Delilah's Meanderings

Hello to all,

News flash – I’m not always a contented sailor. For you faithful blog followers, you know this is not really a news flash. More like old news. : )

We left Moore Haven early Sunday morning. It was quite a cold morning which made for some lovely views of steam rising from the water. At first we were concerned there would be too much fog to venture out. Nope. Easy breezy through the Moore Haven Lock. And we saw a couple of manatee!

We motor sailed for a couple of hours getting into the Lake. Nice ride even with all the bass fishermen flying by us. The color of the water was an almost chocolate brown. A new color of water to add to our experiences. So far I had thoroughly enjoyed our journey on the Caloosahatchee River and the also canal area at the beginning of Lake Okeechobee. Once we were fully into the lake, the darn wind picked up. Rocking and rolling. The beginnings of mutiny aboard Delilah.

On the east side of Lake Okeechobee, we motored right through the Port Mayaka Lock as it was open. WooHoo! This was a prize for making it through the past few hours of choppy waters. Now in calmer waters of the St. Lucie canal, we decided to push on and see how far we could get before anchoring. We reached the St. Lucie Lock right about 440 pm. It closes for the night at 430. No biggie. We were tired. Too tired to successfully tie up to a mooring dolphin. I’m pretty sure Mark could have accomplished this with a different first mate, but I was near hysteria. We’d never encountered these dolphins before and I was convinced either the boat, or worse, Mark was going to get smashed. Wisely, he didn’t push the issue and we anchored near the dam. No way was I up for preparing supper so we had peanut butter and jelly. Made preparations to go through the St. Lucie Lock at first light the next day. Snuggled up for a really cold evening.

On Monday, we went through the St. Lucie Lock around 7:15 am. Our last lock and the one with the biggest water level difference. We think the drop was about 14 feet. This lock tender wasn’t too friendly and didn’t give out any information as the previous tenders had done. Quick trip to Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart (where we are currently). We picked up mooring ball #10 right after another boat headed out. We’re in the east row closest to the marina. Short dinghy rides! And we were welcomed by a few dolphins. Things were definitely looking up. After checking in at the marina, we walked along the Riverwalk into old historic downtown Stuart. Enjoyed lunch at a little café called Maria’s. Later that day we took advantage of the bikes available for guests at the marina. Very nice to be able to leave our bikes stored on Delilah. We ate dinner at the restaurant here, Sailors Return. This restaurant has a good reputation and is always busy. Lovely end to our day.

Tuesday was “housekeeping” day. I did laundry and Mark took care of things around the boat. On Wednesday we took advantage of the free shuttle at the marina and caught a ride to West Marine. Mark was able to buy what he needed for boat projects. This week has been nice for us when we have the advantages of a marina. We eat out quite a bit and we shower more often. Ha ha!

Thursday big winds came to town and my bubble was burst. I’m such a fair weather coastal cruiser. Mark is so much more even keeled (pun intended) than I am. To make matters worse, we had a stormy night. Friday the weather improved as did my mood. We walked around town, rode bikes to Publix grocery store, and played card games on board.

Now it’s Saturday evening. We’ve had a beautiful day. We attended the annual ArtsFest in town. The weather was perfect. Sunny and warm, not too hot. Light winds, just enough to cool the air. Ah! Life is good.