Jan 17 - No Name Harbour

 No Name Harbor will be the last anchorage in Florida for a while as this is our jumping off spot for the Bahamas. To get here we traveled through Miami. Big building and interesting architecture. The anchorage is small yet there are 15 boats in here and another 50 sailboats anchored outside, assuming they are all getting ready for the Bahamas crossing.

Jan 16 - South Lake, Hollywood Florida

Today's travels take us through Fort Lauderdale, and even more bridges to wait for their opening time. This is the land of the mega Yachts and Homes. Lauderdale is also a major cruise ship and container ship port with lots of on water activity.

Jan 15 - Boca Raton Lake

Today's travel took us by some large homes and even Trumps Mar-a-Lago, of which we could only see the tower. Most of the homes are pretty impressive and apparently since Covid the building boom is on down here. They even have boats that are worth more than some homes tied to their docks. We are now starting to come to bridges that have to be lifted for us to pass. They generally only open on the hour and half hour or only on the quarter hour so timing to the bridges is important or you end up idling out for a bit of time waiting for the opening.  Lake Boca Raton was our final anchorage for the day.

Jan 14 - Lake Worth

Heading south again and today we made it to Lake Worth. The water is getting clearer and the boats bigger. Lake Worth is a huge anchorage and there are hundreds of boats anchored here. Having lot of bridges to go under now, but luckily we have been able to fit under all so far.

Jan 13 - Back to Stuart

So our generator raw water pump has started to leak. We were able to order a new pump online and have it delivered to Sheldon and Cyndi in Stuart. So with the part delivered in an amazing one day delivery we headed back to Stuart to pick it up. While there we did a quick walk to the Publix to stock up on groceries. Also took advantage of  the Tide House Restaurant at their marina to have a meal and get together with friends from Ottawa, Roger and Lynn as well as Sheldon and Cyndi.

Jan 10 - Peck Lake

We are meeting up with David and Susan again as we both plan to be in Peck Lake for a couple of days. It was a late start in the day as the fog rolled in and we were barely able to see C-Shel II beside us. Peck Lake was a nice anchorage with good shore access for the dog and for us all to walk to the Atlantic side for a stroll on the beach. We tried the side by side tie again with Serenity II, but the wakes were pretty strong and we couldn't stay attached during the day. However we were able to tie up alongside over night and quickly got back into our martini routine.

Jan 8/9 - Lake Okeechobee

This is one of our longest days, 9 hours of travel. Three Locks and the lake to cross and into Stuart. We got an early start at the first lock in Moore Haven, then crossed the Lake. The Lake is larger than Simcoe and is the 2nd largest freshwater lake entirely within the US and is completely bordered by a 32 foot wall and water control stations. The start was pretty much a man made channel and at Clewiston we turn into the Lake itself. The water is almost black and averages about 10 feet deep. We must have stirred up fish or something as we had seagulls following us across the lake. Once across we had the Mayaca and St. Lucie Locks to travel down to Stuart Florida. Once in Stuart we headed to Kitching Cove  up the St. Lucie  River for our first anchorage on the east coast of Florida. The most pleasant surprise was anchoring beside our good friends Sheldon and Cyndi aboard C-Shel II. We decided to stay two nights here after a long day previously, and had the opportunity to dinghy with Sheldon and Cyndi to a great restaurant in Stuart for dinner.

Jan 7 - Julian Keen Lock

Another day of travel on the Okeechobee waterway. Two locks today, Ortana and the one we finished the day at, Julian Keen Lock in Moore Haven. This is the last lock before entering Lake Okeechobee. Our anchorage for the night was in the spillway of the dam, which with the current kept us pointed upstream all night.

Jan 6 - Okeechobee & Franklin Lock

We have decided not to do the Florida Keys on this trip and will save that for future years. So this year we will head across Florida via the Okeechobee River and Lake system. To get there we start up the Caloosahatchite River from Fort Myers to the first lock of the Okeechobee waterway. We continue to see the destruction from the Hurricane as we head up the river.

Our first lock is the Franklin lock and Dam. This was  a relatively long day and we decided that we would stay at the top for our first stop. Not much in the way of anchorages at the lock, but there are some small docks by the park from the Corp of Engineers, which were a little small for us and then there are the barge dolphins that we can tie to if unused. This is were we decided to go. Well turned into quite the gong show. The dolphins are either way to far apart for us to tie to correctly or just the wrong distance that we cannot quite use two together. It was a stressful attempt to get tied on, and had to use many fenders on the rear dolphin to keep far enough off so the poles would not rub the hull under the boat since these things are angled in the water. AS the evening set in we had our first alligator visit as he swam by the boat.