Closed up our cottage on Lake Erie and drove our truck and dinghy to Florida.
When we arrived to Indiantown Marina where Rol & C's is stored, we were happy to see that Hurricane Matthew spared the marina. Again, we had work to do on the boat but not as much as last year. Roly worked on the dinghy crane as design changes to the hydraulic system had to be installed. New oil filter hoses installed on both engines. For those of you that have owned and worked on boats, you know that Murphy's Law states, "any work needed to be done in a boat's engine room will usually be in the smallest and tightest area of the engine room". Do you know how hard it is to find a skinny midget to help you work on your boat? While Roly was swearing and cursing in the engine room, Carole did a light sanding and painting on the bottom of the hull to get away from all the cursing. Somewhere the boat's designer's ears must have been ringing from all the threats Roly was sending his way! lol
November 24th - Again we very much enjoyed the festivities at the Indiantown marina to celebrate the American Thanksgiving.
Country night at Indiantown Marina
Friend Michelle, marina crew Alex, and Carole enjoying fun times. Notice the bug spray on the table along with the rum and tequila. Got to keep the bugs away somehow!
Dec. 1st - After 3 weeks in Indiantown, we launched the boat and headed for lake Okeechobee towards the gulf coast. We stopped for the night at Moorehaven city docks after crossing the lake and going through 2 locks. Only $40.00/power & water, woohoo!
Very small city with no restaurants nearby, so to our displeasure we had to cook after a long day of travelling and also, lots of smoke from burning sugar cane fields, that was quite unpleasant. Southern Florida is sugarcane country. They grow and harvest sugar cane throughout most of the interior of the state. After the harvest, the accepted method of disposing of all the plant parts that are not used, is by gathering and burning them in open fires. The ash from these fires is spread far and wide by the wind and ends up making a mess of peoples properties! As well, transporting the cane in a lot of open transport trucks leaves a mess on the roads and road sides.
The waters of lake Okeechobee and its tributaries are so polluted that you can't see bottom in a foot of water. Floridians have been dealing with these messes for a long time but the main culprit, "Big Sugar" as it's called, has a lot of money and a big lobby in the state and federal government. It's a shame to see how these once beautiful waters have degraded. Sorry but we needed to vent!
Dec. 2nd - Port engine alternator quit. Made phone calls to VC Electric in Stuart, Florida for a rebuilt. Luckily they had one on the shelf for $200.00 with my core - 135 amp. Vic is a great guy, if you're in need, he's the one you want.
Dec. 3rd - Happy 87th Birthday dad! Wish we could have been with you to celebrate!
Carole's dad, Doug Grant's 87th birthday back in Welland ON
Funny the things we see while travelling...houseboat decorated with mannequins!
Dec. 5th - Left Moorehaven at 9:30 a.m. Docked for the night at Calusa Jacks at 3:30 p.m. The marina is also a farm, housing many animals. While we were settling in for the evening, a Bayliner went by making a huge wake, which caused our boat to rock violently and hitting the dock poles causing damage to our side rail. The owner of the marina was very kind to radio the boat to come back as we had damage from their wake. He also mentioned that if he didn't return, that he would contact the sheriff down the river.
The Bayliner returned and ended up being owned by a Canadian couple from BC who had just purchased the boat. Being the usual polite Canadians, they were very apologetic and gave us a cheque to cover the damage.
Dec. 6th - We left Calusa Jacks and ended up in Fort Myers Beach at Bonita Bills Waterfront Café. BTW, if we ever plan on travelling to the gulf side again around Christmas, we will make sure to book a marina ahead of time as we had trouble finding a spot. Bonita Bills was very kind and accommodated us. Steve the dock master went out of his way to make sure that we had all we needed. Our stay there was supposed to be only temporary as the dock we were tied to was reserved for restaurant patrons. Thanks to Steve, we were allowed to stay for two months at a very reasonable rate.
