Florida West Coast to Lake Okeechobee
Jan 11, 2026
Returned to our Heidi-Ho yesterday after spending nearly 3 weeks celebrating the holidays with family and friends and attending our nephew’s wedding. Brian and our son-in-law worked together on building surround bookshelves for a guest bedroom. The weather was frigid; not much snow, but gusty winds, freezing rains creating icy conditions. We were both missing the warmth of Florida, though while we were away, Florida was also having rather chilly weather; granted it was still 30+ degrees warmer than New England. Lauren took the opportunity to go through cabinets, closets, etc. to clean and weed out miscellaneous items that are of no use to us, but might benefit others. According to Lauren, there’s nothing like a good closet cleanse.
After getting settled and making sure Heidi was fed and resting (plane trips are rather unsettling for her, even if she is dosed). We took a walk into town and had dinner at Pia’s, an Italian eatery that we had dinner at before we headed home for three weeks. Again, the dinner was delicious and Gary, our waiter was attentive. He seemed captivated with our Loop journey and asked questions.
This morning after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, we took an Uber to the grocery store and provisioned with mostly fresh produce. Both Uber drivers to and from the grocery store were very friendly and chatty. Heidi has recovered from her airplane rides and is back to keeping guard on the boat. We bought a Skylight digital picture frame for the boat. Brian spent some time downloading pictures. It’s nice watching the slide show and remembering where we’ve been and all that we’ve seen along the way. Lauren’s already fretting about getting the boat off the dock and getting it turned 180; she’s been going over and over and over it in her head; maybe that’s why she ended up with a headache – stressed. After dinner, we walked into town and strolled around. When we arrived back at the marina and heading down the ramp, we could hear Heidi barking and could see her on the table watching us walking towards the boat. She knows that is not acceptable (being on the table – the little imp). Just before getting to the boat, Brian noticed the lifting bar for the dinghy was bent; someone had hit it. Not that anything can be done about it now, but Brian will still notify the dock master; maybe someone reported it. But seems to us, that whoever hit us just kept on going as no one from the office has mentioned it to us.
Tomorrow, we leave and will travel about 30 miles to an anchorage. The next day, we will arrive in Venice and stay at a marina. We have made arrangements to meet up with Adrian and Nina. We first met them in Brunswick Georgia when we were sailing on our Tayana about 12 or so years ago. In the Bahamas we met up with them again and puttered around the islands together. They are now settled in Venice and want to meet up. Looking forward to seeing them.
January 12, 2026
Left Gulfport Marina dock at 7:40. It’s a narrow channel to turn around in, so Lauren did her best; of course, not to her satisfaction. Though, we didn’t hit anything. She felt it was a rather sloppy operation. Brian noticed that we had churned up some mud when leaving; the tide was low. Everything was going well for about a half hour until we ran aground 50 feet from the channel. The charts showed plenty of water, it was a rising tide and we took into consideration the keel depth. We had to call Sea Tow. Two hours later, we were freed and selected another route to the channel; though, about an hour later, we hit again, but thankfully bounced right off and yes, we were in the channel. The winds picked up for a bit, but there wasn’t much chop, but we did hit a rough patch for about an hour. Heidi freaked out; thankfully it didn’t last long. We are still having issues with our water maker even after the tech worked on it. Brian contacted the tech and we were referred to another tech. Brian touched base with the new tech. Instructions were given and Brian said he would work on it once we dropped anchor this afternoon. We did not travel as far as planned for today; we were tired. After three weeks off the boat, we felt a bit discombobulated. We dropped anchor at Marina Jacks Bay; we are the only boat anchored right near the marina. The marina has some beautiful yachts; large, larger and even larger; $$$$$. We are surrounded by high risers and well protected.
