Fort Pierce to Houston - say good bye to Good Karma in Pictures

We didn't have enough time to load all the pictures during the trip. Plenty of time has passed since we arrived back in Cleveland. It was very difficult to write the final chapter because we were so sad to say goodbye to Good Karma, our boating lifestyle and to you. It has taken us a couple of months to decompress after the exhausting whirlwind in March and April to sell the boat unexpectely and deliver it to Texas. 

As I went back over our pictures I realized the pictures tell a story of their own - how geography changes, how people live in other parts of the country, what it is like to travel in places you've never been to before. So here is the story in pictures!!

Day 1 April 4, 2017 Leaving Ft. Pierce

Leaving Ft. Pierce at sunrise

Love Ft. Pierce City Marina!

Kermit and his co-pilot

Jack is very happy!!

The first bridge in Stuart FL - start of the Okechobee Waterway
across to Ft. Myers; evidently  not much to see on Lake
Okechobee because I don't have many pictures; it is a big lake,
not much to see but water

Moorehaven FL - tied up to city dock

Day 2 April 5: Waterway between Moorehaven and
Ft. Myers; We left at dawn, a little misty

Leaving Moorehaven

Surprising amount of livestock along the river

Not a very wide river but much prettier than the
eastern portion between the lake and Stuart

Alva FL, this is the amazing Rialto Marina,
no longer open to the public; we had a
wonderful time there with One September on the Loop
in 2012 just before they closed

Entering Ft. Myers

Ft. Myers - we just had drinks with
Kris and Dennis Kada - sorry no pics

Kermit looking for a cigar shop

Day 3 April 6: Leaving Ft. Myers - we saw this before, still funny

The ICW northbound out of Ft. Myers

Near Venus FL local police were having a
fishing tournament with kids; there were
dozens of communities represented

Venus FL, looking at the inlet to Gulf

Arrived at Marina Jack in Sarasota

Dinner at Fish Camp - delicious

Walking home we encountered a wine dinner in
the street, about to start

Sarasota

Sarah and Bill Vellucci and Lucy - we had a
lovely day in the park

Such a beautiful park right on the water - Marina Jack is in
the background; it was a perfect day

Marina Jack - we stayed about 4 days due to bad weather -
lots of wind made the Gulf too rocky to cross

Tues April 11, Day 7:
Until one morning we woke up and Kermit spotted a weather
window. After a pump out, we were off. 

Instead of heading up to Tarpon Springs we left out of
Siesta Key to make the crossing all the way to Carrabelle
while we had the weather window 

Along the way, why not change some fuel filters
in the Gulf of Mexico. We did it in Lake Ontario.
Why not? 

270+ miles across the Gulf of Mexico, we anchored
at sundown off Dog Island

We put down anchor almost in the dark

A shrimp boat working in the night

Passed right by us

While that big red full moon rose over the bay

Day 8: We fueled up at Carrabelle then headed
down (up?) the ICW. We stayed off the Gulf
because it was lumpy again

Stayed at Panama City that night with the craziest tied up ever

Day 9: leaving Panama City early

We headed out to the Gulf

We picked up a hitchhiker along the way;
he stayed, eating bugs and checking
himself out in the shiny surface (gotta
be a male) then flew off into the surf. I
hope he is ok. 

You gotta do something to fill up the time

Headed back into the ICW around Pensacola

Love those white sand beaches

And pretty communities in the ICW

And cute little islands - this water is a zoo on the weekends

Tied up at Orange Beach for dinner with Mary and Charlie,
two of our favorite people from the Loop - and very experienced
boaters

Day 10: left Orange Beach to head across Mobile Bay towards
New Orleans; water got progressively worse all day; we
could hardly see this tow

More water - it was a long day

We pulled into Chef Menteor to fuel up at this cute tiny little
place. Very strong currents. It was hard to tie up.
We learned after we pulled out that Bunny & Evan Evans
visited here and the food was great. We wished we would have stayed.

But we didn't stay. We left then got stuck behind a railroad
bridge when the train derailed. We thought we were being so
clever when we went into Lake Ponchatrain to get to New Orleans
the other way. No pics of Lake Ponchatrain. We were too busy
sweating over 3 foot depths. Then to learn that the lake entrance
to NO was closed. So we circled back and spent the night at the
entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, right where we had been
3 hours earlier. Tough day. 

Day 12: Entering New Orleans waters, this is a flood gate

The things you see

Lots of railroads around here - most gates are open

The first lock. This was one of the very few
pleasure boats we saw the entire trip. 

on the Mississippi

Mississippi River view of New Orleans

Riverwalk, famous for an important scene in The Pelican Briefs

We anchored here while exploring why an engine light was on;
this is on the north (?) side of the Mississippi

Then we moved to the south (?) side of the River. Kermit
is putting down the anchor in about 45 feet of fast moving water.
Not our best day. Thankfully nothing was wrong with the engine. 

Lock 2 leaving the Mississippi and getting
on the Western Gulf ICW

This lockmaster has a sense of humor

This is an old city and it looks it

Very industrial

Amidst the industrial are enterprising folks taking tourists for
those swamp rides in air boats. Very loud. 

This is what you look like when you take one of those boat rides. 