Fort Myers
Bonita Bills (note: Rol & C's on the right at the end of the main dock pointing towards the restaurant)
Bonita Bills was very convenient with the bar and grill right at the beginning of the dock. Shrimp bucket is their specialty at a great price. Loved the entertainment! Every afternoon we were entertained by a local one man band named, Chucky from Kentucky playing tropical type Jimmy Buffet music. Monday is jam night which was very entertaining with 'Ghost' a 75 year old hippy, Kevin on keyboard and whoever else wanted to jam with the band. Tuesday and Friday karaoke. Wednesday was also a preferred night with Paul and Kevin. If we wanted something different, Dixie Fish Co. bar and grill was right next to Bonita's, and also the popular 'DocFords', which was fancier and more pricey, but awesome food.
'Ghost'
Game time with trivial rock & roll questions. We won a bandana!
Dec. 21st - Flew home for Christmas with Allegiant Airlines from the Punta Gorda/Fort Myers airport. Great low price airline straight to Niagara Falls, NY.
Christmas with our beautiful family. From the left, our twins, Leanne & Chris. At the right, our daughter, Lisa Walsh and her husband, Grant. Centre, our beautiful grandchildren, Lily & Austin Walsh. Oh and Sadie the german shepherd.
January 1st - We flew back to Punta Gorda with colds. Never fails when we go home for Christmas, we usually return sick. As of this writing in March 2017, Roly's still coughing!
January 2nd - Our son Chris Pare, flew in for a visit and his flight was delayed. Roly went to pick him up at the airport and they didn't get back until 3:30 a.m.
January 3rd - Carole's friend, Denise Fortier and Les came for a nice visit on the boat. Luckily they were down at the same time as us as they have a house in Fort Myers. We had a great day at the beach by dinghy.
Carole, Roly, Denise & Les
January 6 - Our friends Brad & Carol Skinner also have a condo in Fort Myers and we met up quite a few times during our visit. It was a good time for Chris to come down as he is acquainted with their son Devin and his friends who also just arrived. We took the boat out to Fort Myers Beach in the front of the Lani Kai Island Resort and The Cottage Beach Bar, which are always a fun place to be. Monday nights from 4pm was also a good time at The Lighthouse Resort Tiki Bar with $6.00 12" pizza and 2 for one drinks. The margaritas were awesome but very potent!
Fun on Fort Myers beach with Carole, Chris, Roly, Brad, Carol and the photographer's little girl. (We joked that Carol missed her granddaughter so much that she picked up a random girl on the beach), lol.
Our son Chris flying through the air
All the guys had fun jumping off the boat!
Chris, Devon, Matt, Gavin and Keith going through the inter-coastal waterway heading for the beach.
January 11th - Time for Chris to fly home to detox, lol. He had a great time hanging out with the guys. It was so nice to see him! Time to clean up, wash sheets and get ready for our daughter Lisa and her family to come visit in 2 days.
Jan. 13th - The Walshs also arrived late from their flight at 11:30 p.m. Boy did they all look tired from a long day of travelling.
Jan. 14th - Only one week to visit so off to an amusement park nearby. Lily had a blast and only got lost once when she followed an unaware Grant into the Penny Arcade. When will that darn GPS kid's watch come in?! Lily was calmer this year but this time it was Austin's turn. He loved the stairs but was not too stable on them, so we had to watch him every second as the boat has 5 set of stairs! He also just learned to walk so he was all over the place!
Zoomers Amusement Park in Fort Myers Beach
Looks like Lily wasn't the only one having fun!
For a little girl that just recently turned 4 yrs old, we couldn't believe how well Lily did maneuvering the go-kart. She only had a few bumps into the tires when she would look at us, which was hilarious, but she was awesome! So much fun watching her! Way to go Lily! She certainly drove better than her mom or her aunt Leanne did at that age! (Lisa & Leanne, your dad wrote that!)
Our little dude Austin and his pépère, Roly. Poor Austin was too small and didn't get to go on rides, except the train that we coaxed the ticket guy to let him on. He had a good time watching everything though.
January 15th - Happy 83rd Birthday Mom!
Carole's mom, Laurette Grant's 83rd Birthday! It's too bad that all of our parents birthday's happen in the winter when we're away, and we can't be with them to celebrate. We do make up for it in the summer when we're home and we consider ourselves so very blessed to spend time with them and to still have them in our lives!
