Happy New Year to all

For obvious reasons this has been a momentous year for Jo and I.  We retired, sold our house and cars and moved onto Dream Weaver and set out for the Bahamas.

You are here because you are aware of our adventure and how it is going so far.  For those who read my tomes as one disaster after another it really isn't a bad experience it's just that the disasters are newsworthy!

Here in Bradenton we are thoroughly enjoying the company of Jon and Janice and their extended families over the holidays.  

A little street bowling the other day sharpened our skills for this popular sport.

We have our freezer back in operation and any doubt we had as to whether it was a fridge/freezer or a freezer have been dispelled.  It's a freezer and a good one.  I have the inverter back and will be re-installing it in such a way that I can easily bypass it in the event it should fail again.  A host of other little fixes have been and are being done as we enjoy the warm weather here.

Next week we have an appointment to haul the boat at Snead Island to find out what is causing the vibration.  The Dream Weaver team will relocate to Jon and Janice's place for a couple of days.

Merry Christmas

A brief message to wish all our family and friends in Canada and elsewhere a very happy holiday.  We will post as we can but plan to be at various places until the new year.  Thanks to Eric (aka Boat Guy) for the round of drinks from a distance today.  I think Megan got as much of a kick out of that as we did!

Here's the first mate enjoying the last hot day for a while:

A typical day...is it?

Today, the Tech came to look at the freezer/fridge that stopped working en route.  When we pulled out the freezer/fridge to clean it and make it ready for inspection, we turned it on and found that the compressor fan was stalled.  That pretty much set out the repair necessary and the Tech confirmed it.  Question now is:  Can we find a replacement fan?

Later, I decided to order a new blind for the forward hatch.  When i removed the existing one I found it had been leaking.  So, having removed the old screen and ordered a new one, I had to removed the hatch and re-bed it on the deck.  Copious quantities of sealant later...all done.

Then we wandered over to Pier 22 for lunch under Megan's expert bar-tending.

After that we needed to relax in the hot tub.  So we did.

Then it was time for Spooky to get some air.

I forgot to mention that, yesterday, we removed the Erie Canal/Dismal Swamp/Okeechobee brown stain all over the hull.  I bought a garden sprayer designed for bleach to spray hydrochloric acid on the hull.  Removes anything and, in salt water, is benign.  We have a white hull again!

Enough for one day.

Still here!

It was cool today...but only by Florida standards.  We felt for all of our friends at home.  

I, wait for it......, finished the Christmas lights and put them up.

So, all you naysayers, there it is.  Each point of light changes through 9 colours! Just like I said it would.

The Dream is Alive...

...just resting in our temporary home.  We have been restocking, doing odd jobs around the boat and lining up contractors to do the fixing for the running gear (haul Jan 7th) and fridge (next week) and generator (TBD).

The weather has been spectacular and, even as cold (73 F) as it was today I still used the heated pool and hot hot tub after I had re-plumbed our shore water inlet and rewired the TV shoreline.  We have 100 channels of standard definition cable to go with 44 HD channels from our off-air antenna..

The sunset tonight was very pretty:

Who knows what this portends for tomorrow!

Though we won't be posting everyday here, we will post an update as things get done.

TTFN....

We made it...

We are in Bradenton.  It feels good.  I did not enjoy the trip today. Too much skinny water!!  We will hope the tide works for us on the return leg.  We encountered three bridges we needed to open, only one of which we had to wait for.  The others opened as we arrived.  This one was high enough closed for us to pass under.

This is the Sarasota skyline as we passed by.

And this is our initial destination for two and a half months.  Bradenton's Twin Dolphin Marina.

Here, we regroup, fix and amend systems and enjoy family for Christmas and New Year.  It is good to have stopped for a while.  Our battery charger failed en route.  I think its location in the engine bay is bad - another Sea Ray gem of design thought.  I will move it to the other side of the bulkhead it is mounted on to a forward compartment to make it easier to replace and give it a cooler location to function.

Lunch tomorrow with Jon and Janice at the marina and dinner at Mast Drive!

Cape Haze

Usual stuff...left blah blah at 0750 blah blah.  It was a normal cruise until we realized we had two dolphins along for the ride.  They were riding in the first wake wave on our starboard side.  I heard splashes first and then blows from their breathing.

They were swimming sideways as if they were looking at us.  Very playful and totally captivating.

They followed along with us for almost half an hour until we had to slow down for a Manatee Zone.

Today was the second really warm day of our trip.  I have to say, I thought of our family and friends up in Ottawa frequently.

The marina I chose for today was special. This place holds a lot of memories.

This particular marina was where Dream Weaver (under its previous name) was kept when Jo and I first went to take a look at it.  I moved the boat from here to winter storage until Jon and I could bring her home.  I had forgotten how nice it was!

There's more...

See the pool?  Joe, Brandy and Grace would have loved this!

Naturally I was in the pool within 45 minutes of docking.

Spooky got to walk the dock in her harness and then was contented with watching the world go by.

Tomorrow is the big day...the last day for a while.  Bradenton.

We're on the Gulf Coast!

It was a beautiful morning when we set off for Fort Myers.  It stayed that way pretty much the whole day but got much warmer.

