Stuart, FL - Key Biscayne, FL

Ship’s Log – December 16 – Stuart, FL to December 30, Miami, FL

12/16 – 18, Our three days in Stuart were marked with much rain and wind. Mark struggled with the mooring ball and our lines. We got ashore inbetween showers and explored the downtown area and walked out to the shopping mall area to get a few things.

Finally on the Saturday the 19th, though it was windy it was finally sunny, we headed to the dock to do pumpout, get water and hit the road, turned right back onto the Magenta line and headed south. There were several bridges, most of which we were able to “skinny” under. The scenery ran from wildlife areas to modest homes on the water to very grand homes with even larger boats.

We did a 35 mile day and pulled into Lake Worth at about 1:30. LW is a nice body of water just off the ICW surrounded by homes, high rises and mongo boats and regular cruising boats at anchor. I spent the afternoon finally redoing the food inventory so we might have a clue as to what we have and where it is. Mark chilled with a cigar and book. The wind finally abated at about 4pm but came up again during the night so the night was a bit noisy but not too bad.

The next day also was a straight forward day – ditch, bridges, some wild areas, lots of homes and then dropped a hook in “Lake Boca Raton”. We were treated to a highly decorated catamaran for hire driving around with a party onboard.

Monday the 21st – Halleluiah, I took a few minutes to work out the bridge schedule and figured that we needed to be at the first bridge – about 3 minutes away – for the 8:40 opening. I knew I got it right when a 100 footer jumped out of his slip in front of us and then another behind us. Eight bridges and very little waiting time at any. Actually we did skinny under the last two and then we went into Sylvia Lake a Fort Lauderdale, a lake-like body of water off the ICW, again surrounded by million dollar homes. Dropped the hook at about noon.

One of the BIG guys!

We were right by a 7 foot bridge (more like 5) that when the tide was low we could get under with the dingy which cut the trip across the waterway to town quite a bit. Other times we had to go around the island. The first trip was around and then to a dingy dock in town; $10 unless you dined so we had lunch and then Bluewater Books – the mecca of boating information.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Bridge and Pelicans

Since it appeared that our weather window that we had hoped for would not appear we decided to stay put for the next couple of days. Local rules have us in question as to whether or not we will be harassed by the authorities, but most of the other boats seem to be staying put too. The anchoring laws just changed down here to the benefit (amazingly) of cruisers and according to our literature was not yet being routinely applied. Since publication was awhile ago, the authorities seem to have worked it out as it has not been an issue. Again a morning catching up on paperwork while Mark cleaned the hull which was still sporting its brown mustache from all the brown water of the Carolinas and Georgia. After lunch we took the dingy and headed up the

New River to explore the downtown area. Wednesday we spent some time revamping our thought process as it appears we may be “here” awhile before being able to cross. Went back up the river and had a beer intown and explored the riverfront. All lined with interesting homes, some pricy, others not. Very Venice like.

Sylvia Lake

New River Decorations

The Little Bridge!

Thursday the 24th we decided to head to Miami. Nice day –10 bridges and about 22 miles, made mental and paper notes of the other anchorages on the way. We pulled into our chosen anchorage area at about noon which is just north of the Venetian Causeway right by the island of Miami Beach. It was a bit exposed but fine for the night. We headed ashore at a nearby boat ramp / dock and walked around a bit. Stopped into the Publix which was jammed with people and food, being the day before Christmas. Picked up only a few things as we did not bring the back packs. Then we discovered a canal across the street that lead back to where we were anchored. After getting back to the dingy we went and checked it out to discover that it followed Dade Ave. almost the whole way across the island and went right by the Publix. Next trip to the store will be that way.

Back at the boat we had we sung in the current and were really close to shore and some apartments so we moved out more into the middle and reset. Then we continued with our Christmas Eve dinner of grilled pork chops and black beans and rice with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.

