We got here at 3:30. We are very close to the ocean, as a matter of face we can hear the waves. We had a long day. Margaret and Ken
invited us over for steaks on the grill, baked potatoes with all the trimmings,
a great salad and raspberry cheesecake for dessert. Were we stuffed? What do
you think? Back to the boat to get ready for bed. We're all tired.
We got up and left in the dark again, 6:10 am. We have
another long day ahead of us. It’s 49 degrees outside, so after we got the
anchor up and got thru New Smyrna Beach, we went back inside. I fixed “egg McMuffins”
for breakfast.
Shay keeps seeing dolphin jump out of the water. Of course,
by the time I get my camera out, they have stopped. We have also seen a lot of
manatee. Margaret had never seen one until today. We decided they must have
left Marathon before we started seeing so many last year.
Ken was excited, he got to sail
today. He loves the windy weather that we don’t really like. We’d rather say
put if it’s very windy. Today wasn’t too bad for us which means it’s so-so for
sailing.
We got to Cocoa at 2:30 and
dropped anchor. The temperature is 62 degrees and a little breezy. We are going
ashore with Rocking B. We stopped here with them last year for a night. We went
ashore and went to S F Travis, “the east coasts best hardware store”.
We went there last year and Margaret found
some shot glasses she wanted. None of us had any money. So…no glasses. It was funny;
the sign said 25cents each or 3 for $1.00. Does that make sense? I can’t wait
to see if the sign has been changed or not. We told Margaret to remember her
money.
Well, we went to shore and of
course the first thing we did we did was go to the hardware store. Margaret
remembered where the shot glasses were so we looked for them. They weren’t
there. So we asked where they were and they had been moved around the corner,
so we looked around the corner. And no shot glasses, so we asked someone else
and he said they all had been sold. He remembered the sign and everything.
Sorry Margaret. So Margaret and I walked around town looked at other stuff
while the guys wandered thru the hardware. We finally met up and I asked them
if they saw everything there was to see. Ken said he had hardware store
overload. He compared it to spending hours and hours on the Internet and
getting so much info that your head felt like it was going to explode. He felt
that way about hardware now. Too much stuff.
We stopped at a pizza/sub
restaurant to eat and then met Chris, the guy that helped Rocking B on the trip
back from Bahamas. He visited them on the boat and we came back to ours.
Watched some TV and then bed.
Up and ready to go 11-9-2012 at
6:15. The temperature is 59 degrees and windy. We are heading to Vero Beach. Another favorite place of ours. We like the
free transportation. I washed a load of clothes and worked on dinner, we have invited Rocking B over. We had a good day even though it was windy. No "skinny" water and no bridge problems. There was a lot of traffic on the ICW. We were passed by a lot of boats. One sailboat went by and told me we were supposed to "wake" them. I told her we didn't have enough power to make a wake to bother them.
Richard, from Sea Salt took Shay and Ken to Fort Pierce to a boat consignment store. We went there on our first trip and its a big building with lots and lots of boat stuff. They both came back with stuff. I guess they just couldn't resist.
Dinner on the boat then TV and computer time and then bed.
Shay got up early again to go ashore and talk to the "old guys". This is what he was looking for in Marathon at the "tree of knowledge" and never found. Guys talking about boat stuff.
We hope to see Richard and Connie today.
Next we girls went grocery
shopping and the guys headed back to West Marine. We don’t understand it, but
whenever there’s a West Marine close by they have to go inside. And this one is
an express store, which means it’s small. Whatever.
Back to the boat to store
groceries then check out the weather forecast. We’re undecided about our plans.
Shay went to Rocking B to help
Ken replace something on his mast.
I went outside to get a sunset
picture and was surrounded by dragonflies. We saw a lot in St Augustine and
there was a lot here tonight.
We had a kind of lazy day today.
Shay did lots of research on depth sounders again. Then we took the dinghy and
explored an anchorage area near the mooring balls. That way, if we get here
late one day, we can anchor for the night and then get a mooring ball the next
morning.
We were invited to Rocking B for
dinner and discussed plans for tomorrow. We will both be leaving in the morning
and may or may not be together tomorrow night. Rocking B may go outside at Fort
Pierce and go to Lake Worth. We will not be going outside, since the wind is up
and the waves will be more than we like. We had a little shower this afternoon
and had a beautiful rainbow, as you can see. We could see both ends. Wonder which side the "pot of gold" was on?
We got up and ready to drop
mooring at 6:30. We and Rocking B went to the fuel dock. We got water and they
got water and fuel. We washed off the boat while we were there, since this will
be the last free water until we come back north.
We left the marina about 7:20.
It’s a later day than usual and will be a long one.
