After spending 3 days relaxing and partying in Palm City with our friends Gina and Eric, we left their dock at 8:30 AM on Tuesday. They made the trip with us on their own yacht "Southern Star", a Gulfstar 49 motor yacht. We arrived at the St. Lucie Lock just as it was locking through a west bound boat, so we had to wait for an hour to lock through. One side of the lock gate wasn't working, and as the locktender opened the other side of the lock gate to fill the lock, there was a lot of turbulence. After locking through over 70 locks this summer, this was by far the most unpleasant. Crossing Lake Okeechobee was uneventful; the Army Corp of Engineers doesn't recommend the Rim Canal route so we crossed the middle of the lake. We spent Tuesday night tied to the dolphins east of Moore Haven Lock, had a dinner party on Southern Star and watched the election results. As we departed for home on Wednesday morning, Southern Star continued to Clewiston and returned to Palm City by way of the Rim Canal, and they reported no problems with debris or depth. Good news, as the rim canal route is far more scenic than the mid-lake route.
Southern Star crossing Lake Okeechobee and tied to the Dolphin
It's great to be home. Now we have enough yard work and settling back into the house to keep us busy for weeks.
We logged almost 5,000 miles and 8 months on this voyage. Mark would prefer to continue cruising but I'm looking forward to settle back into land life for awhile....Saturday we attended the Turkey Creek Yacht Club fall picnic, and Mark was tagged by a neighbor for his first boat electrical job since returning; it took only 3 days for them to find us home.
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