Hurricane Charley - 10th Anniversary

Governor Jeb Bush with Joanne at Hurricane Charley's

Today is the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Charley making a direct hit on our charming town, Punta Gorda.  We were not here then, but have heard from many people all about it.  It's just remarkable how the town has come back so much better for it! 

There are wonderful biking trails now, a revitalized downtown area and most importantly, involved members of the community who are constantly improving it through work on Team Punta Gorda.  Recently, I was a member of a Team group called Paint Your Heart Out, where we painted and improved blighted property.  It is awesome how a committed bunch can make an area so special and spectacular!

Ten years ago Governor Jeb Bush and President George Bush visited our town to view the devastation - and today, Jeb Bush was back to celebrate its rising from the ashes to the vibrant place it is now.  Check out my picture with him!

Cruising the South Pacific

Chuck, Trudy, Gary, Sherry, Joanne & Richard holding the PGIslander burgee with Bora Bora in the distance

"Richard, wouldn't it be awesome to charter a catamaran and cruise the South Pacific?" I said last year when discussing our travel plans.  "It's been quite a while since we've done a charter and we sure enjoyed cruising with John Allison and our Texas friends in TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association)."  "What about asking our Florida friends in the PGIslanders?"  And so it went.  Before we knew it, our friends, Trudy & Chuck and Sherry & Gary were all signed up. We needed a 4th couple, though.  Fortunately, Trudy's Iowa friends, Cathy and Dennis, decided to come and the plan became a reality.

The day of June 28th finally arrived.  Our plane flights took us from Ft Myers via Houston via Los Angeles via Kona, Hawaii (with a week's stop over to visit our daughter, Michele) via Honolulu via Papette, Tahiti to Raiatea, French Polynesia, a distance of 5,826 nautical miles that crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere.  Sherry & Gary greeted us and whisked us away to a beautiful staging motel, Sunset Beach, where they were storing our grocery provisions.  We were the last of the gang to arrive and we celebrated with a welcome toast and then zip lined into the water off their gorgeous dock.

Our catamaran, Tatia, at anchor in front of Bora Bora

Next day we boarded, Tatia, a gorgeous 44 ft. catamaran with 4 staterooms and 4 heads (AKA bathrooms), large outdoor seating areas and a trampoline for star gazing.  This was our ship for 10 glorious days of cruising and snorkeling the nearby islands of Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora and Huahine. 



Staghorn coral

Our first stop was memorable - the Coral River, simply the best snorkeling spot we've ever encountered anywhere.   First we anchored our "Mother ship" and then hopped into our dinghy for a 10 minute ride to a nearby motu (AKA tiny tropical island).  I felt like I was landing in Gilligan's Island, just a gorgeous spot with palm trees and a little path that led north.   A five minute walk took us to the end and we hopped into the waist deep water that was rushing through at about a 5 knot current.  The water was crystal clear and when I stuck my face in, what a wonderland awaited me of colorful coral and gorgeous tropical fish.  I rode the current down the river to the end amazed at the underwater paradise.  Everyone in our group was pumped from the experience! 


Chuck getting ready to grill

We were fortunate to have cruise mates that loved to cook - and cook they did.  We gave up getting Chuck, Trudy and Gary away from the grill and kitchen.  During the trip we had eggs every morning for breakfast, yummy sandwiches and dinners of spaghetti, pork chops, steaks, burgers, barbequed chicken, salmon and crab cakes, etc.  Needless to say, we were very happy to wash the dishes!

Next day we headed to Bora Bora, which beckoned in the distance.  What a beautiful sight and sailing destination!  The winds were favorable for motor sailing and in approximately 3-1/2 hrs. we anchored off the island.  While we were there, we explored the town and ate lunch at Bloody Mary's, a famous spot with great shrimp and fish.  The Polynesian people were friendly, but many only spoke bits of English since French is the language of the area.  We managed to communicate well and enjoyed the French food and wines.

Bora Bora draws many honeymooners in the over-the-water bungalows, which look pretty dotting the shores.  Anchoring was pretty easy and we caught a few mooring balls in the trip also.  They were a bit hard to catch because the lines are often under the balls, slippery and not very easy to grab.  But, our trusty crew was able to negotiate the issues well.  I really enjoyed stargazing at night - the Google Sky Map App on my Nexus ipad helped me identify the Southern Cross and we also saw some neat shooting stars and constellations not available to see in this hemisphere.

