LOOP Report 04/13/2005

Coco Beach, Florida
April 13, 2005

Blasted through Florida on the Ocheechobee Waterway from Ft.Myers as if slicing a loaf of bread. The waterway is the colour of melted chocolate popcicles, yuk! Beautiful homes and ranch-like settings are in the river parts but the lake was mostly empty of traffic.We took the direct route across the lake rather than the rim, which was another 10 miles of additional possibility of hitting submerged branchs or logs. We did manage to hit one with a thud as we approached Clewiston ( we love our big protective keel ). That made our decision to cross directly easier. The locks are smaller than previous river experiences and also the drops and lifts are of a few feet only. Entering onto the ICW of the Atlantic brought us into blue- green water and once again we were joined by our dolphin friends happily entertaining us with their joyful antics. We stopped overnight at Vero Beach Municipal Marina. A few Canadian boats here and we’ll see more as we now have started northward. Found a leaking water hose as our port engine pan was full of water which definitely was not proper. Good thing we were checking systems below. David and I got it fixed while Pat and Susan took the bus to town for groceries. Got away at noon and managed a beautiful day of warm weather cruising up the protected ICW coast. Happened along side of “Mr.Ed.” who we had previously met in the USA river system back in November. So had a catch-up small talk byVHF radio chat. He mentioned “Boomer” is a day behind us so will likely see them soon. They have been in Bahamas since December. Susan has figured out we need to average 50 miles a day in order to give us extra days to stop for the sights or weather. Yesterday we easily did 50 miles (12:00 to 6:00). Arrived at Coca Beach and parked at newly renovated Whitley Bay Marina. Rented a car and whipped up to The NASA Kennedy Space Centre. Awsome dimensions everywhere. Felt like being on some different planet or a film set of outer space. Took the standard bus tour around the various launch sites. Currently there is a shuttle/rocket sitting on a pad waiting for a May 15th launch. Did the IMAX film “The Dream Is Alive”and it still is the most awe inspiring view of our spaceship Earth. Headed back to the marina to attend to our ship for the continuing journey. Got an early start next day to make up time. Went past Cape Canaveral and could see the Centre and Rocket with binocs. Arrived in Daytona Beach at 6:00. First half of the day was sun and hot, second half the clouds dropped down on us and the wind turned up a couple notchs to 25 MPH gusts and what they call an inland rough chop. So while the shuttle travels around earth at three times the speed of a bullet ( 6,000MPH ) we are traveling at two times the speed of a turtle ( 9MPH ). Headed for St. Augustine…….

Is it a Train? Is it a Bullet? Is it a shuttle? No, it’s the super sonic Loopers!

Ted, Pat, David and Susan.