It was so good to stop for the day. Brian worked on the water maker. Then we noticed the water tank was empty (we hadn’t been making it prior to heading back home because of issues with it). He got it running, but it’s not working to its full potential. He will let it run for several hours so we can take showers, wash dishes, etc. While Lauren was cooking dinner, we ran out of propane; had a backup ready to go. When Brian was on the fly bridge changing out the propane tank, he also checked the hydraulic fluid because when Sea Tow was pulling us, the rudder was forced to the side putting extra stress on the hydraulic system. While Lauren was preparing dinner, Brian was trying to print documents on our Epson printer; that wouldn’t work. He spent too long waiting for someone from Epson to pick up on the help line; finally gave up. When we get to our designated marina tomorrow, the office might be able to help him get the documents printed off for our updated insurance coverage. After dinner Lauren gave Brian a much-needed haircut and then he was able to finally take a shower. We called Nina and Adrian to make plans once we arrive at the marina. It was good hearing their voices; looking forward to visiting with them.
Brian reading: Simply Lies by David Baldacci
Lauren: Finished Asimov’s The Gods Themselves; had never read anything by this author and not a fan of science fiction genre, but it certainly held my interest.
Also read: No Man’s Land by David Baldacci
Now reading: The Portable Poe Edited by Philip Van Doren Stern. The first 56 pages covers the introduction and letters to and from Poe – what a tortured soul! The book is divided by Tales: of Fantasy, of Terror, of Death, of Revenge and Murder, of Mystery and Ratiocination. Then there are his Articles, Criticisms, Poems, Verse and Opinions. A lofty read for sure.
January 13, 2026
Our anchorage was all to ourselves, calm and quiet. Left this morning about 9. Today we had 4 bridges; had to only wait for two openings, but planned our speed accordingly so we weren’t hovering for long before the openings. It was a rather uneventful day of travel (thankfully so, after yesterday). Saw quite a few pelicans and dolphins. We’ve seen several signs for manatees, but haven’t seen any. Lauren pointed out that the ‘Go to route’ would take a job in another direction, even though the route continued straight. When we left Marina Jacks, we noticed that even though the route was planned in, it still took a big detour into and out of another marina; weird! It’s a good thing as we are going along, we both keep an eye on the route. We docked at Crow’s Nest Marina for the night. After paying for a two-night stay, we took a look at the weather for the next several days. We were supposed to leave here Thursday, but there is some nasty weather coming in that day – really high winds. If we stay, we would be bashed against the dock – there were no slips available. Brian requested a refund as we will have to leave tomorrow morning; the staff was sympathetic and more than willing to refund us. He called another marina that had more protection, but they were full. We will head to Cayo Costa to anchor; it’s a well-protected anchorage. Leaving tomorrow upsets our plans to spend time with Nina and Adrien for the day; darn! At the moment, the winds are about mid-teens and we are already being jounced around.
January 14, 2025
Last night we got together with Nina and Adrien. Adrien picked up us from the boat and gave us a guided tour of Venice on the way back to his house. Back at the house, we met Sheena and Paula; neighbors. Nina served a cornucopia of dishes and it was all delicious! There were so many stories told and lots of laughs. Because of the high winds coming in Thursday, we were unable to spend the day with them today as planned. We had to move on and get settled before tomorrow’s high winds. We were bummed, but the little time we spent with them was enjoyable.
We maneuvered off the dock about 7:30 this morning without issue. We were behind a brand-new boat and had rocks behind us, but Lauren was able to get out without incident. Navigated several bridges; a couple we were able to get under without the bridge tenders having to open for us. The rest of the bridges had to be opened and all of the bridge tenders were very pleasant. We didn’t have to time our arrivals for openings because they were all on-demand openings. It took five hours to get to our anchorage, Cayo Costa. The winds coming in for tomorrow are coming from the north, north west, so we will be well protected. There are three other boats also anchored here. One is a golden Looper out of Canada. Tomorrow we will wait out the weather and move on Friday to another anchorage; we have several options, so we’ll be doing some research tonight. We saw for the first time the back of a manatee lolling about in the water.