It did end up being a noisy night with the wind and some noise from the apartments and I did not sleep well. The anchorage is a bit open. In the morning we took the dingy and checked out a more protected area that I had seen on the chart. We went back and got the big boat and moved into the new area called Sunset Lake. It was again amongst lovely homes (just discovered that one sold for $9.75 million!), is back behind some islands, and is more protected from the predicted north wind. Then having earlier done some restaurant research we dingied back to the dock, called a cab, waited through a rain shower and headed to Miami South Beach to a Cuban Restaurant – Puerto Sauga for our Christmas dinner. It was very full of people – always a good sign – in a family like atmosphere with every ethnic group represented and the food was very good. We were very pleased with our choice. After dinner we walked out to the main drag on Ocean Ave. The street was jammed as far as one could see with people dining in street cafes, strolling playing volleyball (in bikinis of course) and lounging all over the huge beach. The weather had cleared up and it was now in the 80s. We joined the strolling out onto the beach and then worked our way back up Ocean Ave, Collins Ave, to Espanola Ave and the Lincoln Street Mall. Quite a sight! Back at the boat we crashed from our long walk and full bellies, resting for awhile before calling friends and family to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Sunset Lake

We are now pretty much on hold looking for the correct set of wind direction and speed and a 3 day opening with that to make our crossing to the Bahamas. Hopefully we’ll get something close to that. In the meantime (Saturday) Mark worked on reapplying a coat of varnish to the cap rail, I dubbed on log / blog. After lunch we headed back to town to check out the Lincoln Rd. area. It is a 5 block section that has been turned into a pedestrian mall with shops and restaurants all with outdoor seating. Glad we had eaten as the food looked great but it was very pricy. Finally some restaurants as good as Portland. A big sight is an area of palm trees that had a large population of parakeets. Maybe Portland should enclose Congress Street and turn it into a covered promenade (skip the parakeets).

Sunday – Looks like the window of opportunity for crossing is close but not quite. Thought we might hit one on Wednesday. Good weather direction, long enough window – too much wind. May be another one in a few more days. So what to do now? Mark is doing the 2nd coat of varnish. I researched the area for another anchorage. Looks like it is more of the same, but before moving we did head ashore this time taking the bus south and walking back. Monday the 28th we did move to another area and we are now at Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne – a Miami Dade Municipal Marina. We did fuel up and pumpout and got to our slip. No cable and no wifi. A great disappointment – (spoiled?). The docks were new and good. The slip was tight and we are on top of the sport fisher next to us – didn’t seem to bother him when he showed up the next day. Also – very Spanish here – may need that Spanish for Cruisers that Mark got at the Annapolis Boat show. The bathroom and laundry are a bit of a hike – I’ll get my exercise. The upside was that the commercial boats at the back side of the marina are selling fresh fish off the backs of their boats. They have cutting tables all set up and Mark picked up some mahi-mahi. Wow – a bit different right off the boat – it was yummy. Tuesday we spent the day prepping the boat (cleaning inside and out, figuring out the bus schedule for last run to the store, etc.) in order to be able to go as soon as the window appears. Could be Friday now or maybe not until next week. It is not a great passage mileage wise, but can be the nastiest if not done carefully. So we wait – at least we are not having a nor’easter!!!!

South Beach!

Palm Coast to Stuart, FL

Ship’s Log – November 26 Palm Coast, FL to December 16, Stuart, FL

Two weeks in ME flew by with much visiting and catching up with friends and family and I was able to get the gardens put to bed. It was fun to get my hands in the dirt for awhile.

Another week was spent in Palm Coast while Al and Mark did a lot more work on the engine. It is a small and very sweet marina with very friendly liveaboards, no matter the size of their boat - like that giant one in front of us.

I spent some of that time ferrying to the grocery store on a bicycle to start the provisioning process and dug out the piano to work on some arrangements. One evening we were glued to the TV (cable in all the marinas now) watching the tornado warnings and the weather map as a nasty front passed through – side show from Ida. Our last evening we were treated to the local Parade of Lighted Boats. I got out our lights so we could get decked out and we got set up with lights and hats.

