False Start

This morning at 7:00 we started crossing the Gulf Stream bound for the Bahamas and we were back at Key Biscayne by 10:00. Our crossings must be jinxed - no kidding. Remember the aborted crossing to Nova Scotia when the engine overheated? Nothing so dramatic this time. We lost stabilizer oil pressure, had to turn the stabilizers off and were rolling pretty uncomfortably in 3-4 foot swells. We decided to turn around, repair the stabilizers and try again another day.

We feel badly for Rick and Lynnie. They turned Rickshaw around and came back with us to wait again in Hurricane Harbor.

At the moment, Norm is waiting for the engine room to cool down from 100 degrees and then he'll figure out what the problem is and what we need to do about it. More news then.

Our Current Location

This is an experiment. The following link is our current position and can be viewed by clicking on it or cutting and pasting in your browser. Try it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=25.685936,-80.172363(Time:19%3A48+GMT%2C+Mar+27%2C+2009%20Latitude:25.685936%20Longitude:-80.172363)&z=7

When Will These Winds Stop?

As was mentioned in an earlier blog, we took advantage of the "Ft Lauderdale Area Marine Candy Store". Didn't buy much because we are pretty much provisioned. But, fun to window shop. We departed Lauderdale Marine Center on Tuesday for the trek to Key Biscayne. Of course we had to retrace our tracks down the New River. We made arrangements with the local Diesel Delivery Barge to follow them. That way, they can open the bridges at the right time; and, because they are commercial, they can open bridges during the morning rush hour shut down. As Captain John said, "the Coast Guard doesn't like 6000 gallons of diesel fuel sitting in one place too long--especially near road and RR bridges.

But as great plans go, at 7:30 AM the barge captain said that he was told to go up river for a delivery before going down river. We were on our own. So, we waited till 9:00 AM and completed an uneventful 4 1/2 miles trip back to the Ft Lauderdale Basin. Funny, what a little experience will do for you. Here's a pic of Rickshaw in the New River and a good shot of one of the hair pin turns we had to make.

We arrived Key Biscayne late afternoon looking for a couple of spots in No Name Harbor--a great protected harbor with shore access. But, as we expected, it was stacked up with boats doing the same as us--waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas. So, we sadly moved over to the Key Biscayne Bight for two nights then over to Hurricane Harbor (also a nicely protected area) but, again, no shore access. We dinked over to No Name in the 2-footers and of course arrived drenched. Oh well, that's boating. We did that twice and had lovely lunches with Norm's sister, Joyce. Joyce also transported us around for last minute provisioning. And, she entertained us at her condo with a fine bottle of chardonnay. We looked out over the ocean from her place at the waves and winds. Speaking of which, it has been very windy with high seas for two weeks now. Supposed to get better next week. After consulting with our friends in Marathon, we decided on a departure date, should the weather be as predicted. Hence, our planned date for the crossing will be TUESDAY.

Running the Wiggles......

We departed the Lake Worth Anchorage last Friday. Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive to running outside in the ocean (winds 20-25 mph with gusts to 30; seas 4-7 ft). So, we had to remain in the intracoastal and negotiate over twenty lift bridges in a long 50-mile stretch to Ft Lauderdale. Some cruising guides refer to this stretch as “the canyon” because both shores are lined with concrete seawalls much of the way and waves bounce off them and back to the boat to get us a second time.

Once we reached Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) we had an even longer 4 ½ mile crawl up the New River. The New River is a very narrow, serpentine waterway with strong tidal currents and multi-million-dollar yachts lining both banks. Of course they are docked in front of their owner’s multimillion-dollar mansions. Now, we did not know this at first. You see Vicki, our “Commander-in-Cheap” discovered a marina up this river that was 1/3 the cost of marina’s in the Ft Lauderdale basin; and, a diesel delivery truck with a reasonable rates.

So, up the river we headed, already exhausted from a long days run from Lake Worth. At first it was beautiful. Wide, tree lined with manicured estates and no bridges—very scenic. Then around a hair pin turn was a bridge that we needed to have raised. The current was on our tail and pushing us into the bridge. The wind, while somewhat buffered in this waterway chasm, was nevertheless a bit of a menace. “Yes skipper, I’ll be glad to open the bridge for you” was the response from the bridge tender, “just as soon as this Friday-afternoon-at-4:00-pm-traffic clears”. Rickshaw was behind me and a 60+ footer was behind her. The space to the bridge was diminishing fast as the three of us were being sucked forward by the wind and currents. I could not back up much—only hold position. I envisioned a pile-up at the bridge like the ones you see on an icy roadway. The battle was almost lost when we heard the banging of metal—the bridge was rising! Where’s the rum?

About a mile up river was a railroad bridge. This bridge was open most of the time and only closed for an oncoming train. It’s all automatic, we think. We were just about to the RR Bridge when a lighted sign on the abutment flashed “Bridge coming down in 30, 29, 28…..” A train was coming! Not again. Should we make a run for it? Yes; but, there is not enough time for both Rickshaw and us. So we put on the brakes. As we began to “pile up” again, we noticed an empty public dock. We headed for it and tied up for the wait, which can sometimes be 45 minutes. We’re not sure what the 60+ footer did because we and Rickshaw took up all the dock space. Also, we had our hands full in the currents and wind. Then after a brief wait, the RR Bridge began to lower—NO TRAIN!! What was that all about, we wondered?