January 15, 2026
Lauren could feel the change in the air yesterday with the front coming in; ended up with a migraine early evening all through the night. The winds and rains started about 3 in the morning sounding like a freight train barreling through. The rains didn’t last long and the winds abated for about an hour; Lauren went out to the pulpit at 4:30am to place the cover over the Looper flag as she figured it would get shredded with the high winds. During the day the winds have steadily gotten worse with gusts into the 40’s. Our boat has been skating around quite a bit, but absolutely no rocking, so it’s been rather comfortable. Heidi doesn’t seem to like the noise of the howling winds. Lauren will have a better night’s sleep knowing the anchor has held firm all day and her head is doing much better. We have a short run tomorrow to a marina; originally, we were going to anchor. Because the winds are supposed to carry on through the night and not taper off until about mid-morning, we will wait to leave the anchorage about 9am and arrive at the marina no later than 1pm. Saturday will be a better travel day to another marina where we will stay for a couple of nights stay; Brian is expecting a few packages.
January 16, 2025
The winds abated slightly during the night; our anchor held tight. Lifted anchor at 8:30 and poked our way back out to the main channel. We did hit a shoal even though Lauren was following her cookies out; got off right away and on our way. We think the winds and waves may have shifted the shoals a bit. Saw a bald eagle and several dolphins. Lauren saw two dolphins jump right out of the water near the boat. Every pleasure craft that passed waked us even in designated areas that request slow speeds and minimal wakes. Arrived at Gulf Harbor Marina. Lauren got the boat backed in with no issues. We couldn’t get hooked up to electric because the new pedestals keep tripping and shutting off the power. It was suggested by the harbor master to have a marine electrician check for grounds on the boat since it’s an older boat. So, another thing to add to our never-ending maintenance list. Thankfully, we have full batteries and we are only here for one night. We can’t make water, because we are waiting on new membranes for the water maker. They should be at the next marina we are booked at. So at the moment, we are emptying our water tanks and then Brian will fill the tanks from the marina’s water tap.
January 17, 2026
Treated ourselves to breakfast out. Uber Scott was very pleasant. He’s originally from New Jersey, retired from Army National Guard. He now has a job at the airport as a mechanic and works on everything but the airplanes and drives for Uber on the weekends. We had breakfast at the Speckled Egg and walked the 3 miles back to the marina. Once back, Heidi got out for her business and then we took off. Getting out of our slip went smoothly. It was an almost uneventful ride except for all the power boats that waked us. They come really close and don’t slow down at all. All the bridges were tall enough that we didn’t have to call for an opening and the one railroad bridge stays open unless, of course, a train is scheduled to use it. As we slowly motored up to the Hinkley Sweet Water Marina, Brian called to let them know we had arrived and waiting on a slip assignment. We were directed to the dock wall on the inside of the outer dock. Lauren didn’t think there would be enough room to turn around when we had to leave; it was tight!!! So, she decided to parallel park backing the boat in and did a fantastic job, (the dock hands were impressed) except we couldn’t go back as far as we were directed because we were hitting bottom. We didn’t get stuck, and were directed to pull forward to the end where we had a bit more depth. Lauren was thrilled as when it is time to leave, she just has to pull straight out. There is space behind us, but between us and the boat beside us, it will be a tight fit for a good-sized boat. Lauren was happy that the electric pedestals had not been updated which meant we wouldn’t have a problem hooking up.
We quickly got presentable and had lunch at the restaurant about 20 steps from the boat. The restaurant was a good size and doing a brisk business. Brian said it was one of the best Cuban sandwiches he ever had. Lauren’s Mahi Mahi sandwich was a tad overcooked, but tasted good. Eating out twice in one day was a treat. The entertainment was a guitar soloist/singer; he was talented and a pleasure to listen to. Tomorrow the restaurant will be really busy with football fans.
Back on board, Lauren got started on laundry and scrubbed down every inch of the nav station.
January 18, 2026
Happy Birthday Brian!!