More commercial traffic 

This building was on fire!! We saw it from miles away. 

Yup, it is burning

Dead boats, my favorite

The water is very close to the land. Did I just say that? 

Tows everywhere. A tow is a tug boat with one or more barges
in front of it. 

At this community we heard over the radio that if we didn't slow
down someone would shoot us. Really. We slowed WAY down. 

The natives are not particularly neat. 

Commercial oil equipment is EVERYWHERE - this is
dry dock. When drilling begins again in earnest when the price
of oil goes up, then these rigs will go out again. 

A floating bridge

The natives are not particularly friendly either. That lady is not
waving hello. I think there is only one finger showing. We
didn't stick around to check. 

Yes, we need a fence to keep people off our valuable property. 

This is advertised as a very nice 4* marina. We kept moving. 

Look at the impact of water on houses here. And the current. 

More tows. The tow boats are VERY well cared for, unlike the
houses. 

A nice house is worthy of a picture. 

Time to drop anchor.  We are exhausted. 

This was a nice quiet cove. Much better
than that "marina". I think this is Black Bayou.

Day 13: Can you believe all that happened in
one day? 

We believe this is housing for oil crews
but we are not sure. Anyway it is empty, in drydock. 

This is a lock. Really, it is! No sides. Not sure
why we had to stop. But this lockmaster was a
real pip. Took a long time to get through this
lock with the flow through sides. 

See? Flow through sides but yet it took forever. 

Entering Morgan City LA for fuel. 

John at Rio Fuel was great!

See another pleasure boat is also photo worthy. We waved
like maniacs because it was the first one we'd seen in over 200 miles. 

This is the turnoff for the route to the Tabasco plant at Avery Island.
Kermit said no. He didn't even slow down.

Another lock with flow through sides. 

The angels who let us fuel up on a fuel barge. 

Kermit fueling up. Only 50 gallons per side so we didn't drip. 

I wish I knew exactly where this was. If you are on the Gulf
ICW, keep your eyes open for flashing blue lights indicating
fueling in process. They will help if you need it! Thank you!!

It was Easter Sunday. People playing in the water. You realize
there are also alligators in that water? Would you go in the water? 

Rigging for an oil rig being towed around

Anchorage on Easter Sunday is along a route that could get traffic.
It didn't everything was quiet. This is on the LA/TX border. 

Kermit setting the anchor. You can see the main ICW waterway
in the background. 

Day 15: We left early. Jack a little sleepy, doesn't notice his new
friend. 

We are in Texas so there must be cows. 

Approaching Galvaston Bay, we are starting to see civilization.
We are very glad to be out of LA 

Looks touristy to me. 

Wish we could have stopped. This is a marina in the back. No fuel.
Still no fuel since Morgan City, actually Abbeville but we didn't need
fuel then. That is a LONG way between fuel stops. You can
see what is important to us. 

There is a little marina in there too supposedly. 

Jack is ready to get off. 

Galvaston Bay is big and shallow. 

Fishing on Galvaston Bay - still no pleasure boats

Starting to see Kemah in the distance. 

The boardwalk with amusement park. We are here!

It is quite a distance from the entrance to Kemah to
our target marina. Very shallow

Looks like any place we saw but this is Kemah

Kermit already scoping out our next boat. 

The lighthouse is not near the bay. Huh?

Ok Jack, say goodbye to Good Karma and get
into your carrier.

It rained buckets just after we arrived at The Woodlands to visit
Rich and Joy Preble. We are SO glad we pushed on. Otherwise
we would have been anchored out during this bad storm. Good Karma. 

We scrubbed and cleaned out all our stuff. Loaded
everything into a mini-van for transport. 

Jack had NO room. 

There she is. Clean and ready for her new owners. 

I call this "Still life with chicken". The last load. 

Katherine and Kermit, last photos with our girl. 

She is wonderful. 

But now she is Texas Two-Step with Curtis and
Michelene Bainim. 

We wish them all the happiness. Fair weather and calm seas. 

We headed back to Ft. Pierce to pick up the stuff in storage.
Here we are after one last piece of key lime pie at the Tiki Hut at
Ft. Pierce City Marina. We love you guys!

We traveled 2 days straight to get from Houston to Ft. Pierce.
We dropped off the mini-van, transferred everything to the
big black truck, picked up a u-haul trailer.

Then loaded everything in the trailer and headed for
Cleveland. 

Some things you just can't erase from your head. 

Kermit and Jack are two tired guys. 

We drove 2 more days to get to Cleveland. At least the weather
cooperated. 

Our new apartment in Cleveland. Now we unload. 

Jack getting his bearings. Our apartment is lovely
but feels like a hotel. It will take some time
to get situated. 

We lived about five years on our boats, both Good Karma. The last Good Karma, a 45' Cruiser Express Yacht was the best. We can't imagine a prettier boat. We couldn't say no when presented with the opportunity to share her with Curtis and Michelene.

It has been a glorious adventure. But now it is time to regroup and figure out what we want next. We are not done with boating. Just not sure what is next.

I appreciate sharing our adventure with all of you. I got great pleasure talking with all of you who came up to us at marinas, at parties, at docktails or in emails to say how much fun you had traveling with us. We love you all!! We will be back!!