Jan. 16th - Took the kids out fishing today but didn't turn out too good. Lisa and Lily both got seasick and the only fish we caught was a 4" puny one on Lily's toy fishing rod!
Lisa's big catch!
Captain Roly, and future captain Austin
Lily and Lisa being pulled via dinghy with Matanzas Pass in the background.
Roly, always exercising! lol
Great time at the beach!
January 20th - One week went by so fast! Time for the Walshs to fly back home already. Always so much fun being with them but boy does the boat ever feel big now that they're gone!
Sad day when they had to leave.
Jan. 21st - Our friends, Diane & Del Fraipont were in the area visiting with another couple, Don & Judy Chabot. Roly took a few of them for a dinghy ride and on their way back, the dinghy was filling up with water ankle deep! The water splashed into the dinghy as the waves were rough on the ocean side. He had to quickly turn the pump on. Good thing, Diane's friend Judy stayed behind with Carole as she's not too thrilled with the water. We had a few good laughs and had fun later playing cards.
Don, Roly, Diane & Del
Jan. 22nd - Carole joined Diane and friends to shop at the huge Flea Masters flea market in Fort Myers. Upon their return, they enjoyed a swim in the pool at their hotel, America's Best Value Inn.
Jan. 24th - Left Bonita Bills for a few days and travelled north by Sanibel Island towards Captiva Island. On our way, a dolphin decided to join us for quite a few miles. It started at the bow, then moved over to the port side. As Carole got up close, she was taking a video of the dolphin, when it surprisingly jumped up high out of the water right in the front of her! As you will see in the video, (if it works), she was so shocked, that she pressed the off button by mistake when it jumped. It was a unique experience and Carole was beyond thrilled!
It kept jumping out of the water quite a ways until we had to slow down as we reached our destination.
January 24th - We anchored at the south end of Punta Blanca Island for a few days. It was nice, secluded, protected cove. We watched ospreys bringing food to their young ones and lots of jumping fish around the boat.
Fish for dinner!
January 25th - We took the dinghy over to Cabbage Key and had lunch at the Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant inspired by Jimmy Buffet.
Roly on his way to the restaurant...couldn't wait to get a cold beer!
Cabbage Key Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant has an estimated seventy thousands dollars in bills hanging on all walls and ceilings. We were told that the money that falls during strong winds gets donated to a charity.
After our lunch we went over to the 'Tunnel of Love' area that took us to the gulf side beach of Cayo Costa Island. The beach was full of shells and Carole was in heaven!
It was lovely until we took a wrong turn and Roly had to pull us in very shallow water...his African Queen imitation for those old enough to understand!
We were the only ones on the beach and Carole could have stayed there all day checking out shells
Unique 6 legged starfish
Rol & C's awaiting our return in our beautiful secluded cove
January 26th - After our quiet couple of days, we cruised back to Bonita Bills. It was time to provision the boat for our cruise to the Keys and then the Bahamas. We've been doing this for a few years now so Carole keeps a list of our necessities, besides the wine, beer and rum that is. We had to bring our "wagons" full of supplies through the bar area of Bonita Bills which was the only way to reach our slip. This was done after closing time (10:30pm), as to not make the staff think that we were opening our own bar down the dock.
Sign of the times...
January 31st - Said our goodbyes to Bonita Bills in order to travel the south on the gulf coast of Florida. We fuelled up at $2.36/gal. Left the fuel dock at 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Naples by mid afternoon. We anchored in a beautiful spot surrounded by gorgeous mansions. Took our dinghy for a ride to a quaint Italian looking part of Naples with beautiful sculptures, shops and restaurants.
No Shirt, No Shoes, "No Hair", like Roly's bro 'Moe' quoted, lol. Everybody's a comedian!
