March 12, 2022
From Marathon north, through Miami
In order to make up some lost time, we decided to put in some long days cruising. Our first day, we got through to the north end of Key Largo. We anchored in Little Card Sound. There was just one other boat there when we got there, and one other arrived late in the night. It was a very quiet and lovely anchorage. The anchor came up with a huge bunch of weeds and mud.
The next day, Friday, was truly exciting! We cruise at a pretty constant 8 - 10 mph. The channel takes us through mangroves and open water. As we were going along, there came at us at least 30 very loud and very fast boats. They came around curves at full speed, coming well into our side of the channel – I sure hope they had fun, but it was anything but fun for us. They waked us over and over – where are those water police when you need them??
We had been warned about this kind of thing in the Miami area, but this was well before Miami! Anyway, once they had all passed, we went back to calmly cruising. We had the Miami skyline in view at least 30 miles before we got there – pretty impressive!
We were happy to be able to get all the way through Miami on Friday. After the tall high rise buildings downtown, there were high rise residences, and then one huge, beautiful, ostentatious home after another. Channel after channel off the ICW for these huge homes and their boats. Every home had a pool. Some were truly gorgeous, some were pretty starkly modern, others had a Spanish look. We enjoyed viewing them at slow speed. Passing us were also a few big boats with their bow covered with bikini clad girls! We also came to an area with a little island and LOTS of boats either beached or anchored, with everyone having a great time in the water.
We got all the way to Boca Raton before dark and anchored in Boca Raton Lake. It was a very good anchorage, just to the side of the ICW. There were quite a few boats there when we arrived, some in the shallow area, some anchored in the deeper part. By the time night came, though, there were only a few boats left there for the night. It was pretty breezy when we anchored, but we got the anchor down with no problem, and it held very well. The breeze gave us a nice sleep with constant cooling air coming through the hatch over our bed!
On Saturday morning, we left at first light, planning to get as far as Stuart by the afternoon – high winds are expected to start up around 4, so we want to be somewhere secure – hopefully a marina (if we can find one with a vacant slip!).
Extremely high winds were predicted to begin around 4:00, so we were on schedule to be in a secure marina by around 3:00. Well, ‘predicted’ turned out to be not accurate. We were about an hour out from the marina we had found in Stuart when the winds came up, along with rain. Whomp!! Our bimini flew back, having pulled the front supports from their supporting members. Yikes! Dan tied it together to prevent further damage. By the time we pulled into Manatee Marina in Stuart, the rain and winds had fallen off to just a light drizzle! We had great help getting Kittiwake tied up securely next to their restaurant, Shrimpers. You can bet we made our way inside to have some relaxing drinks and dinner!
Fort Pierce, March 13,
2022
Fort Pierce is a special place for Dan, since it is the
site of the origin of the SEAL teams and also has the SEAL Museum. We have been to the museum many times,
several times in November when the SEALs have their annual muster. The Fort Pierce City Marina is very nice,
modern docks and facilities. I was able
to get some provisions with my wagon at a Save-a-Lot about a half mile
away. We had a couple of meals at Cobbs
Landing, a restaurant just a short distance from the marina. One Docktails event there had 18 people at
one table, all Loopers in that place.
The ‘migration’ from the Keys and south Florida has begun! Everywhere we go now, we see more Loopers,
both in marinas and underway. The boat Sabbatical with Steve and Jane was there
in Fort Pierce – we had been in Marathon at the same time and marina.
The people on our dock in Fort Pierce were very friendly
– they have docktails every evening at 5:00, and we were invited. We did attend a couple of times. One couple there said they’d like to go to
the SEAL Museum, so Dan said we’d like to go with them (in their car!) and he
would get them in with his membership.
That was a nice time with Dan providing some personal commentary on his
time in the SEAL teams.
There was a huge store in Fort Pierce that had all sorts
of marine parts. We actually extended
our stay in Fort Pierce, because we had intended to leave on Saturday – store
was closed on Sunday and Monday!
Tuesday, bright and early, we got an Uber to the store and spent a bit
of time there. They didn’t have
everything we had hoped to find, but with some digging around in a bin, Dan was
able to put together a complete system for our ‘black’ tank sensor. The cost there was about $100 less than we
would have to pay otherwise. This system
will let us know how full that critical tank is, removing the guesswork we use
now.
Anchorage, March 17,
2022
We have gotten pretty good at finding good anchorages,
even if they aren’t marked on the charts!
This one was just outside the channel, and we had a quiet night at
anchor. The morning’s departure was nice
and easy too – the anchor was really dug in, but we got it up with little
difficulty.
Titusville, March
18, 2022
We planned to go to a marina in Titusville, so that our
Orlando friends, Dennis and Denise Sprenkle, could come by for a visit. I had made reservations at Titusville City
Marina. When we were close to the
marina, I called to find out which slip and which side of the boat would need
lines and fenders. Turns out our
reservations were for Saturday (which I thought it WAS!), and they had no room
for us that night (Friday). Looking at
the charts, there is another marina just beside the city marina – I called
them, and the fitted us in for the night!
Phew! We liked the marina,
Westland. It was pretty inexpensive and
the folks were very friendly and helpful.
They are a DIY place, with many boats out of the water in various stages
of repairs. Dennis came (Denise had to
go out of town) and took us to a great seafood place for dinner. Fun times!
We will see Dennis and Denise again soon. We are going home at the end of March. The logistics are a bit complicated this
time! Our car is near the Miami
Airport. We have reservations at a
marina in the southern end of the St. Johns River. To get there, we have to go north to
Jacksonville, turn the corner into the St. Johns, and proceed about 200 miles
south to Sanford! We want to slowly
explore the river, touted to be beautiful.
We’ll move as quickly as possible to get to Sanford, then slowly explore
the river after we return to the boat and as we go back up the river to
Jacksonville.
We have plane tickets from Orlando to Miami, where we’ll
retrieve our car and drive home. Since
Sanford is close to Orlando, Dennis will pick us up there, take us to his home
for a day or so, then to the Orlando airport.
We’ll be home for most of the month of April.
