One Light on the Shore

January 31, 2016

Coordinates 25.12060N, 80.42140W

Tarpon Basin

Key Largo, FL

Mile 1140

January 29 and 30, 2016

Coordinates 25.78752N 80.14858W

Miami Beach, FL

Mile 1089

Goodbye Miami Beach

While in Miami Beach we walked through the streets of South Beach for 7.5 miles taking in the sights.  Then to the beach to take in the blue water. 

Something I read in the Waterway Guide might be of interest to you. The guide tells you to make plenty of time for sightseeing once you get there. "Essentially a creation of the tourism industry, Miami Beach and its islands are mostly manmade".  What will man think of next.

We left Miami Beach for one of the well known keys where ,“African Queen” with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn was filmed, in part.  

Just a note before you see the pictures I have today.  The conversation went like this, Rob, “I think we should buy a bigger boat”, Tricia “great we can buy an Ark and I can have all the animals I want”.  End of story. 

This says it all:

Sheila these are for you

Shells are always a treasure

This shell is rock hard and feels more like a stone than a shell

Miami at dawn

Miami by day

Maine by winter

Brown Snow

I loved blowing bubbles as a kid.  I watched this guy make bubbles for a long time

Flamingo lawn art of a different kind

Do you know that you can get an ice cream cone on any street corner in central Maine but in South Beach you can only get one at McDonald's, what a shame.

On the way to Key Largo...

People in Florida love to fish and we saw the sport in full force today and I don’t think this is even prime time.  On our way to Key Largo we went through a narrow part of the ICW that was full of people celebrating the sport.  I can’t capture the true flavor of this little slice of happiness for the fishermen so here it goes I will try to describe it.  

First;

Traveling along side the keys was surprising to me, even though there was a great expanse of water between the mainland and the keys the water was calm and fairly shallow.  The boats zoomed by making wake, but quite minor compared to the one that rocked the boat so hard that the grounds for the coffee I was making for Rob went flying, what a mess.

I distracted myself again but this was going on when we happened on to a lively, tiny area.  Both sides of the narrow part of the ICW had two to three motels nearly on the water and people everywhere. The highlight of this tiny place was a bar/restaurant hollering to each other over the loud music.  Center console fishing boats were pulled up on the beach.  It is Sunday and people who had worked all week were enjoying their day off.

One light on the shore is so peaceful, the city lights are not for me.

My best to all of you.

Tricia

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

January 28, 2016

Coordinates 26.10416N, 80.11127W

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Mile 1062

We are still in Fort Lauderdale waiting out the weather, but in the meantime we have had lots of fun in between raindrops or on the two days of fairly good weather.  I have more pictures than words this time and I will tell today’s story through pictures.

Let me set the stage real quick.  We are in Lake Sylvia, a stones through away from mansions and Winn Dixie.  The only dinghy dock has a unique culture.  You have seen a couple of pictures of the bar that hosts the dinghy dock, there isn’t any other dock unless you want to take a long ride.

The fee to tie up at the Southport Raw Bar restaurant is $10.00 that can be used toward food and the food is really good. I guess my first impression was uppity about the restaurant, but quickly it changed.  The first time at the dock the water was littered with garbage and the deck and front of the restaurant needed a rag with soapy water. If you are ever in Fort Lauderdale on anchorage or by car and nearby, you should look this place up.  Unlike the small social group at the bridge openings where we were part of a whole, when you walked into the restaurant you walked into a small city being an outsider until you joined into the restaurant's way of life.  We used the dock most days, so of course we wanted more for our $10.00 than a tie up so we ate there several times.  One time we didn’t want to eat in the restaurant so we bought two pieces of the best chocolate cake and brought it back to the boat.

The city is different from what I expected because of a series of canals with mansions.  I expected beaches easy to get to.  I did manage to see the beach by taking a water taxi.

Here are the pictures I promised.

Found the beach.

