Upon returning from California after the holidays, we did some needed work on Diamond Girl, reprovisioned our food and supplies, then we decided that we needed to get going south. After a couple of days we reached our first destination which was Vero Beach, FL. We spent several days there, then left with our bow headed south again. Fort Lauderdale was our goal, and it took us two days to get there.
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| The New River In the middle of downtown Ft. Lauderdale |
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| Heading up the New River..an exciting trip! |
Fort Lauderdale is an area that has every service for boats "known to man." It's the "mega yacht" capital of the USA. It's unbelievable to see so many yachts from 100 feet to 250 feet in one spot. It's also very busy with boat traffic. We stayed at Cooley's Marina and rented a car so that we could explore the Keys again. We decided that it was going to take us too long to do it by boat and still meet our deadline with the Waterway Guide. Yep...we are still working with the Waterway Guide as Cruising Editors, and Florida is part of our territory to cover. After we got the car and were in the mode of land travel, they gave us an extension on our deadline. However, we were already set to cover the Keys by land so we continued with our plans. It actually works out pretty well to do this area by car because it is so spread out that it's almost impossible to cover any of the land-based information on foot, which is what we would be doing if we were to take the boat.
When we returned to the boat (after our land travels,) we got underway again and decided to retrace our tracks and go north to Stuart, FL and then across the state through Lake Okeechobee. We've done this trip numerous times but still enjoy it. It's like going back to Old Florida. There isn't a lot of development, and what there is is older and very low key. The marinas are small and not as up-to-date as they are along the coasts. But it's different! One of the stops that we made is at the Franklin Lock Campground and Marina. When the Army Corps of Engineers built the lock they also constructed a campground with eight slips for boats. The slips are adequate, and very inexpensive, with electricity and water available. It's a relaxing stop, and we usually meet some very interesting people.
Fort Myers Beach was our next stop so we got underway again after a couple of days and continued down the Caloosahatchee River. It wasn't really a long way to Estero Island. Ft. Myers Beach has a nicely protected bay with a large mooring field and some exceptionally nice beaches. It's a popular Spring Break area for the college kids and it was packed. There is a large shrimp fleet that works out of this area also. It's an interesting stop.
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| White sand beaches on the Gulf |
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| Ft. Myers Beach mooring field |
Moving along again, we traveled up the coast to Pelican Bay, which is on Caya Costa Island and is very protected being ringed by small islands and a very shallow sandbar. We like this anchorage! We have been there several times and always enjoy it. You can walk across the island to the Gulf and the beaches. The sand is very, very soft. Almost like walking on powdered sugar.
Leaving Pelican and heading to Punta Gorda was next on our list. We went into Fisherman's Village Marina for a couple of days and stayed 6 days because of weather. The weather this year has been GREAT! Very warm but also windy. Even though we were anxious to leave Punta Gorda, we were having a good stay. Some friends from our California days (Frank and Ellen) live there now and we got together with them and had "old home time." Some of our cruising friends (Jay and Susan) winter there every year so we got to spend some quality time with them also.
We had told our friends (Rick and Candice) in Cape Coral that we would be there on a certain date and kept calling them to extend our arrival date because of all the wind. Finally.....we were able to get across Charlotte Harbor and down to Cape Coral to visit with them at their dock and home. This has become a yearly stop for us and one that we really look forward to. We always have a great time with them and this time was no different. We left the boat at their dock for a couple of days and did some more land travel for the Waterway Guide.
When we returned to the boat from our driving trip, we left and traveled back across Lake Okeechobee again heading over to the East Coast. We stopped in Stuart for a few days and then returned to Vero Beach to await Bud's brother Jim and his wife and daughter (Susan and Allie) to visit for a couple of days. We had a great time with exceptionally nice weather!
After a two and a half week stay in Vero, we were really anxious to get moving again. As we were preparing to leave, Bud noticed a very slight leak in one of our exhaust hoses. So....there we were needing to have a mechanic come and change the hose for us. It's one of those jobs that Bud just can't do. These hoses aren't small, they are 5 inches in diameter, and very difficult to work with. Fortunately we were able to get a mechanic to come first thing in the morning, and we were only delayed one day.
Now we are back in Palm Coast, again waiting out some winds that are supposed to blow 25 to 35 mph today. Oh well....we could be in a worse spot. At least we are in very nice area and know some folks here.
Tomorrow is going to be nice so we will be back traveling again.
Sorry this has turned out to be so long. I am going to try and make more frequent postings. (Elaine just said "Sure you are.")
Don't forget to sign up to be one of our followers. Be sure to email us to let us know what is going on in your lives, too. We love to hear from everyone. We are again on Facebook, and I am going to try and post little snippets of our days traveling along with a few photos. It seems like a very easy way to communicate with a lot of people. Again, let us know what you think.
Bud and Elaine
Diamond Girl
