And we're off to Daytona Beach

January 3, 2016

We are headed to Daytona Beach where I will take a travel nursing job at Halifax Memorial Hospital, starting January 11.  The trip will take about 5 days, depending on how fast we can cruise once we get to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW).  The trip across the Okeechobee Waterway should take 2 days as long as we don’t run into long delays at any of the 5 locks.  We are a little concerned about getting through Ortona Lock, our 2^nd lock for today, because there is supposed to be some construction work going on.  The lock is supposed to be closed from 7:30-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m. M-F until June 2016.  Normal operating hours are 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., so that only leaves 3 short windows for locking through.  Since we are going through the lock on Sunday, we hope that it will be running on demand.

We left Ft Myers Yacht Basin at first light as we like to do when going on an extended cruise – after a short walk and Frisbee session for Sasha, of course.  Fortunately, the area around the Yacht Basin is very well lit.  Rob, Reggie and Maya saw us off, with Rob helping us cast off our last lines, Reggie telling Sasha how much he’d like to go cruising too, and Maya just taking it all in as usual.  We enjoyed our time at the Yacht Basin so we were a little sad to be leaving, but we were also happy to be off again, cruising to the next adventure!

Rob, Reggie, and Maya seeing us off (Maya is in her chair on the left)

The day was overcast and a bit cool since temperatures were in the high 60’s/low 70’s with a fairly stiff wind of 15 mph with gusts up to 22 mph.  Scattered showers were forecasted with steady rain more likely by evening.  I was ok wearing capris and a long sleeved shirt, but Rob hates to be cold so he had on long pants, a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt starting out.

Since Ft Myers is about 15 miles up the Caloosahatchee River, it didn’t take long to reach the point where we were in the fairly narrow portion of the Okeechobee Waterway.

When we arrived at Franklin Lock, there was a westbound boat locking through, so we only had a short wait until we could lock through eastbound.  I had forgotten that locks on the Okeechobee monitor VHS channel 13, so I hailed the lock on channel 16 as I was accustomed to doing.  After my second hail, someone kindly reminded me of the proper channel and also that bridges monitor channel 9.

Turkey buzzards standing guard near the locks

The Okeechobee locks don’t have floating bollards, but they do have lines hanging down at regular intervals along both walls.  Since the wind was out of the north, we went to the south wall to pick up lines so that the wind would be pushing us against the wall rather than away from it.  Sometimes the lockmasters throw lines to you, but most of the time you have to pick up the lines yourself.  After I maneuvered the boat close enough, Rob grabbed a line at the bow, and then I would step out of the helm station to take it from him so that he could grab a stern line.  Most of the time the drop or lift is small enough that you just have the hold the line rather than wrapping it around a cleat to let friction help you to hold it.  If the drop or lift is big enough, you have to either let out line or take it in from time to time to keep the boat close to the lock chamber wall.

Limpkin

The lift at Franklin Lock was small, so we were on our way again within 30 minutes.  We passed a few westbound boats and a few fishing boats, but for the most part we had the waterway to ourselves.  We did see a lot of birds but no alligators.

Alligators were around but we didn't see any

The entry canal to River Forest Yacht Center where we stayed when we brought Jim's boat, Tamure, over from Ft Lauderdale

There are a number of bridges along the Okeechobee Waterway, but most of them have plenty of clearance.  Railroad bridges are generally left in the open position unless there is a train going across them.  The only bridge we had to have opened for us was the Ft Denaud swing bridge which has a vertical clearance of just 9 ft.  You have to be sure to radio the bridge operator early, because she has to walk out on the bridge to operate it.

Bridge operator walking to the center to open the bridge

Ft Denaud swing bridge opening

Fortunately, the Ortona Lock was running on demand as usual, and the lockmaster told us that the approach wall construction had not started yet and he wasn’t sure when it would start.  We locked through with 2 other boats, so 2 of us went to the south wall and the other boat went to the north wall.  The boat behind us only had her captain aboard, but he had an easier time with his lines than the boat on the north wall which had 4 men.  Maybe they were having more trouble keeping the boat fairly close to the wall due to the wind, but they seemed like they were pulling at their lines a lot and even used their thrusters from time to time.  We have learned that if you try to hold your own line too tight to the wall, you make it harder for the other person because this causes the opposite end of the boat to swing out more.  We did notice that since the upper lock doors were opened slightly to let water in for the lift, there was a current that ran along the north wall and then back up the south wall that tended to push us out and forward.

Cormorant on a "dolphin"

When it was time to exit the lock chamber, the boat on the north wall went out first since she was cruising slightly faster than us and the other boat.  The other boat was only going 4 miles, so he was in no hurry.  We soon lost sight of the faster boat for the most part, only catching brief glimpses on long straight sections of the Waterway.  As we were approaching Moore Haven City Dock, we saw the boat again and at first thought that they were trying to either dock or anchor the boat – it was hard to tell while we were still some distance away from them.  As we got close, it became apparent that they were waiting for either the Moore Haven Lock to be ready for them or for the railroad bridge to open, because they were idling back and forth.  The bridge and lock are in close proximity to each other and the City Dock, but you can’t see the bridge or lock well until you round the curve to approach them.  We weren’t going that far so we couldn’t see exactly what was holding the boat up, but they were on their way again shortly before we reached the City Dock at around 3 p.m.

Radar screen just as we were getting docked

The Moore Haven City Dock is a nice 289 ft long wall right on the Waterway, so it is very easy to pull up to.  It is first come, first served and has 4 power pedestals, so it can accommodate up to 4 large boats.  Lorelei IV’s deck is about 8 ft off of the water and it was level with the dock, so the dock would not be as nice for smaller boats.  Rain was threatening, but we were able to get tied off, hooked up to power, and get Sasha pottied and exercised a bit before the rain started.  City Hall was right across the street, so when the rain let up, we walked over to see if we could find a self-pay envelope since it was a weekend day, but we only saw a drop slot.  The front was all glass, so we could see that people had dropped other things off, such as a check for a utilities payment.  We had read that someone might come around to collect the $1/ft dockage fee, so we decided to wait, and shortly before dark a young man from the city did show up to collect the fee and give us a receipt.

It's nice to be inside when it's raining