Ft. Myers to Pelican Bay: Two of our most favorite places to visit came on this short travel day between Ft. Myers and Cayo Costa.  First is Cabbage Key. For anyone who has not visited I am sorry to say that you have missed the dear departed Terry – most cranky dock master that every lived. The many times we have stayed over at Cabbage Key and watched Terry yell every curse word he could conjure to explain how some father driving a small boat full of children and grandparents had failed to follow his explicit orders. It was hilarious and you could tell that most of those taking the abuse had been dealt Terry’s wrath before. As if they came to Cabbage Key not for the wonderful hamburgers but to just get their weekly licking.  It’s said that Cabbage Key is where Jimmy Buffett wrote the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and it’s easy to see how this could be.  But Cabbage Key is an island in beautiful Pine Island Sound where there are no cars, no TV’s, just a place to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

From Cabbage Key we continued north on the ICW to just short of Boca Grande Pass where you can find Pelican Bay. This bay sits between Cayo Costa state park and Punta Blanca Island.  One of our most favorite places to stay on the hook as Pelican Bay is fully protected with lots of space for many boats and is only 1 ½ miles from Cabbage Key – not to mention the state park.  Once in Pelican Bay we set the hook and watched as a couple we had met at Rowland Martin Marina came in to set on the hook that night. Their boat, Vagabond, is a 52-ft Kady Krogen Express and a real beauty.

Our visit at Pelican Bay lasted for just a couple days as we had to push on to get home. But, at least for a while, we were in home waters and safely on the hook enjoying the evenings melt in the west.

Moore Haven to Ft. Myers:  Throughout this shakedown (baptismal by fire) cruise there were many mixed emotions. One side of me was waiting for the big calamity to go off in the engine room or someplace else that I didn’t even know existed – while the other side of me was totally absorbed by the beauty of the trip. The quiet Caloosahatchee was one of those places where you just want the trip to go on and on. The word serene was created for just this sort of place.  Long stretches of quiet water, cows standing on the water’s edge, homes with deep plush lawns, and every imaginable way one could think to dock a boat exists on the Caloosahatchee. Spotted by the few locks for passage, this was one sweet ride.  Americana exists in so many places, and it was not spared on this river to Ft. Myers.

Stewart to Clewiston: Having made it through the Roosevelt Bridge we made it through the locks without any issues. I think Belle was just letting me have my way again, but the overall Stuart to St. Lucie canal across the lake and into Clewiston went without a hitch.  It was really a beautiful cruise punctuated by the best damn dock master I have ever had the opportunity to meet.

Little Man, as he calls himself, is the dock master at Roland Martin Marina. After making contact with him and getting onto channel 68 he asked me to pull into their area and to make a 180-degree turn in a basin that was completely surrounded with rip-rap and concrete sea wall that seemed hardly big enough for a big girl like Belle to turn around in.  For anyone who has not experienced a docking under the guidance of Little Man, let me just say that he needs to start a dock master school.  He opened the channel and gave me continual instructions that never allowed the air to go silent. With his “give me a bit of starboard reverse, keep on coming back, come on back, now take starboard to neutral and give me a shot of port forward…” it was unbelievable. When I finally threaded Belle through the needle I was expecting a cheering throng from the on lookers at the resteraunt above. Unknown to me, they all knew it was “zero Bo” and “100 percent Little Man.”  None the less, we had a great docking and just about as good a hamburger before getting ready for the next day’s run to Ft. Myers.

Hutchinson anchorage to the Roosevelt bridge:  Prior to picking up Belle in November we drove to the Lauderdale boat show in October to shop electronics. In doing so I decided to take the scenic route.  From I-75 south out of Tampa we picked up Hwy 80 Then Hwy 27 and drove east to Moore Haven. For most of the drive the Caloosehatchsee River, the western side of the ditch, is within eyesight. Knowing we would cut days off our trip using the Lake Okeechobee crossing, we stopped at several spots along the way checking marinas and anchorages. It was great to make that drive veering off here and there checking out the waterway and old Florida backwater from the sound perch of land. At Rowland Martins we were assured depth across the lake were holding at 13-feet. That was our ticket to use this wonderful cross-over on our way home. 

So, we left our anchorage across from Hutchinson island with the singe minded effort of making it to Mary Ann and Rowland Martins fish camp and marina before dark, which meant a 4:30 arrival. First we had to get past the Roosevelt bridge in Stuart. This bridge caused me to come up with a new boat phrase; just because it was doesn’t mean it is! That’s because for the entire trip when a bridge tenders told us to keep up our speed and they would have the bridge open for us to pass without having to slow our speed they meant it. So, when the Roosevelt bridge tender told us to bring it on up we did so. At this location the Roosevelt bascule bridge is the eastern most bridge of three closely spaced bridges. You have a 65-ft bridge, a rail road swing that’s open then the bascule. Noticing the bascule had not begun to move I idled past the first two bridges then realized the tender didn’t even have traffic stopped. I later measured the space between the RR and bascule bridges and there is 105-feet between these two – tip to tip Belle is 60-f!. When it became clear that current and wind did not favor holding in this location I turned Belle to escape back to open water just as a 40-footer pulled into the RR bridge span and closed off my exit. I’m saying that I had my hands so full of throttle and shifters that pulling down the mike and asking this obviously oblivious boater to move was not an option. I’m not sure how many 360-degree turns we made but the only way to stay out of trouble was to keep moving. But, that wasn’t the most difficult. Difficulty came when the bridge finally opened and I had to line Belle up for a skewed alignment with the bridge boards and be able to ride the tide without bouncing off the bridge. Good god, I thought boating was to be fun. I guess this is the less glamorous side of yachting!

The bigger lessons I was learning with a 53-foot boat with twin 120 HP motors is; you don’t need help getting into trouble. No, the bridge tender didn’t do this to me, I did this to myself. Another notch on the handle and move on. On to our first lock and more lessons to be learned.

Days 9 and 10 were somewhat uneventful. We had a great anchorage in the Coco Beach area and the same at Jensen Beach across from Hutchinson Island. Other than finding that Belle would hang on the hook with winds up to 30 MPH all was pretty calm.

In those two days we made 59 and 82 miles respectfully and we were feeling that with days this short these were some great miles traveled. Nothing outside.  All in the ICW.

The Jensen Beach anchorage put us only 2-miles from the turn into St. Lucie and would set us up for the following day’s run through locks and across the lake. All in all we were on schedule and sitting exactly where we needed to be.

Life on Belle is starting to look good again. But I am still thinking… what’s next.

Lou says you know you are a slow boat when birds land on you like you’re an island.