5:25 AM
Sunday, January 02, 2000
Soverel Marine Harbor
North Palm Beach, FL.
I know the e-mails have not been coming, because we have had trouble sending them. I received several yesterday, but for some reason they wouldn't send.
I'll try again this morning.
Yesterday was a long day. A great day, but a long one. We left Roland Martins about 8:30, and once we cleared a small lock that keeps the town of Clewiston safe from the Okeechobee, we were immediately on the Lake. You can go two routes. You can go the "rim route" which goes around the outside, or you can go directly across. We went straight across. (hey I've got to justify all these electronics somehow) The trip across is about 25 miles, and fairly simple. On my chart plotter, I locked in the markers along the way, and the entrance on the other side, and turned on the auto pilot. About two hours later we ended up at the marker buoy at the entrance to the St. Lucie canal. It was a beautiful morning to make this crossing. On the other side of the lake we came to the Port Mayaca lock. This is only a three foot drop, but its function is to keep the canal water from running directly into the lake.
Once we got out of the lock we had a very interesting experience. About a half mile east of the lock is a railroad bridge lift that goes up and down as needed. (the exact same kind as the one on the Illinois River in Ottawa, IL.) The books says it is normally in the up position, which it was, so we had no problem, but on the other side of the bridge was a sail boat that was stopped. As we went by the captain (a guy in his 30's) yelled to me "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, can you give me a hand?" At first I wasn't sure what to think, or was he even talking to me. But I slowed down, and he yelled again "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, If you would help me I could tie line on your boat and you could pull me through the bridge."
What?? Now if you are thinking about this as you read it, it should seem very strange, but it worked. Follow me now, and try to visualize this. We got back from the bridge entrance (not very wide by the way) and got beside one another. He started barking orders to his first mate (a girl in her late 20's) and she took a line from the very top of his mast, and we tied it to the center cleat on the starboard side of Headquarters. No other ropes were attached. He told her to start to crank the rope in which makes this line very tight. We both started to slowly move toward the bridge, and as we did he kept yelling at her to "crank it harder....crank it harder....you can do it...harder". As she is doing this, his boat is beginning to lean over towards our boat, and therefore the mast is not as tall as it used to be. I don't know at this point if it is enough, but I do know it better be, because if it isn't, we have got a big problem coming up. (can you imagine the damage this could have caused?) Well she keeps cranking until this rope is like a banjo string, and the two of us are moving together (one of us on a good sized angle) through the bridge, with about 2 foot to spare! It was really neat. I'm not sure if I explained it well enough, but I hope you get the picture.
The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the part where we rejoined the Intracoastal. As some of you know I read everything I can get my hands on about any tricky parts to this trip, and this junction is one they all talk about. I knew it was coming, and knew what to look for, and still it was tricky. You realize how easy it is for people who don't plan ahead to have problems. For example, just south of the entrance we passed a 60 foot boat who had run aground.
We made it to our marina with about 10 minutes of any light left. The sun had already gone down, and by the time we tied up, it was dark. I don't know how nice this marina is, but if it is anything like the area around it, it will be special. I'll explain about this whole area tomorrow, because it will take some explaining to make you understand.
Today is going to be easy. Were going to take our time getting around, because we only have 27 miles to our next planned stop.
Before I go I wanted to follow-up on some points to our readers.
* Annie-- is someone getting these e-mails to Barb, and Uncle Bill?
* Chuck-- yes it was beautiful in Longboat Key. I understand now why you enjoyed it so much.
* Ken-Golf Courses on Longboat Key? Why?
* We have hundreds, actually over hundred pictures so far on this trip. I don't attach to many each day, because they take so much time to download.
Carl is going to put them on a disk when we return so once we're back on land I may send more.
* Thanks for all the "Happy New Years"
* Weather? It has been unbelievable. We are truly blessed.
Talk to you soon.
BK.
Sunday, January 02, 2000
Soverel Marine Harbor
North Palm Beach, FL.
I know the e-mails have not been coming, because we have had trouble sending them. I received several yesterday, but for some reason they wouldn't send.
I'll try again this morning.
Yesterday was a long day. A great day, but a long one. We left Roland Martins about 8:30, and once we cleared a small lock that keeps the town of Clewiston safe from the Okeechobee, we were immediately on the Lake. You can go two routes. You can go the "rim route" which goes around the outside, or you can go directly across. We went straight across. (hey I've got to justify all these electronics somehow) The trip across is about 25 miles, and fairly simple. On my chart plotter, I locked in the markers along the way, and the entrance on the other side, and turned on the auto pilot. About two hours later we ended up at the marker buoy at the entrance to the St. Lucie canal. It was a beautiful morning to make this crossing. On the other side of the lake we came to the Port Mayaca lock. This is only a three foot drop, but its function is to keep the canal water from running directly into the lake.
Once we got out of the lock we had a very interesting experience. About a half mile east of the lock is a railroad bridge lift that goes up and down as needed. (the exact same kind as the one on the Illinois River in Ottawa, IL.) The books says it is normally in the up position, which it was, so we had no problem, but on the other side of the bridge was a sail boat that was stopped. As we went by the captain (a guy in his 30's) yelled to me "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, can you give me a hand?" At first I wasn't sure what to think, or was he even talking to me. But I slowed down, and he yelled again "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, If you would help me I could tie line on your boat and you could pull me through the bridge."
What?? Now if you are thinking about this as you read it, it should seem very strange, but it worked. Follow me now, and try to visualize this. We got back from the bridge entrance (not very wide by the way) and got beside one another. He started barking orders to his first mate (a girl in her late 20's) and she took a line from the very top of his mast, and we tied it to the center cleat on the starboard side of Headquarters. No other ropes were attached. He told her to start to crank the rope in which makes this line very tight. We both started to slowly move toward the bridge, and as we did he kept yelling at her to "crank it harder....crank it harder....you can do it...harder". As she is doing this, his boat is beginning to lean over towards our boat, and therefore the mast is not as tall as it used to be. I don't know at this point if it is enough, but I do know it better be, because if it isn't, we have got a big problem coming up. (can you imagine the damage this could have caused?) Well she keeps cranking until this rope is like a banjo string, and the two of us are moving together (one of us on a good sized angle) through the bridge, with about 2 foot to spare! It was really neat. I'm not sure if I explained it well enough, but I hope you get the picture.
The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the part where we rejoined the Intracoastal. As some of you know I read everything I can get my hands on about any tricky parts to this trip, and this junction is one they all talk about. I knew it was coming, and knew what to look for, and still it was tricky. You realize how easy it is for people who don't plan ahead to have problems. For example, just south of the entrance we passed a 60 foot boat who had run aground.
We made it to our marina with about 10 minutes of any light left. The sun had already gone down, and by the time we tied up, it was dark. I don't know how nice this marina is, but if it is anything like the area around it, it will be special. I'll explain about this whole area tomorrow, because it will take some explaining to make you understand.
Today is going to be easy. Were going to take our time getting around, because we only have 27 miles to our next planned stop.
Before I go I wanted to follow-up on some points to our readers.
* Annie-- is someone getting these e-mails to Barb, and Uncle Bill?
* Chuck-- yes it was beautiful in Longboat Key. I understand now why you enjoyed it so much.
* Ken-Golf Courses on Longboat Key? Why?
* We have hundreds, actually over hundred pictures so far on this trip. I don't attach to many each day, because they take so much time to download.
Carl is going to put them on a disk when we return so once we're back on land I may send more.
* Thanks for all the "Happy New Years"
* Weather? It has been unbelievable. We are truly blessed.
Talk to you soon.
BK.
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