It
was suppose to get up to 68 today but we don't think it got anywhere
near that and is now 59 degrees...brrrr! We were cool enough today
to not only wear three layers of shirt, sweater and jackets on deck
but also on the bridge. If there is just a little bit of sunshine we
are always toasty warm up on the helm....but there was none today.
In the next couple of days the temps may drop down into the 30s.
This is Florida, right?
I
was chilled coiling up the lines on deck as we backed out of our
slip this morning. That's a canal boat to the left of the
photo...the owner got it on the Erie Canal.
Under
this bridge and into the channel of the Caloosahatchee
River....making our way toward Lake Okeechobee.
Some
of the waterfront here in Fort Myers.
When
a bridge is only 3 feet high and not so busy with train traffic, it is
left open.
A
LOCK! When the Captain told me we had about 3 miles to the first of
4 locks we would go through before getting to the other coast of FL I
started to panic.....old brains forget so easily! Would I remember
what to do after going through about 145 locks already...some of them
huge ship locks?!.... I preceded to rig the lines mostly for the
starboard side...our preferred side for locking....but also got them
started for other side. THEN the lock master handed me the
two lines I would cleat off on Miss gg...no need for our own lines!
Here we are getting the green light to enter the lock.
We
saw a wide variety of sights along the river today. Here are cattle
in the back yard of this house!
Then
these two homes
We
thought this was a nice idea....the large screened-in area, or cage
as some call it, around the patio and pool was incorporated into the
home's roof design.
And
right next door....more cattle!
Orange
Groves! Thought we would see more of these ...perhaps later as we
make our way up the River.
Finally,
some color!
Swing
Bridge.......two boats going the opposite way had called the Bridge
tender several times and so had the Captain but no response. I was on the bow
when my Captain told me he was going to blow the horn. So glad to
get this warning! But I held on the rail anyway cause even if you
know it's coming it is so very LOUD! About 2 seconds later after the
horn blowing, the bridge tender called and said the bridge would be
opened in just a minute...guess he was sleeping or his radio was off.
All
up and down this river were many little side canals...all with fairly
small boats but this one really surprised us...so much so that we
turned the boat around to get a picture of it. Looked kinda like an Ocean
Liner!
Tonight
we are tucked in at the Free City Docks at LaBelle...nice new docks
but no finger piers so to get off we have to climb down from the
bow....too cold for us to spend time off the boat anyway. We arrived
about 230p but took a while to tie Miss gg securely on rather loose
piles...definitely not driven into the river bed....they are wobbly! High winds coming at 4a.......
The
Captain helped this sail boat dock as she slid in between us and
another boat filling this dock completely tonight.
Miss
gg is on the far left.
Good
night from chilly central FL.
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