TERI ANN: Labelle

We're back in LaBelle. Everyone thought we were crazy to leave today. There's all kinds of bad weather advisories today. There's a small craft warning, high wind advisory and gale warnings. We went through the Franklin Lock. The Lock master said he was surprised to see anyone on the move in a boat today. It was too windy to hold onto the ropes in the lock, so Al had to use the engine and thrusters to keep us stationary in the lock. It would have been smart to stay put, but we are scheduled to get hauled and have the bottom painted tomorrow morning at River Forest Yacht Center of LaBelle.

We had a great time at Looper-palooza in Fort Myers. We were reunited with our friends from the Loop. We met Average Looper, Navigator, Errante, Grand Finale now with a new boat named Stars and Stripes, Marabeel and several others. We also made many new friends. We also got some useful info from several of the seminars we attended. We also took a tour of the Eddison & Ford Winter Estates.

Our plans to get to the LaBelle City Dock today were almost stopped by the Fort Denaud Swing Bridge. It's a very old bridge and the bridge tender is not allowed to open the bridge in extreme high winds. Just as we got to the bridge to request an opening, a squall came through with wind over 40mph and heavy rain. The bridge tender told us sorry, but she can't open the bridge until the wind drops below 30mph. We rode out the squall in the middle of the channel with nowhere to hide. After about 15-20 min the wind calmed just enough for the bridge to open. We got through and the bridge tender quickly closed the bridge. We got to the LaBelle City Dock and had a pretty hairy docking experience because of the high winds, but now we're tucked in safe and sound.

Tomorrow we plan to head to River Forest Yacht Center to have the boat hauled and the bottom painted. It will be the first time that Al won't be taking care of his own bottom. We were quoted a price from the marina that's cheaper than if Al would do the job himself! We'll see how it goes. We'll get a rental car and motel for a few days while the work is being done.

Statue of Eddison at the Eddison & Ford Winter Estate Tour