 Water Taxi for the day, crazy right since we travel down the ICW in our own boat. But, the water taxi stops at several places we would not be able to go.  I was able to see the beach by getting off at one of the stops.  Rob stayed on our boat looking for water leaks, he didn't need my help so off I went.

There are so many fun names I see on boats, here this is one I thought you would enjoy.

Miami Vice here I come, VROOM.  Check out the name of the boat.

It is so much fun to see the variety of water crafts.

The view from our anchorage is this hotel, it reminds me of the buildings at the World Fairs.  The black night clouds make it look like a space ship.

Iguanas we saw on our dingy ride.

I am learning how to drive the dinghy.  I love how confident I look and I am in this picture but wait there is another story.  The day before this I wanted to be captain on the boat for the first time in a channel and crossing the ICW.  Before crossing we have to look both ways to make sure there aren't any mega yachts, jet skies, and fast boats that will run us over.  We were all set to go but there was a lot of wake from all of the above.  I increased my speed and went anyway. Brain and hand coordination fails me sometimes.  I tried to increase my speed and take the wake at a 45 degree angle, it wasn't working. Rob looks at me and in a semi panic voice says what are you doing!?  I told him if I knew what I was doing I wouldn't have done it.  After it was over I asked Rob if it is possible to upend the boat.

This picture was taken the next day.  I have no idea why Rob agreed to ride with me again.  The ICW crossing was calm and so were the canals.  I love my dinghy rides.  Check out Rob's relaxed feet.

In order to get to the dinghy dock we have to pass under this bridge.  At low tide it is easy and of course you can  imagine what it is like at high tide.  This picture shows us going under it at more than low tide but not close to what it is like at high tide.  At high tide we have to lay down in the boat so there isn't any part of our body above the boat.  It really is fun.

Finally a pedicure and manicure

Tomorrow I will see you in Miami.

Tricia

Weather or Not

Saturday 

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 64F. Winds W at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.

January 24, 2016

Coordinates 26.10416N, 80.11127W

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Mile 1062

Challenge of the day, leak in the fresh water system.  We have three tanks each one is lasting a day and a half, not right.

We arrived safely in Fort Lauderdale on January 21st after dealing with 19 draw bridges over forty miles of the ICW. I haven’t talked about bridges for a long time for a couple of reasons, there weren’t many and after awhile what can one say about a bridge. A bridge opening is one thing but 19 bridge openings! Some of the bridges open at fifteen and forty five after the hour, on the hour, on the hour and half hour, some on demand and some on the 13th hour. I tried to get us through one bridge with lots of boats around, trying to slow down until the bridge opened, not backing into anyone, keeping the boat on course while the fast boats went by all while Rob was in the cabin making lunch.  I called for reinforcement.  

Just an aside we heard today that all the bridges and tunnels are closed in NYC because of the horrible weather.  We passed under all the bridges in the East River on the way down, one of my favorite days of the trip. I am not sure why I am telling you this except that it is a very impressive trip down the East River looking up at all the bridges and all the buildings that represent so much to so many people. The bridges will be empty today

Back to our trip to Fort Lauderdale.  Most everyone announces their boat name to the bridge tender for instance, “ 17th Street Bridge this is trawler Linda Jean requesting bridge opening”.  I am not sure why we all had to announce our intentions but if we didn’t it certainly would be dull for me. There is social networking that happens while waiting for bridges.   Of course you see the most of same boats for all 40 miles and in very close quarters. Think about roll call. When we didn’t hear a boat announce their boat name we wondered why. We would learn the voice with the. Lots of days we saw boats with a home port from Maine and when we did we hailed them as if they were old friends and they did the same, always nice to see someone from “home”.  We have met retired Maine Guides, retired school teachers and many others, common folk living a dream.

