Continuing the Loop

 

March 7, 2005

 

        We’re baaaaack!!!! After a VERY busy holiday season, we’re finally back on the water, continuing the Great Loop!  We went home Nov. 18^th, planning on spending the holidays with the family, catching up with family and friends, and returning to our cruising Jan. 23^rd.  However, you never know what surprises life is going to bring!

          We went to Fairhaven, MA, shortly after Thanksgiving for a fun day trip and to have lunch at our favorite restaurant, Margaret’s in Fairhaven.   This is Grace’s homeport, and it’s a place that means good times for us.  We’ve been commuting 2 ½ hours each way every week for the past few summers, and we’ve grown to love the area and think of it as our second home.  To make a long story short, we found a house that we loved, and we bought it!   It’s on the water, just over a mile from the marina and walking distance from charming downtown Fairhaven.  To make things exciting, we had the closing right after Christmas, just after the most gigantic snowstorm you can imagine. Cars were literally buried in snow, and we had to slog through about 5 feet of snow to get into our house for the pre-closing walk-through. We LOVE the house; lots of windows facing Buzzards Bay and great views of the water wherever you look. We’re calling it, simply, “The Beach House,” and we hope it will be a wonderful place for our kids and grandkids to have good times together, and we hope all of you will think of it not as Christine and Bob’s house, but as “The Beach House,” where you are always welcome.  

          Once we bought the place, we realized that it only made sense to get the Canton house on the market before continuing the Loop, so we worked our tails off cleaning, polishing, and mostly eliminating all that STUFF!  We are losing our 3 car garage, walk-in attic, and full basement and have only closets and cabinets for storage in The Beach House.  Our experience on Grace was enough to prove to us that we can get along just fine with a lot less, so paring our possessions down has been a good thing. Anyhow, the house went on the market just last week, and we left for Florida as soon as it was for sale. 

          Check out our pictures; you will see Bob painting the bottom on Grace.  We had her stored on land near Port Charlotte, and it was fascinating to see the travel lift pick her up and put her back in the water.  It was very exciting and wonderful to know that she still floats just fine!

          We took two days traveling to Fort Meyers, spending a relaxing night at a pretty anchorage in Tarpon Bay, just inside Sanibel Island.  We managed to spot a bald eagle, a wild pig, an osprey, and many dolphins on the journey. We stayed at the Centennial Harbor Marina in Fort Meyers and had a lovely Sunday afternoon with Karen, Mike, Nathan, and Bill and Ruth, Mike’s parents.  The kids were having a long weekend with Bill and Ruth in Naples, and they drove up to meet us for a great lunch at the Crab Shack.  Nathan was, as always, adorable and charming. What a treat it was to see them!

          Today was laundry and R&R day, and tomorrow we will start east on the Caloosahatchee River, heading toward Lake Okeechobee.  We’ll go across the lake and then out the Saint Lucie Canal to the east coast, getting there probably by the weekend.  Think we’ll see any ‘gators???

 

…The People You Meet Along the Way

 

March 8, 2005

 

          Before we started the Loop, we were told that the best thing about it was “the people you meet along the way.”  Over the last few days, we’ve been reminded of how true that is.  When we flew into Tampa, we picked up a rental car and headed south for Port Charlotte.  As we approached Bradenton, we recalled that our friends Jenny and Mike from Vision were, as far as we knew, still there.  Some of you may recall that they shared the very intense bonding experience of crossing the Gulf of Mexico together in late October.  A quick call on the cell phone, and a short while later we were on board Vision, catching up on the past 3 ½ months and discussing future boating plans.  We have a special bond with these folks who went through what felt like a “near death” experience, and it was wonderful to be able to look back and laugh.  A nice dinner, some hugs, and promises to catch up again, and we were on our way to our boat.

          Once on the water again, we noticed the boat Jenna Star heading in the opposite direction as we approached Fort Meyers.  A call on the radio confirmed that it was indeed Nancy and George, fellow New Englanders who are now full-time live aboards and great folks.  We had a great visit with them on board Grace today, sharing news of ourselves and other boaters.  They were kind enough to give us a ride to the supermarket, where we stocked up on all the heavy stuff that we hate to have to carry.  What fun to have this community of really nice people who pop back into our lives from time to time! 

 

 

Crossing Florida

 

March 11, 2005

 

    We spent a couple of extra days in Fort Meyers because of the rainy and windy weather.  There were 20 to 30 mph winds, and it was raining hard.  When we finally did leave, the winds had ended, but we had torrential rain all day as we traveled on the Caloosahatchee River.  There were several locks to do, which wasn't too pleasant in those conditions.  We ended up running the generator so we could have heat for part of the trip and make hot soup for lunch.  Who would have thought we'd be doing that in Florida?  The scenery on the river seemed really lovely; lush thick greenery, but of course in the rain we couldn't appreciate it too much.  

       The next day, however, the weather cleared, and we had a lovely ride on the rim route east across Lake Okeechobee.  We were literally the ONLY boat on that waterway, and it was a great bird watching opportunity.  It was breezy and in the 70's, and we finally felt we'd come to Florida!!!  We saw osprey by the dozen, as well as green and blue heron and all kinds of egrets. The contrast between an area like this and the commercial part of Florida which most tourists see is really striking.  I think that's the best thing about traveling by boat.  Usually, we escape the crowds and the tourist traps and really focus on the natural beauty of a place. 

