At Sunset Bay Marina
06 April 2014 | Stuart, FL
We talked with Billie Thursday evening to arrange being tipped the next day at the railroad bridge. He told us he couldn't be there until between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Therefore, we delayed our departure from Clewiston to 9:00 am. With a planned four-hour trip across the lake, we had a sufficient window.
The forecast for the lake on Friday was winds of 7-11 knots, with light chop. This was accurate for the first two hours. Then, the wind began to build some and the light chop became waves of two feet and occasionally greater. With winds on our beam and starboard quarter, the ride was a bit "rolly polly." We did have our head sail out and managed to maintain speeds of 6.5 knots on average.
As we approached the lock at 12:30, we called Billie, as instructed. He said he would call us right back, which he never did. Because we would have to wait for him, we anchored at the railroad bridge. And we waited and waited and waited. After numerous attempts to reach him, he reported that he also had another boat to tip. He finally showed at 5:30 pm. What can you say? He is in complete control. Because he has tipped us before, we were ready and it didn't take long.
The one interesting thing is that we experienced an event few boaters ever do. We watched a train arrive, the bridge lower, and then rise back up. There was some concern as to whether it would go back up.
After being tipped, we raced down the waterway and reached Indiantown Marina just before dark, where Bob and Mary were waiting for us. Thankfully, Patty had reserved the last available dockage for us.
Saturday morning we went on to Stuart and picked up a mooring ball at Sunset Bay Marina. We are next to our friends, Bill and Patty on Renaissance. We joined them that night for their traditional martini night.
We anticipate being here for about a week to see if a window opens to cross to the Bahamas. We know of two boats that crossed this weekend but the weather window is now closed, but for how long?