Waiting For Lake Okeechobee To Rise

We are sitting in slip H9 at the Ft. Myers Yacht Basin, waiting out stormy weather with the hope that Lake Okeechobee will rise a foot for us. We are trying to get to Indiantown Marina on the St. Lucie Canal near the Atlantic Coast. We could keep heading south toward Marathon and cross over to the Atlantic there, but that is exactly where this nasty weather is coming from. It seems, the Lake crossing would be a safer choice!

Our Friends From Mobile, AL
Rene & Michael on Sea Mist

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

Bridge to North Ft. Myers
We ran over this bridge!

Waiting for Dave at the Top
He's biking!

      

Before we left Ft. Myers we had to visit Rachel at the Well. We'd met a gal who told us the story of this beautiful statue, which is knows as the "Spirit of Ft. Myers". It is located near the Edison & Ford Estates. Poor Rachel had been the brunt of many teenage pranks over the years; including addition of soap to the well and a bikini to Rachel. She was painted in the colors of the local high school rivals many times. Luckily, she has been rescued by the Rosa Lowinger & Associates Conservation of Art & Architecture. They are a Miami based conservation firm who has scraped away the layers of abuse, uncovering a beautiful maiden in white. This 2017 restoration comes nine years after the last time Rachel was cleaned up!

      

   

It has rained every single day since our arrival. The sky has mostly been overcast with intermittent blue patches popping up. We had one beautiful sunny day but not until after a morning of rain. We've kept busy with boat projects and beer tours. We rode the bikes to the Bury Me Microbrewery and were delighted to see it was Pooch Picture day. Bury Me has a white hearse which is in attendance at events and fundraisers. It is outfitted with kegs and taps. The beer is very good! We tried the Fort Down Oatmeal Stout, the Bag o Bones ESB and the Soulless Scottish Red Ale. Bury Me Microbrewery has helped make this a fun layover! We were disappointed to learn later that Bury Me closed the brewery in 2019. 

The Hearse Taps

This is Camp

We also stopped by Steve's Waterfront Cafe & Biergarten. This place is a local hangout, inexpensive and friendly! Our beer was delivered to an outdoor bar in red plastic cups!

We left Ft. Myers Yacht Basin on Tuesday, June 13th. Our plan is to run short days and make several stops along the way. Our first stop is LaBelle, Florida along the Caloosahatchee River. The river is beautiful. There'ss a lot to look at, several bridges to navigate and our first lock since the Tombigbee. The lock master, a woman, is very friendly. She gives us a packet of information for our journey from the Caloosahatchee across Lake Okeechobee.

Beth hanging on the wall at the Franklin Lock

Dramatic Sky

We arrived at Labelle at 2:00, just in time to put up the tarp and dive below. Thunderstorms pounded us all afternoon. We were able to take a walk into town to explore in the early evening. Labelle is a cute little town, much like all the other little towns we've visited along the way. The dockage is free but we can only stay for three days. Once you leave, you cannot return for eight days. This is a lovely spot to catch our breath!