 

 

 Singer Island: Winter Home of Bill and Nancy

March  12, 2005

 

        After crossing the Lake, we took the St. Lucie Canal to the east coast of Florida.  Our plan is to head north to St. Augustine for boat repairs, scheduled for early April, but we made a 30 mile detour south to Singer Island in order to visit Bill and Nancy Tribou, who spend the winter down there every year. Singer Island is an island which includes their town of Palm Beach Shores, and what a charming community it is! There are lovely homes, flowers everywhere, great restaurants, and a very lively waterfront on the Intercoastal Waterway as well as a spectacular beach on the ocean side.  We were lucky enough to arrive  in time to see the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which was just starting.  Just about everyone on the island who could march was marching, and the rest of the population was wearing green and watching with cheers and applause.  Several bagpipe bands, St. Patrick himself on a float, leprechauns, fire trucks, and hundreds of people dressed in the wildest random costumes you ever saw were marching and having a ball.  Candy and green beads were tossed from the floats, and Bob and I ended up dressed appropriately in our green necklaces by the time Bill and Nancy arrived at the boat.  Nancy's daughter Susan and husband Moe are visiting them for the week, and the six of us had lots of fun together that day.  We had lunch on board Grace, a cruise around the harbor, a walk and visit at their condo (which was lovely, overlooking the ocean), a relaxing time on a  wonderful beach, a great dinner together at Panama Hattie's, and then coffee back on board Grace. We had plenty of time to catch up on family news, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. Thanks Bill, Nancy, Sue, and Moe for a great day! 

 

 

Floating on the Hook

 

March 13. 2005

 

    It's so interesting how things always seem to work our just right on this trip.  I guess it's all in your attitude.  Coming off the ICW across Florida, we ran into real problems finding a place to stay. Due to extensive hurricane damage, all the marinas in Stuart, Florida were wiped out, so we continued south, looking for a place to stay.  That night, we ended up tying up to a fuel dock at a marina, where we promised them we'd be out of their before they started selling fuel at 8:30 AM.  The next day, we were having a terrible time finding a marina in Singer Island, but finally found one who owned a dock in front of a private home next door to the marina. It turned out to be quiet and delightful; much better than the crowded marina down the road.  This afternoon, we started out heading north and knew that there was no chance of finding a marina but found a great place to anchor.  We're in a very peaceful cove at the north end of Lake Worth on the ICW, and we spent one of the most delightful days we've had on the water yet.  The weather was spectacular; about 80 degrees with a nice breeze and plenty of sun.  The boat's rocking just enough to be soothing, we played some tunes on the radio, and cooked a nice dinner on board.  This is the life!!!

 

Our Dolphin Friends

 

March 14, 2005

 

          We had a beautiful voyage up the ICW today from Lake Worth to Fort Pierce.  The highlight of the day, by far, was a group of four dolphins who swam with us for at least a half hour.  First, all four swam in our port wake, side-by-side, taking turns popping up for air.  Occasionally, one would roll on its side and just stare at me. Of course, I was squealing and screaming, “I love you, Dolphie. You’re such a pretty dolphin,” and making high pitched sounds of all kinds, which seemed to be very interesting to them.  Then, they divided, and two swam on each side of the boat, and I was frantically dashing from side to side, making sure nobody felt left out.  For a while, all four swam in our propeller wake, enjoying the bubbles in their faces.  There was a tour boat that we passed, and all the tourists were pointing and taking pictures of “our” dolphins.  At one point, they were so close to me that when one came up and blew out its air hole, I got sprayed. Grace usually travels at just about their speed, about 9 mph, and I think they consider Grace a great big playmate who’s a lot of fun.  I love my dolphin friends; they seem to be so intelligent and so full of joy. What a pleasure to play together!

 

A Potato with a Face

 

March 15, 2005

 

          We’re at the City Marina in Fort Pierce, FL, and today we had quite a treat.  Swimming in the slip right down the dock from ours were three manatees!!!  They were huge, probably about 2000 or more each.  They moved VERY slowly, just barely flapping their tails and occasionally coming up for air.  Their skin looks very much like a potato skin, and the shape of their bodies is kind of like an Idaho potato.  They have little tiny heads with a nose like a pig.  They seem to be sweet, gentle creatures. They seem to have no interest in, nor fear of, humans.  They just swam slowly in circles, while a crowd of 20 or so people gathered to watch them.  Gentle manatees, we love you!!!

 

 

Mar 3: Painting the bottom in Port Charlotte	Grace in the travel lift	Nathan and Grandpa	The Sims family	Nana & Nathan
Family lunch	George & Nancy from Jenna Star	Lake Okeechobee birds	Rim route on  Lake Okeechobee	Singer Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Nice cruise with Bill and Nancy on Grace	Bob relaxing on West Palm Beach	Dinner with Bill, Nancy, Sue, and Moe	Sue and Moe after dinner at Panama Hattie’s	Great beach on   Singer Island
Do you love it?	This beach is right next to where Bill and Nancy live.	Lovely homes on the ICW	This one was around Jupiter.	This pelican likes Grace!
Isn't this a handsome bird?	On dock at Fort Pierce	These dolphins swam with us for about 1/2 hour.	There were four of them, and they were having fun!	One dolphin kept looking up at me. It was great!
Manatee at Fort Pierce City Marina.	Lazy manatees