Marina to find out when we could arrive. Because the cold front was due to arrive, the boats that were going to leave the marina had not left. We offered to stay where we were – and the same happened for Monday.
The wind that has arrived with the cold front is crazy – gusts to 35 mph. We have been out rearranging fenders continuously as the wind bumps us against the wall. Travel across Lake Okeechobee is not advised – weather channels call it “rough”. Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake within the boundaries of the US, but it is only about 13 feet deep. Winds can make crossing the lake quite hazardous. When I called the Indiantown Marina today, they did not think anyone was leaving throughout the week. I guess we will wait. According to weather forecasts, we might be able to cross Lake Okeechobee by Wednesday – we will make the attempt. We will start from RiverForest rather than 13 miles closer at Indiantown.
Until then……….
