Extra. Give us a shout out.

Would love to hear from some of our blog readers. Maybe you've got some advice or knowledge of an area we are going to - we'd love for you to share in the comment area. Also just good to read a reaction from "home" to our odyssey. I know there are some people reading our blog who we don't even know like Morgan's friend, Chris. Let us hear from you! 

"Travel brings power and love back into your life."   Rumi

. . . And strange, random statues of turtles.

Day 15

Woke up early and got a jump on the day by 6:30am. The ICW was flat with light playing on the subtle movements of the water. The shoals looked like they were placed in the water by the hand of a greater force. A light wind made it comfortable. It was beautiful. I decided to clean the moldy front hatch while it was cool - aahhh paradise lost. But now when we have guests, they will be breathing clean air. Lots of weekend campers were enjoying the peaceful shoals of the Space Coast. Like the morning wasn't amazing enough, we came upon a pod of dolphins playing in the channel. Then they saddled up to the side of the boat and surfed our wake for awhile. One laid on it's side and made eye contact. No one will ever convince me that they don't possess intelligence. Amazing moment. Saw tons more dolphins for the rest of the day. In the last hour of our journey, we passed the iconic NASA  assembly building. Also passed the Space Camp Center. Morgan, who was President of the elementary Young Astronauts at the time, and I spent a fun-filled weekend here learning what it's like to go up in space. Remember the anti-gravity spinner, Morgan?! Blah! Moored out again - in Titusville. Jack is getting use to being a boat cat. He wouldn't even come in for dinner tonight. Daytona tomorrow. 

Day 14 Milestone

We left Indiantown, early, as planned. But before we left, Jack went on his first land walk on a leash.  He did very well as long as John went where Jack wanted to go. Made it through our last Okeechobee Waterway Lock - St. Lucie - the water level changes 12 feet. You do NOT tie off on this one. Saw some more rolling tarpon. Then after a couple of hours of viewing beautiful, serene homes, we spied our first glimpse of the Atlantic! We made it across the state and then headed north in the ICW. We made it farther than expected to Vero Beach - did about 80 miles. There are some incredible old southern mansions along the coast of Ft. Pierce. Our first time with mooring balls on this trip. No problem, but the rope is pretty disgusting. The marina mooring field is almost empty compared to what John and Frank encountered in December when they were bringing the boat home. Rum on the back deck and NO Generator thanks to the new refrigerator!

Day 13 Hello new frig, Goodbye Indiantown

The saga of replacing our refrigerator has ended - successfully. The old one (a/c only) was 28 x 25 x 61. The window it had to go out of is 26 x 28 1/2. Three marina guys and John carefully handed it out the window and brought the new one (a/c & d/c) in. John, who amazes me with his know-how, hooked  the new frig up and we are ready to go early tomorrow morning. Cabinet work will be done later. Want to make up some time so we will put in some miles tomorrow. Want to be at the St. Lucie Lock by 8:30am - that's the last lock in Florida then we are on the east coast. After that, it's Ft. Pierce or bust!

Day 12 It's like we are in Groundhog Day

OMG! We are still in Indiantown. We have now eaten in the 2 restaurants. The shipping company screwed up and did not deliver our frig as scheduled. (I won't even go there. Two beers later and I'm trying to get past it.) So we are here until Friday morning. Tried to do a few little jobs while we were waiting for the delivery that never came, but the heat is brutal. Thank God we have a/c. It's a good thing we planned a whole year for this trip - it may take that long to get out of Florida! Clocking up miles on our fold up bikes. They are working out really well. Rode to town for groceries then later for dinner. Our friendly gator comes to visit looking for a hand out...or maybe just hands! He comes right up to the boat. 

Day 11 Still in Indiantown

Well, we made the decision - getting rid of the old ac frig and replacing it with an ac/dc Vitrifrigo. Now we will not have to worry about running the generator all the time. It's being delivered tomorrow so we hunkered down in Indiantown again. The east coast will have to wait for a couple days. Rode out our first storm on the boat. John spliced and prepared 130 feet of docking lines. I did laundry. Jack slept through it all. 

