Southern Venture

[RicM]

Once again, I love my boat. I have been over in the storage basin until today (Thursday) but last night it started blowing and raining pretty good. By 8:30 am it was blowing about 30-40 knts (flags straight out and snapping) and the rain was coming down sideways in sheets. The stern and port side was to the wind and I was tied on the starboard side, so the wind was blowing in though the canvas and screen and grinding the boat against the pilings. My little fender board was destroying the padding on the piling amidships. I really wanted to be in a slip with the bow facing the weather and with ties on both sides so I could hold the boat off the dock with lines. It was not the kind of weather one likes to practice docking maneuvers but they were saying it might get worse so I decided to go for it. This boat handles so well, I was amazed. I went into the slip basin, spun it around twice, plopped it into a slip like butter melting on a muffin. The thruster, used in concert with the helm to port made this easy in very hairy weather conditions. I'm all secure now with lines to both sides and bow into the wind so the ride is MUCH easier. You guys are not missing a damn thing here today, everything is soaked and of course with the air at 100% humidity nothing will dry out. It is 80 degrees though. I will work the rest of the day, I am getting a lot done. Tomorrow will be clearing out (they say) and Saturday is supposed to be beautiful, along with most of next week. If the weather is good I will indeed fish with Justin the mate again on Saturday to bookend the trip. Probably something a little less challenging than sailfish however. Sunday is return to NE day.
It is weird to be here where it is warm and see decorations and Santas. I'm not missing the holiday BS one bit though!

[jcollins]

Weather forecast for our area is snow starting Friday evening through Sunday. Your Sunday trip home will be interesting. But, this is Maryland. There is a better chance nothing will happen.

[RicM]

Well I am bringing Chapter 2 of the Southern Venture to a close tonight, sitting here at the marina with the wind finally not blowing, and the rain finally not falling, but of course the temperature IS falling, into the 40's tonight. What I have learned is that winter in FL is not New England summer moved south. Wind and waves kick up around here in the winter, and it's NOT always sunny no matter what the ads say. The fishing is good, sailfish, mahi, kingfish, spanish mackerel and more. When traveling to a new place, and you want to fish on your own boat, hire a mate through a local tackle shop, rather than a guide. The mate I hired here, Justin, is great. He came up with the plan, and brought the bait & lures. He handled the lines, fished along side me, but passed me his rod when he hooked up first. Was great handling the sailfish, and even washed down the boat and gear and cleaned the fish after the trip was over. All this for $150 for the first day, $100 for the second (I think he gives a cut to the tackle shop for the first day). I will definitely fish with him again on later trips.

The big question now is getting home. I'm supposed to be flying out tomorrow mid morning connecting through Tampa and Baltimore. Normally I wouldn't care about being delayed a day, but I'm supposed to be in court Monday at 9AM to evict a tenant that hasn't paid rent since October. I have no idea what will happen if I can't make it, and if get stuck sheltering this deadbeat A-hole for another 30 days I think I shall slit my throat. Merry Christmas.

[jcollins]

Ric,
Sounds like a great week. I'm sorry to say the week's end isn't great. This is from the FAA website as of 8:26 PM.

Due to SNOW, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) was closed as of Dec 19 at 01:42 PM EST. The date/time when the airport is expected to reopen is not known.

Here's the site: http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/flyfaaind ... PT=bwi&p=0

[RobS]

...I'm supposed to be in court Monday at 9AM to evict a tenant that hasn't paid rent since October. I have no idea what will happen if I can't make it...

I'm sure faithful dave can make sure the deadbeat is a no-show

Get home safe

[RicM]

Southwest is still reporting my flight as "On Time", but then they don't usually cancel until you are at the airport and the rental cars has been returned. I will post updates.

[jcollins]

Airport is open!

[RicM]

Well of course I did get home, and I did get the tenant from hell evicted, but the court gave her till Jan 2 to get out. It's a custom that they (the court) won't physically evict someone between Christmas & New Years. I should have asked for my mortgage interest to be suspended for the week also. Ha! As a parting gift she poured bleach in the middle of the wall to wall in each room, ruining the rugs. They were tired anyway and due for replacement.
Miss K and I are preparing to fly south on Sunday AM for her first visit to Jensen Beach. I hope to God it warms up. That freakin' weather demon is still chasing me. If there's another hurricane next week we'll know for sure. We are looking forward to meeting the parents of Rob, hoping to collect some ammunition for the Rendezvous. Potty training stories, or prom night exploits. Anything for a leg up on the next nutcracker festival in July.
Looking like we might try the Okeechobee trip, Miss K has a powerful hankerin' to visit her Mom in Ft Myers and we're thinking they could meet us in Belle Glade. That should be interesting. No stuffed shells or "manigott" there I'll bet.

