Our Stay at Everglades City, & NCOBS

We have talked for some time now about leaving Everglades City on Monday, January 12, to head on down to the Keys. There is a cold front forecast to move through the area Tuesday with some increased winds and unsettled weather for a few days so we may stay here a little longer. We did run up the Barron River here in Everglades City yesterday and fill up with diesel fuel at a very good price. While there we ate lunch at the City Seafood Market. It was very good. The owner, Richard has a trawler parked at the market and he talked at length about doing the loop. He has owned commercial fishing boats for years but has never cruised for pleasure. We encouraged him to join the AGLCA for information and to meet other loopers and take off. We plan to meet Blue Max today and help them get moved over to Goodland because the rental period on the house ends today. We will get our final shopping done in preparation for leaving.
All that is done but the weather is not favorable to our leaving for a few days. There is a cold front moving through with winds forecast to reach 30 mph with 7 to 13 foot seas out on the gulf. This is off shore but it will create a significant swell inshore which will make travel uncomfortable and preclude our going to Gudjoe Key which is fairly exposed. This morning we had kitchen duty for breakfast and then we helped paddle several canoes over to the national park headquarters where some crews will begin their course. This afternoon we plan to go to dinner with Jeff and Anne.
On Saturday a crew of ninth graders had gotten stranded by extremely low tides and could not get back to the base in time to depart with the rest of their group. Later in the day nine of us left with Jeff on the ferry boat, (pontoon boat), to go out so that they could ride back on the ferry and we paddled the canoes back. On the way out we had problems getting across one shallow bar due to the low tides, they were extra low due to the continued northerly winds blowing the water out of the islands, so we all got off and pushed the ferry. We were in mud about knee deep. I finally lost one of my Crocks so I began to go bare footed. I got several cuts on my feet from oyster shells in the mud. They are sore but they do not seem to be getting infected.
We have lost track of days. We are still at Everglades City waiting on the weather to favor our leaving. Today is Monday, January 19, 2009. The weather forecast this morning shows more cold fronts moving into the area with strong winds and possibly rain. The lows over the next several days may reach the high thirties. That will feel cold. The forecast looks like maybe we will see some good travel weather by Thursday. Another boat which Jeff and Anne met a couple of years ago at an anchorage along the North Carolina coast has been holed up here in Everglades City also. They completed the loop two years ago. They are just cruising the Keys this winter. Jeff invited them to tie-up here at the camp’s docks for a few days until the weather improves. They are traveling on a 23 foot sailboat so there is space for them.
As we prepared to leave the NCOBS to drive into Naples to buy groceries, Muriel went back to the boat to get her shopping bags and she tripped on a line from our boat to the dock and fell hard on the concrete dock. She had a huge bruise on her right wrist and she split her right knee open and was bleeding profusely. Jeff and I checked her and bandaged her knee and I took her to the ER in Naples where she received three stitches in the knee. X-rays showed no problems in her wrist and no foreign material in her knee. She is quite sore this morning and her knee is stiff but she was up at 5:15 to help me make four dozen rolls with sausage rolled inside and three dozen cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we did most of the dishes before returning to the boat.
The weather looks favorable for our departure on Thursday. We had a squall here about 4:30 this morning with heavy rain and strong winds. It is supposed to remain cool today with an overnight low in the high thirties tonight and tomorrow. Highs this weekend in the high seventies. We are ready to get back on the move but we were planning on doing some snorkeling and Muriel will not be able to get her knee wet for a couple of weeks.
Today is Friday, January 23, 2009, and we are going to move at last. We have truly enjoyed our stay with Jeff and Anne and the group here at NCOBS, Everglades. We will miss them and Carlie but it will be good to get on the move again. Blue Max is leaving Goodland right now and we will leave here shortly and meet them at Indian Key which is the mouth of the channel to Everglades City. We will see what time we meet there and decide whether or not we can make Little Shark River in daylight or maybe we will anchor at Russell Pass, just inside of Indian Key. The weather looks good for the next several days so we have no need to hurry.
I am going to post this without pictures so I can get it finished and get on the move.