Old Friends and Unexpected Delays

 Pretty chilly day yesterday and lots o’ wind!  Fortunately wind was from the north so not too bad until we turned to head up the St Lucie River. My clean boat is no longer so clean…if it warms up today I’ll wash it down again. 

Had a really nice time at dinner last night with Frank & Maryellen and For Rachel friends, Gerry and Amy - whom I haven’t seen in at least 20 years (how can it have been so long?!). We were at Sailor’s Return restaurant, at Sunset Bay Marina. 

The boat is currently at Safe Harbor Harborage Yacht Club in Stuart - a short drive from Frank and Maryellen’s home. The plan was to be here one night then head in to the okeechobee waterway, landing at Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston on Tuesday night. 

One just never knows on the water…you have to be flexible!  It turns out that the ortona lock, on the west side of the okeechobee waterway broke on or near Thanksgiving. Because of the holiday it’s been slow getting fivers there to assess and repair, so in the mean time, all traffic is halted for now. We don’t want to head into the waterway until we know the ‘pipeline’ is clear. I'll stay put here one more night and reassess Wednesday morning. Have already pushed reservation in Clewiston out to Wednesday and don’t know if it will have to move again. The info yesterday was the lock may be operable Wednesday or thurs but if they have to drain it then it could be 2 weeks!  Fingers crossed for Wednesday or Thurs!

On the way to Stuart from Melbourne there wasn’t much to see…although there were a lot of dolphins. Pic below I’d view of the Firt Pierce Inlet