"You ran over the rock!"
For joy.
Our early morning departure on Friday, April 13 from the Naples City Dock was like a scene from a movie. Quiet, calm and perfectly executed.
Two gentlemen came to the dock to help us tie up.
(Now I am not trying to be difficult BUT after eight months of tying up at marinas, etc., in 2011, we have learned a little. Ha, ha...maybe that's the problem! Anyway, one of the lessons we took to heart was to never give over control of your boat to the deckhand. You never know if the person offering to help knows what to do with the line when it is tossed to them. About half way through our trip last year we developed a strategy: give the deckhand the mid-ship line, then the stern line, and lastly the bow line. We couldn't figure out why the strategy was not working. We would motor alongside the deck. I would tell the deckhand, "I am going to give you the mid-ship line first and then the stern line." Inevitably, the deckhand would be holding the mid-ship line in one hand waiting to catch the stern line in his other. Dummy me. The instructions were not specific enough. Now I say, "I am going to give you the mid-ship line first. Please tie it off and then I will give you the stern line to tie off." I don't bother throwing the bow line until the other two lines are tied. Rusty controls the bow of the boat with our magic bow thruster.)
The first gentlemen took the mid-ship line but suggested I should give him the stern line. I told him it would help us a great deal if he could loop the mid-ship line over the piling and return it to me. After giving him the stern line, the second gentlemen said to me, "give me the line". A few seconds later, "Give Me The Line". And then, "GIVE ME THE LINE". He was referring to the mid-ship line that was in my hand. (I had forgotten to feed the end of the line through the hawser before handing it over) Instead I gave him the bow line which he tied off and without a backward glance, left. Although it wasn't the perfect dock tie-up procedure, it did confirm that as Rusty and I have the investment in the boat, it behooves us to know and call the shots.
The Franklin Lock docks are managed by the Corps of Engineers and with our Eagle pass, the dockage was only $12. A real deal that included water and electricity. The park is an RV park and there were some very nice RV's parked there.
Early Saturday, April 14, we were on our way. Skies were overcast but still it was nice to be out on the water. After lunch, I went downstairs to tidy up and do the dishes. A sickening SKRUNCH sounded and we were stopped. There was no doubt what had happened. We had hit the bottom and the bottom was littered with rocks. The Corps of Engineers were doing remedial work on one of the banks and we had gotten out of channel. I flew outside to the deck where Rusty and I contemplated our dilemma. After a few minutes, he went inside. "YOU FLOODED THE SALON". In my haste to see what happened, I had not turned off the galley faucet and a stream of water had flowed across the counter and down to the salon sole. Four thirsty towels took care of MY mishap. About 30 minutes later, the boat broke free with the help of a buddy boat and some extra water from their wake.
The boat had not taken on any water and there did not appear to be a noticeable vibration in the steering so we headed to our destination, the Hoover dock at Clewiston. As we turned the tight corner after the Clewiston lock we found ourselves in a very narrow channel (as noted in the Active Captain listing). Almost simultaneously, the "Little Man" from Roland Martin's marina hailed us on the radio, "DON'T GO UP THAT CHANNEL", and a fisherman on a small boat behind us yelled, "I'VE NEVER SEEN A BOAT YOUR SIZE GO UP THIS CHANNEL". We weren't about to taken any chances after our mishap so we took dock space at Roland's. As it turned out, a boat larger than ours had transited the channel and was enjoying free dockage that day. We, on the other hand, were kept awake until 2:45 am with the live Saturday night music at Rolands. Just as we fell asleep the beer can cleanup commenced. But, you know what, we were secure!
We crossed Lake Okeechobee on Sunday, April 15 without incident. Along the way we decided that we should have the bottom looked at, just in case. We had stayed at Indiantown Marina twice before and they had good ratings with Active Captain related to repairs.
Short and sweet: We were hauled on Monday. The bottom of the keel had been scraped and gouged and needed fiberglass repairs. The prop blades needed machining. The shaft needed machining. Estimated splash would be Friday. We stayed on the boat on the hard with all its choice limitations. On Wednesday, the machine shop called and recommended the shaft be replaced. Estimated splash time would be a week later. Rusty said, "I am not going to climb up and down a 14 ft. ladder every time I want to brush my teeth!" So off to Enterprise and back home to Naples to await the repairs to be completed.
Below is our Gold Burgee, evidence of the uneventful and successfully completed eight month, 6,500 mile 2011 Great Loop.