Beautiful homes in the 50 million dollar range, according to a post on Active Captain! Since we've just mentioned it, I'll give you a brief run down. Active Captain is an interactive website designed and run by Jeff and Karen Siegel. This couple has done more for pleasure boating than anyone since GPS. What their site does, is mark marinas, anchorages, bridges, hazards, points of interest and much more, on a chart. Cruising boaters such as ourselves, provide this info as we travel the waterways. Details such as fuel costs, slip fees and reviews for marinas are very helpful when cruising to new areas. Reviews on anchorages help us to decide which to pick in certain weather conditions. Bridge openings and clearances are valuable when transiting inter coastal waterways. Along with three or four weather sites, Active Captain is part of our daily planning routine. As I stated to Jeff in an email a few years ago, "Active Captain is a boater's best friend".
The view from our sundeck as we swing at anchor.
Lovely small area in Naples. Can't imagine what the rest of Naples looks like...so new and beautiful. To the left, over the water is the Tiki bar where we had a couple of expensive drinks. Looks like all the well to do locals gather there after work.
Carole loved the little shops but there weren't enough to her liking! Thank God says Roly!
After checking out the area, we cruised back and had supper at "The Boathouse" Restaurant. Nice place with many souvenir shops just outside the restaurant (Carole was pleased!).
Feb. 1st - Cruised to Marco Island and on our way we were greeted by many dolphins. Three of them this time stuck around for awhile!
Roly waving to the dolphins. They actually turn sideways to look up at you while swimming.
Best part of cruising!!!
We later anchored out in Cape Romano Shoals, south of Marco Island. Very nice spot and enjoyed the view of the ruins of the domed houses.
Bob Lee, a now-deceased retired oil producer, spent much of the years 1978 and 1979 building this house of domes off of Cape Romano. 1992 Hurricane Andrew, left barely a scratch on the sturdy home's walls and foundations, but utterly destroyed the interior therefore the Lee family abandoned the home in 1992 as it was no longer habitable.
In 2005, Bob Lee sold the house to John Tosto, a Naples resident, for $300,000. Tosto intended to renovate the home, and hoping to move it, using a crane. Unfortunately, a few months after purchasing the property, Hurricane Wilma struck, and further destabilized the house's foundation. He faced many regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Protection, among others. He was unable to produce all of the necessary permits, partially due to the hindrance of protected bird nesting seasons. In 2007, the Collier County Code Enforcement Board finally ended Tosto's hopes for the house, ordering the structure demolished by the owners within two years on the grounds that it was unsafe. In November 2009, he was fined $187,000 for not having the house demolished by the proper time. The demolition never occurred as he had already invested $500,000 in the project and his estimates put the cost of completion at $900,000.
We were so intrigued by this that we had to include the story behind it all. So now as it stands, the house is in ruins, and the poor guy is out $500,000, while the original owner gained $300,000. The ruins now serve as a beautiful reef, with diverse marine life and is a unique site to see.
Lovely white pelicans
The little island in Cape Romano is entirely made up of seashells pushed in from the gulf. Notice tents where people camp out overnight.
February 2nd - we moved and anchored in Little Shark River, surrounded by swamp land. Not much around accept a few fishermen, jumping fish and a few dolphins swimming around.
Feb. 3rd - Left early morning to head south and many other dolphins followed us including a little baby one, right beside her mother at the bow! We have a video but so far our videos won't transfer to this blog for some reason (hey bro Mike Belanger, we need your help!). If you want to check out our videos, they're on Carole's facebook page.
In Marathon we crossed underneath the Seven Mile Bridge that leads to Key West.
Feb. 4th - While heading to the keys, we couldn't believe how many crab pots were anchored in the gulf. Very annoying for boaters to steer through and they're right in the middle of the channel!! We would never recommend night travel! Arrived in Marathon by noon and there were no moorings left.
Hundreds of boats moored in Boot Key Harbour. We've never seen so many boats all together in one spot, even more than stocking island in the Exumas. We fuelled up at Burdines Marina for $2.99/gal. We were surprised that they charged 15 cents a gallon for water even after fuelling up. We're used to being charged for water in the Bahamas but found it very unusual to be charged for water in the U.S. We should have filled the water tank at the city marina for only 5 cents, but we weren't going back that way! Afterwards we looked for a spot to anchor amongst all the moorings and squeezed in and dropped the hook. After note: So happy that we cruised the gulf side this time because 6 months later, hurricane Irma came and made a real mess of things.
