- 57.2 miles
- 6 hours 52 minutes
- 8.3 mph average speed
- 9 mph winds
We had been told when we arrived at the marina the day before that there was a fishing tournament the next day and that we would not be able to leave until after 8:00AM once all of the fishing boats had cleared the area. What we weren’t told is that we would be awakened at 4:30AM by the loud speaker just outside of our boat as directions were being given to the fisherman and music was being played! It was quite a site to watch all of the 150-200 boats preparing for their departure!
Once all of the fishing boats had cleared the lock, we were able to get through before the lock master closed the gates. We had thought we were going to have to dodge all of those fishing boats for a while but most had gone either east or west of the lock and we went straight in order to cross Lake Okeechobee.
We locked through two more locks after we crossed the lake before arriving in Stuart.
In the meantime, we have decided not to try to go to the Bahamas as we had planned. The weather does not look promising for the crossing for the foreseeable future and, since we need to be back in Atlanta the beginning of April, we decided it would be better to try and go next year when we would be able to spend more time cruising the islands. Since we had just completed five straight days of travel, we decided to stay in Stuart for several days before making our way north.
There is a wonderful restaurant at the marina, Sailor’s Return, where we had dinner our first night in Stuart. We walked along the boardwalk the following day which took us to downtown Stuart where we had lunch and walked around the town. We went back that evening for sushi and ice cream!
Another “small world moment”! Ellen was relaxing in the boat when Kevin came in and said, “Come meet our neighbor, literally.” The man that had just pulled in to the slip next to us lives on the same street as us in Atlanta! He is not technically on our street as the street is separated by a creek and a golf course so it is the same street name but different neighborhoods.
We walked to town to a Farmer’s Market then had a late breakfast and learned there was also an Arts Festival.
