Just splashed Valkyrie in Fort Myers today!

V

Valkyrie

New member
Good evening Brats,

I launched Valkyrie in the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers a few hours ago and am amazed what a hot shower, clean clothes, a nicely grilled rare steak eaten at sunset and three cold ones can do for one's disposition! Especially after battling spring break traffic on I-95 and 75 for three hundred miles.

I left home on Tuesday and headed for NC to pick up Valkyrie at her winter home - Mobile East Marine, where Gene and Carrie took good care of her with routine maintenance and a few new tweaks and improvements to make life aboard better. Kudus to Mobile East, as always! After spending a few days there it was on to FL and a visit with an old Coastie buddy of mine before getting to Ft. Myers.

In a few days I'll take the rig to Beaufort, SC and rent a car to return to Valkyrie. Marcia flies in on the 10th and the next day we'll head east to the Okeechobee and pick up the ICW at Stuart and then head north, with our final destination at Marcia's parents' place in Beaufort, SC for a total trip of between 600 and 650 miles.

We hope to spend a few days in St. Augustine, Jekyll Island in GA and also some time Savannah before hauling the boat and heading back home. Our Carolinas cruise last year was Marcia's first taste of longer distance cruising and we both are very excited to get under way.

Unfortunately, there will be a few glitches in FL. Two locks on the Okeechobee Waterway are on restricted opening and could cause a two hour wait on each one, but hanging on the hook for a few hours on the water is MUCH better than dealing with spring break traffic. Also, I thought that the anchoring law garbage had been handled by the courts down here a few years back, but the city of Stuart has put some heavy restrictions on anchoring in Manatee Pocket, a beautiful anchorage a half mile west of the ICW. They insist that you must anchor 300 feet from any building, dock or shore, which pretty much negates anchoring in Manatee Pocket.

Jensen Beach, just north of Stuart, has just decided to not allow anchoring at all and a number of small towns are making anchored boats leave if they don't have a CG Aux Safety sticker, which LE says indicates that their boats aren't seaworthy or safe. Strange, I thought that was a voluntary sticker. Go figure.

Anyhow, I plan on keeping my fellow brats posted on our wanderings and will add pictures to our album, too.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Guess I spend too much time on Facebook. I was looking for the "Like" button. Have a great trip.
 
Hi Nick, We left Fl. Friday, sorry we missed you, we are back in NC. now. I heard that at one of the Locks on the Water Way over to the Big "O" they were going to close it to do work to the gates to protect the Matnitze. Might want to check this out. Have a great time. Jim
 
Jim,

Sorry I missed you, too.

They were going to close one of the locks from April to June, but at a meeting the locals who depend on the northern-bound boat traffic at this peak time pressured the Corps of Engineers and they changed the time frame to late May to mid-July for the repairs.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Valkyrie":cctgn9g2 said:
Good evening Brats,

Jensen Beach, just north of Stuart, has just decided to not allow anchoring at all and a number of small towns are making anchored boats leave if they don't have a CG Aux Safety sticker, which LE says indicates that their boats aren't seaworthy or safe. Strange, I thought that was a voluntary sticker. Go figure.
Click to expand...

You're correct that it is a voluntary inspection program. One has to wonder if these small towns are doing this for reasons other than safety such as to reduce transient use in order to free up space for their town residents. It's certainly unfriendly, which serves as a disincentive for visiting their towns and businesses.

rich
 
A lot of the towns in Florida have established their own mooring fields.
Sometimes the anchor regs seem to want to force you to use their mooring balls. Getting the C.G. AUX to give you a free inspection should be an easy task. I know there have been members of the boating community which were slime balls and creep shows disrespecting the enviroment by dumping raw sewage while living like squatters in general soaking up local services and not providing any sort of revenue for the local governments. I think some of this has caused good boaters to suffer. Enjoy the trip I hope the winds stay down.
D.D.
 
Nick--good cruising! We really enjoyed our visits with earlier this year. I encourage any C Brat who can meet up with Nick (and Marcia) to to so!

The anchoring issue in Florida is in a state of flux. There are experimental programs, which have state sanction--but there are also some local renegades which do not have state sanction.