Hundreds of boats moored in Boot Key Harbour. We've never seen so many boats all together in one spot, even more than stocking island in the Exumas. We fuelled up at Burdines Marina for $2.99/gal. We were surprised that they charged 15 cents a gallon for water even after fuelling up. We're used to being charged for water in the Bahamas but found it very unusual to be charged for water in the U.S. We should have filled the water tank at the city marina for only 5 cents, but we weren't going back that way! Afterwards we looked for a spot to anchor amongst all the moorings and squeezed in and dropped the hook. After note: So happy that we cruised the gulf side this time because 6 months later, hurricane Irma came and made a real mess of things.
So many boats in Boot Key Harbour, Marathon. The place reminds us of a Walmart parking lot.
Noticed many iguanas on old docks across from the city marina
Went out on a dinghy ride and Roly fell in love! What's not to love, almost 1900 HP on a 30' fishing boat!
Feb 5, Happy 90th birthday to Roly's mom, Marie Claire Paré. We were glad to hear that she was spoiled by many all week taking her out for dinner and lunches. Wish we could have been there!
Mémère's 90th with her great granddaughter Lily
Feb. 5th - We left Marathon in the morning and tried to fish outside but the waves were too uncomfortable. The sun was right in our eyes and we ran over and split a crab pot float in two. We cut through Long Key bridge and travelled inside up to Key Largo. While Carole was driving, she saw a stingray jump out of the water 3 times straight out from our bow like dolphins do! Hope it didn't get hurt! The boat developed a vibration so when we anchored in Key Largo, Roly dove down to check the props and sure enough came up with a length of crab trap line that wrapped around one of the props. Too bad the trap wasn't attached, full of crabs for supper! He also noticed how filthy the bottom of the boat was after being in Florida waters too long, not to mention the prop shaft zincs were completely eaten away!
Feb. 6th - We left Key Largo at 10:30 a.m. and arrived in Biscayne Bay, Florida at 3:30 p.m. The boat ran fine after Roly cleared the starboard prop. While waiting for a weather window we anchored in a very well protected inlet called "Hurricane Hole". Roly was disappointed that he didn't see any topless girls this time as we did a couple of years ago in that spot...(remember that Ian?!) lol
Notice the boat out on the left that ran aground on a sandbar. It's a well marked shallow area and can't understand how the captain drove into it. He had to wait all day for the tide to come in, then the tow service was able to pull him out.
Such a beautiful anchorage
Feb 7th - Bought Carole a kayak for her birthday and she hopped in it for the first time. She had a nice ride around the harbour checking out the gorgeous properties.
View of Miami's Biscayne Bay
Feb. 9th - Happy Birthday Carole!
She enjoyed her birthday crossing over to the Bahamas. We left at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Bimini at 12:30 p.m.
Lovely sunrise heading out to Bimini
So happy to be back to the gorgeous clear blue waters!
Bimini Big Game Club
Docked for a few nights at the Bimini Big Game Club marina. They would throw food down to the sharks from the restaurant's balcony as seen in the above pic. Sometimes half a dozen bull sharks would show up and we were surprised to see that there were no railings below the balcony to avoid people from falling in! Had dinner up in the restaurant for Carole's birthday then took a cab to the casino. We left our money there and went back to the boat!
Carole before snorkelling the SS Sapona. The boat is a concrete-hulled cargo steamer that ran aground near Bimini during a hurricane in 1926.
Taken from inside the ship while snorkelling. Below are the remnants of the engine.
Bahamian getting ready to jump
Took our dinghy to the fish cleaning station and watched all the bull sharks right under our dinghy!
Our injured captain! Roly had an argument with the pressure cooker... pressure cooker won! Just another scar to add to the list.
Out fishing with the girls and no luck catching anything again but we did see this gorgeous yacht.
Roly convinced the girls to have snapper, head and all and they loved it!
March 25th - Week was over for Helen and Brenda. We all had a great time together. Off to the airport again to drop them off, then picked up the next crew, Linda and Hal.
