We complete our crossing on the Okeechobee Waterway and land on the east coast of Florida at Stuart. The towns through central Florida's agricultural belt are small and quiet with friendly folks. It's been a hot and humid week with regular thunderstorms and getting to Stuart on the weekend is a big tempo change. We treat ourselves to a Sunday New York Times and get ready to start moving north.
Leaving Stuart on the St Lucie River we get to the intersection of the start (our ending point going west to east) of the Okeechobee Waterway (Mile 0) and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Mile 987 (Mile 0 of the AIWW is in Norfolk, VA)). From here we follow a series of rivers that generally run behind barrier island chains all the way up the east coast to Jacksonville. The Indian, Banana, Hallifax, Matanzas, Tolomato Rivers and finally Pablo Creek take us through places like Hells Gate (yes another one!), Mosquito Lagoon and Cabbage Swamp from Vero Beach to Jacksonville.
Adventures along the way include: getting through a long patch of "skinny water" (boating terms for very shallow) on the Banana River and transiting an unplanned lock (we finally see our first manatee up close in the lock with us!) on way to Cape Canaveral to see a rocket launch up close (it got scrubbed), later encountering a herd/pack/gaggle of manatee in the Canaveral Barge Canal (checked the box, we're done with manatee, they're really not very exciting and all you get for photos are pictures of gray blobs in the water), picking our way through a mile or two of shallow water to anchor as far east in Mosquito Lagoon as we can and then take the dinghy to shore for a secluded beach walk on the Atlantic Ocean, visiting friends in New Smyrna Beach and getting a free blues concert on the shore front park and a seeing more friends in Ponte Vedra. And lot's more manatees, whether we like it or not.
"Skinny Water" isn't always so obvious until you look at the depthfinder.
Would have been a good view of a launch................... if it had happened.
NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the world's largest indoor building space...... it's so tall, it has it's own weather inside!
Manatee!!! Yep that's as exciting as it gets.
Horsepower! Now that's exciting!
The Haulover Canal from Canaveral was full of interesting life forms.
Wildlife.
Wild life.
Old boat.
New boat.
Ocean going life boats.
Where an ocean going lifeboat usually is.
Yup, manatee..............................
Here's what you're missing..............................................................
https://youtu.be/1_FjlIUsZvE
https://youtu.be/FXQ9KFZL7hQ
https://youtu.be/GPuKMzurjTY
Stakes marking the locations of sea turtle eggs/nests.
Anhinga with a catfish too big to swallow.
Bike with a suitcase of beer too big to swallow.
I love boats.
Roseate Spoonbills!
The biggest darn yard flamingo!