This boat seems to have been at anchor a very long time:

The local bird population liked it and and a few buzzards watched us pass.

Any home that had a boat at the river also had a lift to keep it out of harms way of wakes from discourteous passing boaters.  This 40 foot sailing catamaran (the mast is stowed on the side) was a bit unusual for being rather large on a lift.

We approached Fort Myers on a very narrow channel and the bridges beckoned.  We are in the City Marina and have visited the local Publix supermarket already for provisions.  Top on the list was a bottle of Champagne for when we arrive in Bradenton at last.  Two more days!!!

Lake Okeechobee and Moorehaven

We seem to be getting up better as we approach our first goal.  We were able to be underway by 0740 this morning.  The canal was calm but we saw fires in the distance.

Birds were abundant.  Fishing must be great here.  I think I saw an alligator but now I am not sure.

Crossing Lake Okeechobee itself was no issue.  There was no wind and no waves.  The autopilot held us so much on course our track line was concealed by our route line.  However, concentration was key!!

Jon and I spent a few days on the west side of lake Okeechobee at Clewiston when a relay on my port engine failed.  It was an epic adventure (= days at Tiki Bar).  So we bypassed Clewiston completely.

Instead we headed to Moorehaven.  A nice town dock with power and water at a buck a foot was ideal.

Spooky got to stretch her legs as well.  Fort Myers tomorrow...

Crossing Florida!!!

It seems like it has taken forever to get here but we are now crossing Florida with Bradenton only a few days away.

Vero Beach disappeared in our rear view mirror at 0750 this morning.  And a fine morning it was!

Unlike the last few, this morning was sunny with blue sky.

We slowly passed "OokPik", a trawler from Ottawa.  We talked for a while on the radio with them.  Nice folks who have been doing for 4 years what Jo and I are starting out to do.

We passed through the meandering channels in Stuart to get onto the Okeechobee waterway.  Once through the Saint Lucie Lock we entered River Forest marina.  Although this is mostly a hurricane hole storage centre it is one of the most well kept marinas we have stayed in.  Spooky loved walking on the grass.

Dream Weaver looks very much at home amongst some very nice yachts!

Yes, that's a Hinckley party boat in the foreground.

This is what it looks like without its clothes at the waterline:

Twin waterjets give it a very shallow draft.  However, we have heard that this model was very troublesome for Hinckley with substantial reliability issues.

This is a Pershing 62's business end.  This time with Arneson drives (without props):

We plan to cross Lake Okeechobee tomorrow.  The forecast is very favourable.

I hope this is a more upbeat posting since Joe has complained that I am sounding a bit low.  Also, I want to thanks all who have commented.  For some reason I can't answer in the comments section!  I know some folks are looking but please keep the comments coming!

Vero Beach

Travelling from Cocoa Beach to Vero Beach was boring.  Fog was forecast and it didn't materialise.  Rain was forecast and it didn't materialise.  We saw loads of dolphins, Jo saw her first manatee.  It was overcast and clammy all day.

Then we got to Vero Beach and the houses started to appear.  Big ones, cool ones.  Those are all I photographed today and they follow shortly.  We are in the City marina and thankfully I reserved ahead because they are full and turning folks away.

Check out the statute in front of the main window...

We just found out that it rained here, a lot, today and a bunch of folks didn't leave.  That's why it's so busy!

Jon and I stopped here on our infamous trip to bring the boat home.

"Intrepid" is obscuring our view at the moment!

Vero Beach is our last stop on the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway.  Tomorrow we start our crossing of Florida via the Okeechobee Waterway.  I know!  You can't wait can you?

Later...

To Cocoa Beach

Left the dock at 0725 for the 64 miles run to Cocoa Beach.  It started quite sunny but quickly deteriorated into a marine-layer covered cool day.  Most of the run was on wide-open waters with a narrow Intra-Coastal channel which we had to stay in.

Loads of wildlife.  Birds everywhere, of course, but I did see my first Manatee in amongst a million dolphins.

These guys had an interesting combination flag:

Not sure what to make of this.  An experiment gone wrong?  There is a YouTube video here.

This bridge is the rail link to Cape Canaveral.

This is the little tug that could.  After it got abeam our boat we could see that the big one was pushing the little one!

We are in a Cocoa Beach marina for the night and will head out to Vero Beach tomorrow.  The goal is to be in Bradenton by December 7th or 8th.

Daytona Beach

We left St Augustine yesterday at 0745.  An uneventful trip to Daytona Beach but loads of vastly different waterfront homes along the route made it very enjoyable.  This boathouse had an interesting array of roof lines.

No bridges to be opened for us. This one opened for the sailboat in front of us.  We could have cleared under it when closed.

Arrived at Daytona early afternoon in a very strong North Easterly wind. Bridges dominate!

This is Eric following in LetsWet.  He was surrounded by Canadian boats on this leg.  One was from Ottawa, another from Peterborough.

Docking took a steady hand!  But clear instructions and great dock hands made it much easier.  Jo needed a glass of wine after a hard day first-mating!

The marina is one of the largest we have stayed in. 550 slips.  This an aerial view from their web site:

You don't quite get the impression of size from the ground.

We couldn't get a reservation for our next stop until tomorrow so we will stay another day here before moving to Cocoa Beach.