| Seaesta |
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| January |
| January 1 - 5 Seaesta docked in Fort Myers, Bought all chain rode for the anchor so I can sleep at night without worrying about the boat dragging anchor. January 6 Motored form Fort Myers to York Island and anchored in the lee of the island. The winds are 20knts and there is a chop on the water. January 7 Highs in 50's F today - cold. I thought we were in Florida. I can see my breath. January 8 Motored from York Island to Captiva. We anchored as close as possible to the island- but still a mile away. So we pumped up our big car (inflatable dingy) and motored over to visit friends Jeffa and Donald. We stayed in a seaside cottage for the night. A hot shower and time to spend with friends from Maine who could ask for anything more. January 9 Awoke and went to the beach to collect shells. Sanibel and Captiva have some of the best shells collection beaches in the United States of America. Later in the evening we went to the "Crows Nest" to participate in the NASCRAB races. Hermit crabs are picked out and named, then placed under a warm light. It becomes a race to the edge of the table. Amazingly Pierce attained third place and James got second place. A lot of fun was had by all January 11 We awoke and said our good byes to Donald and Jeffa. Evan and Pierce cried on our ride back to the boat. We spent the afternoon fishing and relaxing. A fantastic sunset to the sounds of Jimmy Buffet completed our day. January 12 70 degree F. We sailed to Cabbage Key. There is not much on Cabbage key except a few cottages and a resturant. The resturant is supposedly where Jimmy Buffet wrote "Cheeseburger in Parridise" Of course we had to go over and have a cheeseburger and keylime pie. the ceiling of the resturant are plastered in dollar bills. A tradition started by sailors who had money some days and none on others. Tacking a dollar bill to the wall meant that you always had money for a drink. Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Buffet had both left dollar bills. Of course a dollar bill was left by Seaesta crew also. January 13 -16 Sailed back up the Okeechobee Waterway January 17 Awoke and made pancakes with "real" maple syrup from Maine. The sweet taste of Maine is especially good when we are away in Florida. (contact [email protected]) Today we motored to a boat yard and had the boat hauled out of the water to check the shaftbearing. The boys decided to go fishing on the river bank but an employee came over to us and warned us not to be there. He then pushed a deadly cotton mouth snake into the water ten feet away from us. The employee also told us there were aligators and rabid rabbits to look out for. "OK boys off to Grandmas house you go" says I. January 18 - 22 It seems the occasional bad noise coming from the engine was due to faulty engine mounts. It is good that we corrected the problem now as apposed to having a problem mid gulfstream. January 23 Re-entry of Seaesta back into the water went well. The boys wanted to fish off the boat. Soon James saw a fish swimming by - thrust down the net and swooped up a 22" catfish...no fishing line needed!! Later Evan caught two other catfish. January 24 Saw nine alligators swimming in the water and along the mangrove swamp bank. One was huge about 12 feet long and not afraid of the boat. "Don't fall in the water!!" January 25-30 We had to tip the boat again. Our mast is 51 1/2 ft tall and the bridge clearance is 49ft. At first the wind was too strong to motor precariously under the bridge. After sleeping on a tilted bed, we awoke to a mist over calm water. Sunday morning, with barrels of water and Heather hanging off the boom we managed to get under the bridge with ease. I'm sure the prayers at St.Anns going on at the same time helped. We continued down the waterway to the east coast of Florida. While on this adventure we have caught crabs and ate them, caught fish and ate them and even ate alligator tail.. |
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| Alligator on the banks |
| Boat tipping |
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| Locks on the Okeechobee Waterway |