Spring 2020 Ft Lauderdale to Stillwater

4/1/20  It's with some amount of anxiety that we start this first day of our trip. Not only does the current virus environment give us anxiety, but the next two days of travel will, also. Once again, the Lake Okeechobee water level has been severely diminished from very little winter rain, and the depth to allow our passage is right on the cusp. A few years ago, we experienced the same conditions and transited the shallow part when the level was at 11.83 feet above sea level. Yesterday, it was 11.91 and today it's 11.87. The government tables show us that at 12.00, we should have 6 feet of depth. Well, we draw 6 feet, and we're pretty nervous. The alternative is to go south around the Keys, but the weather doesn't look good for being offshore. So ... we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Our good friend Curley has offered to help out for a few days. He arrived this morning at 5:30AM on a plane with 12 passengers. We've got a couple things to do to get ready to go, and then we'll be leaving Pier 66 and going to the fuel dock at the City Docks on the New River to meet a fuel truck. We had just a little sprinkle of rain, and hopefully, the temps won't be so hot. It's been flirting with 90 degrees for a few days, and we could use a break!

11:45AM  Before we go, we'll need to get fuel. One of the few positives from this crisis is that fuel prices have dropped. We loaded up with over 1000 gallons of fuel at the price at which we've not seen in many years ... yippie! We also had a guy come to fix our spotlight that's been wiggy for a number of months. He couldn't get it repaired, so he swapped it out for a loaner to get us home. That's great customer service! We got underway and decided to head north and try going across the Lake. There wasn't much traffic on the ICW, so that was good. The late start meant a late arrival, and then a short night. At least we're moving!

4/2  We had to wait for the Lock to open at 7:00AM, but a quick operation sent us on our way. The Lockmaster was very pessimistic about us making the trip across the shallow Lake area, and that doesn't help with the anxiety!

The weather was great as we chugged towards theArea Of Doom ... LOL! Here's a shot of a seldom used rail bridge right by the Lake. Of course it gets used when we approach!

Several hundred yards more and we approach the Port Mayaca Lock that opens into the Lake.

The water level is at the point where the lock remains open to traffic, and this  results in an easy pass.

The first shallow area that concerned us was just after leaving the Lock and heading into the Lake. But, things went great and we set the auto-pilot for the 15 mile straight line to the next challenging area. The depth was really pretty good ... about 8-9 feet, and the anxiety level went down. As we approach the west side, the level again shallows, and so does our confidence.

The last time we successfully came through at these shadow depths, we recorded the area with an electronic track. This shows us exactly where we were, and the intent is to follow it again this time. Well, we did, and we made it, again. It actually was much, much better than anticipated. There was only one spot for a few yards that gave concern, and after that, it was time for counting alligators. Here's a shot of one of these cuddly guys ...

The "Rim Route" section is about 15 miles, and we counted 42 gators in that stretch. Then, it's into Moore Have Lock. Here's Curley, doing his job ...

The stop for the evening is at the City Docks in Moore Haven. We've known about some engine work that needed to be done, so we decided that this would be a good spot. Although it was kind of warm in the engine room, we dug in and got the port engine all fixed up.

4/3  Today was spent working on the Starboard engine blower. It surely was a lot cooler in the engine room, and that made it so much better. Here's a look at what's going on ...

And the blower ...

After it all goes together and the engine runs, we have a happy Curley!

Here our spot for the night in Moore Haven ...

4/4 Today will be an easy day. We're not in a hurry to get very far, so we had a reasonable departure time. We're traveling only about 60 miles, and it'll be great to not worry about time. We have less than 20 miles to get to the first lock, the Ortona Lock ...

Then, it's a few more miles to a bridge that's been operational for many, many years. It's a turn-table style vehicle bridge. The operator gets our call, stops the traffic, then walks out to turn the bridge ...

It's our plan to stop at the Franklin Lock, and that's about 20 easy of Ft Myers. It's easy enough for us to get to another project. The little boat has an outboard that had a couple seals go bad. The parts are aboard, so this give a chance to get to it. We'll lift the boat and work on it with ease ...

Then, a great dinner and a full evening's sleep.