Joanne & Richard on tour of Huahine

A memorable day trip for us was on the island of Huahine.  It was a boisterous 4-1/2 hour sail from Raiatea into a pretty harbor where we anchored.  We found a local guide who drove us around the island to a Pearl Farm where we learned the fine points of pearl growing.  We visited a Vanilla Farm, where we checked out the plants and tasted homemade coconut ice cream.  We also viewed ancient archeological sites on the island, where the natives practiced human sacrifice to their gods. We collected shells of the area - some were very different than anything we've seen anywhere else. 

Rainbow over Raiatea

The 10 days went by quickly.  Our friends went back to Raiatea for a few days of R&R at the Sunset Motel.  We flew to Papette, Tahiti where we rented an over-the-water bungalow at Le Meredin, a lovely resort.  While we were there, we toured Tahiti's inland areas and saw some gorgeous waterfalls and heard the history of the island. 

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation! Hope you can visit there someday, too!

Our Over the Water Bungelow

 

Aloha from Hawaii

Michele at Blessing

Punta Gorda - Fort Myers - Houston - Los Angeles - Kona, Big Island of Hawaii - that's the route we flew last Saturday after getting up at 3:30 AM and arriving at 7:30 PM (Hawaii time is 6 hours behind Eastern Daylight Savings time!)  Whew! Long flights, but pleasant ones all on frequent flyer United Airlines miles.

Michele met us at the Kona Reef Condos with a welcome dinner of tacos, chips and lots of stuff to stock our frig.  It was so great to see her! 

Since we've been here, we had some fun adventures.  We really enjoyed being part of the Kaiser Clinic Opening.  The Grand Kahuna performed a beautiful Hawaiian Blessing Ceremony.  Check out his picture! 

We also had an unforgettable night snorkel with lots of manta rays.  It's hard to describe the beauty of these creatures as you watch them do barrel rolls underneath you.  And they are H U G E!  We also enjoyed snorkeling Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, known as the 2-step, where we encountered lots of gorgeous fish above huge coral.  Yesterday, we drove out to Waipio Valley and took a tour down the steepest terrain maintained by a county government to a gorgeous tropical valley (it was the opening shot in the movie, Jurasic Park.)  Awesome!

Honor Flight for Mom

The Honor Flight Network, a non-profit organization, honors our veterans for their sacrifices by transporting them to Washington D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials.  My amazing Mom was chosen to go for her service as a WAVE in World War II.  She had a marvelous day, full of fun and tribute.  She really enjoyed the arch of water made over her plane by the firetrucks as a tribute to her group of veterans as they took off from Fort Myers Airport. 

Check out this picture of Mom at the Women's Memorial - before and after.  She pulled up her picture taken in 1944 and there she is standing under it.  She so appreciated everyone's kindnesses to her!  Isn't this a wonderful way to honor our veterans?

Summer

Queen Crape Myrtle Tree in Bloom

Just thought we'd post a picture of our Queen Crape Myrtle Tree blooming in front of our house!  We've been getting lots of complements on it and people wanting to know just what kind of tree it is! 

 

2 inches...2 seconds!

Docked at Franklin Lock Marina

At 4 pm we pulled through the hurricane lock into the small town  of Clewiston and docked at Roland Martin's Marina.  The place was jumping because there was a fishing tournament but it finally settled down and we treated ourselves to a fried catfish dinner.  We haven't had that dish since Houston and we really enjoyed it! 

We were now "done with the lake." We motored down the peaceful canals and Caloosahatchee River passing through the small towns of Moore Haven and LaBelle. We descended through the Moore Haven, Ortona and Franklin Locks and passed under fixed bridges and through bascule bridges and one swing bridge that "opened on demand" for us. All the bridge and lock tenders were responsive and friendly.  All the above make up the Okeechobee Waterway. 

