Day 33

Today dawned dreary and overcast.  There was even a small bit of mist in the air for a while.  Since we had about 45 miles to go today, there wasn’t a real sense of urgency to drop the mooring ball and get moving.  We made tea and sat on the back deck for a little while drinking our tea and observing the goings on in the harbor.  The dinghy traffic started early headed to the dinghy dock, people with dogs needing to do their thing, people wanting to take a shower probably, and maybe people heading to town.  By 8:00 there was a bit of traffic going on.  We finished up and decided to get going, so we dropped the mooring ball and headed out.  There was a nice following current so we were making good speed.

Everything went according to plan, we hit Ft. Pierce after several hours, there was some sun peeking through the clouds for a while,  and noticed how blue and clear the water was.  It looked almost like you were in the Caribbean.  It was just beautiful.  Stuart came along shortly after that and we made the turn up into the St. Lucie River.  All I can say is Wow.  The houses are just stunning along the river.  Big houses and big boats tied up in front.  It is a really pretty river, big and wide.  We were in no particular hurry since our targeted anchorage was along the river a little ways up, so we piddled along following a catamaran up the river.  There was a bridge that we needed to open up a little further, so we followed him for the bridge opening.  At the bridge, he made the call to the bridge tender who informed him he needed to wait a few minutes because there was another boat coming the other way with a boat in tow.  Well this guy kept getting closer, and closer to the bridge.  At one point the bridge tender told him to back off beyond the fenders for the bridge.  He kept asking for the bridge to be opened, and the bridge tender informed him again he had to wait until the other boat towing a disabled boat got closer, and then he would open the bridge for everyone.  Well, this guy has a catamaran, with two engines/props, making much easier to control your craft than if you only had one engine/prop.  This guy gets on the radio again, and says he wants the bridge opened because there is wind and he needs to get through because the wind is making it hard to control his boat.  What? Two engines and you can’t control your boat?  With two engines you can pivot a boat on a dime almost, and make it do pretty much what you want it to do.  Well the bridge tender got on the radio and really dressed this guy down with everyone in range listening to him give it to this moron.  He told him not to tell him how to do his job and back off in a not so pleasant manner.  Well, the catamaran guy didn’t say another word, and other boats that came by were just smiling.  Everyone heard what a dick this guy was.  That was pretty much the excitement for the day.

We pulled into the anchorage and dropped the hook about 2:00 and settled in.  Nothing exciting after that.  Tomorrow we have a long day planned, 65 miles, 20 miles of which is crossing Lake Okeechobee.  So we will be on the water early, there will be a couple of locks we need to negotiate, and eventually we will stop outside of Clewiston.  If you have ever been to Clewiston, there isn’t much there except a Wal-Mart, migrant farm workers and lots and lots and lots of sugar cane.  There is also a sugar plant there as well, but not much to do in Clewiston.

Today we went 45 miles exactly, for a total of approximately 1237 miles.  We were underway for 5hrs. 38mins.

So boys and girls, Until tomorrow…..