Miami to Key Largo

Finally, we have arrived. The turquoise waters of Hawk Channel enchanted all of us as we headed out of Biscayne Bay toward Key Largo. We left our anchorage just south of the Rickenbacker Causeway at 8:00 and motored down Biscayne Bay. The day dawned warmer than any we've experienced so far and the NE wind was gentle. After five miles of tranquility, we weren't prepared for the stronger winds and rolling seas as we went out the Inlet south of Key Biscayne! Luckily it only lasted about half an hour and we were soon in the lee of the reefs that line the eastern side of Hawk Channel. The wind turned a little more easterly, and we were all able to cut the engine and sail until early afternoon when the wind died down quite a bit. We were no longer going to make the entrance at Port Largo at high tide (5:00 pm) without a little help from the engine. We motored sailed another two hours, but the wind continued to die and we resorted to engine alone for the last two hours.

We arrived right on time to make the entrance to our marina without any trouble and had all four boats tied up by 5:15 pm. We celebrated with dinner ashore at The Galley, a local hangout, and joined the football fans watching the Steelers beat the Ravens during our noisy dinner. Drinks on the veranda at The Marina del Mar Marina and Resort capped the evening. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

As we headed out the Biscayne Bay Channel, we passed Stiltsville, several houses that were inhabited prior to Hurricane Andrew in the 1990s, this one seems to have a new tenant, or at least there was a small boat tied up to its dock. We aslo passed the lighthouse and said good-by to the Miami skyline. The inlet itself was a bit choppy, but by 10:00 all four boats were under sail and it was smooth sailing through tropical blue waters for the rest of the day. The biggest excitement of the day was being passed by these three stealth-like speedboats that has some sort of camo paint job and no other markings, somehow they looked pretty lethal.

It was very comforting to recognize this distinctive green house and sailfish sclulpture as we entered to channel into Port Largo.

Boca Lake to Biscayne Bay, Miami

The bridges were on our side today and we made every one of them right on time, all but the last one before the Port Everglades Inlet and we decided we needed to stop to take on fuel before heading out in the ocean anyway. We made a quick stop at the Ft. Lauderdale Marina and were on our way in 22 minutes and made the next opening which was at 11:00 am. That put us out in the Atlantic before noon.

We hadn't had any wind to speak of during out trip down the canals from Boca to Ft. Lauderdale, but as soon as we had made our way all the way out the inlet and were heading due south the wind piped up and made it advantageous to roll out the jib. There was a bit of a roll, but nothing like what we had experienced on our first trip outside. The trip down the coast was about 18 miles and we made it to the sea buoy off Government Cut in Miami around 2:00 pm. The trip in was pretty tame as we had both the tide and wind coming in with us. We were restricted from using the Government Channel for security (there were 4 cruise ships in port), so we took the southern channel (south of Dodge Island) and rejoined the ICW at mile marker 1090 before heading through the Rickenbacker Causeway bridge to our anchorage just east of the bridge off the long beach that sports swimming areas and catamaran and windsurfer rentals. There was no business today, Floridians don't like it cold!

After dropping the hook, Dan and I put the dinghy in and made a cocktail visit to all our travel companions. We wanted to see how they had enjoyed trip 3 out on the big blue O and to let them know that we would be heading out at 8:00 am to start down the Hawk Channel on the east side of the Florida Keys. Our destination tomorrow is Key Largo, to our favorite marina there, Marina del Mar. Candy, the dockmaster is still there and has slips for all of us! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

I started out this morning snapping oh so many extravagant mansions but decided it was ridiculous, so I concentrated on mostly sculptures. I liked the whimsical dolphins, the pair of statues reminded me of a pair of miniature statues that are a family tradition for Thanksgiving "grabs", and having seen the original of the Winged Victory I was a bit put out by her gaudy gilding, but enjoyed all the finery we passed on the way south.

As you can see, the trip out in the ocean wasn't a tough one, we were never more than a half mile from shore with skyscrapers peppering the shore all the way.

The entry into Miami certainly gave us the feel that we had arrived in South Florida. So many tall buildings and lots of activity. The lower right shows the Rickenbacker Causeway off to the south, our final destination today.

We passed these two "49ers" and the lateen rigged catamaran as we went under the Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge. These two board paddlers passed us just as we anchored. The sunset was beautiful both astern and looking out at the skyline.

Lake Park Harbor Marina to Lake Boca

Luckily we didn't intend to make beaucoup miles today because the bridges are timed for boats that make 8 knots or so, and we don't! We did a lot of hurry up and wait as we attempted to make the timed openings----missing several of them by only a few minutes which resulted in a half hour wait for the next opening. The sun was out all day, but the winds were strong and chilly from the North, so we were well bundled for the whole day.