We left Palm Coast on Saturday the 5th and spent three nights on the hook going down the coast: New Smyrna, Titusville and Eau Gallie. The area just after New Smyrna was lagoon-ish; a shallow area with lots of small islands. The wildlife was spectacular with dolphins and birds – herons, pelicans, osprey, terns and gulls . We saw more dolphins that day than I think I have seen my entire life. They swam all around the boat, rode and leapt in our wake beside the boat and would periodically turn to look up at us. It was so amazing. The weather was a bit rainy but it was warm and smelled so nice.

Our next stop was the Vero Beach Municipal Marina, a place with a mission. Our friends from S. Portland, Joel and Becky have a place here in Vero (they were not there right) and they have friends from Maine whom we have met with them over the years at various functions who were there. Those friends, Bob and Mariele Schaedel lent us their 2nd car which was a huge help, while we were in Vero and we spent the better part of two days (Thursday and Friday morning) doing the BIG provision to carry us through the big part of the trip to the Bahamas where a roll of TP or a boat part is LOTS more $. That would include paper products, beer and wine, canned goods, condiments, parts and piece for the boat, new snorkel masks, etc.

From there we moved 15 miles south to Fort Pierce. The boat has now gone full circle. Fort Pierce is where we purchased the boat and we were at the home of the previous owners of the boat, Nels and Suzanne Hallstrom and their five – count them – five Chihuahuas.

They were awfully cute and had

amazingly different personalities.

Mark has Madeline and I am holding Carlton. Suzanne rescued him as he tried to cross Route 1!

Their home is on the water in Faber Cove and we stayed in their slip. They also lent us their 2nd car so we could get all the stuff that we either forgot or couldn’t find.

We had dinner with a third acquaintance, Carl Smith on Friday night. Carl (from Saco) is taking all the recordings of the PSO and digitizing them to be “rereleased”. Quite an interesting project and he is having a grand time with it. Back at home the PSO Magic of Christmas was in full swing and not being present to defend myself I seem to be getting the blame for starting the red socks tradition – so I sent them a photo of red socks in FL. Saturday night we had dinner with our hosts and another couple, staying up well past our bedtime having a grand time. Those few days were warm and rainy but Sunday cleared out and the temperature rose quickly to 84 degrees necessitating setting up our aft cockpit shade covering which is working out very well. We ended up spending a few extra days in Fort Pierce as we were waiting around for a delivery. The chart program that we bought for the Bahamas would not properly load onto the computer and I had spent hours with the tech guy on the phone Wednesday. He said he would put a new disk in the mail to us that would be in Fort Pierce on Friday….NOT. Tracking says Monday – so, shucks, we’ll just have to wait.

The program did arrive late Monday and is still being a problem but at least we can run it from the disk. Nels and Suzanne suggested a cookout so we combined forces and had another fun dinner on their patio. I just love outdoor dining.

After a few more chores and some laundry we reluctantly departed Tuesday, late morning and did a short day down to Stuart, FL. We headed up the St. Lucie River to a very nice anchorage where we could actually get a mooring and it was only $10 a night. Bargain!

Hilton Head, GA to Palm Coast, FL

Ship’s Log – November 1 - Hilton Head, GA to November 11 - Palm Coast, FL

11/1, Sunday – Mark decided that we needed to hook up a real propane tank to the grill as it is using too many of the small cylinders. After a yummy breakfast at the marina complex (outside dining) we jumped back in the car. The West Marine and Walmart are well disguised in Hilton Head zoning but all parts were obtained. We found one of the public beach accesses and walked down to find a very wide (at low tide) long, lovely beach. We walked around for awhile and then back to the car to check out the south end of the island. They charge $5 to get past the gate for the southern part of the island. We almost blew it off but decided to check out how the other half lives. We finally decided that it is merely a deterrent to keep the riff-raff out. It is gorgeous down here. We guesstimated thousands of homes all extremely neat and tidy. Cars or bicycles – no golf carts. We ended at the marina complex that has the red and white striped light house that is featured in all the publicity for HH. The marina area has shops and restaurants – all playing the same music and all with the same sales.

