Saturday, February 9, 2013 – Sunset Bay Marina to Indiantown Marina (St. Lucie Canal):

            Last night after dinner, we were quietly watching television when we noticed that a pump kept coming on.  Consequently, a trip into the engine room ensued, which didn’t reveal anything amiss, but still, the pump kept coming on.  This was frustrating.  I will do just about anything to avoid personally going down in the engine room, so I thought that I would look around in the cabin to compensate for not participating in the engine room duty call.  I checked the forward cabin where the cat “lives”, and nothing seemed to be amiss there; then I took a look into our cabin, and I thought I heard something distinctly not quite right.  Then I took a look into our “head” and found that the sink faucet had been left on and was rapidly pouring our fresh water down the drain.  I immediately informed Bob who was muttering down in the bowels of the boat, and after all was well again, we decided not to blame each other for this latest debacle, and since we were so relieved that it was nothing major we decided that ice cream would relieve the stress of initially thinking that the boat may be sinking.

            So on to bed for a good night’s sleep to face the next day, but that was not to be either.  I don’t know where it was coming from, but, intermittently, all night long there was this siren-like noise.  It would come on and there would be about four blasts (it wasn’t ear-splitting, but it was annoying) and then it would go off again.   Finally about 4:00 a.m., I asked Bob if it could be coming from our boat, but all I got in response was something like, “no,” and snoring noises.  In addition to the siren-like noise, Rt. 1 is the high bridge next to the marina, and there was traffic all night long!  So between the siren noise, traffic noise, and the trains, sleeping well was not in my favor.  In the morning we were both wondering what that siren noise was, so just to make sure it wasn’t something on our boat, Bob checked all the circuit breakers and informed me that maybe the horn compressor got left on, but he didn’t think that had anything to do with anything.  Fortunately, for the horn compressor, we heard the siren noise again (or I would have ripped the compressor out of the boat), and it seemed to be coming more from the drawbridge area.  I never did figure out what was causing it.

            Now you all may be thinking that I am complaining about this marina, and I definitely am not!  It is a beautiful place, even if it is awfully close to three bridges, which are in constant use 24/7.  I will say that this marina is very high-end, and as much as I enjoyed staying here and visiting Stuart, the marina has a little too much “bling” for me, but it was an enjoyable stop and we actually met another boater from Annapolis!

            So after breakfast Bob is listening to the weather, and we decide we better sit down and firm up our plans for crossing the lake.  There are several factors we have to take into consideration, which I think I outlined yesterday, but here they are:

            First – the weather.  The earliest we could cross Lake Okeechobee would be tomorrow, Sunday, but the weather is calling for more wind than we think will be comfortable crossing the lake, and it would be right on our beam which would be roly-poly.  Monday seems to be better, but Indiantown Marina, which is closest to the lake has told us they might not be able to accommodate us on Sunday night.  So we decide to call Indiantown Marina again and see what they can do.  If they can’t accommodate us on Sunday night, there is another marina closer to Stuart, but that would mean a much longer day on Monday.  Fortunately, Indiantown Marina comes through and says they can give us a slip.  So that problem seems to be solved – we can leave this morning and go to Indiantown.

            So now we start making preparations to leave – the cat heads for under the covers and we get all our “stuff” up on the flybridge, and the couple on the boat next door offers to come over and help us get out of the slip.  It’s a sunny day, the current isn’t as strong as it was when we came in here, but the wind is picking up, and we are grateful for the assistance.  We head out into the St. Lucie River and pretty soon we pass through the Indian Street High Rise Bridge, which is the bridge that is going to cause the waterway to be closed starting Monday for a month due to construction.  No problem right now, even though we did see workers up on the bridge, but when we come back through we will have to time our passage to get through either before 10:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m.  That doesn’t sound like a terrible problem, but it will depend on whether or not we have angered the Sea Gods.

            At Mile 15 we have to enter the St. Lucie Lock.  Now we had to go through the Great Bridge Lock after we left Norfolk several years ago (no…no…no, I mean back in October), but this was a little different experience.  The St. Lucie Lock lifts you approximately 13 feet as opposed to about 1 foot at Great Bridge, and the lock tender was nowhere near as friendly as the people at Great Bridge who handed out chocolate candy.  You go into the lock and you have to look up about ½ mile (just kidding) at the lock tender and wait for him to toss you down a line while he tersely says, “hurry up and get that line tied off to the aft”, and then he admonishes you to make a beeline for the bow and do the same thing!  And then, I got sort of an off-handed compliment from him (I guess) when he says to me, “Well, at least you can hustle.”  And then you just wait for the water to lift you up, and you let the lines go, and mosey on out of there.  It really doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it seems like everyone you talk to about going through a lock seems to think it is.  We have four more locks to navigate in order to get to the West Coast.

            The Waterway Guide says that there are times when a manatee or an alligator can wind up in the lock with you, but I didn’t see any creatures swimming around with us.

            By the way, just as a bit of trivia, St. Lucie got her name from a saint, St. Lucia (or Lucy) who died back in the year 309, and she is supposed to be the patron saint of eyesight.  Who knew?

            The St. Lucie Canal is deep and there is plenty of water in it all the way across although it isn’t very wide.  I continue to keep my eyes peeled for any signs of manatees or alligators, but I never see any – just a couple of lazy turtles sunning themselves.  We were the only boat in the lock and in the canal all the way from Stuart to Indiantown.  There is not much in the way of development, a few housing developments, but mostly just forested landscapes. 

            We enter the channel into the Indiantown Marina around 2:30 p.m., get into our slip, and hooked up to electric.  Lucy (ha ha – not named for the Saint) knows somehow, instantly, that we have arrived for the night, and she comes right out and goes right outside to see what the new sights are.  Honestly, I think she will be bored when we get home.  I can’t believe how she has changed over the months.

            As I write this, Bob is working on his computer, and OH NO, it died or “crashed” or whatever computers do at the most inopportune times.  So Bob called Apple and they couldn’t help him, but they did give him the name of a computer service that they recommend in Ft. Myers.  I was actually very proud of Bob that he didn’t have a meltdown, and throw the computer overboard.  He would be hard for me to wrestle to the ground – but I don’t think he is happy!  I have visions of my computer being confiscated tomorrow as he tries to recreate our schedule and who knows what else he will be missing as the days go on before we get to Ft. Myers.

            Just now, Bob was outside, and I hear, “Liz, come here quick!”  So I go charging out there, and there is a huge turtle swimming alongside the boat, back and forth, and looking up at us!  Also, the friends we met in Telemar Marina came through here and stayed here at Indiantown, and they saw an alligator swimming at dusk, so I think we may get a glass of wine, forget all about computers and stare at the water for a while in hopes of catching a glimpse of something!

            Oh well, there’s never a dull moment even though I keep telling everyone, boring is good!

            (Tried to post some pictures, but not enough reception - I'll try on another blog)