It was now 4:22 PM. All bridges close at 4:30 PM for rush-hour traffic. The last of our five bridges on this stretch was still a mile or two away. We put the pedal to the metal and made a rush for the final bridge. Norm radioed ahead telling the bridge tender that there were three boats bee-lining for the bridge and to please hold it for us before the 1 ½ hour shut down. A couple of minutes later we heard on the radio, “Trawlers, where are you?” So, it seems that we phoned ahead too early and the tender opened the bridges thinking we were just around the bend. Fortunately, he was a kind soul and left the bridge open for all of us.

Well, we made it to Lauderdale Marine Center and docked in very nice modern slips; after which, we immediately went on search for the rum.

Going to the Candy Store

We're headed toward Lauderdale Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale. Dockage is an amazingly low 80 cents per foot. We'll be there at least through Monday, hiding from the winds. With a car rented for two days, we're hoping to take in a few movies -- will it be Slumdog Millionaire or The Pink Panther 3? Perhaps both! Big Boat Bob and Stephanie also recommended going to the boater's candy store of Sailor Man, Boat Owners' Warehouse, Blue Water Books, McDonalds Hardware, and the biggest West Marine in the universe. A fuel truck is coming Monday to fuel Tide Hiker and Rickshaw. Tuesday we'll head to Key Biscayne, catch up with Norm's sister Joyce, get the mail, and wait for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.

Meanwhile, in Marathon, the southern contingent of DeFevers is waiting for the same weather window. September Song, Gypsies in the Palace, and Lucky Stars will be crossing. Looks like the earliest weather window would be a week from now. Silver Boots streaked across the Gulf Stream on Monday and we're looking forward to seeing them over there.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6..........We have ignition!!

Take a look at these great shots of the recent space shuttle taking off from Cape Canaveral. We were able to view this blast off from Indiantown, FL--a small marina on the Okeechobee Waterway. (Photo's courtesy of Rick Tierney.)

And, look whose driving our 65,000 Lb, 50-Ft boat through an Okeechobee lock. Yes, it's Vicki. Her first lock. It must be said here that locks have a bit of turbulence in them and Vic did a great job negotiating everything that came at her. Good job Vic!! (Again, photos courtesy of Rick Tierney.)

Tide Hiker is currently in Stuart, FL. We are near mile "0" of the Okeechobee Waterway and mile "990" of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. You may remember, we were here before, around January, on our way south. Lynnie's friend Pat arranged for us to dock at the Finz Seafood Grille, gratis. And, Pat loaned us her car for exploring Stuart and continuing our provisioning for the trek to the Bahamas. What great friends!! A special treat--the food at Finz is fantastic; and the beer is ice cold. What great friends!

Well, we completed the southern Florida loop having cruised down to the east coast to the Keys, up the west coast to Ft Myers and across the Okeechobee to the east coast again. We intend to make way on Thursday to Key Biscayne for another visit with Norm's sister, Joyce; and wait for a weather window to depart for the Bahamas. Rickshaw is with us and we expect to see other DeFevers in Key Biscayne; and more departing from Marathon within days of each other. It will be like the old wagon trains going west, except we're going east.

Bob did get naked. And, you can't hold a good boat down!!!

For those of you who have been following our adventure, you may recall that our friend Bob said that he wanted to relax and get naked. Well he did "Flash" and put the pics on his blog. See http://septembersong-bobandstephanie.blogspot.com/. Now, this has a rating of XXX, so view at your own risk.

In another part of Florida, Tide Hiker's injectors were reconditioned and we were off and running again on Saturday. While waiting for repairs though, Norm took the "Red Titanic" out for its second maiden voyage and did not get wet. Vicki also took the "green machine" out for a while too. Lynnie also took the green maching out for a short "spin". We even had some time for a quiet Vicki-Norm supper on the boat deck and to appreciate the scenery at this nice quiet site.

We could not leave Franklin Lock, however, without a fond farewell to John and Nell Wagner our new friends. The Franklin Lock is also a campground and John and Nell were camped pretty close to us. Well, Vicki and Lynnie went from camper to camper asking if anyone was going to town (what courage) and if they could go with them. Nell, instantly offered to take them; but after a couple of hours of friendly chat, they kind of adopted us and we became friends very quickly. They graciously loaned us their car to go to town. They joined us and the Tierneys for dinner aboard Tide Hiker's boat deck (Vicki make a scrumptous pot roast). They departed Franklin on Saturday too and waved to us as we went by the next lock. What a great couple and we hope lifelong friends. [By the way, for our loyal readers who do not know what a lock is: It is a chamber that moves boats up and down in elevation by increasing or decreasing the depth of water in the chamber. These are required where the elevation in a waterway differs. A boat drives in one level. The doors (gates) ahead are closed. The ones behind the boat then close, making it kind of a bathtub. The water level is then increased or decreased to match the level at the other end of the chamber. The front gates open and we drive out into a new water elevation. Norm had to negotiate 147 locks on the Great Circle Route or also known as America's Great Loop.]

As you can tell, we are still in the Okeechobee Waterway making way for the east coast of Florida. If you take a look at a map, you will see that this waterway traverses this great state between Ft Myers (west coast) and Stuart (east coast) crossing the huge Lake Okeechobee. Last night we were docked in Clewiston and tonight we are in Indiantown. Our buddies Rick and Lynnie aboard Rickshaw won two free nights at the Clewiston Marina at the 2007 DeFever Cruisers Meeting. Unfortunately, it expired; but, they decided to try to use it anyway. Believe it or not, the marina honored it and gave our two boats one free night. A very nice treat. Thanks Rick and Lynnie.

As I write this, I can see an aligator out our back window. It's about 15 feet from our stern. Here's a pic. We have seen lots of small aligators on this run and a couple of bald eagles.