Great little getaway along the river

This one is For Sale. You could cruise with 100 of your friends.

Fort Denaud swing bridge. The lady bridge tender has to walk out to the middle of the bridge to open it

The lady bridge tender operating the bridge. Can you say "it's been there 100 years." At least she doesn't have to crank it by hand.

Orange groves along the water way

Red neck getaway. Notice the front seat on the left out of his pick-em-up truck

Cattle farms

You're not seeing things. It's a camel and a llama

They come in all shapes and sizes on the water ways. The guy in front is playing his air guitar for us

Happy girl #1 finally getting to play in the water. WOW Dad! This isn't salty

Happy girl #2 chasing fish and chunks of tree

September Song's new home for a couple of days at the Franklin Locks Recreation Area.

Time to go cruising

We have been here at the Harborage Marina and Yacht Club for a month and a half now and have enjoyed the Stuart area, cruising friends, parties on boats, Wahoo's, checking out the great restaurants and watering holes (all this activity and a guy gets thirsty) the DeFever rendezvous, Cruisers expo, the boat show, open boat tours, shopping, provisioning, boat maintenance, Christmas, New Years, our anniversary, (did I get it all) but its time to get out on the water and go cruising. I think rather than go through all the details of the last few days, I think you would rather go cruising. (me too!) Tonight we are going over to Tide Hiker for a last get together with some of our cruising friends who are still here. Tomorrow morning we cast off the lines and head across the Okeechobee Water Way and make our way to the West Coast of Florida. For those of you who don't know what the Okeechobee Waterway is, it's a water way that starts on the East Coast of Florida, goes across Lake Okeechobee, then on to Ft. Myers. It's a trip that takes you back in time to the beauty of old Florida. We have had a wonderful time here, but it's time to go exploring. Pack your computers and get on board because we be leavin in the mornin.

Welcome aboard!
September Song (cast off!) out
Bob


Yahoo's at Wahoo's

Happy hour with a few friends

The DeFever Cruisers all together at the Yacht Club

Mike and Steffie from "Steffie Anne" took several of us to their home for a BBQ. Great food and good fun

Flahama; you won't find it on a map. It's a state of mind "Mon"

This is what our life raft looks like. Hope we never need to use it!!!

No, it's not Gumby, it's a cold water life suit. Not to worry, we will never be in waters cold enough to ever need to use one of these.

Mexican on September Song

Last night was Mexican night with a total of 17 of our cruising friends on September Song. We had great apps compliments of Pat on "Got the Fever", enchiladas prepared by chef Roberto, delicious desserts prepared by Vicki, (AKA the pie lady with many faces; see pictures below) Stephanie, and Penny on "Stormy". Joe from "Sea Pearl" added a huge batch of his special blend Margaritas (they could hurt you!) too the assortment of other beverages (OK, booze) enjoyed by all. It was a great evening and we all had way to much food, fun, and laughs. (is there such a thing?) We have some great cruising friends and they all know how to make for a great party. Gypsies in the Palace are in Key West and weren't here for the party so we had some leftover Corona beer. Hopefully they will be joining us on September Song for a few days for the Rendezvous and they can help us finish it off. (miss you guys) In the next few days other cruising friends (around 100 and 32 boats) for the Stuart Boat Show and Rendezvous will be arriving. Do you think there will be any other parties? (do you think!!!)

September Song (OLE!) out
Roberto


I think Stephanie has a little Italian in her background. Tie her hands down and she would be speechless.

Busy in the galley.

Cassie begging to join the party

Dan without his hair hat, Di, Greg and Karan (who are headed for fun/trouble in Key West)

Vicki's surprise face

Vicki's pouty face

Vicki's happy face. Love you Vicki!

I want a hat like Dan's. A hat with hair. Not that I need any more, but I think it's a cool hat.

Catch-up time

When I last left you we were learning how to pin a lip to a tongue. (again, don't ask) Wednesday Norm and Vicki joined us for a road trip to Ft. Lauderdale so we could get our C-map chip updated. (a chip for our GPS) Ft. Lauderdale is the boating capital of the world and full of our favorite marine stores. (cruisers candy stores) After a quick late lunch at a must stop in Lauderdale, Lester's Diner, it was off to Total Wine, a mega discount liquor store to replenish our supply, then we hit as many of the marine stores as we could in the short time we had. What a fun day!
Thursday night was slush night on Chuck and Pat's boat "Got the Fever". Pat makes a mean slush. After getting "slushy" it was time to hit Park Avenue BBQ to pig out on some of the best ribs I've ever eaten. (fourth time we have been there)
Friday we woke up to a gorgeous day so we decided to go for a day cruise and maybe throw a line in. The main reason we wanted to go out was because we had our stabilizers worked on (big computerized fins under the boat that are supposed to keep us stable in rough seas) and we wanted to see how they were working. Well, they performed beautifully (FINALLY) They are working so well we could have put a glass of wine on the counter and it would not have spilled. (HAPPY CREW!!)
Friday night is free roast beef sliders during happy hour at Wahoo's. A group of us went up and as usual had a really good time. (OK, we were bad) Before we left, Norm and Vicki hit the dance floor and practiced for Dancing with the Stars. (Vicki's favorite show) See their photo shoot below.
Last night a cold front moved through (can't you people up North keep your cold fronts to yourselves!) and it has been raining all day with temps in the low 40's and tonight it's going to be in the low 30's. Can you believe it snowed in Orlando. Not to worry, it is going to be in the mid 70's this coming week. A good thing because by Thursday there will be 32 DeFever cruiser boats and about 100 fellow cruisers here for the boat show and DeFever Rendezvous. (Talk about a party!)
Tomorrow evening 15 of our cruising friends are coming to September Song for Mexican night. Margaritas, Coronas and my enchiladas. Should be great fun!

September Song (ole!) out
Roberto


Friday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a beautiful day. Let's go out on the Atlantic!

It was a beautiful day on the Atlantic. No fish, but a beautiful day

If we keep going in this direction we could be in the Bahamas in eight hours. Not this trip, but the first part of March we will say good-bye to the USA and hello Bahamas "Mon".

Joe, Norm, and Vicki having way too much fun at Wahoo's last night. (well, I guess we all had waaay too much fun!) Sorry! The rest of the pictures were rated X so Stephanie wouldn't let me post them of us being yahoos at Wahoo's.

Norm and Vicki practicing for their debut on Dancing with the Stars.

Norm and Vicki practicing as replacements for Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray
 in the remake of Dirty Dancing

Thursday night was slush night on Chuck and Pat's boat "Got the Fever" Oh man were they good, but you wouldn't want to have too many or you would get slushy. Then it was off to Park Avenue BBQ to pig out on baby back ribs

Dave and Penny, good cruising friends from North Carolina arrived on their boat "Stormy" Thursday and joined in the fun.

Wednesday we woke to ice on September Song. This is just not right!!!

A trip to Ft. Lauderdale wouldn't be complete without a lunch at Lester's Diner.

Lester's is a true New York Diner