Pint out and have aboard these:

http://www.boatus.com/gov/pdf/GA005FLAn ... er2011.pdf

An important part of this is:
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has already chosen four of the five locations for the pilot project. They are: Monroe County, which has mooring fields in Key West and Marathon; the City of St. Petersburg; the City of Sarasota and the City of St. Augustine. During the Commission's June meeting either the City of Miami/Dinner Key or the City of Stuart will be selected as the fifth participant.

Local governments, with the exception of the five test locations, still cannot restrict anchoring outside a mooring field. This prohibition against restricting anchoring will be in effect until at least 2014.

Both Salty South East (Clairborne Young) and Waterway Guide web sites will have up dates, as does Seven Seas Cruising Association discussion board.
 
Hi Nick, this is my first post. I am a c-dory want to be. About Stuart and a place to anchor up. There is a place called the Sun Parlor, it is in between two island and has limited depts thus very little boat wake or traffic. Ask a local where this area is located. It is approx half mile outside the pocket. Many locals spend the day in this spot to relax and socialize as it is out of the main channels. Good luck with your trip. I will be around learning from you and others til I get my chance to go exploring. But don't feel sorry for me as I get a lot of great Florida boating and fishing! Have fun, Tomm
 
Nick,
Don't forget to leave some time for Fernandina Beach, Fl. One of my favorites. Plus makes a great side trip to Cumberland Island. Enjoy.
Chris
 
Nick,
Don't forget to leave some time for Fernandina Beach, Fl. One of my favorites. Plus makes a great side trip to Cumberland Island. Enjoy.
Chris
 
Dr. Bob,

Thanks for your kind comments and Marcia will print out the page from BOAT US and bring it down with her next week.

Tomm,

Thanks for the tip on the anchorage. I'll check it out.

Chris,

Fernandina Beach is one of my favorites, too, and on our list. We plan on taking a mooring in their new (to me) mooring field if the wind doesn't make it too choppy.

All,

I had dinner with Jim and Loree (Jennykatz) tonight and we'll meet Roger (SuzieQ) next week. I just love being in sunny and warm Florida!

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
We just left that area of Florida to get back to Michigan for spring planting, arriving here 29 March... On the morning of the 30th I was surveying my boat which was covered with a half inch of wet snow and sleet - I wished I was back on CHarlotte Harbor...
Enjoy your trip...
 
Hi Brats,

I had an interesting day today here at the marina in Fort Meyers.

Early this morning a gentleman came up to Valkyrie with an inquiring look on his face and asked if we had been in the Chesapeake in June of 2008. We had and he mentioned that we had passed their boat and that he and his wife really liked and remembered our boat! He assured me that I hadn't done anything stupid or unsafe to cement our boat into their memory.

Then I was in the boaters' lounge this afternoon and while talking to a couple there I mentioned that I was on a C-Dory and they exchanged glances and asked, "Are you on Valkyrie? We saw you on the ICW in the Carolinas last May when we were heading north! We love those boats!"

Interestingly, both couples were on sailboats, but remembered seeing a C-Dory. That has to say something for the brand.

Anyway, Marcia flies in tomorrow and then we head across the state and then north to SC. We'll spend tomorrow afternoon exploring the Edison and Ford winter estates here in town. Also, tomorrow evening we'll have dinner with Roger, a C-Brat who owns Suzie-Q, a 22 cruiser.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi Al,

Are you back on your feet yet?

As you know, but our West Coast brothers might not, C-Dorys are not a common sight east of the Big Muddy, so one stands out in someone's memory if they haven't seen one before. I doubt an occurrence like this would happen in the PNW!

Give Pam our regards.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hey Nick!

Thanks for asking. I am once again living large & loving life! haha.

I told Pam two weeks ago, "I'm too damn old to feel this bad!". But all is well now. The doctors took care of me. :)

Pam says hello, give our regards to Marcia!

Al



Valkyrie":o1omwgqd said:
Hi Al,

Are you back on your feet yet?

As you know, but our West Coast brothers might not, C-Dorys are not a common sight east of the Big Muddy, so one stands out in someone's memory if they haven't seen one before. I doubt an occurrence like this would happen in the PNW!

