Westward across the Florida peninsula....

Friday, January 18, 2019

Hello friends!  Thought I’d share some more pictures so you can get a feel for what’s been happening aboard Oceanus.  We spent a day being tourists in Ft. Pierce - a beautiful, sunny and relatively warm day, and a brand-new-to-us city to explore.  We took an extended dinghy ride, but couldn’t find any place to access the nearby Fort Pierce Inlet State Park from the water.  Disappointing because we were going to try our hands at Geocaching there (but we’ll have to wait and try it somewhere else - more on that later).  So we took the dingy to Hutchinson Island and visited the St. Lucie County Aquarium (small but informative). We walked out to Jetty Park, and Mark just had to stop for pizza on the way back.  Here are some pics from our day:

Much of the area waterways are for idle speed only - slow going but beautiful scenery!

The brown lump in the center of the picture is a manatee!

Sketchy place to land our dinghy, but best access available for our quick trip to the grocery store!

Pelicans at Jetty Park in Ft. Pierce

Another colorful sunset

Ft. Pierce waterfront pathway towards Jetty Park

Zoom in on this picture and you may recognize someone....

A bunch of pelicans roosting in a mangrove tree/bush

This morning, we pulled up anchor and headed towards Stuart, FL and into the canals that cut across the middle of the Florida peninsula.  We went through two locks:  the easternmost lock raised us up 10-11 feet!  The second lock was right before we entered Lake Okeechobie, and there was no level difference (cruised right through the lock).  Another extremely calm day for crossing the Lake (it was the same when we crossed two years ago).  I find the lake a bit creepy - not sure why, but it may have something to do with the likely presence of alligators.

It feels strange having the morning sun behind us (heading west)!

What most of the scenery looks like crossing the peninsula - very rural

Lock before entering Lake Okeechobie - no water level change needed

Going underneath I-95

Peaceful but creepy Lake Okeechobie

We were able to tie up to a couple "dolphins" (strange name for wooden piling clusters) on the west side of Lake Okeechobie for the night.  And although it's somewhat pretty, this is indeed the creepiest place we've stayed yet.  Mark plans to wait until dark then look for alligator eyes with the spotlight - I don't think I'll partake in the fun, as I don't truly want to know what exactly is right outside our boat.

Tied off for the night (bow and stern lines tied to two different dolphins)
on the western edge of Lake Okeechobie.  

We have about 50 miles left to go to get to the Gulf Coast tomorrow.  There are predictions for some very strong winds to arrive on Sunday, so hopefully we will be anchored somewhere protected and secure by then.

Thanks so much for tuning in with us - we’ll be adding more adventures soon!!!

: )  Mark, Sheryl and Thug