We had made contact with Steve Gepford, (Dan's cousin Joan Gepford finally lost her battle with cancer last June) who has a condo right along the ICW, and right after the 2:30 pm opening of the Spanish River Boulevard Bridge in Boca Raton, we passed by his condo. He and his daughter, Elizabeth were on the bulkhead waving as we passed. Elizabeth and her two year old son Stephen and six month old daughter Sara are staying with Steve for the next two months while Elizabeth's husband, Don Hill is deployed to Afghanistan. We had one more bridge at 3:00 pm and arrived at Lake Boca about 5 minutes later.

There was plenty of room for all four of us to anchor and we settled in to the dulcet sounds of a live band playing just up wind! We called Steve and arranged to pick them up after the kids awoke from their naps. They came aboard for a brief visit and Stephen seemed to enjoy Grand Mar's bag of tricks that she keeps aboard for visiting grandkids, etc. Dan ran them ashore before dark (which luckily is getting a little later, I think it was almost six before they left.) Tomorrow we face a few more bridges before heading out the inlet at Ft. Lauderdale to miss the one fixed bridge on the ICW that doesn't meet the 65' minimum height (it's dyslexic at 56'!) . We plan to come in at Government Cut and anchor in Biscayne Bay tomorrow. ~~~_/)~~~ M&D

See ---our marina was quite nice! Dan tried several times to get a close up of the ibis that frequented the lawn near our slip, but this is as close as he could get.

The chilly winds didn't seem to bother this sunbather.

Thanks to Elizabeth's good camera work and her quick upload to Facebook, I have a great record of their visit with us. Elizabeth caught all four of us coming down the pike as I was snapping a picture of Steve and Elizabeth waving. She also made sure we had pictures of everyone as we enjoyed a cocktail below. Dan ran them back to shore before it got too dark.


It was such a pretty sight to see our neighbors silhouetted against the lights of Boca that I had to try to capture it. The camera wasn't sure what to do and even though I had the flash turned off, it chose to flash every now and then. We were swinging ever so slightly, so no matter how still I held the camera, there's a blur, but I still like the overall effect.

More shopping! Here in North Palm Beach

Before Pekabu III delivered their car to a friend's house for the rest of the winter, we all had to take advantage of wheels! They guys hit Pep Boys and Napa in the morning and then the girls hits Sam's Club and Publix in the afternoon! In between shopping, we did laundry, changed the oil in the engine, and enjoyed the sunny day while the rest of the country seems to be caught in the grips of winter. We also spent more time than necessary waiting for the several manatees that seem to be residents of the marina basin to surface so we could take pictures of them. Here we are in one of the loveliest areas of Florida and we focus on some of the ugliest creatures I've ever seen. The are covered with moss and barnacles and an occasional scar. We watched one almost move fast when a small outboard fishing boat returned to its slip.

Yesterday we motored past Edge, with a FOR SALE sign on it. Edge belonged to Bud and Tessie Hinckley and we had enjoyed their company both in Maine and on the Chesapeake. Sadly Bud lost a very intense but rapidly advancing battle with Pancreatic Cancer last spring and we hadn't managed to get in contact with Tessie after Bud died. I immediately called the number on the FOR SALE sign and got their son Edward's voice mail. Luckily Tessie got the message and called this afternoon and came for a brief visit. She knew just where to find us because eerily enough we were tied up in their old slip. She is moving forward and it was great to catch up on a bit of Hinckley news. We hope to get a good start tomorrow as we face something like 12 bridges in the next 25 miles or so! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

These behemoths are fascinating in their own fashion!

Hutchinson Is. Marriott to Lake Park Harbor Marina

As we struggled to maneuver into our slip last night with 20+ knots of wind, we hadn't noticed how shallow it was until we were all tied up. The dock master had assured us it was low tide but upon investigating tide charts, we realized low wasn't until 8:45 pm. Of course that meant it would be low sometime after 9:00 am this morning! We decided to try to get out of the slip starting at 7:00 am and spent the next 4 hours winching the boat inch by inch using the stern lines around pilings and then back to the genoa winches. We finally broke free from the slip at 11:30 am, but found the fairway just as shallow, so it took another half hour to spin and rock our way out! Andiamo waited for us out in the channel and we headed south at noon rather than our scheduled 9:00 departure.

Sevilla was planning to join us, but headed out of their marina 6 miles up the St. Lucie River and headed on down the ICW. We caught up with them as we all had to wait for a 3:00 opening at the first of four timed bridges we encountered. The trip through Hobe Sound was lovely. The sun had appeared, the scenery was varied and included gorgeous homes and much lusher vegetation in the undeveloped areas. We heard from Pekabu III that they had our slip assignments and also had dinner planned for all of us. We pulled into the Lake Park Harbor Marina at 5:25 pm and were greeted by Pete and Kathy who helped us all tie up. Dinner was great and it was good to be back together again. ~~~_/)~~~M&D
Fog greeted us as we checked the depth in our slip early Tuesday morning. By 9:00 the fog had lifted, but not the tide! It was actually a little lower!


