DAY ONE -- NAPLES TO GLADES RV PARK & MARINA

                DAY ONE -- NAPLES TO GLADES RV PARK & MARINA

                                (about 10 miles west of Moore Haven) 

          We left the dock at 0735, with a nice send-off by our friends Rick and Freda. The run up the coast to the entrance to the Caloosahatchee River was very quiet -- hardly any boats out at that hour on a Monday morning - -though we did see the big Key West catamaran heading out of Ft. Meyers Beach. The run up the Caloosahatchee was uneventful (until the incident at the Ortona Lock) and also very quiet. We only passed five boats underway all day. 

heading out Wiggins Pass                                     tending the bow in the Franklin Lock




        We ran into a major delay at the Ortona Lock, which is about 16 miles below the Moore Haven lock that lets you into Lake Okeechobee. This forced us to change our plans. We were making good time with our early start and were originally planning to stay at the infamous Roland Martin's Resort and Marina in Clewiston on the south shore of Lake O. It is very popular with cruisers and we have stayed there before. But Roland Martin's is on the Lake O side of the Moore Haven Lock, and the Ortona Lockmaster kept us idling around for almost an hour and a half before he opened the lock for us. Apparently he was busy cleaning weeds out of one of his control gates and didn't think we'd mind waiting (arghh!). By the time we got through his lock there was no way we were going to make it to the Moore Haven lock by the standard 4:30 closing time (about which the lockmasters are serious). So we opted to stay instead at the much less famous Glades RV Resort and Marina, which turned out to be charming in a deep central Florida sort of way (at least the captain thought so, but the first mate was very skeptical). Only $50 for dockage (cash, please) and very calm and very quiet. Plus we got to see the 16' alligator that patrols the little harbor.  A very impressive fella! We pulled into our dock at 1610, had a couple martinis, grilled a steak ashore, and it was lights out by nine.





the Glades RV marina -- note the derelict boats





                                                                                look closely and you'll see the 16' gator      

  It was a very hot and humid day (mid-90s), so when we got to the first lock (the Franklin Lock, which is a few miles upstream of where I-75 crosses the Caloosahatchee) we turned on the generator so that we could run the air conditioner, and we left them both on for the rest of the day. Our Ranger Tug dealer gave us this idea and it was a really good one. We could go into the cabin and cool off, and when we finally got to our marina at the end of the day the cabin was already cool. 


cows along the Caloosahatchee Canal
                                bascule bridge tender at Ft. Denaud walking out to operate the bridge

Comments

  1. Tim and Ki BrushMay 24, 2022 at 5:26 PM

    Glad you could go with the flow--but yeah, the derelict boats would have a down-home charm!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 24, 2022 at 6:40 PM

    Sounds lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AshleyMay 25, 2022 at 6:52 AM

    Glad you skipped the evening swim! And good thinking on the AC. Looks like a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 31, 2022 at 9:03 AM

    I came for the journey and stayed for the drama: “ which turned out to be charming in a deep central Florida sort of way (at least the captain thought so, but the first mate was very skeptical)”

    ReplyDelete

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