Yesterday, early evening, while Lauren was readying the boat so we could head to the restaurant for a drink and watch the end of the football game, Brian took Heidi out. As she was closing one of the cockpit doors, two couples were walking by and she heard “Heidi-Ho”; Lauren smiled and gave a wave as we get that quite a bit. All of a sudden one of the guys stepped to the boat and reached out to Lauren and said “Heidi-Ho” again. Lauren was taken aback for about second before realizing she new him. One of the couples was our son-in-law’s parents. What a nice surprise! They had been at the restaurant having a drink and were checking out the boats when they left. Brian was just getting back with Heidi, so we invited everyone on board for a tour. It was a lovely, albeit short visit.
This morning, after breakfast, we took Heidi out for a walk around the marina. Other than the restaurant and pool, there is nothing else, besides boats, on the property. Brian has membranes for the water maker being delivered today, so after the walk, he spent time in the engine room taking out the old ones. Hopefully, the new ones won’t be too difficult to insert.
Brian reading: Lethal by Sandra Brown
Lauren reading (along with the Poe book) & working on: The Murder Mystery Club Puzzle Book by Dr. Gareth Moore & Laura Jayne Ayr
January 19, 2026
Yesterday morning we took Heidi for a walk to the marina office area; it’s about a ¼ mile walk. The staff uses golf carts to get around. While checking out the boats that were further up the channel closer to the marina office, we met a couple who had just purchased their trawler and getting ready to begin their Loop. We chatted with them a bit mostly about the Loop. Once they finish the Loop, they will sell their boat. We had met quite a few Loopers who had purchased their boat just for the Loop and were planning on selling it once their trip was finished. Later that morning, Brian received a text that his membranes for the water maker had arrived and were dropped at the office. By this time, it had warmed up enough that short sleeves were comfortable. The staff would have gladly brought them to the boat, but we opted for another walk. There were two membranes (4 feet long by about a 3-inch diameter) were each boxed separately. They were packaged in a box that was at least the length of the membranes, about 4 inches deep and 3 feet wide; the waste especially since there wasn’t any cushion between them. The staff allowed us to unpack the membranes from the outer box; they would dispose of it. So, we each hefted the boxed membranes and walked back to the boat. Brian spent some time installing them and he said it went fairly smoothly; no issues. Since we had already filled out water tanks recently, we won’t be running the water maker right away. Brian also wants to put in a three-way valve to test the water as the water maker is making it. Brian believes this valve should have been part of the initial installation.
About noon time, a front came through with black skies and whipping winds. The sand on the restaurant property was blowing everywhere including on our boat. The restaurant employees were scrambling taking down umbrellas, laying the garbage cans down so they wouldn’t blow all over the place, clearing place settings, etc. The front lasted for several hours; the winds abated slightly, enough so that the restaurant still served meals, but it was c-o-l-d!!!
This morning, we threw off the dock lines about 8:30 and headed out to the channel. The ride was actually very pleasant; the river wide and deep (20 feet plus). We didn’t see much for boat traffic. There were long stretches of just nature on both sides of the river. We saw a massive orange grove and several farms. There were beef cattle that were at the water’s edge drinking. We passed several remote looking areas that had quite a few bee hives. We really didn’t see much for wildlife. Though in our first lock of the day, there was a manatee swimming around, so Lauren made sure she poked her way into the lock. We only had to wait for one swing bridge. We call ahead to let them know which direction we are heading and request the opening. The woman tender said to give her a minute. Lauren moseyed along so she wouldn’t have to hover near the bridge. The bridge tender was an older woman, using a cane and limping. She had to walk from the office at one end of the bridge to the middle of the bridge to operate it. It took her quite a while to get to the middle, then a few minutes to get the bridge to swing. She was very pleasant. The bridge opens on demand, so hope no one is in a hurry to get by.
About 1:15 we went through the Ortono Lock. There was a smallish power boat already in the lock holding the lines. This boat had passed us a few minutes before; came too close and waked us pretty good. Once we had our lines secured in the lock, Brian stepped to the side of the boat and chastised the guy for not slowing down on the pass and waking us. No other words were spoken or exchanged. When it was time to exit the lock, Lauren leaned out of the helm station and waved them ahead. The captain waved and smiled; hopefully he is more thoughtful when he encounters other boaters.