This is Hobe Sound! Many, many mcmansions grace the shores of Hobe Sound, some with spacious landscaping and some packed in like sardines. The center picture is a boat house, right on the dock, the accompanying home wasn't visible. I particularly liked the ivy trellis climbing up the bottom left home.


This is also Hobe Sound. This osprey was lording over part of the Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge.

We took pictures of the grabbler lifter (or is it a high lift fork truck) for two year old grandson Ben (I'm sure he will set me straight) as it held up several of us on our trek through the many bridges on the approach to Palm Beach. As we passed through we realized it had been busy trying to fix one of the spans which wasn't opening

Vero Beach to Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina.

Dan declared he wanted to eat breakfast out, so we hurried ashore to catch the 8:05 shuttle bus that would take us across the bridge and into the shopping area of Vero Beach. We got dropped off in front of the Publix market and right next to a Panera Bread. We have always enjoyed their lunches and decided to try them from breakfast. Great idea. Very yummy. I couldn't resist Publix and was glad I stopped, got a few goodies we just couldn't live without. The bus got us back to the marina in time to depart around ten. We didn't have too far to go, but the weather report talked about strong South winds, and they were right. We had the wind on the nose the entire day and by the time we were headed into the marina at 4:00 it was blowing a steady 20 knots.

We had planned to have our last shared dinner with Andiamo, but Betty was not feeling well so we nixed that plan and instead enjoyed a very tasty French Dip at the Baha Bar up at the Marriott. We stopped at the restrooms on our way out and were tickled to find that the showers were equipped with Marriott towels, soap, shampoo and conditioner. We headed back to the boat for clean clothes and took advantage of the nice shower facilities. We will connect with Sevilla in the morning as we head towards Lake Worth and we have Pekabu III working on getting us all slips at his current spot. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Right around lunchtime we passed Ft. Pierce Inlet, it looked quiet from our vantage point and the wind hadn't piped up yet.

By the time we reached Mile marker 985 and made the turn into the Hutchinson Island Marriot Marina Resort the wind was howling out of the South, making our approach and landing hairy. These windsurfers were taking advantage of the strong wind racing by the windward end of our slip.

We decided to check out the facilities and found that the bathrooms/showers were right next to the Baha Bar! It was an easy decision to stop for a drink and a quick supper. As we walked back out the dock, we found things a lot quieter. Andiamo ended up on the fuel dock for the night because the slip they assigned was too shallow. We on the other hand made it into the slip, but found ourselves bouncing on the bottom as low tide approached! The double hump of bridge lights spans first the Indian River between Hutchinson Island and the mainland and the second the bridge crossing the St. Lucie River. The St. Lucie River is the start of the Okechobee Canal that cuts across the whole state allowing boats (but not those with masts as tall as ours)

to reach the Gulf coast.

Eau Gallie to Vero Beach

We opted for an earlier departure (8:00) this morning in the hopes of getting to Vero Beach with time to investigate the area. What we didn't know was that the shuttle bus from the Vero Beach Marina into town doesn't run on Sundays. We had an easy trip, with a gentle breeze that helped fill the jib for part of the trip and we arrived just after 1:00 pm and took a mooring. Andiamo rafted with us and we headed ashore to adventure on foot.

The walk to the ocean side of Vero Beach was just under a mile and it took us through some modest but nicely kept neighborhoods. We strolled along the boardwalk and saw several brave souls in bathing suits (situated behind wind screens) trying to get a Sunday tan. The sun was warm, but the sea breeze wasn't. We found a great ice cream shop and enjoyed our dessert long before we thought about dinner. We hustled back to the marina to catch the Eagles/ Green Bay game at 4 pm (Betty is a big Eagles fan and wasn't too happy with the outcome.) We had dinner aboard Brunelle while listening to the game. We are looking forward to meeting up with Sevilla, possibly tomorrow and Pekabu III the next as we continue south. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Today started and ended with a big American flag. As we anchored last night, I noticed on of those extrodinarily large American flags flying down the coast a ways. This morning, as we headed off I realized the flag was at a good American institution, TOYOTA! As we settled in at Vero Beach City Marina, we caught a picture of their American flag as a blimp sailed on by. The day took us through some high ticket neighborhoods, but even with NO WAKE signs, owners keep their boats up in lifts. We arrived at Vero around 2 pm, so we had time to take a walk to the boardwalk along the ocean.

One of the fancier of the houses we passed had this wonderful sculpture out front.