Cape Canaveral

Vero Beach proved to be a good location for a 2 night stop.  We enjoyed the beach and took a moment to relax and celebrate Russell's birthday.  We headed out at 8AM Sunday morning to our next destination, Cape Canaveral. 

It was a long ride up the coast, not only did it take 8.5 hours to travel 55-60 miles, but we traveled the last 10 miles in way too shallow waters, at a much slower, more cautious rate.  We decided to exit out of the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway) and went up the Banana River to cut 6 miles off of our trip.  We checked the charts and talked to the marina in Cape Canaveral and both said it was “ok”.  It was ok, but barely.  For well over an hour we were with less than 2 feet of water under our keel.  Stressful to say the least, knowing that we bent the props in the Bahamas last year in the same conditions.  We arrived to the Cape Marina at 3:30PM.  

This working/repair marina had just the perfect amenity, a heated pool in the boat yard (lol).  Besides the 97 degree water temperature, it wasn't so bad.  The kids had a good time and we enjoyed a well-deserved cold beverage after the low depth final hour.

 We have been excited for the past several weeks for this evening, as there was a SpaceX Falcon 9, a re-supply mission to the International Space Station, launch at 12:45AM.    The marina and our boats were perfectly situated about 6 miles away and the skies were in perfect condition to view the launch.  It was beautiful.

 The 1^st stage of the rocket navigated back down to earth and successful landed on land (instead of a floating barge).  We watched the stage come back down and when we could no longer see it, 3 very loud sonic booms rattled the dock/boats.  Very cool!

The next day we headed to the Kennedy Space Center where we viewed several rockets and the Atlantis Space Shuttle. 

I can’t believe how massive these rockets are and how small (in comparison to the rockets) the Shuttle is.  Pictures can't describe it.

Ian/Zoe/Dan sat in a replica of the Apollo capsules.

Entering into the Altantis Space Shuttle exhibit.

The next day, we decided to make Cape Canaveral our furthest north destination and turn around as we only have 9 days left of our short trip. After fueling up, we headed out to the town of Melbourne, about a 25 mile trip.  This small town was very cool and within walking distance of the marina.  It had a shop lined main street and plenty of restaurants and bars to visit.  

 Tomorrow we are off to Hutchinson Island for a couple days at a resort to let the kids (and adults) swim and enjoy the amenities of a a real resort/marina.

To the east coast...

Once again, we needed to leave Clewiston by 6:30AM to pass through the remainder of the state going at our new slower speed of 8 knots.  One of the few good things about departing that early in the morning was the unbelievable sunrise we took a moment to enjoy. 

One of the benefits of going slow besides saving fuel is being able to prepare and eat a full breakfast.  Then we were able to wash the Clewiston bugs off the boat while underway.

Once we reached the other side (east side) of the lake, we finally saw the green algae issue that has been all over the news.  It wasn’t as bad as we expected, but it was extremely visible after we passed through the lock that was adjacent to the lake.

We reached our destination on the east coast of FL about 2PM.  We stayed in a marina that was located on the Club Med property in Stuart that wasn't all that was advertised.  Essentially, we were on a south facing cement fixed dock that we were pushed up again until after midnight, because of the strong afternoon winds.  To get on and off the boat was a mission for everyone with short legs (kids and Lori). This location wasn’t picture worthy.

The next morning we moved on to our next stop, Vero Beach.  We stayed in the Vero Beach City marina.  It was a nice marina with great public transportation right at the end of our dock that took us to the beach for an afternoon swim.  The Altantic Ocean was warm and beautiful.  We played in the ocean break for a couple of hours and headed back to the boats for our evening sunset cocktails.

The kids played on the playground.

As the evening came to a close, we attempted to take an aerial shot of our 2 boats in the marina.  Below is the last picture taken of Russ’s drone,  before it malfunctioned about 2 minutes later and skipped off the dock into the marina. DOH!!!  

