Well, hi, hey and hello there
(as Big Jon and Sparky used to say….).
It is the end of April and we are back to cruising. I’ll write as long as I can stay connected to
the keyboard. We are being bounced a bit
in Lake Okachobee…and WHO CARES?????
We did go home after
Easter. On Tuesday, not Monday as
planned. Once we were safely in Newburgh, all systems were checked out. The home town dentist opted to NOT do a root
canal (as Fred had hoped and predicted), the cardiologist said “whatever you
are doing is working” the gp said “we’ll check out the back, but are you sure
you have that date of birth correct? You
look a WHOLE lot better than most folks your age!”
Those stops completed, we did the things we’d intended to do while in
Newburgh---that is participate in the Power Squadron District conference, and
celebrate Katie Rae’s ninth, and Paul’s 16th birthdays. We had a lovely Carhart brunch at High Point
Circle, (I made a vegetarian, gluten
free quiche that really tasted good!); and shared some very special gifts Amy and Geoff had sent from
Korea,. That evening we had a
Mangelsdorf dinner on the Hudson with cake to follow in LaGrangeville.
All in all it was a good
trip. Two weeks after we arrived, Molly
dropped us at Stewart Airport, and off we flew.
When we landed, we had to tell Marilyn that Fred broke another tooth in
the Atlanta airport (on sausage this time).
Her dentist’s office came thru at 8:15 Wed. a.m. with a temporary cap
just like he would have gotten in NY. To
celebrate, we threw off the lines and took Marilyn to Shooters—0.7 mi south on
the ICW----for lunch. It was great! On the way back, we lost the throttle control
for the right engine! That means we
pretty much lost the use of the right engine.
Do you believe it? Fred did a
beautiful job of bringing YA to the dock with a single engine (sing ho for redundancy!)
and Marilyn resigned herself to our continued tenancy.
Happily, the nice man from
Yacht Services responded to Fred’s urgent plea for a home visit, and by 11 a.m.
on Thursday the electronic throttle control system had been deemed ready to
travel (no idea what was wrong with it, but it fixed itself) and we actually
did leave Marilyn’s dock at Ft. Royal Isle. Her hospitality is unsurpassed!
The Ft. Lauderdale section of
the ICW is among the most heavily populated, and therefore we spent a good part
of the afternoon timing bridges. Those
pesky folks in cars want to travel, too!
We were able to make it north of
Palm Beach, though, and found a great marina (Lake Park Marina) where we had a lovely quiet dockage.
In the morning, Ken, the
dockmaster came to chat and spent an hour looking over the boat. He’s at the OPB (other people’s boats) stage
of life, but really appreciated all the special features that are boasted by a
Great Harbour.
Friday we moseyed along the
ICW to the St. Lucie Inlet, where we turned west and really believed that we
are on our way to West Virginia! First
step, the St. Lucie River to Stuart, FL.
We didn’t stop.
Past Stuart, wedged in
between the bridges for Rt. I-95 and the Florida Tpk., we found the American
Yacht Builders yard. Chose it because
fuel was 35 cents a gallon less than anywhere else nearby! So, of course, in the morning when we
approached the fuel dock, Fred’s premonition was confirmed. Yards that routinely sell 2000 gal. at a time
have high speed fuel nozzles. Our wee
need for 200 gal. has a smaller deck fitting.
This is the third time this has happened to us, and it was the
last. Wayne, the security guard, was
able to go into the shop and find parts to create a fitting that we can now
screw into our deck and accommodate the fast filler! NO more missing out on lowest diesel
prices! At the low price 200 gal. put an
$800 dent in our pocketbook. (Tax was
lower, too—6% vs. 7 at most other places we checked!) How do the sportfishermen do it? Fellow at the yard says he burns 4
Gallons/mile!
Makes our 3 miles to the
gallon look pretty spectacular!
It was ½ mile to the St.
Lucie lock, and as luck would have it, there is enough water in Lake Okachobee
that the locks are working on an every 2 hour schedule. The lockmaster says that another 0.15 ft.
drop in the Lake Level (by next Tuesday, he reckons) and the locks will only
open three times a day. How lucky are
we?
St.
Lucie canal was narrow and shallow. I
ran us aground when I moved too far to the right so an oncoming boat could stay
in the deep water. Fortunately, Fred
used the wake as the boat passed to lift us out of the soft mud. It is never dull!
At the end of the St. Lucie canal, we locked through at Port Mayaca. And it was through. Did not seem to go up or down, just through. Was an impressively long lock, though. No barges in sight, just a lockmaster from Brooklyn.
We’ve
an hour to go in our crossing of the 2nd largest fresh water lake in
America (Lake Michigan is biggest), and by the time I post this and add a photo
or so, it’ll be time to dock and dine!
Be
well, and remember to breathe!
