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Love Bugs
doing what they do Thursday morning (my 60th birthday WooHoo!) we left Moore Haven and headed west on the Okeechobee Waterway on the Caloosahatchee Canal. Around LaBelle, a charming Old-Florida town, it becomes the Caloosahatchee River. We reached the Ortona Lock, with its 8’ drop a little after 11 and were leaving it 10 minutes later. The Franklin Lock near Olga, is the last one on the OWW, and is on the same 7-1-7 schedule as the St. Lucie Lock. It was close to 3 when we got there and our intention was to tie up at the Corps of Engineers dock next to the dam and spend the night. Our luck, the facility’s docks and rest rooms were closed for the week. So we tied up, instead, to the mooring dolphins next to the docks and were comfortably secure for the night.
Remember the faux mosquito invasion on the St. Johns River? They are called blind mosquitoes, aquatic midges, or, in Central Florida, Chizzywinks. I love that name, so from now on, that’s what I’ll call them. But, I digress. Forget Chizzywinks, we are now cursed with Love Bugs. Just about anyone who has driven through Florida regularly has, at some time, come
into contact with love bugs. When they are mating, great clouds of them splatter on the front of your car, and, if they aren’t washed off promptly, can damage your paint. Since we don’t travel over 8 mph, they are not splatting on the front of our boat, but they are landing, coupling, and crawling all over. Once they die, they get an unpleasant odor, too. So we put up the screens on the back deck, but that blocks some of the breeze, and we pick the darned things off the windows, walls and ourselves, and throw those suckers overboard.
Friday morning we were up at 6 having our coffee and getting untied and out in time to make the 7 am opening of the Franklin Lock. We were the only boat coming from either direction for this opening and we were in and out in 8 minutes, after a drop of 2’. We decided to head to a marina and stopped at Ft. Myers Yacht Basin, the municipal marina, where we tied up before 10 after refueling. They have the cheapest fuel we’ve seen in a while, diesel was $3.86/gal. We enjoyed their showers and Kerry walked to
the Publix for a few groceries. I got busy with the vacuum, getting rid of as many love bugs as I could until, rats, I broke the vacuum. Oh, well, got most of them first. Later we walked down to Joe’s Crab Shack and had a seafood dinner for my birthday. I love these birthdays that go on and on.
So here it is Saturday, and we came on down to Ft. Myers Beach, finishing the Okeechobee Waterway, and tying up to a ball in their mooring field. There were a lot of boats out this morning, many of them idiots. Again I say that the bigger the wake, the less likely the driver is to look behind to see the results. And I say driver, because I can’t in good conscience call them captains, which would imply some knowledge and experience. I can’t even call them skippers, for the same reason. It just seems that Florida boaters on average are the least considerate I’ve ever seen. Okay, I vented. My point is, I guess, we’re going to stay here until Monday when the weekend boaters are finished.
More later.
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Linda Nance
non-member comment
Today!
First of all a BIG Happy Birthday, Charlie. I've just been catching up on your blog...great read as usual. Way too bad about the shuttle delay...wish it could have been for you guys to see. Understandable about the long trip and being away from the family...But, an amazing trip it seems to be for you all. Love it!! Continue traveling safe! Love to all!