Carole's sister reeling in a Cero (painted mackerel). We thought it was a king mackerel that's not good to eat so we threw it back in. Once we looked in our fish guide book later on, we found out that we got rid of a good edible fish! That day we also pulled in a mahi and a wahoo down by the Lucayan waterway. Told ya we'd catch fish once Linda got on board! What's up with that?!
Linda and the mahi's head that Roly loves to cook up and eat
Haha, Linda trying to spread a little luck on Hal
Ian's mahi catch
March 27th - Went out fishing on Ian & Michelle's boat, Southern Flite and hooked 3 Marlins but lost them all! What a sight to see them jumping across the water....exciting day!
Girls having fun dancing while waiting for the fish to hook
April 1st - Linda and Hal left their week long stay with us on the boat and went over to the Ocean Hotel at Taino Beach. They asked for a room with an extra bedroom thinking Linda's daughter was going to come and ended up with 2 apartments! Awesome RCI deal!
Linda and Carole entered a dance contest at Taino Beach. The guys against the girls.
The guys got a little excited about this one!
Got a really good video and Carole is now happy that we can't post videos!
Needless to say, the girls won! We got a t-shirt and a mickey of rum!
Carole's first time driving the dinghy with Michelle and Donna. Michelle said that Carole even drives it better than Roly!
I'm sure!...yes she did Roly and I do! lol
I'm sure!...yes she did Roly and I do! lol
Michelle, Linda and Carole enjoying a kayak cruise
Linda
Couldn't go kayaking without stopping at the liquor store to pic up a few Radler drinks (beer with lemon or grapefruit) as the kayaking was hard work!
Carole and Linda were a little crowded on the way back to Rol & C's on a one man kayak!
Should have given the paddle to Linda! lol
Michelle and Linda enjoying the little beach at the entrance of the Lucayan waterway while Carole went out snorkelling.
Linda and Hal at Peterson's Cay. Awesome beach and good place to snorkel.
Linda looking through our lookey bucket (glass bottom pail). When we don't feel like getting wet and want to see bottom, this is what we look through. Can't go too fast in the dinghy though as it's hard to hang on to!
Darn turtle was so fast that we couldn't catch up to it to get a full pic!
Our friend Ian MacPherson from Southern Flite enjoying his last day on Taino Beach, for this year anyway.
April 8th - Had a good 2 weeks with Linda and Hal but it was time to say goodbye. Roly drove them to the airport. We were looking forward to another week of relaxation but decided to take advantage of the weather window and headed for West End as soon as Roly got back from the airport at 2pm. Fished on the way and Carole reeled in a 3lb tuna. Arrived at a deserted inlet in West End, Bahamas at 6pm along with Grant & Donna from Prima Donna and Ian and Michelle from Southern Flite.
Sunday, April 9th - we left at 4:00 a.m. from Grand Bahama and headed for the St. Lucie inlet near Stuart Florida. Halfway through it got really rough with 4 to 6 footers on the aft quarter. Worst ever as our wicker furniture on the sundeck, moved all over! We changed course for Lake Worth to allow for a following sea and at 12:30pm we entered the inlet. It was pretty scary in itself with the wind, waves and the tidal surge. Very relieved once we made it in, then we docked for the night at the Riviera Beach City dock.
Peanut Island across from the docks is a local party spot for boaters. It was great to sit on the foredeck with a cold one and relax after our rough ride. We watched the many boaters partying with their loud music. It reminded us of the summer weekends back home on Lake Erie with the gang from the marina...miss you guys!
Peanut Island across from the docks is a local party spot for boaters. It was great to sit on the foredeck with a cold one and relax after our rough ride. We watched the many boaters partying with their loud music. It reminded us of the summer weekends back home on Lake Erie with the gang from the marina...miss you guys!
April 10th - Checked in at customs at 10:00am then headed towards our home base at Indiantown Marina and arrived at 6pm.
There goes another great season! Until next year!!!
End of season mileage 5915 - 4749 = 1166 nautical miles for the season.
Hopefully next year we'll get the Rol & C's name back on the boat!
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