On Saturday, Dan’s parents are driving Ian and Zoe (my nephew and niece) up to Vero Beach after flying in from CA.  They are set to finish out the rest of the trip with us.  

Bridges & Locks and Bridges & Locks

The Okeechobee Waterway is a man-made waterway that stretches across FL from Ft. Myers to Stuart.  This canal has 5 locks that raise and lower vessels 15.5 feet to pass through Lake Okeechobee.  We departed Ft. Myers at an early 6:30AM, as the 2^nd of the 3 locks we were passing through on Wednesday on our way to Clewiston, is under construction and would only allow boats to pass through between 11:30AM-12:30PM.  The distance from Ft. Myers to the 2^nd lock was 42 miles.

This passage brings new experiences.  We have passed under/through several different types of bridges.  Summer Chaser sits 22’10” above the water.  Because of our height, we have to request some of the bridges open for us.  From fixed tall bridges, to bridges that have a 7' clearance, we have experienced our share of bridges.

Bascule Bridge – bridge rises from both sides

Railroad track lifting bridge (my name for it)

Swing Bridge

3 different types of bridges within a short distance

We passed through the 1^st lock with ease and arrived at the 2^nd lock within the required time frame because of the superb planning by Russ/Dan.

Once we entered the lock zone, we were requested to pull forward and was directed to move to a specific side / place by the lock master.  Once we stop the boat, we hold on to the lines that are dangling from the top of the lock.  We are instructed to not tie the boat down, as we constantly need to take line in or let line out as the water level rises/falls.

When we are ready to be lifted/dropped, the gates close behind us.

When the water starts to fill the chamber (making the boat rise), the gates gradually open allowing water to come in.  This was a truly neat experience.

After a long day of bridges and locks, we arrived in Clewiston and stayed at a small, 1 dock marina with flies that bite you through you shirt, and noseeum's/mosquito's that attack in swarms.  Off to the East Coast of FL tomorrow.

Summer Chaser Adventure 2016

A couple of months ago, we talked about taking a 3 week trip up the East Coast of Florida with our good friends and neighbors Vicky, Russell, Alex, and Drew on Aquaholic.  Our intention was to try a new approach to boating, going slow.  The intent was not only to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Florida, but to cut our fuel costs by more than 50%.  3 days before we left, we started to plan, including where we were going to go (procrastination at its finest). 

The preparation for this trip was nothing compared to last year.  Last year everything had to be accounted for including boat supplies, spare part, personal items, and virtually all meals and libations for 56 days with varying 6-10 people, as the prices were high and the availability was scarce in each of the islands we visited in the Bahamas/Exumas.  This year, the philosophy was, ehhh, we are in the US, we got this! 1 trip each to Costco, Walmart, and Publix and we were ready to go.  The Stephen’s family went from an across country RV road trip to being on the boat in less than 72 hours.

So on Tuesday morning after an hour long thunderstorm delay, we headed to Ft. Myers, our 1^st destination.  We averaged 8 knots and burned less than 6.5 gallons an hour (compared to going 17 knots and burning 48 gallons an hour).  We arrived in Ft. Myers around 4PM with crackling thunder and lightning to welcome us to our 1^st destination.  Just like with most afternoons in SWFL during the summer, you look in one direction and see beautiful skies and the other direction (where we were headed), skies that are ominous.

 

We did however find a new drinking bowl for Sydney (the cup holder of the table).

 We docked in a torrential downpour and waited out the rain on the top of Aquaholic with our 1^st cocktails of our trip.  Once the rain stopped, we walked into downtown Ft. Myers and went to have some sushi.  Our fantastic $5 dirty martini’s and sushi dinner hit the spot.  Our 6:30AM departure the next morning put us all to bed at a reasonable time.  We headed towards Clewiston through the Okeechobee Waterway, which spans 134 nautical miles (154 miles) across the state of FL, the next day.  Bridges and locks are in our future.