Dinner Key

The picture is of the lighthouse on No Name Harbor. Larry and I went for the tour of the lighthouse and the keepers house. What a view from the top. We stayed until this morning. We got underway about noon and went a short distance across the bay to Dinner Key. We are anchored out in the harbor. It's not quite like No Name Harbor it is very busy with boat traffic now coming in from a day in the sun. It should be calm after they all get into dock.

Last night in No Name harbor was interesting with all the boats that came over for dinner and some spent the night. Music played from the restaurant until about midnight. We were far enough out not to hear much of it.

Tomorrow we will leave here with three other boats and work our way further down the Keys. The weather sounds pretty calm, warm and sunny.

The Answer to the Perfect Day in Paradise

The picture is the end of a day in paradise. We have been anchored out in No Name Harbor with a group of other boats. Some have come and others have gone. We have become friends with another couple that have lived on their boat for about 7 years traveling for about 2 years. It is amazing how many people have chosen this life style. The couple Fran and Shirley joined us tonight on our boat for cocktails and to view this magnificent sun set. This is the only life style that you can be sure your neighbors will change on a daily basis. It is enjoyable to listen to their life stories and what brought them to choose to live full time on their boats. We are definitely a different breed of our own. It is an amazing life and no matter what the future brings for us I'm definitely glad we made the decision to take this trip of a life time.

This morning we dingyed to shore and Larry ran and for the first time in months I got on my blades. My foot held up well but I had to keep my right skate very loose, it felt very strange. It felt good to be back on my skates and I felt very thankful to keep on my feet and not on my butt the entire time. In the afternoon we again went to shore and walked to the Winn Dixie store about 2 miles from the park.

It's had to put into words how wonderful it is here. We are treated to dolphins swimming around the boat, flocks of wild parrots, amazing. Several days ago We actually saw our first manatees. Shirley shared some of her experiences in the water in the wild with manatees and dolphins. It is what I'm looking forward to, myself.

Back in November we got our new 36' sailboat and didn't consider it small. Since getting to Fort Lauderdale we started to see some 'large' vessels. This is a picture of me paying for fuel yesterday morning and buying what I consider alot of diesel, 25.9 gallons. The 2 vessels that filled before me each got 400 gallons, over $1200. No thanks!

One thing I noticed in Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale was that the anchorages and mooring fields were full of people waiting for a weather window to go to the Bahamas. Usually you plan 3 weeks for a 1 week trip just in case the weather doesn't cooperate. This January the boats have had to wait as long as 3 weeks. Either the wind is out of the north, against the Gulf Stream creating uncomfortable waves or 25 knots or more out of the east, on your nose. The weather window came yesterday and the anchorages emptied!

Yesterday started off good, we went outside and got a little sailing in before the wind clocked onto our nose and we had to motor from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. Once through Government Cut we got back in the ICW again. Then engine alarms went off. We had a clogged intake filter. Fixed that and we were off again. We anchored out and enjoyed the evening. Turned in and around 1:30AM I woke noticing a wind shift. So every hour I got up and checked the anchor. At 5:30AM we dragged and had to lift the anchor since we were too close to shore. Rather than reset we moved to No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne and anchored. We will be here all day and through the night.

Well.........................my posting just had to be delayed. We dragged at No Name Harbor! I never dragged with my old anchoring setup, a 30' boat with 30' of chain and a Bruce knockoff anchor. I have troubles with my current setup, 36' boat with 50 foot chain and a Delta anchor. Time to get a Bruce for this boat and ditch the Delta!

That's all for now. Hopefully we stay put and I sleep tonight.

Larry

Fort Lauderdale, FL

The picture is Larry and I with Mom and Dad Hodge at lunch today here in Fort Lauderdale. They drove here today from North Fort Myers to visit with us. It was great to see them, our visit was short but good. We hope to get together again while we were here in Florida.

Larry and I arrived here in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. We took the ICW because it was not favorable on the ocean. We are staying at the Las Olas Marina. We can look up out of our sky lights on the boat and watch the bridge open for boat traffic. We could not get any closer to the bridge than we are because of our mast. It is very noisy here but we seem to be tired enough at night not to notice. It will be good to be in the Keys at anchor in the peace and quiet. There is something to said about being at anchor when the weather is cooperating.