[RobS]

We are looking forward to meeting the parents of Rob, hoping to collect some ammunition for the Rendezvous. Potty training stories, or prom night exploits. Anything for a leg up on the next nutcracker festival in July...

They have been advised of Florida's child-parent confidentialty law. In an effort to not be rude, if they do find themselves dragged into conversation, I have instructed them to remember to tell the truth, keep the answers short, refrain from volunteering any information and, if the need arises, go off the record.

[RicM]

I realize I have been remiss in torturing you, my gentle readers, and have not been keeping y'all up to date. Miss K and I flew down to PBI (Palm Beach International) on Sunday and got to 4Fish Marina after 5. TaT was waiting for us in the storage basin and we immediately moved her to a protected slip as it was windy and cold. Got set up and had a chilly night, as the reverse cycle AC/HeatPump is to noisy for me to sleep when it's on. The temp dropped to freezing outdoors, but we were OK. Monday I toured Miss K around Jenson Beach and Monday evening we had dinner with Rob's parents in Palm City. They were gracious hosts and a lot of fun, but it confuses me when my friends' parents are only 2 years older than I am. Alzheimers?
This morning (Tues) we fueled up and headed out to the Okechobee Waterway. We are heading west to meet Miss K's Mom and sister who live in Ft Myers area. We went down the St Lucie River then through the St Lucie Lock. Our first ever "Locking Through".
Miss K handling the lines...this lock raises you about 13 feet. You can see the water rushing in through the gates in the background. It was rather easy.

This what the gate looks like as they slowly open it and let the water in.....

The weather was fair and the wind 5-10 but Miss K needed to protect herself from the brutal 50 degree temps. Here we are as the lock has filled to Lake level..

We then crossed Lake Okechobee vis the direct route...pretty much flat calm, 12.5 ft deep all the way across. Went into Clewiston where we are spending the night at the FAMOUS ROLAND MARTIN MARINA.


Don't bother. It's an RV park with some docks. They do however, have a really cool courtesy car...a 1979 Cadillac Fleetwood limo with jump seats and everything! Free, but you have to be back by 5:30. No pub crawls in the Fleetwood!


Clewiston is not a hotbed of fine dining. Got a roto chicken at the Safeway and heated on the Magna Grill for dinner. On to Alva tomorrow....

[jcollins]

Great post Ric. Thanks for keeping us updated. It may be chilly there but it's freezing around here. If the reverse cycle heat is too loud West has a small electric that keeps us toasty.
Just search on heater. 80.00.

John

[RicM]

John....Do you really think you can buy ANY kind of electric space heater in FL this week? Anywhere? At any price?

[jcollins]

John....Do you really think you can buy ANY kind of electric space heater in FL this week? Anywhere? At any price?

Good point.

[RobS]

Ric, Great post and pics. The locals locks we go through have much less of a height change. I followed your route on Google Satellite. Definitely a little different than your hometown waters up North here. How far West you heading? I think my father mentioned you were not heading all the way to the west coat but meeting somewhere in between. Say Hi to Karen - Keep her warm

[RicM]

Well folks we have gone down a rabbit hole and fallen into paradise. This is why we go cruising. After traversing the St Lucie River and Canal we crossed Lake Okeechobee via the direct route. There is plenty of water in the lake and it is, indeed a saucer of shallow water. Once into the lake proper the depth was between 12.3 and 12.7 feet, ALL THE WAY. No structure, no change for an hour at 18 kts. Had reservations at the "Famous Roland Martin Marina" which was a stinking pit of grease, sparkle bass boats and southern rock. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The publicity photos for January's entertainment (Friday & Sat only thank god) looked like 60 year old meth addicts. After a peaceful night in an empty marina (we always seem to be off season) we headed on to Moore Haven and the Caloosahatchee Canal and River. The canal is nice if a bit monotonous, watching the floura change, and the cane fields burn. We then arrived at our western-most destination, Rialto Harbor Marina.
http://www.yachtworld.com/leaving_yw.cg ... harbor.com
This place is beautiful! Fantastic grounds, beautiful tropical plantings including exotic orchids in the trees exotic show chickens and a flock of doves cooing for background noise. Nice people, impeccable facilities, virtually a tropical paradise! We have decided to stay an extra day and just chill. I shot a bunch of pics this morning and will post later in the day after Miss K clears the lower deck.