It’s a catchy saying our boat friends Kim and Randy of Blue Turtle Trawler repeated multiple times as we crossed the Okeechobee Waterway with our new boat that we knew nothing about. In fact, we didn’t even know for sure that the boat was going to be “our boat” until the week of closing when all the ducks got in a row. The three weeks prior were filled with many uncertainties about our purchase.
Why Are We Buying A Boat?
Didn’t we say we were going to wait to purchase a new boat? Yes, we did say that, but this boat came back on the market after having been pending under contract for a couple weeks, and it now had a price reduction. We knew this was one of the best deals we’d come across, so we threw an offer on the table that the seller accepted without even countering. Sweet!
Wait, that means we have only a few weeks to get surveys completed, financing secured, insurance bound, moving arrangements made, and a plan for where we’ll keep it. The word overwhelmed doesn’t really describe the feeling we had for those few weeks to come. I can still hear the hold music of the multiple lending companies that I became best enemies with over the next few days.
To Do Before Moving
- Research Okeechobee Waterway
- Print map of bridges and locks
- Purchase anchor chain
- Get insurance qoutes
- Book one-way rental car to Pompano Beach
- Purchase Coast Guard required safety gear
- Order solar panels, mounts, and wiring
- Reserve a slip in Fort Myers Beach for May
- Meet engine surveyor on Tuesday
- Schedule a diver to clean the hull…
The to do list was extensive, but somehow we managed to get it all done. Before we knew it, we were loading up the boat with groceries for the trip, installing a new anchor chain just in case we needed it, and welcoming Kim, Randy and Corey aboard our new, unfamiliar boat that they volunteered to help us take across the state back to the Gulf Coast.
Our Maiden Voyage Across Florida
As we fired up the engines, the clouds rolled in and our phones lit up with notices of tornado warnings. Seriously? We were on a tight schedule, determined to make it up the coast to Stuart, FL so that we could shoot across the Okeechobee Waterway the next day. Once the rain slowed, we untied the lines and headed up the Intercoastal Waterway, checking off each bridge we had to hail to open for what seemed to be every two freaking miles. “This is going to take us all night,” I said out loud, and it did.
At 1:00am we rolled into the Marriott Beach Resort & Marina, tied up to the fuel dock and got ready for bed. Three of us had showered while underway, but Randy and Will stood there in their towels wondering why there was no water pressure all of a sudden. Fortunately we got it to work by firing up the generator. But the power issues continued with our shore power cable, which wasn’t providing the volts needed to properly charge and run everything.
Day 2
The next morning we woke up early, fueled the boat, paid the stupid Marriott Resort fees for amenities we didn’t even enjoy, and headed toward Lake Okeechobee. Following another series of bridges to hail, we finally arrived at our first lock in St. Lucie. This lock raised us up 14.5′ to the water level needed to continue our journey across the state. Three locks, a couple swinging bridges and lift bridges later, we had made it across Lake O to the Caloosahatchee River, and onto the home stretch.
We arrived at the fifth and final lock right at its last scheduled opening for the day, but decided to stay the night at the Franklin Lock’s Camp Grounds to give ourselves a mental break and have an easy final day of cruising tomorrow.
Unfortunately, we were unable to solve the water pressure issue from Day 1, and still had issues with our shore power. But at least we had the camp grounds for showering, and like most live-aboards have done, we washed our dishes with a hose on the dock. That evening, we enjoyed a glass of wine on the fly bridge with Kim and Randy, and laughed about some of our adventures we’ve encountered thus far.
Day 3
Little did we know, the easy-going cruise we had planned for the final day would turn into a few hours of crawling around the engine room trying to give the batteries enough juice to start. This is exactly why we asked our experienced boater friends to come along, as Randy figured out a way to bypass the solenoid to get the second engine started. So we called off SeaTow, and headed to Fort Myers, enjoying our familiar territory.
The Matanzas Pass Bridge to Fort Myers Beach marked our 53rd and final bridge of the maiden voyage, praise the lord! We headed into Snook Bight Marina thinking we could pick a better slip than the one they assigned us against the finger dock. Nope! There was the dockmaster, flagging us down, telling us he gave us a “better slip,” which was literally the same slip against the middle dock, just facing the opposite way. Sigh. We love marinas.
Will pulled her in the slip like a champ, and as we tied her up and let out the shore power cable, we realized it didn’t reach to the pedestal that for some reason was located in the next slip over. What a great slip assignment, right? As we tried to fire up the engines to flip the boat around, of course, the batteries wouldn’t start. “Whatever,” we said. Guess we’ll have to go buy a stupid expensive extension to use until we can solve our battery issue.
Ah, the joys of getting to know your boat.
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