Thursday we stayed on the boat all day because of high winds and down pour.  Friday we went for an eight mile walk two miles of it because someone, not me, sent us in the wrong direction.  We fought 30-40 mile an hour winds that gusted up to 50 in Fort Lauderdale, all in a days work. We had errands to do for the boat so found the “largest West Marine in the country”.  I always wonder who decides that.  I bought something for Fort Lauderdale weather, check it out.

Here is why I bought a new jacket

When I look at the big homes and the big boats I wonder how lonely it is to roam around in the massive room by themselves, maybe that is how I would feel if I had one of the homes or boats.

The flavor of Fort Lauderdale

You can leave your dinghy at this restaurant all day for $10.00 that can be traded in for food if you eat here.

We took the dinghy from our boat down this canal to the restaurant.  We passed a police officer and he motioned for us to slow down. 

I love this little boat

Down Again addendum

My friend Barbara did a little research and found the website that tells you how you to can own this yacht for a night.
Here is the web address.

http://www.seafairmiami.com

Please invite me to your event.
Tricia

Down Again

January 20, 2016

January 18, 2016

Coordinates 26.98997N, 80.09151W

Conch Bar Anchorage

Jupiter, FL 

Mile 1002

January 19-20, 2016

Coordinates 26.71058N, 80.04775W

West Palm Beach, FL

Mile 1022

Jupiter, Florida

Check out the Jacket
Down Again

A friend once said, “so it took you a month to go the distance it would take 5 hours to drive”!  Well, here we are at mile 1022 in West Palm Beach after we entered the ICW on November 12, 2015 in Portsmouth, VA.  How many days is that? But would driving be this much fun?

While at our anchorage on Conch Bar we met a man standing up in a large row boat.  He had started in Cape Canaveral and was heading to West Palm Beach, 127 miles, isn’t that amazing?

Another amazing person

We left Conch Bar for Peanut Island. We hoped to run into people we knew were waiting  for good weather to sail to the Bahamas.  A week later they still had not left, unable to cross in their 24’ sailboat.

We met this couple in Beaufort, South Carolina and have run into them often along the route. I am smitten with their ability to live the free life.  They have done lots of fun and hard stuff that I dream about doing.  If I was younger, if I was more adventures... I wouldn’t do it, but I sure do like living vicariously through them.  Traveling the ICW is our kind of adventure.

David and Hannah use to be messengers on bikes and then traveled around Mexico on those same bikes toting along with them, two dogs, Fea and Milo.  Fea is the tiniest dog I have ever seen.  I don’t know how much she weighs but maybe around 5 pounds and looks like a reindeer.  Fea will cuddle up to anyone that will offer up a lap.  Milo is a great small dog but much bigger than Fea.  There is a picture on Hannah’s blog of Milo riding free in a dog buggy while David  peddles away.  That is a great example of a “dog’s life”.  Sadly I don't have any pictures of the dogs.

Hope to see them again someday
Look for Hannah's article about their first day sailing this trip in Good Old Boat magazine

We couldn’t stay anchored near them because the current and wind was too strong and going in different directions. Their boat came so close to ours that David could jump from our boat to theirs.  No collision, but that was the sign we needed to leave and go to the nearest, safe anchorage to the south.

The suspense built for us because there was a draw bridge that opened every hour at 15 after. The bridge didn’t open at 4:15 (rush hour traffic) but did open at 3:15. We were very close, but not close enough so we doubled the speed we usually travel. Thankfully we made it to our safe-from-the-wind anchorage.  Our anchorage is a stones throw away from West Palm Beach between two city docks.  When selecting an anchorage it is important to know how far it is from a dinghy dock.

It is amazing the number of people that we find from Maine.  A boat looking very much like ours, but a Monk, came into anchor. We met them on their dinghy ride into shore to walk their beautiful dog.

While writing this blog this yacht came into the dock.

There is more than one way to make a living.

Most likely you can't read the sign leaning against the wheel chair:
"Learn how to sail with Spirit Winds Sailing"

The weather for the next four or five days is mixed and some of the days are not safe for traveling.  We are headed to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow to stay for a few days to wait for the weather to get better and hopefully pick up CBS, so we can watch the Broncos play the Patriots on Sunday.