Just outside of the lock was an anchorage; decent size, so we decided to drop the anchor for the day. Brian got the anchor dropped; we sat on it for a few minutes to make sure it held and to see if we would be swinging. The winds were in the teens and there was quite a current. Brian put out the stern anchor so we wouldn’t swing, but it is too small for our boat and would not hold the boat in a position we were comfortable with. So, anchor up and onwards we went. We arrived in Moore Haven City at 3:45 and Lauren brought the boat in between two other boats that were already secured on the City Municipal dock. In front of us is Sea Gypsy. They, along with the couple behind us came out of their boats to see if we needed any help. We remembered Joe & Hallie from Sea Gypsy, but didn’t recognize the other couple. They are Jeff & Sarah on Why Knot, only 100 miles into their Loop journey. We stood around and chatted for quite a while. Tonight, we will all get together for dinner at the local restaurant.
Brian reading: Three Sheets to the Wind; The nautical origins of everyday expressions by Cynthia Barrett
January 20, 2026
Lauren made blueberry pancakes for breakfast; it was a chilly morning. After breakfast, we had a wonderful telephone chat with Paul & Jill who have finished their Loop; we miss our boat buddies. We took a walk into to the thrift store, dropped off a few items and perused the store; Brian found a few albums he was interested in and may return to buy them. From there we walked a bit further to the Dollar Store and purchased a few items. Back to the boat, Lauren took Heidi out for a stroll. Then it was prep dinner (vegetarian chili over rice). Brian worked on bills and on our route for tomorrow. We will leave Moore Haven Municipal dock Thursday morning, as the winds will be minimal. Why Knot, Sea Gypsy, Inspiration and a couple of other boats that are at the marina adjacent to us have decided to join us in crossing Lake Okeechobee. We are not having any luck finding a marina at the other end of the lake, but did find an anchorage that appears suitable. It will be about an 8.5-hour trip and will have at least 2 locks and at least one bridge.
January 21, 2026
Today we took a walk to the library which we could see from the boat. We brought along books we both had read hoping to donate. Yes, they accepted the books and had numerous books for sale. We spent a bit of time perusing the titles and making selections. We filled two and half paper bags and it cost us only $4.00; we made a monetary donation that pleased the librarians, so much so that they wanted to take our picture of us to upload to their Facebook account. We obliged, though Lauren despises having her picture taken.
Back on board, Brian turned on the water maker to see if it was working properly; it wasn’t. He called Richard, who he’s been consulting with regarding this issue. Richard suggested checking the impellor then try again. Brian will work on this again once we end our day tomorrow and also recheck that the membranes were installed correctly. We did luck out and got a reservation at a marina after traveling through Okeechobee Lake. The winds will subside tonight, making for a comfortable ride tomorrow. There are several boats that will be joining us across the lake. Last night, Brian was able to get a spot on the wall at Indian Town Marine Center.
Brian reading: The Web by Jonathan Kellerman
Lauren still reading Poe and working on the Murder Puzzle book.
January 22, 2026
This morning, we left our dock at 7am and started our journey for the day. Inspiration, Sea Gypsy, Why Knot, Blessed and Waterview all left at the same time. We averaged about 9 feet for depth all day. As long as we did not stray from the channel, we were fine. All of the boats got waked pretty good by one boat; others were gracious enough to ask for a slow pass. When you are out in the middle of Lake Okeechobee, it seems like we are in the middle of Great Lake or ocean as you cannot see land. It took 6.5 hours to complete the crossing of Lake Okeechobee including two locks (one at each end) and several bridges that we did not need to request openings for. The winds were under 10 knots, so it was an enjoyable ride, except for the fog that we encountered after our first lock. The fog enveloped us for several miles, so we all crawled along until it started to clear. Once we cleared the last lock on the lake, Blessed and Why Knot sped up as they were traveling further than the rest of us for the day. About a mile from our dockage, Brian spotted a huge alligator sunning himself. During the day we also saw a bald eagle, numerous cormorants, white and brown pelicans and a couple of Kingfishers. Our biggest surprise was siting a flamingo; first ever we’ve seen in the wild.
