Delilah's Meanderings

In our last post on February 15th Delilah was tied to mooring ball #10 at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart on the east coast of Florida. The next day we headed back to Fort Myers Beach on the west coast via the Okeechobee Water Way (OWW). We motored away from the marina's fuel dock at 10:30am after pumping out the holding tank. It's best to start a passage with an empty holding tank! We went through St. Lucie lock without an issue. It was a pretty day and we motor sailed with the genoa unfurled. We averaged 5.7 knots per hour. Not bad for Delilah, but it is early in the season and her hulls were still clean. We saw several horses next to the shore standing in the canal. One appeared to be kicking the water back onto himself. As we neared the Port Myaka lock on the east side of Lake Okeechobee there was a large boat already in the spot where we planned to anchor for the night. I was afraid there wasn't enough room for two boats. The downside of the OWW is the limited number or anchorages. We continued on and motored through the open Port Myaka lock in a short rain shower. We looked back and saw a bright, full rainbow. We motored south down the shore of the lake and anchored for the night. The weather forecast was good and we decided to take a chance even though what we read said it gets pretty choppy so don't do it. Kim made salmon patties for supper and every thing looked great. Our luck didn't last long the wind shifted to the south and the waves picked up. It was a lumpy night and we didn't get much sleep, but the anchor held. They were right, we were wrong, another lesson learned the hard way. :)

Finally at 5am we decided give up trying to sleep, got the boat ready and headed across the lake. Note - there was nothing to run into and we use a Garmin GPS chart plotter to keep us pointed in the right direction. We used red lights inside the boat to avoid messing up our night vision. There was some moonlight and the eastern sky soon lightened behind us. The wind and waves slowed to almost nothing leaving us with a smooth trip across the lake. What a difference from the previous night and also from our previous lake crossing heading east. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we saw several white pelicans. It took us 3 1/2 hours to cross the lake. On the other side we turned north headed up the canal toward Moore Haven. We saw lots of alligators, most seemed smallish probably under 6 feet. There was not much traffic and we went through the Moore Haven lock (2 foot drop) and tied up at an empty Moore Haven city dock at noon. It was a little early to stop, but we didn't want to push our luck with little sleep from the previous night. We cleaned up and walked a mile to Joey's and devoured a salad and pizza. Back at the boat I siphoned diesel from 2 yellow 5 gallon plastic jugs into Delilah's two 18 gallon tanks using a shaker siphon hose. I use a funnel that has fine screen and it also designed to catch any water before it goes into the tanks. We cleaned the cockpit and put on the screen enclosure to keep out the bugs. I hooked up to shore power, charged everything up and then put it away, for a fast get away the next morning. We took showers, ate a light supper, and played rummy so we wouldn't go to bed before 8pm!

Up early we left the dock at 6:30am with just enough light to see. There were some patches of fog at first, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. We used the genoa when possible. Thankfully the genoa sail is easily rolled out when needed and then back in. A lady standing at edge of the Ortana Lock videoed Delilah. Kim yelled to her our phone number and she texted Kim the videos. It is fun to be able to see what it looks like from her view. Kim made waldorf salad with chickpeas for lunch. The day warmed up and Kim wore her bikini and worked on her tan. She is only willing to do this with no one around! We made good time, mostly above 5.5 knots. When we arrived at the north Fort Myers anchorage between the power plant and I75 bridge we saw another boat had the same idea and got there first ... grrrr. This is a very small spot to anchor. So we kept on going deciding to anchor at Glover Bight. I could not get the anchor to hold at Glover Bight, must be mud. Thought about switching to a different anchor known for its holding in mud, but I was running out of energy. Kim called Matanzas Inn and they had balls open in the mooring field at Fort Myers Beach. We decided to head to FMB. Arriving after dark, we picked up ball #36 without an issue at 7:50pm. We were lucky that there was no boat traffic and little wind and current. After 13 hours of motoring we were exhausted. We had a bowl of cereal and went to bed.

We spent the next few days relaxing and catching up with friends at FMB, including our Kokomo, IN friends from Osprey who were staying at their friend's Cape Coral condo while he continued to build strength after his emergency head surgery. The majority of our boating friends are from Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage (CHBS) where we store our boats. The friendships built at CHBS are close and supportive at all times, but especially when one of us is sick. Everyone in position to help did willing and happily. For instance some who were still in the boatyard drove Osprey's car down to Fort Myers so they could use it. Our friend's boating season is over, he needs to get back to Indiana to meet with doctors. He was feeling well enough to take Osprey back to the boatyard from FMB. He asked if I would go with him on this 8 hour trip. We shared time at the wheel and had a nice sail north anchoring outside the South Gulf Cove lock. We got up at 2am and had no issues getting through the lock at a rising high tide. In fact we didn't bump the bottom the whole way back to the CHBS dock. You have to consider this when your boat's draft is 6 feet. Kim and I stayed with our friends for a couple days helping with some of the heavy lifting chores. Soon they will be done putting Osprey up and driving home. Hopefully next season will be better for Osprey.

Kim and I are back on Delilah at FMB on ball #36. We considered heading south, before she flew back home for her week with Brynn attending ISBVI, but decided against it. She moved her flight to an earlier date so that she could attend the state gymnastics meet for another one our granddaughters. We are back to a more normal swing of things in the mooring field ... pun intended! The next big plans are for me to sail Delilah south to Marco Island to be close our oldest daughter's family who will be spending a week there on spring break. Kim will be flying down with them when they come.


Fair winds and following seas,
Mark & Kim aboard S/V Delilah