The new dink!!

Yes... we got our new dingy and Istaboa will only have to sustain minor modifications. We are happy about that. Yacht Tech should have our mounts back this morning and the dingy project is done.

We walked over to the south side of the Marina yesterday and saw Tiger Woods' boat tied up there. It has the name covered up for some reason. Everyone knows whose boat it is so we're not sure why they cover it. Maybe to keep the tourist away. It's name is "Privacy" if you haven't heard. (Isn't that ironic) Christensen Yachts, the builder, was actually sued for letting the name out to the general public. Click here to see pics.
As you can see... it's a beautiful boat.
To see a really funny pic I found while googling Tiger's boat Click here

While we were over there we spotted a 62 Nordhavn named "Pendana". We struck up a conversation with, Steve, the owner. Nice fellow. We have the same destination/time frame in mind so we may buddy up with them. It's always nice to travel with another boat on long crossings.
Pendana has a website with lots of really nice pics from their travels all over the world. We look forward to getting to know Steve and Angela.

So that's all for now. Today we will dink around Palm Beach. There are some nice restaurants on the water here.

Adios,

Istaboa

The promised pics

"Broulee"
New friends, Rick and Deb, locking through our first lock with us.
With "Izzy" a Lab puppy onboard.

We actually enjoyed the Okeechobee Waterway. It was a nice change from our normal run down to Naples and the Keys. It sure saved a lot of time and money.

Lots of pretty palm draped homes along the way.

This is not how we lock up on the Tennessee.

Oh beautiful Okeechobee?

Very skinny water going into the lake, but it got better.

Not for this guy.

The new Krogen 55

This picture is for our friends Mike and Tracy onboard "Salty C's" in Panama City. They are Krogenites

We arrived in Palm Beach early afternoon yesterday. I spent the rest of the day washing Lake Okeechobee muck off Istaboa. It is a shorter run but a dirty one. We looked as if we had been 4 wheeling. (I feel I must clean Istaboa quickly as there is another Nordhavn 57 here with the Infamous "Captain Shiney" onboard... and he's looking at me...Peer Pressure!)
This morning we are waiting for the the delivery people to bring our new dingy. We traded our 11' rib for a 14' rib. This should make running around in the islands a little faster and dryer. Hope we can get it loaded on top of Istaboa without too much modification.
We like Old Port Cove. It's a very friendly marina and they love dogs. We will rent a car here for a few days and do the last bit of provisioning for the islands.
We're getting excited. The Exumas are not far off now.
Pray to the weather Gods...

Adios,

Istaboa

Okeechobee and St Lucie River

Crossing the Lake was a bit stressful at first because of water depths or should I say the lack of. The first third of this 30 mile or so crossing is very shallow. But after a while it deepened a bit and life was good. Mel and Radar slept through the whole thing... so the stress was all mine.
The Lucie Canal was just that and not much to mention.
The St Lucie Lock operators were a nice couple of fellows. Turns out one was a former Lock Operator at Guntersville Lake on the Tennessee River.
The St Lucie River is very pretty. Mangrove lined canals on both sides that look like they would be fun to explore.
The last 10 miles or so was a lot skinny. We ran with about 4 inches under us for most of the way. That will keep your attention.
Then we arrive in Stuart, Fl at the Harborage Marina and Yacht Club. A very pretty place right across the street from Nordhavn's east coast office.
It was a bit windy coming in which made for an added bit of tension. With the wind in my ears I really couldn't hear the Harbor Master and he couldn't hear me. I'm afraid I snarled at him a bit. But in the end we were tied up and no one was bleeding. Our definition of a successful landing.
Our old friends, Dick and Patra, aboard Sapphire are docked here. Nice to see and talk to them.
So today we are off to Palm Beach. Our next stop is Old Port Cove Marina.
James Knight, the defacto Nordhavn Guru, will be coming over to solve our Stabilizer problem and probably stick around for a beer.
But for now we must finish the St Lucie River and make it over the infamous Crossroads where everyone goes aground. The Crossroads is where the St Lucie and the Intercoastal Waterway come together. It has quite the reputation.
We promise pics soon.

