Making way but oh boy, is it HOT!!

If the boat stops, there is no breeze! It is 100% humidity out there and when we turned he aircon on in the salon, half an hour ago, it was almost 89F. ...and that's inside! It was more than that outside, with temps being recorded past 95F, today, according to the marina weather forecaster.

The alarm woke us at 6.30am, and we were happy to get up. We had no aircon on last night, just our new vornado fan, in the bedroom, and while it circulates the air beautifully, it was hot air. Waz had turned the air con on briefly before retiring, but it was still 85F down there when we went to bed.

We had a cup of our usual Community Coffee as we brought the anchor up and motored on our way out of our anchorage and into the ICW channel through Fort Meyers downtown. There was a large motor yacht up our butts, so we did a slow pass and were happy to let him go. We heard his calls ahead to the various bridges and locks, as we went. We assumed the fella on the fly deck was a Capt. for hire. There was nobody else aboard.

In the space of ten minutes, the sky went from morning pink to gold!:)

 

 

 

Making our way back through the narrow markers to take a sharp left turn under the bridge. Waz decided to do a 360 in place, just for fun!

The Crabber was out early, checking his pots. These guys work hard, so really appreciate any crabs you eat!

 Our first bridge of the day, a Rail Bridge, was open and the sun was climbing!

Trains do actually use these tracks, but we have never seen one!

 Same bridge with the sun on it, after we have gone through.

We are on the Caloosahatchee River...there is a long day ahead of us...probably 7 hrs motoring. That's why we were up so early.

 Done and dusted...our first lock of three, today.

 The further east we went, the more farmland there was. Remember, we are travelling on the Caloosahatchee River, eastbound to cross Lake Okeechobee, in the center of the state. That is our mission tomorrow, weather permitting. We are told there will be light to moderate chop, which is what we had last time we crossed, and it wasn't too bad.

This swing bridge we had to wait for the operator to open. He wouldn't open coz he said he couldn't see us on the river yet. When we had been sitting around for 5 mins, we called him again, and he said he now saw us. He sure took his time slowly walking to the middle of the bridge to open it for us.

 I was steering, so Waz took this photo of a tree full of egrets. I thought they were flowers, at a glance...silly me:) Our wake shook the tree, and there was a mass exodus!

 16 miles to our overnight dock at Moore Haven. Yay! Port Mayaca is on the other side of the Lake. That will be the second lock we go through tomorrow...the first being just ahead of us at the dock. Moore Haven Lock.

 These three boats were waiting on the other side of the lock going west, when we came up the 8 feet into the river. The middle boat was waaaay over our side, and it didn't look like he was going to move for us to come out! aieee! Some of these bigger boat owners are so pushy and rude! We had a couple of rude passes today, with the captains looking at us like we should just put up with their wake..heavens!

 This fella on his airboat looked like he was having fun....I have decided I might like one of these!!:)

Nearly there....Moore Have Lock, and out the other side, making a sharp right turn, alongside Lake Okeechobee. We arrived to find an empty town dock, thank goodness, and tied up for the night. Hotter than hell and we were dripping wet by the time we crossed the road to pay out overnight fees at the county office. We cracked up when we saw the two ladies in the office wearing sweaters! sheesh!...they were complaining of too much cold air in the office. To our way of thinking, there can never been enough cold air on a day like today!
We can have the aircon on tonight..yayayayaya! we are plugged into the dock!

 ...and there we are on the dock! No huge wind like there was last year, thank goodness.

Since we have been sitting here at the dock, two more huge sport fishers have passed with considerable wake....there was another coming up behind, and I went out on the cockpit deck and waved him down in speed. He did come down, but we still bobbed around like a cork..this is NOT good for our ropes and fenders or boat. This is a slow speed zone, so what part of that don't the Capts understand? I might sound picky, but rules are made for all of us to enjoy the roads and waterways. Some people are just arrogant and don't think theses rules apply to them, sigh!

It is 4pm, and Waz has been napping for the past hour. The cabin is now down to 77F, and the two fans are blasting the cooler air around so that it is tolerable, now. I will finish up here and go and finish my book. I think I have read this one before, but I will just have to finish it to know:) We have a few more in the library, so I will enjoy beginning another before the night is through.

I think we will stay in for dinner tonight...apart from the heat, the choice of local restaurants don't sound very appetizing. We like our own food too.

A loud cracking sound just sent me outside. I thought something had fallen over, but it is the thunder storm we had been expecting. The lightening is spectacular. We wont want to be underneath it, let me tell you!

Two more boats coming, and the yacht looks like it is aiming for the dock, We might need to help.

Ciao until tomorrow night on the other side at Stuart.