Preparations

We had NO intentions of doing anything more than having a quiet, lazy winter this year.  We had worked hard on home renovations all summer and our plans included drifting along from anchorage to anchorage, from the Florida Keys up the west coast of Florida, visiting beaches and towns we hadn’t lingered in before.  Maybe taking in some museums, art galleries and sporting events.  Quiet, simple, cheap.

One night we were chatting to folks who were preparing to head across to the Bahamas.  It sounded like so much fun.  And BAMM.  Just like that.  We were bit by the Bahamas bug.  The next thing we knew we were busily lining our ducks up in preparation for heading out into the ocean in our old coastal cruiser to head across the gulf stream to the Bahamas.

It’s sixty miles from the coast of Florida to the West end of the Grand Bahama Island, which is a pretty doable cruising distance for us to cover in a day. From that point, a couple more days cruising over the shallow banks of the Bahamas finds one in the far Northeastern corner of the Bahama Islands called the Abacos; an archipelago of many exotic cays forming a protective rim from the Atlantic ocean.   A tropical, crystal clear turquoise, scarcely-populated paradise with uninhabited beaches that go on forever.

Abandoning our lazy winter plans we got busy. Additions to our battery bank were purchased and installed.  A new 5.0 cubic ft. freezer, was squeezed into our salon, totally messing up the feng shui. Food’s very expensive in the Bahamas so we wanted to carry as much as possible.  It will pay off.  The spending spree continuted -- lots of sprucing up of our electrical system, a new vhf, new electronic charts, courtesy flags, cruising guides, upgraded insurance, gobs groceries to fill that freezer and any available nook or cranny we could find was stuffed full of groceries.  Our credit cards got a good workout.

Vacuum sealed and ready for the freezer.  

Then we were off!

The route? We decided to cut across the State of Florida through the Okeechobee Waterway, a series of canals, rivers, lakes and locks.  It went like this:

Day One: Cape Coral to LaBelle Free docks, with a stop in Fort Myers for fuel and a pump out.

10:00 a.m. (once the wind died down) to 5:30.

Day Two: LaBelle to Torry Island Swing bridge. Even though Okeechobee Lake looked not too rough we decided to take the ring route as we weren’t in a rush and we wanted to explore. We tied up close to the swing bridge.

Day Three: Torry Island Swing Bridge to Stuart. We anchored off the channel in six feet across from Sunset Marina.

It’s great to get going again. We had never crossed the Okeechobee Waterway before, always electing to go all the way around the Southern tip of Florida when we had to, but we concur. Man, that’s one boring trip, only redeemed by the multitude of wildlife we viewed and some good tunes and conversation to pass the time.

Okeechobee Waterway

Exiting one of several locks

We wish.  Not this Duffy (Jeff's family nick-name)