Chapter 31: Wedding Bells

6:45 AM
Wednesday, January 05, 2000
Day 31
Pier 66 Marina
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Well it's official......Steve and Chris are married. (that's why I sent so many pictures) There were two ceremonies yesterday. The legal one took place at 10:30 in the basement of the Hyatt, in the business office. I must say it was less than romantic. We were all rushing around trying to get this done before they went for a boat ride with Butch Mock and his wife on their boat.
It was interesting when the Notary Public found out she was going to actually sign for their marriage. She got a little shook for a minute and was trying to decide if in fact she could do it or not. Chris set her straight, and told her how to do it, which in the end she did with no problem. Only two other issues. One Deb, and I didn't have any ID's so we had to go back to the boat and get them, and just as I was signing the papers, as a witness, my cell phone rang. So I ended up talking on the phone during the final process of the marriage. Not to cool.

Phase two of the marriage was neat. At 5:30 Carl got the cameras set up, and filmed Deb, and I, as we talked about Steve and Chris on video camera. That was Carl's way of starting the video that he will edit, and give to them. At 6 PM we gathered on the back deck of the boat. In turn, Carl, Deb, and I all said a few words about how we felt about, and to, Steve and Chris. After those words, Steve and Chris said some things to one another, as they exchanged rings. This was somewhat of a surprise for Chris, because she wasn't expecting another ring, but Steve gave her one that goes perfectly with the BIG one she already has. After the rings, I said the final vows, which I had written in the form of a poem. The bride kissed the groom, and it was now official.

Carl took over from here. He had the largest limo I have ever seen waiting for us with a big bottle of champagne on ice, and a dozen roses for Chris.

We were whisked off to one of the finest seafood restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale (Blue Moon Fish Co.), and had a great meal. Once finished, the limo brought us back to the boat, and we had a big wedding cake waiting, which we all enjoyed for desert. I think when they look back, they will have fond memories of their wedding day.

Besides the wedding yesterday, my day was made up of working on the boat, and Pro Source. While everyone went on Butch's boat I stayed behind to catch up on things. We got the holding tank pumped out, the boat washed, the cake delivered, and about 20 phone calls followed up on.
Late in the day, two representatives from Cruisers (the make of my boat) showed up to do some warranty work. I had written a letter to the President of Cruisers, and he ended up flying in two folks from their corporate headquarters in Minnesota. We talked about what needed to be done, and they left and said they would be back at 7 AM.

At 7 AM this morning the guys from Cruisers we here. They are hard at it, as I write this. At eight this morning Carl, Steve, and I are going to sit down, and work on a project that we jointly have going. The rest of the day, will be occupied with various projects, and early afternoon our management team comes in, as we begin our managers meeting.

Talk to you one more time before we end this part of the trip.

BK.

Chapter 30: Pier 66

6:45 AM
Tuesday, January 04, 2000
Day 30
Pier 66 Marina
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Well we made it to our destination for leg #2 of our trip. We are safely tied up at Pier 66. If I have had trouble before describing our surroundings, and what is happening, I may as well just close this chapter, because it will be hopeless. But I will try.

Yesterday we changed the oil in the engines and the generator. With Steve and Carl helping it went much faster, but it still took 3 1/2 hours. I'm glad to have that done. Shortly after finishing a friend of mine and Steve's, Butch Mock, and his wife stopped by. Butch was a Winston Cup car owner (the #75 Remington Team), and he has just sold his team, and bought a 45ft. Sea Ray. He is now in the process of cruising, and having a great time.

At 1 PM we decided to leave Lighthouse point and head south. Before leaving the marina, we got 200 of fuel. While we were fueling up we looked across the small channel, at an empty lot that they were getting ready to build on. We asked what they were going to build there. The dock hand told us " it's going to be a house. The guy paid 2.5 million for the lot, and is going to build a
16 million dollar home on it". That is the kind of stuff I am talking about here. It is unbelievable.
We only came about 15 miles south to get to Pier 66, but the amount of boats, and the size of the boats were awesome. We talked about this, and we figured that the average size big boat we saw was 90 to 100 feet. That's average. For example. As I write this, I am looking out our back door at "Battered Bull" a 175 foot ship, that cost $35,000,000. In the marina we are in we are definitely one of the smallest boats. Steve tells me we are going to have to figure out how to make more money, and get one these boats.

Today is kind of an off day. I need to get the boat ready for bottom cleaning, and storage. I also need to start to plan our managers meeting, as everyone shows up tomorrow afternoon. I hope we can find a way to send this e-mail, because it has now been 4 days since I have sent any. I write them each morning, but just can't send them. It is not as much fun not to follow the progress, but it will still give you the essence of the trip.

Talk to you later.

BK.

Chapter 29: The Intercoastal

6:25 AM
Monday, January 03, 2000
Day 29
Lighthouse Point Marina
Lighthouse Point FL.

Hello to everyone. Because I have had trouble sending my e-mail, you will probably receive all of these together, instead of every day, like I have written them. Sorry.
Yesterday, we took extra time to clean the boat. Everyone pitched in, but Carl, and Steve really handled things. It was one of those beautifull sunny, warm mornings, so it was fun to get wet and clean at the same time.

With the cleaning done we left North Palm Beach at about 10:15 AM. We got on the Intracoastal at MM 112 and were now at MM 153, so we went 41 miles. During those miles we were talking about how I could describe what we were seeing along the way.

First of all the channel is very narrow in most places. Secondly, the body of water that the channel is in is very narrow. In some cases it is a natural river, or small stream the has been dredged. In other it is a man made cement canal carved between land to allow for the Intracoastal to continue. If you look on a map in most cases you won't see the Intracoastal down here because it is so narrow, and also so close to the Atlantic. Parts of the way, there would be a house separating us from the ocean. Their front yard was the Atlantic, and the back was the Intracoastal. What if a hurricane came? Forget about it!

The other thing is the wealth. There is no way that I can think of to describe it. We all agreed we passed many billions of dollars worth of real estate along the way, but we're not sure how many billions. Then there were the boats. Every size, shape, and color you can imagine. Remember the James Bond boats, Octopussy, and Moonraker? We saw them at the Palm Beach Resort and Marina. Just about the time we saw what we thought was the biggest, and best, a bigger, and better boat would come along. For a boater, this is heaven.

Today, I am going to change the oil, as soon as I finish this message. It's time for both the engines, and the generator. Not a job I'm looking forward to, but it must be done. With Carl, and Steve helping it should go much faster. Then we'll head a few miles further south.
Only three days left on this leg of the trip. By Wednesday we'll be in Ft. Lauderdale (we're only 15 miles from there now) and Carl will be heading home, and Steve and I will meet up with our senior management team, and begin a three day management meeting. Then we head home on Sunday. My plan is to leave the boat in a different boat yard than originally planned. We have found a place to re-do the bottom paint, and that same place can store the boat for less that the other place I found. Now, the question is will the first marina let me out of the contract.

Well I'm heading for the engine compartment. Talk to you soon.

BK.

Chapter 28: Crossing Lake Okeechobee

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.