The very last bascule bridge did NOT have a name on the chart, which is a problem when calling the bridge tender.  I got on the radio and said "Bridge between day beacon #6 and #8, this is the sailing vessel, Eagles Wings, requesting an opening."   No answer!   Another tactic I then used, was "Bridge near Sweetwater Landing, I am requesting an opening."  No answer.  Then finally, "Bridge near Owl Creek Boat Works, I am requesting an opening." Finally, a bridge tender answered that she saw a sailboat out there, but she did not seem to know anything other than her bridge's name, "Wilson Pickett!"   Note - The bridge name was listed in Active Captain.

We found a wonderful little marina near the WP Franklin Lock run by the Army Corp of Engineers for just $12 including electricity and tucked in for the night.  The next day we decided to make a run for home - and started off at 7 AM. 

The last bridge was Cape Coral with a reported height of 55 feet.  But a note on Active Captain warned that the bridge clearance was really 53 ft at Mean High Water (MHW).  With a mid tide of 6 inches above MLW who knows what we would find when we arrived at the bridge. As we approached, Joanne estimated 54 ft clearance from the tide board. We would make it, but our VHF antenna might not. Oh no, a fast moving trawler was moving toward the bridge from the opposite direction.  If their wake reached us while we were under the bridge, the wake might bump us up into the bridge's bottom. It has happened to others. So Richard blew his air horn repeatedly and they finally held up.  As we went by they yelled, "What's your worry?  You have 2 inches to spare!"  And it certainly looked that way!

As we turned into Charlotte Harbor, the wind was perfect and we motor sailed at 7 knots, which is about hullspeed for EaglesWings.  We arrived home at 5:30 PM.  Yahoo, we made it - what a great adventure.

Bleu Kitty is quite a little sailor.  But Gecko hunting is more to his liking. Not more than 2 seconds after his paws hit the lanai, he had a one of the little critters in his mouth. Bleu is quite happy to be home. 

Today is our 20th Wedding Anniversary and we are very grateful to be home!  However, we are even more grateful for our wonderful years together, family, friends, pets, sailing adventures, vacations, travels, and good health.  Here's to 20 more years!

We really appreciate everyone who provided advice and friendship along the way. Thanks!


Photos

Tipping Day

Port Mayaca RR Bridge with only 49 ft clearance!

8 Water Barrels set up and filled to tip EaglesWings

 After a rain delay on Saturday, we pulled off the dock lines and headed up to the Port Mayaca RR Bridge to wait for Billy, the Boat Tipper.  This pesky, vertical lift span has a vertical clearance of 49 feet.  Since we are 4-1/2 too high, we arranged for Billy the boat tipper to meet us at 8:30 AM to do the job.  Well, Billy is the "only game in town" and he finally showed up at 10:30!  He attached his boat to the side of ours and strapped and winched on 8 huge plastic barrels.  Then he started his high speed water pump and began filling them with river water.  Whoa!  We tipped way over and he expertly guided us through.  Check out our pictures!  

Billy Owens and his assistant setting up to tip boat

Before we knew it, we approached the Port Mayaca Lock and were told to "go on right through!"  As we entered into Lake Okeechobee we noticed the wind pick up considerably and we put out our jib.  We were making 6-1/2 knots and the seas were pretty rough!  This was very surprising , but then again, the lake is roughly 32 miles from north to south and it encompasses more than 730 square miles of water.The depths are pretty shallow - from 6 to 14 feet and this can cause a steep chop.  We thought we saw some wave heights of 3 feet!  The water is quite brown and looks muddy, quite a contrast from the deep inky blue of the Atlantic and the gorgeous turquoise waters of the Bahamas.  

Lots of water barrels tied to port side

Admiral Joanne guides boat through

Cruisers visiting the Okeechobee are pretty much limited to two lake crossings because many of the flood-control dikes and locks constructed after 1928 cut off the canals and other routes.  At 3 pm, we pulled into Clewiston's Roland Martin's Marina.  There was a fishing tournament going on, but they made room for us at their dock.  We had a nice time visiting with some catamaran boaters from Cape Coral and enjoyed a nice dinner at their restaurant.  Tomorrow, we hope to navigate most of the remainder of the Lake crossing passing by the town of Moore Haven and onto LaBelle and possibly transiting the WP Franklin Lock.