WEEK 44 - The Final Stretch - St. Petersburg, FL to Vero Beach, FL

This week we end our Great Loop adventure by “crossing our wake,”  returning to the place we started from over 10 months ago. But first we have to get from our boatyard stop in St. Pete to our old home port in Vero Beach. Our stops along the way were at Venice (free dock), Fort Myers Beach (mooring), La Belle (free dock), Clewiston (marina), St. Lucie Lock (cheap dock) and then finally to Vero Beach (marina). We pushed along pretty hard, traveling every day.

It was a big scramble getting the boat put back together, cleaned up, and re-provisioned after all the work they did re-bedding hatches, removing, testing, and re-welding the fresh water tank, and doing major work on both engines, but we got out of there on schedule (if not under budget). After crossing Tampa Bay and going under the Sunshine Skyway bridge, we headed south in the Intracoastal about 50 miles to Venice, where we remembered a free dock we have stayed at before at Higel Marine Park. There we were able to catch up with our friends on Mountain Wave and take Bella for a nice walk on the beach before settling in for a quiet evening.

Preparing for departure from Coastal Marine Yacht Services

We'll have to start out dealing with the tail end of a front but it should clear by noon

The top of the Skyline Bridge is shrouded in fog

Beautiful late afternoon glow on Venice Inlet beach. Photo Credit: Deb from Mountain Wave

A beautiful morning beach walk before departing Venice

The next day was another 60 miles chugging down the intracoastal to Fort Myers Beach. Along the way, we stopped at Cape Haze Marina to fill up on diesel for the very good price of $2.55 per gallon. Proceeding south through Charlotte Harbor, we went right by some of our old favorite spots like Cayo Costa, Cabbage Key, and the Tween Waters Inn. We finally left Charlotte Harbor and the ICW at the Sanibel Bridge, hopping over to Matanzas Pass and Fort Myers Beach. There we picked up the last of the available mooring balls in the harbor ($15 per night) and dinghied over to Barnacle Bills to meet some old friends and soak up some beers.

A tight place to get in and out of but worth it for the fuel price. Jonathan had to back all the way out and spin in our footprint 

Sanibel light house

We had to wait for the Pirate ship to come through the skinny Matanzas pass before we could proceed

Shrimp fleet adjacent to the mooring field

Beers at Bonita Bills with Shannan and Greg 💓

Not a stitch of wind in the mooring field for our departure the next morning

In the morning it was back under the Sanibel Bridge to the start of the Okeechobee Waterway, a 145-mile shortcut between the Florida west coast and the east coast at Stuart. We will go through 5 locks on this route (yea, more locks!) which will lift us up to the lofty elevation of Lake Okeechobee (13 feet or so) and then back down to sea level. This first day we went through one lock and then on to the town of La Belle. La Belle has a great little amenity, a dock right near downtown with about 8 slips with water and electric where you can tie up for free for up to three days. It’s all first come first served, and when we arrived there was one spot left. It looked pretty tight to me, but the guys on the dock said there was plenty of room. Just as our bow was almost touching the dock, we wedged our 15 foot beam between the pilings on either side. No problem, and we were actually sitting very securely right where we wanted to be – we didn’t really even need dock lines, but we rigged some just for appearances. Bella got to go for a couple of nice long walks along the very pretty tree-lined streets, and we had a decent dinner out at the Forrey Grill

Underway to our first lock

After some of the locks on the inland river...piece of cake!

BellaGatto wedged into her slip in Labelle

The bar area has much better ambiance than the dining room at the Forrey Grill

Highway 29 bridge, Labelle, FL

Beautiful oak lined streets

This helps cut down on full time liveaboards monopolizing the dock

The next day was a relatively short 38 miles and two locks to Clewiston and Roland Martins Marina. We have stayed here before, and it’s quite an experience with a big marina/bar/gift shop/hotel/condo complex, all centered on bass fishing. We got settled in in time to take the marina courtesy car to a Mexican grocery for some takeout.

You have to love this part of Florida - built in trailer

Four PDQs pulled in right ahead of us at Roland Martin's

Peaceful evening at Roland Martin's

Getting ready to cross Lake O

Beginning well before dawn the next morning, the sound of bass boats idling by was a gentle alarm clock, and we got up pretty early and shoved off by 7:30 to cross the big lake. The lake crossing is almost 20 miles of open water, and it can get quite nasty on a windy day. We had a very pleasant trip across, sitting back and letting the autopilot drive. Before too long we were going through the Port Mayaca Lock to begin our journey down the St. Lucie Canal. After plodding down the canal for 25 or so miles, we came to the last of the locks, the St. Lucie Lock. Right before the lock, there is a little campground run by the Corps of Engineers that has docking with water and electric. With our Golden Eagle senior discount pass, it was only 15 bucks for the night. The dock was another tight fit, but we got into the last available spot. Our good friends Beth and Jim live nearby in Palm City, and they came out and joined us for drinks and dinner.

'Easy does it' for pulling into this slip

Today is the big day – our last day on the great loop. The day dawned very windy, and we were shoving off at 7:30 to lock down 12 feet through the St. Lucie Lock and make the last 15 miles of the Okeechobee Waterway to mile zero at the St. Lucie Inlet. At the inlet we turned north on to the good old Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Vero Beach. By this time the wind was really honking out of the south and kicking up quite a chop, but it was a following sea for us and we had a nice ride up past Jensen Beach and Fort Pierce. By about two in the afternoon, the marina we left from over 10 months ago was in sight, and our cruising friends on Contentment were there at the fuel dock of the Vero Beach Municipal Marina to mark the occasion. Champagne was popped, and we changed out our white “looping in progress” flag for the yellow “loop completed” flag. We spent the night right next door at the Vero Beach Yacht Club and continued the celebration.

Lock number 156!

Going under the old Roosevelt Bridge

The name of the boat in front of us is Ciao. Fitting as this is our very last lock on the loop.

No more locks or bridges between us and home!

The Jensen Beach sailing school taking advantage of a windy day

Pulling into the fuel dock at the Vero Beach City marina

Our official 'Crossing our Wake' photo taken by Elizabeth on Contentment

Cheers to us! Photo credit: Elizabeth, Contenetment

We retired two white Looper flags. The first one we replaced in April at the Norfolk ACLCA  rendezvous.

What comes next? We will spend a month or so in the area here taking care of business and getting geared up for a couple months in the Bahamas….after that, who knows?