Our Great Loop Adventure

Our journey on Saturday, March 1st took us from Legacy Harbour to LaBelle. We had a beautiful day for cruising. At the beginning of the day we encountered many manatee zones which made for slow progress. Along the way we saw cattle drinking from the river as well as horses grazing. We locked through the Franklin Lock about 12:25 and arrived at the LaBelle free docks at 3:00. We bowed in. As we sat on the back deck we were visited by some manatees. We also witnessed the passing of the space station in the southwestern sky around 6:55pm. Sunday brought another beautiful day. We carefully left the dock due to the narrowness of the slip and continued on the Caloosahatchee River. We went through the Ortono Lock and entered the Caloosahatchee Canal. After clearing the the Moorehaven Lock, we started the rim route of Lake Okeechobee. At this point you cannot see the lake because of a large berm along our port side. The Clewiston Lock was open and we came to our next dockage, the Roland and Mary Ann Martin Marina. The dock attendant is known as Little Man and it is very important that you follow his directions on pulling your boat in and hand lines in a specific order. Roland Martin was a famous bass fisherman. This is very obvious because we were surrounded by fishing boats, whose crews cleaned fish at the station provided and grabbed their favorite beverage at the large tiki bar. (Oh, yes, we were docked right in front of the tiki bar.) For most of the afternoon we were serenaded by group of country singers and then taped music. We had to stop in at the bar and have a beverage. The people walking the docks were interested in the Summer Recess and our story. We were the largest boat there until late afternoon. As Tony finished grilling dinner, we were invaded by mosquitoes. I received several bites. On Monday we continued the rim route. We had heard that it was the best way to see alligators. Along, the way we saw a lot of smoke. This is caused by the burning of the sugar can fields. We also experienced a lot of soot because there was little wind. Another thing we noticed were large completely bare tree trunks. The trunks are what is left of the Australian Pines. These trees were deliberately burned by the Army Corp of Engineers because they were an invasive plant species. We also encountered a very interesting swing bridge at Torrey Island. We called ahead to the bridge attendant to open the bridge. He said it would be a few minutes. He came across and manually put down the gates to prevent traffic from crossing. Then he went to the middle of the bridge and took out two metal poles which he inserted into the turning mechanism and proceeded to swing the bridge open by hand. We were amazed. At mile marker 55 we left the berm behind and traveled along the coast of the lake. We did not see one alligator. Tony was very disappointed. The Mayaca Lock was open and we entered the St. Lucie Canal. We docked at Indiantown. We were stern to stern with Island Time. They just started the loop from Cape Coral on March 1st. We walked to Indiantown to see the Seminole Inn. It is an example of old Florida architecture. On the second floor inside were murals of the Seminole Indians. Upon returning to the marina we had docktails with Gina and Steve of Island Time. Tony officially passed on the the title of "Newbie" to Steve, because they had just begun the Great Loop on Saturday March 1st. We are no longer the "Newbees on the Loop. While we were preparing to leave on Thursday morning, we were greeted by a rather large turtle swimming next to our boat. We left the marina and traveled with Island Time. As we approached the St. Lucie Lock there was a dredge boat and tow in front of us. According to lock protocol, they would go through first. We waited for about 50 minutes before locking through. We have now entered the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. Summer Recess left Island Time at Pendarvis Cove. This is where we would anchor for the night. After pulling up anchor on Wednesday morning, we had a very short run across the river to Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart. It is a lovely marina with all the amenities and close to Publix as well as downtown Stuart. After checking in we were greeted by Jim and Carollee Fenner, friends from Michigan. They have a winter home about six miles south. We went out for lunch and planned to see them Thursday for dinner. We expected a storm to come in, but it passed south of us. Thursday was muggy and cloudy. The morning was filled with washing, cleaning, and shoppping. In the afternoon we walked into Stuart. It is a small boating town, but the main block has been spruced up with shops, restaurants, and the Lyric, which is a theatre that has been restored and features plays and concerts. We took the River Walk back to the boat. Also, the replicas of the Nina and Pinta are docked at the marina and it was interesting to see them up close. Late afternoon brought tornado warnings as well as a rain storm. The first wave went through quickly and we were still able to go out to dinner with Jim and Carolee. We bid them adieu and went back to the boat. Bands of rain came through during the night. Today, Friday, March 7th, we had planned to leave Stuart. However, we woke up to winds that have been building all day. We decided to stay one more night. Tomorrow we will enter the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway and begin our journey north. We figure we are now half-way through the loop.