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Okeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon

January – March 2025
  • AICW Great Loop Segment
Okeechobee WW out and back with a 5 star marina resort stay to the Hontoon Gathering on the St. John River. Read more
  • AICW Great Loop Segment

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  • AICW Great Loop SegmentTravelerOkeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon
    The river is wakey during nice days but calm most nights
    Full moon risingThe floating docks and big boats give us some wind and wave protectionSunrise50 amp to 15 amp adapter for toaster ovenFilet Mignon on the NuWave skilletFree tram down Estero IslandHotel Lobby/Captain's LoungeTrying to get a fingerprint and ALMOST suceedingVery nice place and cheaper than Bahia Honda State Park Marina

    Day 46, Pink Shell Resort

    February 23 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Day 46, Pink Shell Resort

    We can’t get over what an incredible South FL marina resort deal this is if you stay over 30 days or bring a group of 7 boats, the rate drops from the typical $5/ft/night to $1.30/ft/night. And unlike all the others, there is no 40 ft minimum…you’re charged by your actual LOA, shorepower is metered, not $10/night. Free massive daily breakfast buffet with waiters and servers, pool towels, beach chair & umbrella, resort towels gel etc at private washrooms, free laundry, free truck parking, good gym overlooking the marina etc. Guests in the rooms overlooking this marina are paying $650/night PLUS the $60 ‘resort fee’ but boaters get all that included with the slip fee, which is cheaper than Bobby’s Fish Camp in the boondocks on the TTW plus you won’t get shocked here if you touch a power pedestal. We stored the trailer nearby for $120/mo but Neighbor.com has a 40x10 driveway for $99. We’ve previously explored all the nearby waterways and Keys and are using the boat like a floating RV until Hontoon next month.

    What broke:
    An odd bolt on the back of a camp chair. Fixed with a quick trip to ACE and the Helpful Hardware Man.

    The one year old, $4,400 tankless gas water heater froze up and self-destructed during the record cold front a few weeks ago. The manual says the optional anti-freezing recirculation feature still functions even if power is turned off at the heater. Well, I made the mistake of turning it off at the breaker panel, not at the heater. Not covered under warranty. My Bad, but Ouch.

    We still count the Phifertex camperback as our best mod to date…very good privacy, deflects most rain, allows breezes through, and very compact storage when folded (you can’t do that to any clear vinyl).

    The new fly by wire engines with integral electric steering have some great features. The OWW was a fun way to get the 20 hours break in period, but haven’t yet got up to WOT since it’s all 25 MPH max manatee zone around here.

    Safe Travels, and hope to see you at Hontoon!
    John    Read more

  • AICW Great Loop SegmentTravelerOkeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon
    Blue Seas EZ-ID blown fuse LED indicator
    Pelican feeding frenzy...they have dived BEWEEN the propsPhifertex in heavy rain deflects most overboardLunch at Roland Martin Tiki BarLeader Board from last tournamentParking lot Bass LinesFormer giant parking lot at Hilton Garden is No More!Alternate parking in employee lot

    Pink Shell to Winter Park

    March 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Eileen’s sister Pam drove over from Aventura horse races to meet us halfway for lunch at Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston on the OWW.

    Pink Shell resort departure day means lots of logistics challenges. The trailer storage lot and launch ramp at another marina 2 miles away don’t open until 0800, so we chose the free breakfast buffet for only the second time (though we took a small bowl of fresh fruit each day). Drove the truck over, hitched up, tire pressures all good, towed the trailer to the ramp marina and parked, got a Lyft back to the Pink Shell, checked out, cruised downriver to the ramp marina, backed the rig down a very difficult S shaped path to the shallow ramp with a massive hole that must be avoided between forklifts taking boats in and out next to us, towed back to the storage lot to rinse the brakes and reconfigure and finally got underway at 1230. The Pink Shell dockmaster didn’t charge us anything for five weeks of shore power. I-4 is always a nightmare but we got into the Hilton before dark. I chose it because it has a massive parking lot on Google Earth, but it was mostly closed off for constructing a new parking garage…oops. A manager came out and directed us into the staff parking lot across the street, which worked out well. The original plan was to get to Ed Stone and launch and check in at Hontoon Landing before 4PM, but that would not have worked. This is our first night off the boat since Jan 10.

    What broke:

    The cab reported a failure of the right trailer turn signal. Turns out the white ground wire had broken off at the ring terminal at the frame stud. I didn’t have a ring terminal on the boat, so we MacGyvered stripping the end around the nut.

    The front portion of the bunk slick on one side had fractured and fell off, leaving the heads of 4 screws protruding ½ inch where they could have scraped the hull. Luckily we had a Phillips screwdriver big enough to back them out.