11/2, Monday - Best night’s sleep I’ve had the entire trip. I picked up some Benadryl yesterday. The next leg we have to time everything to the tides – not hitting certain areas at low tide as they have shoaled over and Georgia has not dredged in years. Other states are at least making the attempt but it hasn’t been part of their budget. Lunch at the restaurant at the marina complex, water the boat, adjust the head fittings again and off the dock at low tide at 1:45ish. The ride started out gray but got nicer down the line. The bridge that we were timing turned out to be fine at 24 feet and we were 22 – just squeaked under. We went through the town of Thunderbolt which has a marina / boat building place owned by Hinckley – located in Maine and they were building some 100+ footers there. Pulled into Herb Creek right after Thunderbolt along with a few other boats and dropped a hook, again in the marshes. The current was not too bad – we are getting used to it.


11/3, Tuesday – Got going about 8am – needed to time the tide again – some skinny spots ahead. On our way out we passed a very loaded shrimp boat. We did so well on the tide / speed that we kept on going to Duplin Creek and pulled in behind “Diamond Girl”. They had been in front of us most of the day and had forewarned us of a few issues in the water. Dropped a hook there again in the marshes and after a long day we enjoyed the very lovely evening. The days have been breezy and about 70 degrees with the evenings cooling down to the mid fifty’s.

11/4, Wednesday – followed “Diamond Girl” and after just a short day we dropped off at Jekyll Island. We got there on a decent tide in order to be able to dock – on the face again. Jekyll is a different feel from Hilton Head. The marina is more quaint – and somewhat dated, but nice. They had loaner bicycles at the marina. Mark picked out two that had decent seats and still had grips on their handlebars. After getting some air in the tires, we took off to see the “cottages” from the golden area of the extremely wealthy. They have been beautifully restored and the entire complex is open for touring. We merely peeked into windows. We explored some more but as our butts were not used to bicycle seats we soon headed back.


11/5, Thursday – We made plans for the courtesy car to take us to the golf course for an afternoon game. We warmed up at the range and played 9 holes – we were the only folks there. We could have played every hole twice except that we started at 3pm and forgot that it gets dark now before 6! The deer were coming out to examine our play. After dinner Mark went up to hear the band at the marina restaurant – the Wharf Rats and I joined him later. They were three hippies planting for tips. Not great but they were having a great time.

11/6, Friday – off the dock at about 8am to take advantage of the slack tide. Another short day. A 30 mile run to Fernandina, FL. Woo-hoo we’re in FL. Crossing the first sound tested my stomach as the wind and tide were very much opposing. Once back behind the islands it was better. We had hoped to get a mooring (some of the few down here) but they were full so we dropped a hook across the way in Bells Creek. The dingy got dropped in and we went to town for lunch and a walkabout. There are large paper mills on either side with a cute historical downtown district in-between. Back at the boat our new friends from “Diamond Girl” Bud and Elaine had caught up with us and stopped by and invited us over for drinks. A good time was had and we ended up feeling our way back to the boat in the dark – thinking that we would have returned before dark we neglected to take a flashlight or to leave lights on in the boat. There were several other boats moored nearby with anchor lights on. That helped as they hadn’t been there earlier.

11/7, Saturday – Set the alarm for 7 for an 8 departure o keep with the rising tide. Sunny warm day, nice ride and we were headed for the St. Augustine anchorage as the marina $ are going up. We passed many homes on the waterway, some with interesting docks. We managed to show up at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine just at 2:57 for the 3:00 opening. There were stacked up there. Probably half a dozen boats in front of us and more behind. We found a spot in the “southern” anchorage. It is in the river in a wider area, but still quite the current. We stayed put on the boat to keep an eye on it and just did boat work and relaxed.

