St. Augustine to Lake Okeechobee Just before we left St. Augustine we heard that a pre-dawn shuttle
launch was scheduled for the next morning. We wouldn't be nearly as close as we were
on the "Maribo" trawlercat cruise, but shuttle launches are always great to
watch. Anyway, what else is there to do at 5 am? To make up for the late start
from St. Augustine, we keep running until after 10 pm, find an anchorage in Ormond Beach
and set the alarm for 5am.
The Maine Cat has a wonderful shower on the transom steps, so on the way across the lake, CapmWoody takes his last shower aboard the Double Standard. As we approach the western shore we pass a sand bar full of white pelicans, and lots of small boats with people feeding the fish. Gloucester to Stonington
Stonington to New York
Welcome to New Jersey Cape May to Ocracoke Ocracoke to Charleston Charleston Charleston to St. Augustine |
Right on schedule, we
look to the south to see this streak of fire headed for Earth orbit. It was a long
time before we heard any sound. We were still in darkness and the shuttle's altitude
was in sunlight, so we could clearly see the two rocket engines separate and fall back to
Earth, tumbling through the sunrise. It was quite a show. What do you do when the
highlight of the day is over at 5:30 am? 
The wind kept blowing out of the south, so we stayed in
the ICW all the way to Boca Grande on Florida's west coast. We took the Okeechobee
Waterway and were able to do some very relaxing light air sailing once we go into the
lake, anchoring just off Pahokee on the southeastern shore. From there it was just a
short run across the lake to Clewiston, where we were to meet up with Sid and Judy. 