    Somewhere along the way we lost a hub dust cap, which I don’t think is an urgent issue but will ask the hive about.

    The berth Marinebeam LED array lights quit working, but are too bright so we usually use a small 4D lantern. That turned out to be a blown fuse. I really like the Blue Seas EZ-ID fuses that include an LED that lights up when the fuse is blown.

    I’m glad Eileen was reluctant to make it to Hontoon landing before 4PM! Hope to try launching at the BYC ramp tomorrow.

    NEBOLINK report here:

    https://reports.nebo.global/c39be3b5-c00c-4ce8-…    Read more

  • AICW Great Loop SegmentTravelerOkeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon
    1Hilton Garden Winter Park invited us over to their Employee parking lot and even provided cones
    Hontoon Landing Marina looking across the riverFrom Hontoon Landing marina slipGusts tp 46 MPH, 35 sustained is 'Gale Warning'Cat O' Mine snuggled up on A Dock. Big fenders are Good

    Winter Park to Hontoon

    March 3 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Day 53 already? This is one of our longest cruises ever. I’m running behind in posting due to the complexity of our logistics etc but no matter. We launched at a steep and deep ramp at the Beresford Lake Yacht Club, which Tom and Joyce negotiated about with the management. It’s a much closer walk than Ed Stone to the State Park parking area (we were providing the ride to pick up the Publix Fried Chicken lunch). They invited the group for a last night dinner at the Club, which was really good and a first. Their docks are too high for our boats, but they were trying hard to accommodate us.

    There were some windy days (gusts to 46 MPH per our Windy Blue version app) that made docking ‘interesting’. It’s great to visit new and old friends (sorry, I meant ‘experienced’) at this Gathering. Kudos to Tom and Joyce for managing (if that’s the right word for herding cats) another Hoot again this year!    Read more

  • AICW Great Loop SegmentTravelerOkeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon

    Hontoon to home!

    March 8 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 66 °F

    Day 58 is our longest cruise to date! We got home safely and thanks to you all who are following our travels. Hope tp see you next year as a group of 7 (min) at Pink Shell Marina prior to the Gathering on the St John.

    Safe Travels! Maybe we will see you on our cruise from the start of the Trent Severn to Chicago and maybe beyond! This is the end of this cruise. Thanks to all who are Following, and may your cruise be as as fun as ours has been! PM me if we can be of help in any way.
    John
    John

    1    Read more

  • AICW Great Loop SegmentTravelerOkeechobee-Pink Shell-Hontoon

    Pensacola to Columbia, TN

    June 17 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We arrived at the West PNS NAS gate opening at 0445, hitched up and pulled out. However, within just three weeks before planned departure, we had three different problems, each of which could have cancelled this cruise.
    1: The lawn tractor battery which powers the trailer EOH brakes r drained to 11.5 volts, implying that the truck was not charging it while underway on the last trailer haul. I replaced the seven pin wiring connector from when the 2015 trailer. We recharged the battery successfully with a trickle charger. Ford Engineers insured that the charging pin is not activated unless the truck is in gear, the parking brake is off, all the doors are closed, so the brakes have to be on. I measured only 12.4v then, but with the brake pump on maybe that’s normal. The next Ford appointment was 3 weeks away. We bought a small solar panel to keep it charged up when not underway. And called it good.

    2: The truck air conditioner blower was intermittently not coming on. We had the same issue last year, and if it’s working at the dealer the technicians refusd to do any diagnosis on it. The third time bringing it into the shop it finally was in hard failure mode and turned out to have a burned blower pin harness. For the 3 weeks prior to leaving, the next 15 to 20 episodes of turning on the truck, the blower spring into action every time except twice and then came on within 5 to 15 minutes. We decided to press on.

    3: We had an electrical failure of the windless at the most at the most embarrassing possible time. We were the race committee boat for the annual Navy cup sailboat Regatta race, the largest of our Navy Yacht Club races for the year. When positioned at the precise coordinates needed, the windlass was totally unresponsive. I always carry a Lemar windless clutch winch and the senior race committee member knew how to use it to lower the heavy Manson Supreme anchor, but getting it back up was very difficult with one person having to hold back the control lever and the other dropping the chain down into the anchor Locker where Eileen was trying to keep it from getting too fouled into a huge muddy mess. Back home I was able to see that a connector had pulled off the solenoid control box, but only because I had a expandable tilting mirror to see such things. We were able to press on.

    There were serious major thunderstorms passing through on our way up to Tennessee, and the I-65 roadway was very bumpy. We enjoyed a quiet night at Hampton Inn and took off the next day. We found it if you're ever Park your seat door and a hotel parking lot you need to place pylons so that some idiot won't block you in.    Read more

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