Adios,

Istaboa

Lake Okeechobee

We left Fort Myers yesterday and slowly motored across the state of Florida via the Okeechobee Waterway. It's much prettier than the TennTom because of the nice homes and palms along the way. Saw only one Gator but lots of beautiful birds.
Our friends onboard Broulee (pronounced Browley) radioed and said it looked as if I were crabbing through the water a bit. We were. Seems Istaboa is having a bit of a stabilizer problem. It got so bad that I just turned them off. I have since locked the bad fin in center position. So today's crossing of the lake should be a little smoother with at least one fin.
It's supposed to be a moderate chop but I think we will make it OK.
Had dinner last night at Roland Martin's Marina restaurant. Aligator! Tastes like Conch.
Interesting place. Folks were having a very large time singing old choir tunes. Valderyi, The happy wanderer? Wow that bring back memories of old. With a knapsack on my back.
Anyway the sun is coming up and Radar needs a walk before we head off to Stuart.
Pics of the waterway soon.

Adios,

Istaboa

Leaving Fort Myers

It's been a great stay here at Legacy Harbor in downtown Fort Myers. We have made many new friends and found many new favorite places.
Tomorrow we head east on the Caloosahatchee River toward the east coast bringing our ultimate plan of cruising the islands closer to reality.
Last night was fun. We went to the Varanda restaurant with our old friend Jerry. It was truly fabulous. Veal Chops! Unbelievable!
As we look forward to moving on and experiencing Lake Okeechobee, we are already missing the fun and convenience of downtown Fort Myers.
It has been a blast.

Adios,


Istaboa

Too funny to not post.

Click here for the Daily Show's take on the President's visit to Fort Myers. It's really funny.

Last night we attended the annual marina party here at Legacy Harbour Marina. The food was great and catered by our favorite restaurant, Sub and Pup. Prime Rib!
Our stay is narrowing down here. It about time to move on to the east coast to be ready for a jump to the islands. We can't say enough good things about this marina. If you're traveling by boat and in this area... it's a must stop.

Adios,

Istaboa

President Obama in Ft Myers

A nice story

Yesterday President Obama was speaking at the convention center next door to the marina where we are staying . I walked over at 8 as they were handing out tickets at 9. Thought I would get a jump on the crowd. WRONG!! There were probably 2000 folks in line; so I left.
Mel went at 9 to stand in line then at 9:15 they announced there were no more tickets. Folks were pissed. Some had been there since 10am the previous day.
So we resolved to watch it on CNN.com

Then a Kid (who lives on a sailboat close by-- that I had struck up a conversation with a few days earlier. He's a computer tech.) walked by and said he had 6 tickets because he, his brother, and his dad had camped out waiting since early the previous day. He said he worked on his customer's laptops while waiting. He's an independent obviously.

This is a pic our young friend John took.

Then late that afternoon the young fellow stopped by the boat to offer us one of his tickets. John said he had one he could give up and who better to give it to than a fellow technologist.
(I just smiled... I can't remember ever being called a technologist.) So Mel, the fervent Obama supporter that she is, got to go. You would have thought she had been given a ticket to see the Beatles. Then to top that off... she was picked out of line and escorted by an aide to a great seat in front. She was so excited.
The whole town was excited. I have never seen that many folks so enthusiastic and animated about a politician. This guy is special. You have to admit it if you like his politics or not.
We did get to see the famous Presidential Limo that is built like a tank and took an Iphone pic of it but it didn't come out too well.

An exciting day in Ft Myers.

Adios,

Istaboa

FT Myers ArtFest

It was a beautiful day Sunday; so the three of us walked downtown to Delicious Things . A really good brunch. Then we strolled thru the ArtFest to enjoy all that was there to see. I got these pics of some of the really nice art on display then came back to the boat and Photoshopped the crap out of em. I think I got some pretty cool looking stuff.

I alway ask permission before I snap.

Once again, Radar was the star, but alas, he's tiring of his fame. So many folks keep reaching out to pet him that he is becoming annoyed. Can't blame him really. He doesn't snap but he does grumble at bit. It's hard out here for a pup.
And there were pups everywhere.

I love digital photography.

Best laid plans...