We were ask today by another boater if we were going to the Bahamas. From what we understand a group of boaters here are waiting for a weather window to cross the ocean. Maybe in the spring or next year but we will definitely take that trip.

Fort Worth, FL

The picture is the Gale Winds moored in Stuart. We left there this morning at about 8 AM but by the time we waited again for the train bridge to open it was almost 9 AM.

We chose to travel the ICW today because the inlet at St. Lucie was not a good inlet for the ocean. When we arrived on Sunday we watched a sail boat hard aground at that inlet. It just confirmed our decision.

Today the sun was out in the morning but as the day wore on it became cloudy. We had several opening bridges today, some were on demand and some we had to wait for.

We know we are getting closer to Miami by the number of mega yachts we see. They keep getting bigger and bigger and look like small cruise ships. There are two docked at the marina next to where we are anchored. Another sign is that we are in an anchorage with about 50 other boats.

Last night we did get to see Kathryn and Spence again before leaving. We went to a wonderful sushi bar. It was so good to see and spend time with them. We have invited them to the Keys to visit with us and hope they will.

Stuart, FL

As you can see we did meet up with our friends for a visit in Stuart. This is Katherine and Spence. Katherine originally came from Brockport, NY but has lived down here for about 17 years now. She lived next door to me when she was a little girl, in fact she was one of my first babysitters. We go way back she even joined us on vacation. Needless to say I've missed her and it is good to see her again after all these years. We will probably be able to see her again because we are waiting here in Stuart to get together with someone and have a generator installed.

The weather has been warm and sunny during the day and cool at night. We arrived here on Sunday after a storm rolled through on Saturday. The wind is already picking up at 17 knots and is supposed to gust 29. Hopefully this won't be a rough night on the hook. We are at the Southpoint Anchorage, a mooring field run by the city of Stuart. I did laundry this morning and we are in the lounge for electric to charge our cell phones and use the electric for our computers. It's quite nice for $10 dollars a night.

Fort Pierce, FL

The picture is of the thunder clouds last evening. We never did get any thunder but lightening off in the distance. It was a real electric light show. Sometime during the night the wind began to howl and the rain came down. The wind continued all day. You had to hang on to your hair, hat and anything else subject to taking off.

This morning I walked to the farmers market next to the marina and the vendors were chasing their paper signs and anything else that took off in the wind.

It was not only windy today but cold, don't know how much further South we have to go to get away from the cold.

The plan is to leave tomorrow morning, weather permitting. The current was a challenge getting into the channel. I can't imagine with the wind added how difficult it could be.

Vero Beach

This one's for you Mike! A picture of the entrance to Vero Beach Marina as we continued to travel South on the ICW.

We picked up anchor early this morning and were under way. The day was warm but it became cloudy as the day wore on.

We arrived about 1:30 at Fort Pierce and took a slip at Fort Pierce Municipal Marina for the next two nights. A storm is expected to move in this evening and last through tomorrow bringing with it 25 knot winds, gusting to 35.

At Anchor in Rock Point

This little guy hung out behind our boat all evening. Guess he was hoping Larry would catch a fish and give it to him or we would throw him some other kind of hand out.

It was warm and sunny today a very pleasant trip down the ICW. We are at anchor just South of Melbourne, FL. It is very calm we expect a good nights sleep. There are again several boats at anchor with us. Earlier we took the dingy for a ride to explore the little islands near by. Lots of little shells and a few trees. We did see a heron watching us as we landed on one of the islands but he took off as we got out of the dingy.

Sunset Over the Gale winds

We are finally on the go again! Without our TV, I might add. No, they were unable to fix it but on a good note I did get in with a doctor for my foot and it is getting better as you read this. Larry wanted me to take a picture of it and put it on the web but I thought you would rather see our boat in a New Smyrna Beach sunset.