4/5  After a very relaxing morning, we see that the weather looks pretty good for a Gulf crossing in a couple days, so we untie and get through the lock and head towards Ft Myers. It's about a 6 hour ride to get to Charolette Harbor. Here, we make the choice to go offshore and avoid the no-wake areas and the bridge schedules. It's a great day to be out on the Gulf for a 30 mile ride to the Venice Inlet. Here, we're leaving the pass ...

And headed north on a flat Gulf ...

And a happy Crew!

After getting in at Venice, it's another 20 miles to the anchorage at Sarasota and a great day.

4/6 We had a very relaxing evening at anchor in Sarasota. Nice dinner, no wind ... just great. Here's our view in the morning ...

We're off for Clearwater. We have an easy 60 miles but many, many bridges and schedules.One spot that we pass is the Sunshine Causeway Bridge (way off in the distance). Pretty impressive, it is!

Going through the Tampa/St Petersburg area, there's many bridges. Fortunately for the boaters, there's a plan to replace the lower ones. Here's one under construction ...

Here's our view heading into the Clearwater anchorage ...

and as we're at anchor ...

After setting the anchor, we check a number of items. Engines, transmissions, propellers, fuel filters .. these are all important components as we cross the 170 miles of the Gulf towards the Panhandle, and Apalachiaola. It's time for some dinner and a good, full night of sleep ...

4/7  The weather looks great, so off, we go. Of course I couldn't sleep well, so our moderate departure time turned into 5:30. The wind was from our stern at a light pace, and that gave us a great ride. We had about an hour of watching for crab trap floats until the sun rose to make it easier to see ...

Doing our part for the situation, we practice proper procedures. (Thanks June) ...

Our personal escorts ...

The driving is pretty easy this day. All that we need to do is check the gauges and watch for traffic ...

4/8  We're across! Yippee! We left the Gulf at East Pass, and that's by Carrabelle, The, it was 25 miles to get to the fuel dock at Apalachicola. We arrived at 12:30AM, and called it a day. In the morning, we filled the fuel tanks and headed out for Panama City. I neglected to get a picture of the dock, but here's what we see as we leave ...

Today was very windy and humid. It's a good thing that we crossed when we did because it'd be pretty rough offshore. We're shooting for an anchorage that's a little west of Panama City, and it should provide some protection from the wind. As we find out, it's not a lot, though. We see gusts to 30 knots on the anemometer, and that really pushes us around. For extra security while we anchor, extra chain should go out. The wind is so strong that even with that much chain out, the boat pulls it straight, and that's pretty unusual ...

Then, it's time for some blackened dolphin, an update on the national news, and adding to the collection ...

4/9  Today is another fairly easy day, and we find ourselves pulling the anchor and moving out into East Bay at 9:00AM.

After about 25 miles of narrow canal, the ICW opens up to the Choctawhatchee Bay.

It's another 30 miles to Ft Walton Beach. Here. we like to stay at the City Docks. It's no charge and they'll sometimes have fresh water, and we can wash the boat. This time, though, the City has closed the docks, so we keep moving west towards the Pensacola area. The wind is again blowing, and we find a spot to anchor that's sort of out of the wind.

It was windy for most of the evening. When it came time to pull the anchor, it must have been lodged pretty hard on something because it didn't fare very well when we pulled it ...

One of the bottom supports was broken, and this caused the anchor to rest improperly on the hull when it was in place while traveling. Having an anchor is important not only for spending the evening, but it's also a safety component. If we were to lose propulsion and drift, we'd set the anchor to keep us from running aground. It's been a bad run for us with anchors. In the last six months we've bent two of them, and broken one. Here's the "new" one that we purchased to replace a bent one. The first time we used it, it bent ...

So, it was time to roll up our selves and get to the repair job ...

It was our luck that there was a guy working on his boat in the boatyard, here by us. He was doing welding work, so we talked with him and he said that he'd help out. Richie turned out to be a blessing ...

4/12  There's a forecast for bad weather as we move northward. Tornadoes, high winds, lightning ... all elements that are not fun for boating. So, since we're not in a hurry, we decided to stay an extra day and wait it out. While we waited, another of the extremely high tides came in. They're not unusual, but it makes things a little tough on land. This is the parking lot by the dock ...

4/13  Were up early for a long day ahead of us. The storms of the previous day have moved to the east, and we can see the lightning off in the distance as we leave the Dog River Channel. It's about 1/2 hour from the marina back to the shipping channel, and then we turn north and head for the Mobile River. It's a clear and windless morning, and the sunrise couldn't be better ...

