Long Boat Key to Cocoa Beach

Now, back to the story.

After crossing the Gulf of Mexico on November 10, we continued traveling with MORGAN’S DREAM and GOLDEN, on down to Long Boat Key to anchor for the night. After watching GOLDEN run aground, we tried a different route into the anchorage, and touched the ground ourselves, just a little. MORGAN’S Dream came in a completely different way and did not go aground. Did I mention that the water here in Florida is very shallow?

On 11 November, we left Long Boat Key anchorage headed to Venice, FL. MORGN’S DREAM and GOLDEN (who came in a little later after stopping to visit friends), and IRISH AYES docked at the free dock in Venice located next to the Venice Yacht Club. You can dock there for 18 hours at no cost. Upon our arrival, we were met within minutes by a local Florida Fish and Wildlife officer who welcomed us and took the names of our boats. A very nice guy. He gave us the lowdown of the area and downtown Venice. We, along with Becky and Keith from MORGAN’S DREAM, walked to downtown Venice to check out the area.

It is a clean, pretty little town with unique shops. There was also an old fashion “soda fountain” in this little town, and we could not pass it up. We indulged in their specialties and enjoyed every fat calorie!! After we returned to our boats, GOLDEN was tied up at the dock waiting for us. Keith wanted to have a cookout, so we gathered food, grills, makings for drinks, etc., and headed for the pavilion located across from our boats. Keith did the cooking and made delicious libations for us all. We had a great evening eating, laughing and reliving our experiences thus far on our trip. At the end of the night, we said our goodbyes, since we were headed in different directions the following day. We had been travelling with Keith and Becky for a couple of weeks now, and they have become wonderful friends. We will miss them!!

The next morning, we left early. We followed one another until we split for our specific destinations. Our destination was Rialto Harbor Marina on the Caloosahatchie River, but we did not make it because of numerous No Wake zones and HEAVY boat traffic. We knew better than to travel on a weekend, but we thought we would do so this one time in order to meet friends in South Florida in a few days. We won’t do that again!!! This was the worst boating day we have had since beginning our trip. Everything we had heard about the sport fishing boats and super go fast big boats being dangerous and discourteous is absolutely true. There was one boat in particular that would have had a couple of additional thru-hulls if I could have gotten to my Glock. He rocked us very badly after coming up at high speed from the back of the boat, with no warning. His wake did some minor damage to some things on our boat that were thrown around, but Mike was able to repair the damage.

We stopped at the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin for fuel and were going to continue on, but we ended up having to wait 45 minutes before we could get to the fuel dock, and by the time we got fuel and were ready to head out again, we were running out of daylight. We ended up staying the night in the marina at Fort Myers Yacht Basin. Once again, the wind was howling, and Mike had to really finesse IRISH AYES to get her into the fuel dock without hitting other boats of slamming into the fuel dock. After a masterful (and very lucky) landing that elicited favorable comments from the dockmaster about Mike's docking skilles, we took on a couple of hundred gallons of diesel fuel. After getting ourselves and the boat settled into our assigned slip, we walked to downtown Fort Myers for dinner at a very sleazy sports bar that was a lot of fun. That says something about us, doesn't it?

We left Fort Myers Yacht Basin on 13 November. We waited about 20 minutes to go through Franklin Lock and Dam. We had decided that we were going to anchor for the night, depending on where we got to before dark. We ended up anchoring in a little canal in Moore Haven, FL, beyond Moore Haven Lock and Dam. It was a good anchorage with essentially no boat traffic. However, two airboats went by that scared the life out of us. These are popular boats in Florida, and they are extremely loud and fast moving. When anchored in a quiet, little cove, this noise can be quite disturbing. We prepared ourselves for these boats to come back through sometime later, but they never did—thank goodness. After dinner, we watched a little television and then called it a night.

The next morning (14 Nov) we pulled anchor early. When we got to Port Myaca Lock and Dam, doors at both ends were open, and the Lockmaster directed us to go straight through. That was the easiest and quickest lock we have ever been through! However, the time we made going through this lock was lost at the next lock, St. Lucie Lock and Dam. We had to wait about an hour for a tow to lock through.

After completing the Okeechobe Waterway in Stuart, FL, we turned IRISH AYES north up the Indian River. After about an hour and just before dark, we dropped anchor at Jensen Beach for the night in a nice anchorage next to a Causeway, which is the picture you see here. There were a lot of sailboats anchored there. There was also a sailboat that had sunk; only the top of the mast was showing. If the owner was not aware of his/her boat sinking, they were in for a surprise when returning to their boat.

We left the Jensen Beach anchorage on 15 November. It was already 70 degrees at 0630. We were headed to Patrick Air Force Base, Manatee Cove Marina. We stopped along the way at Telemar Marina to pick up a friend, Eric, who was going to guide us into the Manatee Cove Marina at Patrick Air Force Base. Just about the time we get to Telemar Marina, the winds pick up dramatically. (This always seems to happen just when you want to dock!) We pulled up close enough to the dock for Eric to jump on and then we were off to Manatee Cove. Fortunately, there were folks standing by to help us get tied up to the dock at Manatee!