TRAVELS of "CONDUCTANCE"

We made it.  We made it to the Atlantic Ocean.  No more fresh water and back to the salt.  We had unhooked from the dolphin and started to head east toward Stuart Florida.  The travel was with light winds, a few fishermen and a lot of scenery of the lifestyle of the folks on the east coast.  Boats became larger and we were passing more of them.   It must have been the day for the animals. Making our way east we saw our first alligator and also some horses coming to the water for a drink.  We locked through our last lock, St Lucie Lock with an 8 foot drop.  It was easy.  Hold the line and let it out.  Down is so much easier than going up in all locks.  As we were leaving I yelled to Scott “manatee”.  Directly in front of our bow was the beautiful manatee diving and swimming.  We slowed completely down and only pushed through as needed until the gentle giant was past.  Apparently it wanted a ride in the lock.

Down the St. Lucie Canal towards the St. Lucie River andthe many boats we would pass.  They come within only about 10 feet of your boat at full speed.  It’s creepy to this laker girl.  No one slows down.  You rock all the time from so much wake.  It seems strange to us as we always slow for the boats that pass, but that’s in the north.  Down here it’s all about doing whatever works.  There is so much boat traffic that is it normal to come so close to each other.  It’s just different to us but Scott is getting used to it already.

We found our home at Manatee Pocket, a very busy inlet.  We are staying the night at Sailfish Marina.  It’s mainly a fishing marina with large deep sea fishing boats. There isn’t a lot of slips available so we are at the end of the fuel dock.  It’s actually a great spot to watch the boats go by.  The marina has laundry, gas and diesel, wifi that works.  We con’t need much more than that.  We did, however, head out on the dingy to dinner at Shirmper’s Raw Grill.  A lovely dinner on an open patio.  We ended up traveling back to the boat after dark.  The boat traffic was gone.  I think we passed one boat.  The interesting thing to us is how many boats are anchored and look like they haven’t moved in years.  They are just anchored out in the open area, with their dingy attached.  Liveaboards we are assuming.

We have been looking for a slip to leave the boat at for the 4 months at home.  Not an easy task as it seems.  We are looking at leaving her on the hard for the duration which hasn’t proved to be any cheaper really.  Wet slip real estate is slightly higher priced but not significant.  We are thinking that she might be better out of the salt water and wait for our return when we come back to move north.  Forgetting that Monday is an official holiday we are finding several places closed.  That could change the date for departure home by at least one day.

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Waking up to a hot shower and prepared breakfast that is provided for marine guests here at The Moorings was a nice reprieve.  A few loopers arrived today from the various ports along the Panhandle.  Everyone is in the waiting period to cross The Gulf.  Weather looks like the best on Wednesday so I think that’s when we’ll go.  A few slower moving boats are looking at a crossing Wednesday to Thursday or Thursday to Friday.  It’s always a conversation here in Carrabelle.

We went into town today to pick up a new hose that froze along our route and had a bulge that would be nasty if it let go.  It was inside the boat where the connection was.  It’s not a far walk to the grocery store, post office, hardware store, restaurant.  Actually where we are on the east side of The Moorings I think its closer to those amenities than it is to the laundry, restrooms, breakfast and showers.  It is a brisk walk when its 28 F here in the morning.

Scott did some maintenance on the engines for the journey ahead of us.  Changing out the racors a bit earlier than needed but they should be good now for the remainder of the Florida portion as well as up the east coast a bit.  I’m sure there was more than that that he checked in the 2 plus hours he was in the engine compartment but I won’t bore with the details. I cleaned up the boat and checked for anything we might need.  I’m sure that once we hit Clearwater we will have most amenities available.  It’s just getting there.

We’ve been skyping and texting Aiden and his brother, Steve, back home.  It’s looking like about 10 cm of snow overnight.  A snow day may happen for them in Niagara tomorrow with forecasts of snow and freezing rain.

As we sit here looking out over the Carrabelle River it has calmed to glass.  The lights reflect off the no wind evening and almost full moon night.  The pelicans are back on their perches at the pillars near our bow.  It’s a beautiful night but cold.  The heat is still on in the boat and we’re supposed to be in Florida.  At least we are here and not in Niagara…….

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We are very shaken up after last night as the wind howled and gale winds were reported in the area.  Both Scott and I woke up around 3:00 AM to check lines and fenders as the wind hit the stern from the north.  Aiden of course, slept through it all.  Today the sun is out but the winds have not let up.  The lines to keep Conductance secure are working hard with gusts reported over 30 mph.  The temps are low in the 40’s.  We have our portable heaters going as well as the internal heaters.  With the back in canvas its a battle that just keeps us warm enough to not be cold.  At least we can use the back space instead of being stuck in the cave.