Towards the Port of Mobile ...

The Port has many different elements. There's the shipping part ...

There's the repair part ...

And there's also the fueling, cruise ship, and fabrication elements. Here's an oil rig, in for work ...

We chug through town, and move into the Mobile River. This will take us about 100 miles to the first lock of this section. But first, it's the 14 Mile Bridge, and that's a big separator from the salt water ...

The current is marginal for now, and there's no debris. This makes the day go pretty well on timing, and we manage to get to the Coffeeville Lock just as the sun goes down. And this makes the Crew pretty happy ...

4/15  For us to make it to our spot for this evening, we'll still have to shove off pretty early. It was our plan to sort of take it easy, but the extra current from the now flooded river will make or day a few hours longer. Some of us aren't happy about this ...

The River has gone up almost 30 feet in a couple days. It's not unusual for around here, but there's a bit of flooding going on. Here's our look as we leave the Demopolis Yacht Basin ...

It's another beautiful day as we approach the white cliffs of Eppes ...

And into the Tom Bevill Lock, going up ...

And the Crew ...

4/16  After a great night by the Lock, it's out and at 'em. There was just a little fog to this beautiful morning ...

Leaving the Lock ...

The River was pretty high around here, and it's still up. Here, we see some evidence of how high it was ...

Today is an easy day (again). We have just a few locks, and there's really very little tow traffic to hold us up at the Locks. But, it seems that every Lock has it's own supervisor of operations ...

After getting through the last lock of the day, we pull to the side and throw the anchor to a very relaxing afternoon. No Corona virus here ...

But just to make sure we're compliant ...

This is what it looks like as we approach a Lock ...

And in the Lock as we're tied off on the forward end ...

The last Lock of this section is the Whitten Lock. It raises us over 85 feet and is quite a structure ...

It's like a huge cavern in here ...

This lock is larger than the rest on this section of the Tombigbee. Consequently, they have a set of spares and it's own built-in crane on site ...

4/18  We finally had some overnight rain. It's been pretty dry for us, so a change was sort of nice. We can tell that we're getting further north, though, because the morning temps are getting cooler. This morning was in the 40's, and we haven't really seen that in quite a while. There's only one lock, today, and here we are as the doors are opening at Pickwick Lock ...

We have only another 45 miles to go for the day. The current is almost 4 mph, so the throttles are set low so we can save fuel and get a free ride downstream. The goal is Clifton Marina. Here, the water is pretty high. Earlier in the year the level went over the parking lot.

Stopping early gives us a chance to do a little engine work and wash the boat. It's cool, but really nice out. Afterwards, it's time to relax ...

Since we left Ft Lauderdale, we've seen only one transient vessel, and that was in the Panhandle. We're the only boat here so they put us right next to the restaurant ...

The staff was so nice to make a special effort to open the grill for us. We had a couple of the best burgers! But, there seemed to be a little room for dessert ...

4/20  We don't have to be down to Paducah until the middle of the week, so today can be another easy day. The weather's pretty nice and we're traveling downstream, and that makes for a happy crew. We're moving only 60 miles, so it's another late departure for us. This section of the Tennessee River is still comparatively narrow and swift. It opens up around New Johnsonville, TN, and then it can be miles wide. When the Corps of Engineers built the locks and dams on the River about 90 years ago, the Tennessee River was just a small river that had potential to flood. When it did, it caused many problems for the people and the farms. So, in an attempt to regulate its elevation, the dam was constructed and the elevation rose about 50 feet. This flooded many square miles of land away from the River, making the scenery beautiful and filled with many fingers extending away from the main channel. Here, we're moving into the wide section as we depart Pebble Isle Marina ...

We have about 70 miles to reach the last lock on this river, called Kentucky Dam. We'll be docking just above the dam at a marina that's very nice. 

Last Spring, we were stuck here for 3 weeks because of flooding on the Mississippi River. It's a great spot that has friendly staff and a good area for me to run. We're docked on the end of one of the many piers, and all of them are covered.

We'll be laying here for a few days while we await the crew change. This gives us an opportunity to do some paint and varnish work, a little engine works, some cleaning, and a much needed run!