Day 10 Indiantown

Stayed in Indiantown Marina and got some jobs done. John finished mounting the Garmin and investigated inverters vs a new frig. I cleaned blinds, reorganized and somehow managed to get the salon a/c working. A good day to make that happen! (Found out the 50 amp shore power cable worked.) There's a beautiful breeze here, but when it stops - it's brutal. Got the folding bikes out in the late afternoon and toured Indiantown looking for a restaurant. It is literally a one red light town. There is one historic hotel called the Seminole Inn. It was built by a rich guy named Warfield (the main street is named after him). His daughter stayed there on her honeymoon when she married the Duke of Windsor. THAT is the only thing that happened here. The town was totally shut down for Memorial Day - remember when stores and businesses closed for holidays?!  However,  we found bar-b-que nirvana. If you are ever in this area, you MUST stop at JR's Bar-b-que and Saloon. The potions and prices were ridiculous and the ribs, collard greens and braised cabbage were to die for. And we may just do that later tonight, but it was sooooo good going down. Tomorrow, we head to the east coast. 

Day 9 Lake Okeechobee

John had seen the city docks of MoorHaven on one of our family driving trips and had always wanted to come back by boat and stay - and so we did. After spending the night in the city that time passed by, we went through lock number 3 onto Lake Okeechobee and headed to Indiantown Marina. There were so many gators on the lake and shore, we lost count. A little hesitant to bring Jack up to the bridge today - didn't want any accidental over boards in this area. Pretty uneventful lake crossing - John took the helm while I did odd jobs. Observed rare white pelicans just chillin' on a strip of land in the middle of the lake.  Landed in Indiantown Marina early enough to have drinks and conversation with our new friends that we met in MoorHaven. Very unpretentious place as you can see from the picture. The entrance is just a break in the trees off of the canal - not even a sign. As we docked, a gator swam behind the boat - I guess he is the welcoming committee. Marina has tons of boats - some beautiful and some works in progress. We may stay another day, work on some projects and avoid crazy Memorial Day boaters. At least, it's not as hot here as we get closer to the Atlantic. One more lock to go till the ocean. 

Day 8 Week Dos

)(What a way to start our morning - a hundred tarpon swimming and rolling around the boat. Didn't get going right away since a thick fog moved in for a hour or two.  So Jack found a comfy spot nestled in the life jackets. I guess he's not going down with the ship. When it lifted, we went through the first lock of the waterway. John took it in and I took it out. Teamwork! A huge manatee got trapped in the lock with us and he was the first one out. After the second lock, a couple alligators crossed our path. The Caloosahatchee River or Waterway is phenomenal. Huge estates to shanties, cow farms to orange groves. I could take a thousand pictures. I would love to explore the shoreline.  Hardly any boats- so quiet and peaceful. It was calm enough that Jack spent the day on the bridge as co-pilot.  I want to live here. Take note - how many times will I say that before this trip is done?! We docked early at the moorHaven City Docks. Only a couple other boats here- one from Long Island. Of course, I asked if they knew where Kevin was from!  Heading out to see what kind of action there is in this sleepy, little village. ( note - Just found out from Sprint, they have no towers here in MoorHaven. I'm actually not shocked, so this blog is being published on Sunday morning. Unbelievably enough, there's reception on the Okeechobee in the middle of nowhere. What does THAT say about MoorHaven?!)

Day 7 heading down the FL coast

We began the day going through a swing bridge in Boca Grande. Pretty neat. There was a gathering of trawlers waiting to go through . . . or is that called a gaggle? A school? A herd? Had to halt for a moment to let the car ferries cross on Little Gaspirella Island. While heading toward Sanibel, we saw a large school of Tarpon churning up the water - very impressive - looked like a washing machine. Tons of Tarpon fisherman not 300 yards away, didn't have a clue. In the same area, there was a small colony of stllt houses. Interesting lifestyle. At one point, two dolphins swam with us on the bow. I wanted to get a picture, but couldn't miss the moment. It was INSANE  around the entrance of the Caloosahatchee River. Reminded me of the lake scene in Caddy Shack with Rodney Dangerfield. We left the Gulf ICW and entered the Okeechobee Waterway. First anchorage we tried per the Guidebook was called Power Plant Slough - wouldn't hold the anchor worth a damn. I guess "slough" means silty, mucky bottom made to frustrate boaters. Next we tried to tie off on pilings near the Franklin lock -  that didn't go so well. But we finally dropped the hook in a quiet spot near a campground near the lock that we will go through tomorrow morning. Looking forward to our first lock passage! Stay tuned.