Tricia

Scarlet and Rhett

Today is January 18, 2016

January 13, 2016

Coordinates 2837471N, 8048360W

Titusville, FL

Mile 875

January 14-15, 2016

Coordinates 2815175N, 8060764W

Diamond Point 

Banana River, FL

Mile 914

January 16-17, 2016

Coordinates 2766471N, 8037278W

Vero Beach, FL

Mile 952

The Waterway Guide writes that Titusville lives up to its slogan “Gateway to Nature and Space”.  The Kennedy Space Center is within 20 minutes of the Titusville Municipal Marina. We did not go ashore, but anchored here as a waypoint to Melbourne.

I find it humorous to read the Waterway Guide write ups about places. 

I can hear Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler having a conversation about Melbourne, ”Darling, we have finally left the cold north winds and have arrived in sunny Florida, oh how I have missed the palm trees and the warm weather”. “Scarlet I don’t give a damn what you say, I will not remove the flannel sheets and stop wearing long sleeve shirts just because you think it will be warm”.

Palm or Pine

When one is a boater it is important to be flexible since the weather is of a higher court. Rob takes great care gathering all the information on weather, so we make good decisions about traveling.  We had to anchor north of Melbourne in order to be protected from the wind.  We found an anchorage at Diamond Point on the Banana River.  The technology and information available today is so top notch that travel on the ICW is a pleasure trip most of the time.  We were able to find the anchorage quickly, with safe directions on entering the canal. We stayed here two nights to avoid going out in bad weather.

I took a picture of the chart plotter with the mapped out route that we entered. Look at the picture below and follow the brown line to the end.  The blue is shallow water, the yellow is land and the white is the deeper water, although still not deep, part of the ICW.  The shape with the anchor represents an anchorage, the yellow shape with a triangle and explanation point is a caution symbol and the green square is a channel marker that indicates a boat should go around it and not between it and the shore.  The blue symbol with the backward parenthesis designates a bridge, in this case, a draw bridge that needed to open to allow us to pass. The red sail boats represent marinas or yacht clubs.  The other symbols are not necessary to know at this time.

We managed to safely arrive at our destination and loved it.  I felt I belonged in the canal with dolphins, pelicans, hawks and a manatee sign promising manatees were in the area.

The next day we arrived in Vero Beach and it gave me lots to think about. We find traveling is more about being underway, seeing the birds, dolphins, landscape and less about the destination.  We like to see people we know or meet other boaters, but this being our first time on the waterway and leaving late in the fall, we don't see that many people.  The Waterway Guide describes Vero Beach as a favorite stop for cruisers, in fact it says that Vero Beach has a nickname “Velcro Beach” because people don’t want to leave. We didn’t see anything spectacular, so I don’t know what they are talking about. We did our walk to Vero Beach, the Atlantic side and back, 4 miles round trip and that was very nice. We rarely eat out and don’t shop much except for groceries, these are the things that the WG (Waterway Guide) talks about in each stop along the way. 

A fun project along the way and for rainy days.

We did not have curtains in the aft cabin and finally it was time to make them.  In the last post I talked about Rob and I shopping for the fabric.  Rather than shop for hours for the right fabric we stumbled across a cloth shower curtain that fit the bill.  The challenge was finding how to attach the curtain to the track above the window.  Brilliant that we are, we decided beads would be perfect. Check it out.

So after the curtain was cut and sewn I added the beads.  Take a look.

Voila

On the same day the curtains were finished we planned on watching the Patriots play the Kansas City Chiefs.  We were not able to get CBS, so we watched the game on our iPhone. Verizon has an NFL app. to watch games.  We don’t like to do that because it uses a fair amount of data, but after all, this is the playoffs.  

We had dinner with Brady

Now we are off again the seas are rough but the wind is behind us so the ride isn't too bad.

Tricia