Sunday, January 17, 2021. Day 42. Up early so that we can get through the Port Mayaca Lock and enter Lake Okeechobee early. The first opening is 7:30 AM. Probably won't get through the lock until closer to 8 AM.
However the first chore will be getting off the dolphin.
We put on our headphones (known as marriage savers), so that we could hear each other. I was receiving a barrage of commands: Neutral! Reverse! Port thrust! Starboard thrust! Reverse! Slow! Steer!......very stressful and I was sure the boat was going to be damaged banging into the dolphin. Finally, after probably three minutes of staccato commands and nerve wracking manipulations, which felt like at least 30 minutes, Roland untied and we moved away. I was more than relieved. The boat had survived, reasonably unscathed......(I needed a drink).....He then displayed the mangled boat hook that had given its life to protect the boat as it, rather than the boat, had been smashed into the dolphin. We still use the crooked hook; I am too grateful to just toss it; a reminder of what I hope is my only dolphin experience!
So, off we went to enter the Mayaca Port Lock with less damage, but a little more stress, than I would like to start the day.
The lock was only a quarter of a mile away and it would take the boat only 2 feet up. As we approached the lock another KK trawler arrived to join us in the lock, Red Tail. I totally messed up the approach to the lock wall, again a port side request by the lock tender. I really did not know what I was doing; it was only my second lock and I was still freaked from trying to avoid a collision with the dolphin. Foolishly rather than mistakenly, thought we were too close to the wall. I was busy protecting Magic Moments from smashing against the wall. I could not reach the hanging lock ropes forcing the Captain to back up the boat and start again. He was rather embarrassed in front of Red Tail, but I assured him that they had watched me push away with the remaining intact boat hook, and mostly sympathized with his challenge of relying on such an inexperienced first mate.
We crossed Lake Okeechobee without incident without any incidents. Because the water level in the lake was unusually high, we were able to cross a section of it rather than have to go around the entire perimeter on the south.
While on Lake Okeechobee, we saw a lot of dark smoke and fires on the shore. We learned that they were burning the sugarcane fields. The ashes were all over our boat. I was totally unhappy; it was only yesterday that we had left Stuart with our shiny, newly waxed, beautiful looking boat (at a very high cleaning, waxing and buffing fee), only to have it full of black ashes. Even worse, washing down the boat could cause the ashes to stain the surface, The ashes were even in the boat lockers!
We exited Lake Okeechobee after going through the Moore Haven Lock. Captain Roland asked the lock tender (all this is on a radio), if we could be on the starboard side. This is important to us because MM has a walk around only on the starboard side. On the port side, one has to run through the living space to get from bow to stern. The lock tender said OK but the ropes on starboard are rather short; he left it up to the captain. The captain said starboard and we made it work. With short ropes, I am at the bow (which is higher), while Roland mans the stern.
A half mile later, we docked at Moore Haven, a small working class town, near a prison, the sugar cane fields and citrus orchards. It was Sunday and everything was closed. The closest open store and restaurant, were a taco shop and a convenience store which were 11 miles away. Due to a miscommunication, the dockmaster wasn't on site when we arrived. We called him again, and he was 20 minutes away. We circled in the water until he arrived.
The dock was very reasonably priced, only a dollar a foot with free electricity, and adjacent to the city dock which was also a dollar a foot but without free electricity (the city dock used to be free, but all towns need funds nowadays). The dockmaster said the water was potable but that he wouldn't drink it. Needless to say, we weren't going to drink it. After we had spent three days and a fortune cleaning the boat, taking a risk that the ashes from the sugarcane fires, together with brown water would stain the boat, sounded dumb!
The dockmaster suggested using a broom rather than water. Great! Roland had bought a broom before we left Maryland and we thought we would just take it home; we had no good place to store it and we would never need it. The broom saved our finish and the portable vac got the ashes out of the lockers. We would wash the boat at another marina.
After tying the boat to the dock we walked around town. It was overcast and quiet. We didn't see a single soul. Moore Haven, although a small town, is the county seat. We learned some interesting history about how Moore Haven enticed an adjacent area to join their county to increase their base, but after a few years, the adjacent area voted to return to its original county; they felt Moore Haven wasn't treating them fairly. Politics will never change!
The folks from Red Tail, with whom we had been texting since we left Port Mayaca Lock, and had followed us across Lake Okeechobee and through the Moore Haven Lock, had docked at the town dock. We had learned a little bit about each other from our texting during the trip, and then had a chance to meet after docking, socially distanced. Roland collected a lot of tips and information, as they had been this way before. Kevin and Caroline had even taken Red Tail through the Panama Canal; well, I was really impressed!
Monday, January 18, 2021 Day 43. MLK Day; lots to think about. We left the dock at Moore Haven at 8 AM; Red Tail had left at 7 AM. It was 18 miles until the next lock, Ortona.
It was an 8 foot down and Roland had to be at the stern, because the ropes were really short and frayed, yet again.The lock tender directed us to the port, as there was a boat ahead of us on the starboard, (no mercy for us novices with no walkaround on port!). Roland hung on as the boat went down and the rope was really not long enough.
The scenery was quite pretty on the Caloosahatchee Canal. We passed sugarcane fields, citrus orchards and three bridges. My favorite was the center rotating bridge that the female (not that common) bridge tender had to walk out to the center to operate. She must walk out and back 30 times a day.
I spent a lot of the day trying to get a vaccine. No luck yet and I was getting rather frustrated but I had to keep checking frequently.
At 1:30 we docked at Franklin Lock and Dam National Park; a great bargain, only $30 and even less if you have a senior pass. I do have a senior pass to the national parks however I did not bring it with me. Live and learn.
Red Tail had arrived at Franklin before us and was on our dock to help us tie up. It was quite an amazing slip. We went in bow first and the whole front of the boat was covered with foliage. It looked as if we were grounded. After we docked, we sat on our back deck, which is our practice, and watched an alligator swimming nearby.
The park is small but rather lovely. There were many RVs in the park. We went for a walk and then met Kevin and Caroline, socially distanced, on a picnic bench. Caroline graciously brought some snacks and we each brought our own drinks.
No success trying to get a vaccine; did a session of yoga with Adrienne, and went to bed looking forward to my run in the morning before we left Franklin Lock and Dam National Park.