    

Day 6 but really Day 1

 We've been gone from our dock since Saturday, but we felt like today was our REAL first day of the Great Loop. We started early and stayed in the Gulf until the Venice Inlet. Then we took the ICW to Englewood Beach where we dropped the hook at a small anchorage. We did a total of over 70 miles and the boat ran great. John was happy to be a Captain and put his maintenance hat away for the day.  On the way, we saw dolphin; a stingray leap out of the water and do a back flip; a huge manatee eating...or mating ; a strange squid-like thing; and rustic, untouched, natural Florida landscape. You forget how beautiful our state is - it's more than Tyrone Mall and a gazillion subdivisions and condos. Even though we have thousands of dollars worth of navigation equipment, I learned the necessity of charts and how to read them. I also learned you need really really good eyes to read them. Even with my "bionic eyes", I had to use a magnifying glass. The weather is gorgeous - a magnificent, refreshing breeze is coming off the beach which is a stone's throw away.  Jack had a tough day at first, but as you can see he recovered and kicked me out of my chair. It was a good sixth, first day!

Day 5 ok we lied

Yes, I know we said we were leaving for Sarasota today, yet here we are, still, in Gulfport. We were toying with the idea of posting Great Loop pictures from the internet and just anchoring here for 10 months. BUT, finally, we got the radar working, so tomorrow, bright and early, we leave Gulfport and are hoping to get to Cabbage Key. We are fueled and pumped out and pumped up. Without Brandi, Danny, and Dad's assistance, I'm not sure we ever would have gotten underway. Brandi also took today's picture of the three Captain Jacks. (Thanks to Erin and Chris who made it possible to get our DJ Kitty hats.) 

We're in the Gulf - the beginning of Day 6

Left at 6:30 this morning from our temporary "home" in Gulfport. Saw an amazing sunrise on the stern. Passed Peg's condo about 7:20. Leftover O'Maddy's for breakfast while listening to Jimmy Buffet in Hawaii. Jack's back to sleep under his stool in the forward cabin. Gulf is quiet. We'll see how far we get. To quote an old Goldie Hawn movie - It's a hellava day at sea, Sir!

Day 3 Keeping it weird in Gulfport

While we are waiting for the radar and parts for the inverter, we  got Brandi to take us around to a few places so we could buy more "essentials". Bought one of those boat beanbag chairs. John took to it like an osprey to a lightpole. What you can't see in the dingy is two large bags full of more stuff. Gulfport's motto is "Keep Gulfport weird" and they do a dandy job of that. Saw someone moving their 'home" to another part of the bay. Meanwhile Jack is acclimating to boat life like the old pirate that he is.Radar arrives tomorrow and then onward to crossing Tampa Bay and exotic Sarasota or maybe Cabbage Key.

Day one complete

Well, this is my second attempt at blogging without Brandi's help. I recorded our day's activities and now it disappeared when I tried to add photos. Let's try this again.

We are now 8 miles from home which is a real milestone for us - we left the dock! Made it to Cory Causeway and the bridge was stuck so we had to lower the mast while motoring. Quite a feat. But we made it under the bridge with 2 foot to spare. Here in Gulfport till Garmin sends us a new radar. Not too bad since we got the have dinner with our super friends, Peg and Bill, at O'Maddy's. Tried out our seasmanship skills in the new dingy...successfully. When we got back to the boat, someone ordered a beautiful fireworks display to celebrate our first day of the Loop. Yeah, we know it was actually for the Rowdies, but we told Jack it was for us. That made him happy. All in all, it was a happy first day all around!

Carpet is installed! Almost ready to go!

Before

During

After

The animals getting ready for the "ark"

Jack was not happy about getting a bath in anticipation of the trip. Kayo checked out the salon to make sure his buddy, Jack, had everything he needed for his trip.

 

First test run

Last week, we put our toe in the water and took our first overnight trip to scenic, quirky Gulfport. It was a glorious day and a very successful expedition. Made lots of lists on what needed to be done before the "big day". Oh yeah - that's FRIDAY. We have made much progress on the lists and are pretty much ready to set sail. I've filled 6 drawers with clothes, John has filled one.

 

 

 

Captain Jack, but not Sparrow

Jack, our 11 year old tuxedo cat, has adjusted to boat life quite easily. Looks like he's cat-napping, but he's ready to "set sail".

Naming our dream....finally

Beautiful gold leaf with black border - made John promise to never do this again - very tedious - but looks just the way we wanted.