Give Pam our regards.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
Click to expand...
 
Hi Brats,

Marcia and I are anchored in New Tea Kettle Creek in the marshes of GA about 56 miles south of Savannah. We have the anchorage all to ourselves, but can see the anchor lights of a few sailboats in the distance, but only if we are at high tide like we are now. Low tide and they disappear as we drop below the tops of the marsh grass. Tide range is about 8 feet. (BTW: we have a free tide app on the iPad that is very handy for cruise planning)

No problems crossing the Okeechobee Waterway and we met an interesting character at Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston, hard on the west side of the lake. His name is Little Man, the dock master. He is about five foot nothin', struts about like a bantam rooster, but really knows his stuff when it comes to boats and docking. He will do one wrap around a dock cleat, stretch the line tight from about six feet away and then throw 2-3 wraps, including a lock down wrap with just a flick of the wrist. Amazing.

We anchored in Manatee Pocket in Stuart and had no problem with any hassle about anchoring, despite their new law. Then it was on to Melbourne where we hid out for two days due to weather. Titusville was our next stop where we grabbed a mooring.

Then it was a long run to Marineland Marine, just south of St. Augustine. About ten miles south of there, in Flagler Beach, we were in a land cut with nice homes lining the ICW and surprise, there was a CD 25 down a small channel. We went exploring and discovered that it was Blues Cruiser, another C-Brat boat! Amazingly, her owners came out of their house and were just as surprised as we were to see another CD on the ICW.

Marineland Marina was great at $1 a foot and right across from the beach. We heard the surf crashing all night long. Marineland, the original Sea World, founded in the 30's, is not what I remember from the TV shows of my youth, but we did see some dolphins up close. We also took a kayak tour of the estuaries in the area one morning.

We spent a day in St. Augustine and did a tram tour, but we're disappointed in the cheap, touristy "entertainment" shops and "attractions" that predominated the tour. Not surprising though. However, we did tour the centuries-old fort and back "pirate" streets with their neat shops and restaurants. I wish we had another day to explore the old churches and museums. It's a beautiful old town. When we got back to our mooring I found an email from the owners of C-Tide (Alabama) who had spotted us from the sea wall and they offered to end us a picture of Valkyrie that they took. The CD world is indeed small at times.

We spent yesterday exploring the old town of Fernandina Beach after coming in during a near-zero visibility rain storm. The Marine Trawlers Owners Association was having a multi-day rendezvous at the marina and there were plenty of great boats to check out. We docked next to a beautiful Ranger 27 from MI. We also spotted Toyman's former boat, Fan-C-Dory in the marina, but no sign of the new owner. It took us a while to remember that the boat looked familiar because we had been aboard a few years back on the Erie Canal when our wakes crossed.

We ran close to 90 miles today, electing to add close to 15 miles to our trip by running back creeks to avoid St. Andrews Sound, where the ICW runs a mile or so in the Atlantic. The route runs through rough water and the main turn is close to a buoy that has waves breaking on shoals on both sides. The Cruisers' Net noted a few days ago that one local tow company will not let its boats respond to that area due to the danger involved. Overcautious on our part? Maybe so, but we saw some beautiful marshland on our detour.

Tomorrow it's on to Savannah and the following day to Dataw Island Marina just north of Beaufort, where my in-laws live. We'll pull Valkyrie a day or two after that for the ride back to Ohio. The weather is a bit iffy the next two days with lots of rain and chance of thunderstorms. Early starts are planned for both days.

Sorry if I rambled on a bit, or maybe even more than that! It's been a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. Will post some pictures in a few days.

Regards,

Nick and Marcia
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi Nick,
Thanks for posting you Crusing trip, At Roland Martins Marina we met Little Man also, they were having a big weekend there you had to have Rev. to get a table, we did not know that for for that weekend, He told us he would get us in for Dinner if he could. He came to Pandy Girl & SusieQ and said he had 4 seats for us with some others, great time. He is the MAN. Maybe we can do some of that trip sometime with Susie Q great ones to Cruise with.
Jim & Sandy
 
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