This morning before we left we took a bike ride back to the doctors office for a culture of my foot. OOH! Fun. Actually the bike ride was quite pleasant. If you have been to Florida before you will be able to relate. The mornings tend to be very humid because of the watering of the shrubs and lawns. Florida gets so little rain or quick bursts of rain. The soil is very sandy and the water drains away very quickly. This makes it very important to water on a regular basis. If you want to keep things growing. The heavy humidity in the air and the smell of wet lawns and shrubs was almost intoxicating and exhilarating.

We were under way about 9:30. It was warm and sunny but as the day wore on the clouds moved in and the cool air came with it. We are anchored on Indian River just out side Titusville, FL. It is calm and there are several boats anchored with us. One of them we have seen before in our travels. They hail out of Kingston, On. Canada. Kingston is one our favorite places in the 1000 Islands.

New Smyrna Beach

This is how we spent our afternoon today, sitting by the pool soaking up the sun.

This morning we took a short walk to the United Methodist Church here in New Smyrna Beach. We were amazed at the choir, it was made up of about 47 members. The congregation was 200 plus and that was one of three services. Our friends Charlie and Cindy told us it was the most popular church in town, we believe that.

When we were walking back to the boat the bridge went up to let a sailboat pass. I looked up and it was friends, Mike and Diane we met in Deltaville. We hailed them on the radio and they turned around and docked to visit with us for a few hours. They were on their way from Daytona to Titusville, where they were meeting Mike's brother. It is amazing how our paths do cross with the folks we meet on the water, it's part of what makes this fun.

Yesterday we mainly hung out on the boat and gave it a good cleaning. Larry went for a run in the morning and later we walked to the bakery and picked up dessert, then to the deli and picked up lunch. We figured we should eat a meal before dessert. The sun was shining and it was warm in the cockpit in spite of the cool air, so we enjoyed our lunch up there.

Today in New Smyrna Beach

The weather was very cool today! As you can see Larry refused to put on long pants, not me I succumbed to being as warm as possible.

The picture of Larry is by the ocean on an overlook. We took the bikes again for a ride around New Smyrna Beach and explored more of the town and beach. When the sand is just right you can ride the bike or a car or truck on it without sinking in. When the tide goes out and the sand has just the right amount of water in it you don't sink. It's fun, I guess the next best thing to riding horses on the beach.

New Smyrna and New Smyrna Beach

Today we borrowed the bikes and explored across the bridge at New Smyrna. There are two separate towns here one on the ocean side and one on the mainland side of the ICW. After exploring both we liked the one on the ocean side better.

Larry teased me about wanting to ride the bikes on the sand at low tide. Well here I am, what fun, we went quite a long way. Today was very warm and sunny but the weather report says different for the rest of the week and weekend. We are taking advantage of the warmth while we can.

Still in New Smyrna Beach

This is the ocean at New Smyrna Beach. It was cool today but sunny. We borrowed the bikes here at Riverview Marina and explored the town.

Larry and Charlie took our TV to the shop to be fixed but they won't be able to get it finished until next Tuesday. Guess we'll be hold up for a while longer. This is a good place to be stuck!

Riverview Marina New Smyrna

Today was one of those beautiful days in Paradise. Warm and sunny, we sat by the pool and in the afternoon had a massage at the spa here at Riverview Marina. The little lizard in the picture sat and looked at me for along time. Guess he wanted his picture taken. This is definitely one of those spots we will return to.

I talked to our daughter in Connecticut this morning, it is her birthday. She was unable to go to work they had 12 inches of snow during the night and it was still coming down. I don't think she minded terribly not going to work, especially on her birthday. I don't care if we see snow ever again.

At Anchor New Smyrna Beach

The Gale Winds peaceful at anchor.

Today was laundry day, a necessary thing. It was great to be able to use Cindy and Charlie's washer and dryer. That is one of the few things I miss about having a house. It is sometimes difficult to find a laundry close. Some marinas have laundry facilities. Other than that we just hung out and went to lunch.

New Years Day in New Smyrna Beach

Today is a lazy day. The sun is shining and it is warm. All you would expect from a day in paradise.

The picture shows a dolphin as it rises out of the water. We were actually treated to a show of about 15 all within approximately 10 feet of our boat. What more could you ask for other than to swim with them.

We are having our friends, Charlie and Cindy over for dinner on our boat this evening. They brought their boat out and anchored with us for the evening.