We went for a brisk walk into town with our parkas on, hoods on and hands in pockets.  Instead of the requirement of the ice cream stop today it was hot chocolate and tea.  Apalachicola is such a cute town.  I think it is better than Panama City.  More to offer for the tourist, a little rustic and lots of history.  The boys tried to fix our “Bruce the Beaver” who lost his lantern and wires breaking.  A little solder and heat shink and its off to the store to find the appropriate rechargeable battery.  We came back empty handed.  Every battery could be found except the standard one we needed.  So Bruce has to wait to see if the fix worked.  Aiden and his work buddy are working on their school presentation to be delivered on Monday.  It’s all being done by wifi, facetime, and imessage.  Good job boys.  Scott is working on some fine tuning for the new electronics that he installed.  Some communication is not being delivered to the screen so he’s looking up info for the debug.  He never stops working.

Lady V passed us today on her way to Carabelle.  Have a very tall bevy.  You deserve it after that journey.

The weather folks are saying that the window for crossing on Tuesday is not looking good.  Hopefully it will be Wednesday but there have been reports that the weekend may be the next opportunity.  It isn’t unusual to have to wait to cross.  It’s approximately 184 miles to the Clearwater area which means about 7 -7.5 hours at 25-28 mph.  It’s a longer haul for those tht only travel about 7-9 mph which a lot of loopers actually go at top speed.

We’ve booked a flight for Aiden to leave in the morning to go home.  We’ll drop him off at the gate (one of us can go in to the gate waiting area to hand him off to the flight attendant), then he’ll go to his connector flight where he’ll be met by a representative from the airline to make sure he gets to his connector where they will hand him off again.  My mom will pick him directly up from the gate in Buffalo from the attendants there.  I told him that he is getting the celebrity treatment with all the attention he is going to get while he travels.  Aiden and his entourtage, we’ll never hear the end of it!

It looks like we are going to be shaken for at least the next 24-48 hours.  This cold front coming through is not a fast mover.  At least we are snug at a marina instead of anchored out or traveling.  Our next leg to Carabelle may not be for a bit if the winds stay at 25 mph as predicted.

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Normally we don’t like marinas.  It’s usually us out there for days on the hook enjoying nature.  What’s happened is its cold.  Way to cold.  So marinas offer everything and entertainment and meeting new people.  It’s been different but having to not run the gen constantly is a welcome advantage.

Today we passed through 4 locks.  The Pickwick, Whitton, Montgomery and the Rankin.  We called ahead to all of them to let them know we would be passing through.  They were very accommodating with only about a 15 minute wait at one and none at a couple others.  Made our long 7.5 hour day move a bit faster.  The winds picked up as we passed from The Tennessee River to the Tennessee=Tombigbee River.  Now on the Tenn-Tom the reality of new frontier awaits.  Heading down the Tenn Tom we notice that it is a summer’s dream.  Lots of cottages and spaces to swim and enjoy those summer days and nights.  It eventually continues into a man made canal section until it meanders back into a river.  The river is shallow with a max depth of around 12 -15 ft deep.  The waterway was made to allow boat traffic to come up from The Gulf and make its way with its wares to various cities along these inland rivers, all the way to Chicago.  It only opened in the 80’s and recreational boaters are very much interested in this part of the inland river system in the USA.  The marinas are saying they had more Great Loopers this year than in years past.

Passing through locks is a task that is so familiar to us but in this chill its a bit different.  Sometimes we were “rained on” by the lock, sometimes the gusty winds churned in the lock and sometimes it is just cold out at 7AM.  We try to be off the boat by no later than 2PM or earlier which is when the winds can kick up.  So now we are tucked in on the end of the dock at Midway Marina in Mississippi.   They shut the water off without telling us because it is supposed to get into the 30’s after 2 AM..  It’s 6:00PM and even after I called to ask about water they didn’t turn it on.  I now have a sink full of dinner dishes  with some water in the tank but we would have filled up more.  Wifi is terrible and guaranteed you will rock if there is any wind or wake from a tow.  So between these several issues we are not happy.

Scott is looking at the engines doing a once over and checking fluid levels.  Aiden is doing homework on the wifi.  I think it will be an early night as we try to push on as far as possible tomorrow.  Still have several locks to get through until Mobile, AL.

Isn’t this just great.  The heat pump relay just went.  Now he’s in the engine compartment rigging up something so we have heat.  Good thing we have back up with 3 marine heaters just in case.  Note to self if ever you boat in the mid south in December to bring, mitts, toques, scarves, parkas, heater back up, blankets, extension cords, slippers, and of course your sense of humour.

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