Yes... we have said this before and yes... we, again, have postponed our departure from Ft Myers for a few days.
We really like it here and there are a few events coming up we'd like to participate in. The marina is having an appreciation party and they've been kind enough to invite us.
Yesterday we walked downtown to have lunch at Hideaway Sports Bar. The Carolina style pulled pork sandwich was really good. (We are sure our Memphis BBQ friends don't like to hear that.)
Radar was welcome to have a seat at this restaurant. He quickly became a star as Mel and I, along with our friend Jerrry from "Expensive Habit", had lunch. Jerry is a Man about Town here in Downtown Ft Meyers.
Lots of folks out on this beautiful day with the Arts Festival going on. We walked through the festival and heard a fellow, Bob Culbertson, playing a Chapman's Stick. A very interesting and beautiful sounding instrument.

Click the image to see and hear Bob play.
It's really beautiful.

So all in all... It was a very nice day.
Today is Sunday and it looks like another beautiful day. I am sure we will find something else interesting to get into.

More later.

Adios,

Istaboa

Here's a cause that needs no stimulus

The Delta Queen tied up in downtown Memphis

Click on the link to learn of her history and the present day plight facing the beautiful old Delta Queen. She needs no bailout money... just Congress's OK to keep on sailing our rivers and lakes.

Save the Queen

You will find a link to contact Congress.

Radar's buddy Uno

Mel, Radar, and Uno.
Puppy fest!

Uno

This is Radar's new buddy Uno. He is also a Havanese and as you can see the Havanese breed loves each other's company. It's very peculiar how they instinctively understand they are somehow related... who knows, maybe a they have a language others can't perceive. Radar has only played like this with one other dog and she was also a Havanese. He has lots of dog friends but they don't seem to connect quite this way.

They have played like this for a couple of days.

Uno was born in Budapest, Hungary then brought to his new home in the USA
What a cute little guy. Radar will miss him when we leave.

Which should be Saturday. We will miss Ft Myers like we miss all of our favorite places. We will come back here also.

Next stop somewhere along Lake Okeechobee.
Gators and Bugs!

Adios,

Istaboa

Downtown Fort Myers

Dave on his Albury Brothers 20

Back to blogging again...
As we rounded Sanibel Island and made way into San Carlos Bay; there was our old friend Dave from the Sea Spray days waiting for us. He is tied up at Sanibel Marina. So he took his runabout out to see us.
We are a little too deep drafted for that marina so we decided to head into the Caloosahatchee River and downtown Ft Myers.

The Caloosahatchee has a very narrow and shallow channel so we really had to pay attention.
Dolphin were jumping in our bow wave and I guess the tourist thought it was OK to stop in our path to take pictures. As I tried to wave them out of the way they just took my picture also.

But like we have always said... All's well that ends well.
After tying up we were rewarded with this beautiful sunset.

Downtown Fort Myers has recently been renovated and they did a fine job of it. Lots of good restaurants, bars, and art galleries. It's all within 3 blocks of the marina. Not to mention a brand new Publix supermarket just a couple of blocks away.
We have found this funky little place called Sub and Pub to be our favorite spot for lunch. Great burgers and Fries. A Grouper's Cousin Sandwich and Salad. (it's Talapia) It's Blackened and delicious.
The folks staying at the Marina all have dogs for the most part. So Radar is quite welcome.
Some of the folks here have actually kept up with our blog for the last couple of years. They all knew Radar and were aware of Sadie's passing. Very nice folks. Donnie and Marilyn aboard "Kasey's Choice" sympathized with us as they had recently lost their dog "Kasey".
There are even a couple of boats from Memphis. John aboard "Emery El" and Jerry's boat "Expensive Habit".
Another thing we have enjoyed is the Farmer's Market on Thursdays. It just next door and has fresh produce as well as fish and crabs.
So all in all... We really like Legacy Harbor Marina and Downtown Ft Myers.

Adios,

Istaboa

ps... Radar has a new little Havanese buddy named Uno. They have been wearing each other out for the last couple of days. Nan, Uno's person, lives in the Condos next to the marina. Pics to come soon.

What a game!!! Go Steelers!!!!

It was a great Superbowl game... one of the best we have seen.
And.... Our favorite won!!!

Congratulations Robert.

Adios,


Istaboa