Rocking B went outside at Fort
Pierce and we stayed inside. The waves were a little too much for us.
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Harbor Branch of Florida Atlantic University |
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It's been a long time since we've met a barge. |
We have crossed our wake a second
time. We started on the east coast of Florida where the Okeechobee Waterway
meets the ICW. We passed this way last year on our way south and again this
year.
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When we brought the boat home, we came out at the lower left hand side at the St. Lucie River and entered the ICW. |
We called Rocking B on the VHF to
see where they were as we neared the St Lucie Inlet. They were crossing outside
as we were crossing inside. The first part of the trip was about the same, but
they will probably get to Lake Worth before we do.
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Rocking passing by St. Lucie Inlet. |
We are in a beautiful waterway.
There are great houses on both sides and lots of money down here.
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Wonder what happened to this boat? |
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Will this be a big boat when it grows up? |
We passed by a beautiful golf
course on Jupiter Island on the way down. How’s that for entertainment? Chase
golf balls and watch boats go by on the ICW.
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This is the first "gingerbread house" dock house we've seen. |
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Pretty place |
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Another pretty place |
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My dad would say the perfect caption for this picture is, "Cut down these trees so you can see the water." He has talked everyone at the lake he lives on to cut down their trees, so he can see the water. |
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Another beautiful place |
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Lighthouse at Jupiter Inlet |
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And another....beautiful house. |
We passed under the 24’ tall, PGA
Bridge and were very lucky that we could. We had been hearing stuff on the
radio, that they were working on in and not able to open it. As we passed by, I
asked as guy on a sailboat how long he had been waiting for an opening. He said
two hours and the workers had no idea how much longer it would be. We are glad
that Rocking B is not with us, its mast is about 64’.
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West Palm Beach skyline. |
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Unusual colorful building. |
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Shay said this gives the term house boat a whole other meaning. |
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Margaret said another caption could be, "Your check bounced and the house stays here until we get our money." |
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Bahama Celebration |
Bahama Celebration is a cruise boat that makes 2 and 4 day trips to Bahamas. We checked the rates and it’s about $100.00 per person for 2 days. Not too bad.
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We had to slow down for this boat to go out the inlet. Remember the big boat right-of-way? The bigger the boat, the slower it is to maneuver and stop, so we waited for him. |
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The orange boat on the back is an emergency escape boat. If they have to evacuate, the crew gets in the boat and releases it and it gets into the water in a big hurry. |
Black Diamond is a cruising
casino that goes out the inlet and lets people gamble then brings them back
broke. We’ve passed these near other inlets.
We passed by “The World”, a
cruise ship that people buy a condo on and travel all the time if they want
too. How cool would that be?
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Our anchorage in Palm Beach |
We got to our anchorage at Lake
Worth at 5 pm. Rocking B has been there for about an hour. We are all tired
from our long day and are ready to relax. Margaret did say they were going to
rent a car and look for a keyboard for Ken. Remember he amazed us all in
Marathon last year with his playing? Margaret has been after him since then to
get a keyboard so he can play whenever he wants to. We will probably go with
them, just to get off the boat.
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My next boat, ha-ha. |
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The helicopter on my next boat, again ha-ha. |
Next morning we let to rent car
and go shopping. It ended up being a one stop shopping trip, but it was a long
one. Ken wanted a keyboard that would sound good and hold up well on the boat.
So he spent hours trying out different keyboards, speakers, seats, and stands.
We enjoyed listening to him and he found just what he wanted.
After shopping, we ate at
Chilies’, and then headed back to the boat stuffed as usual.
The next morning, they took the
car back and then picked us up for a dinghy ride around the harbor. Shay worked
on our routes for the next few days. He said we should be on the outside
heading for No Name Harbor south of Miami. The weather is perfect. Our plan is
to go to No Name Harbor tomorrow, then Rodriquez Key the next day and get to
Marathon Sunday. That’s if the weather stays good….and that’s a big if.
Anyway, we enjoyed the tour.
There are some humongous boats here. Some are so big that they make our boat
look like a dinghy.
It is amazing at the different
buildings we passed. There were tall ones, short ones, big ones, small ones,
square ones, triangular ones, building with holes in them.
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Our anchorage. |
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Dark clouds this morning, we'll wait until the storm passes. |
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Boats fishing at Biscayne Channel Ligh tower. |
We had a great trip down Hawks
Channel, except for the crab pots. Shay said we had seen 4 and ran over 2 of
them. Not good odds.
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Our last look at Miami for a while. If you look closely, you can see a rainbow. |
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Our anchorage at Rodriquez Key |
We anchored about 2:00.
We have never anchored here before. We just
anchored beside the island.
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Sunset at Rodriquez |
So tomorrow, we will be at
Marathon.