Had a beautiful trip across Tampa Bay and down the GICW. Dropped the hook at Pelican Bay adjacent to Cayo Costa State Park. Beautiful area we went through last year. The next morning, we took the dinghy to the park and hiked around.

This park is very unspoiled, and full of beautiful fauna and…gators.

And, the sunsets from here don’t suck.

Following morning, we waited for some fog to lift, weighed anchor and took off south. Skies were blue and the water was beautifully calm. Would have been a perfect day on the water if not for the asshole Florida boaters. They are quite good at messing with my Zen, and knocking stuff off our bridge.

Last year, we continued down the West coast of Florida, through the Everglades and to the Keys. This year, we wanted to sail across the center of the state and through Lake Okeechobee.

Arrived Grover Bight anchorage in Cape Coral. The next day, took the dinghy to the dock at Tarpon Point Marina, a swanky joint. Had lunch at Pinchers and walked around the property which was beautiful. Back at the boat, had some good thunderstorms. The skies broke just in time to grant us a stunning sunset. Although this looks like paradise, we were inundated with noseeums this afternoon and I had about 30 bites, 7 of which were on my left hand which swelled up like a baseball. I HATE biting bugs. Noseeums are the scurge of the earth.

The sunrise the following morning was every bit as gorgeous.

Waited out some additional weather, weighed anchor and sailed the short 9 miles to Legacy Marina in Fort Myers. Sailed past what they call the Miserable Mile due to a very narrow channel with skinny water on both sides usually packed with lots of Florida boaters (have I mentioned how much I dislike them?). We lucked out and didn’t have much traffic. Tied up to a beautiful, floating dock. Did a bunch of laundry and walked to the grocery store. Walked into the downtown which was super charming, and decorated for Christmas.

Later that day, met up with Cameron and Suss who drove down from Lakeland. Was SUCH a treat seeing them. Had an awesome dinner.

Walked to breakfast the next morning at Steve D’s, where the locals come in for beer before 10am, and some of the ceiling panels are missing from water leaks. We dropped in the night before for a couple beers and games of pool and dug the place. Went back to the boat and watched the Army v Navy game. Was rooting for Army for Mike, but my dad was in the Navy so can’t be upset about them winning. Have always loved that game, but even more so after visiting West Point and Annapolis.

Departed Ft Myers early the next morning to stage for crossing Lake Okeechobee. The further we got from the West Gulf coast, the more the scenery changed. And, what was in and around the water.

As we were approaching a lock, we saw a huge gator sunning on a little island. The picture Mike got isn’t that great, but this dude was massive. Probably 12 to 14′!

We had very little boat traffic this day which was wonderful. One boat we did see, however, was a sister-ship.

Arrived Moore Haven late afternoon and tied up to their city long dock for $35 a night! Two other boats tied up as well. The skippers of both boats were locals and familiar with the area. After putting enough DEET on to kill an elephant, we walked with them to what might have been the only eatery in the town. Place was really a bar that served food, and also served as a drive through liquor store. No kidding. We were told they had great burgers. 2 cheeseburgers, an order of fries and 4 beers later (with a side of cigarette smoke), we paid our $25 tab and walked back to the boat. Yep, $25. Burgers were super delicious!

Departed Moore Haven early. Our first of 3 locks for the day was less than a mile from where we departed. It was early enough that the mosquitoes were still out. Thankfully, it was only a 9 foot lift. More DEET and probably a comical looking couple waving our hands while locking through.

About 9 miles past the lock, we entered Lake Okeechobee. From Wikipedia: Lake Okeechobee, also known as Florida’s Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the eighth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states

The lake is very shallow and can be quite rough if too much wind. Our forecast was for 8-10 knots which was good. We had a beautiful crossing.

The scenery throughout this trip was incredible. We felt like we were boating on the Amazon. Very remote.

Saw so many different birds and a huge iguana. At one point, we saw a horse.

We were going to stay at a city dock in St. Lucie, but weren’t thrilled with what it looked like and how many boats were there, so we went through the St. Lucie Lock and went to a couple anchorages we had tagged. None were good, so we backtracked in the dark and dropped the hook just east of the Lock (the Lockmaster advised us it was a good anchorage). This was after about a 67 mile day and we were pooped.

Next morning, took off at light up. We fought brisk wind, current and Florida boaters for another ~66 miles with a lot of bridges through Stuart, Palm Beach and Boca Raton. The water was so pretty here.

The homes along this route were unbelievable, and huge!

We ultimately dropped the hook in a lovely neighborhood in Delray Beach. We knew weather was coming in the next day for the better part of a week, and looked for good anchorages. The next morning, the radar was pretty daunting and we started looking at marinas. Pulled anchor the next morning after some storms, and sailed past a couple anchorages. They were too crowded. Decided to bite the monetary bullet and go into Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale early. We had booked Christmas Eve and Christmas here only (as it’s super expensive), but were planning on anchoring until then. Oh well. We are comfortable and dry. Merry Christmas to us!

Fort Lauderdale is a great walking town, in between the rainstorms and trying not to get knocked over by the wind. It’s always good to be at the ocean. We are thankful and blessed.

Wishing everybody a wonderful and Merry Christmas and beautiful holiday season. Cheers! M&M