11/8, Sunday – Just before lunch we got the dingy launched and headed to the marina and town. Armed with a map, we wandered around for awhile admiring the Spanish architecture and the outdoor living. We love that – the outdoor living. A local brew pub enticed us for lunch and then we headed to the Lightner Museum. It has an interesting history and its collection is unique to its owner which was then was donated to the city. In the collection seems to be some family history? After the museum we wandered down St. George Street (like Exchange Street but longer and even more touristy) and ended up at the Fort. Part of the National Park System, it is the oldest, undefeated fort in the US. It only ever changed flags by treaty. They had an interesting demonstration of canon firing. The canons could accurately reach as far away as three miles. Quite amazing. An outdoor restaurant enticed us for a martini and before heading back to the boat we checked out another “Eagle” in the harbor. Eagle is the make of our boat – there are not many of them and it is the first one we have seen.

11/9, Monday – I did some postcards and took the dingy in to mail them. When I got back in the dingy I looked up to see that the sky had suddenly turned very dark in the distance. It was a race to see which would get to the boat first – the rain or me. I won by a nose. We let the shower pass us by before heading out. There were several issues on the plate today. Hurricane Ida was pressing closer and we hoped to get far enough south to get out of her way. We had also been debating the idea of heading to Maine for awhile before making the crossing and Mark wanted to have some things checked out on the boat that would require parking somewhere for a week or so. Bud and Elaine on “Diamond Girl” had recommended a marina, a diver and a mechanic. Some phone calls enroute and it all started falling into place. The ride was again at high tide, we managed to skinny under one bridge that was 25 feet (the tender did not respond to calls from me and as it turns out for others too), and we got through a particular shoaled inlet with no problems. Doing it at high tide really makes a big difference. Then down another stretch of ditch part in the marsh and part lined with homes and we pulled into Palm Coast Marina. It is off the highway as it were, out of the waterway and current. I got the boat rigged for landing but had to scramble when the landing was for pilings and not floating docks. The diver was on premise waiting for us. He and his crew spent some time working with Mark on issues under the boat and eventually pulled the prop to have it worked on. In the meantime I started the laundry and took a shower – ah – lots of water. Mark hooked up the cable and we vegged the night away.

11/10, Tuesday – Mark started right in on some sanding and prep work for varnishing. “Ida” had come ashore on the Gulf Coast and we were only expecting a small hit from the most remote outer bands. We just hung around all day but another big decision was that we decided on a two week run to Maine - Friday to Friday and we spent some time planning that. I did break a barrier today – I got the violin out. It’s been 5 months; I think the longest I have gone without playing. She was a bit peeved with me – two strings loose, one broken and one holding it all together. It was fun to play for about a half hour. Mark’s mechanic came and they discussed things to be worked on while we were away. Otherwise again a vegge night. Did absolutely nothing worthwhile. It was great.

11/11, Wednesday – They predicted more “Ida” rain today, but nothing has come of it and it is warm and partly cloudy. Mark is varnishing coat one. We did get ourselves off the boat for a walk around the premises and we plan to drop the dingy and check out the canals in the area. The canals are manmade with home sites and you can park your boat in your back yard. Attractive as it seems, I have come to realize that we do have the best cruising grounds in Maine. South of New England the boating requires getting to an inlet and then out onto the ocean so unless you like to sail out and back or go fishing or get from point A to point B, it’s not the kind of boating I care for. As we are doing the “point A to B” trip that part works and there are tons of folks doing that here. I forgot the other kind – lots of folks living on their boats.

This will be the last posting for awhile as we are headed back to Maine for two weeks before continuing south and making the crossing. Finding a secure and reasonably priced marina with access to good contractors all fell into place and we grabbed it.