When we arrived at our final destination, there were 6 guys waiting to take our lines. Usually, there might be 1 or 2 or no deck hands when docking. We are tied up to a rather high concrete wall. It’s the first time on our trip that Brian had to go up to fly deck to hang a fender. Thankfully, our bow ramps up a bit, so getting off was actually not a problem. We were also met by two women; the welcome committee. Everyone was very pleasant. Brian had previously arranged to have a marine mechanic stop by to see if we could get electric winches for our dinghy instead of using the block and tackle system that Brian rigged – it’s not difficult to use, but with an electric winch, it would be much easier to swing the dinghy off of the fly deck. The mechanic stopped by shortly after tying up and had a discussion with Brian. He asked how much our dinghy weighed and will have a quote for us either this evening or first thing in the morning. If it’s a reasonable quote, we will most likely stay to have the work done.
January 24, 2026
Yesterday, Lauren wasn’t feeling well, so she had a down day. Sea Gypsy and Inspiration left, so it looks like we’ll be traveling solo once again. Indiantown Marine Center, is rather remote; no downtown to walk to. This really isn’t a marina; it’s a full-service shipyard offering haul-out, storage, dockage (on the cement wall, and repair services for recreational boats to larger workboats. The facility sits on 38 acres and has a 2,500-foot sea wall, that we are currently tied up to. All of the staff have been super friendly. There are restrooms, but no showers and no potable water. Thankfully, they can truck the water to us (for a fee, of course), but since we drink quite a bit of water and Lauren uses it for cooking, it’s worth it.
This morning, Brian met again with the mechanic to discuss what prep work he could do for the electric winch prior to us getting to Cocoa Village Marina where we will park the boat for at least a month. The boom was dismantled and taken away to be worked on. Monday, the mechanic will work on the boat getting it ready for the boom to be reattached.
Last night we had Rob & Bonnie over for docktails; it was their first time having docktails and they were happy to join us. They recently bought a Ocean Alexander powerboat and are having it outfitted. Once all the work is completed, they will be traveling to the Bahamas. Since they have a rental vehicle at their disposal, they offered to take us grocery shopping today (woohoo!) and any other place that Brian would be able to get odds and ends that are needed for the boat.
January 26, 2026
Foggy start to the day, but clearing up nicely. Today it will be in the 80’s as it has been for the last several days. Tomorrow a cold front comes through and we will be in the 60’s for the rest of the week and then dipping into the 50’s for a few days. Yesterday afternoon, Rob & Bonnie took us to Stuart for groceries, a stop at West Marine and then onto Charlies for a late lunch, early dinner. The place was packed; we got the last parking spot and the last table. The Patriots and Broncos were playing, so were sure that was the draw for this joint, though the food was good. This morning after breakfast, we measured the stays as Brian wasn’t sure how old they were and wants to replace them. He’s currently in the engine room changing out the oil. The other day he worked on an oil leak and thinks he finally resolved that issue. Since we’ve been here, we’ve been taking Heidi off-leash as the yard is rather large and pretty quiet with staff. Heidi’s been great. She sticks fairly close, stops and starts when we command her and will sit when a vehicle gets close; she’s loving it!
January 27, 2026
Woke to temps in the 40’s; big difference from the last several days. Guess we really can’t complain, as back home they are dealing with snow and frigid temps. After breakfast, Lauren took Heidi out for a long walk around the grounds, so cold and windy. Brian worked on the bottom half of one of the cockpit doors. This door looks like it will turn out better than the first one he did. Still waiting on winches, controllers and new stays for the mast. Also waiting to hear back about our electrical wiring for the new winches. We were supposed to be on our way to Cocoa Village Marina by now, but it looks like we won’t be leaving for another few days. Frustrating at times waiting on products and people.
Hope all is well and stay safe out there.