1/23/17
Tarpon Basin, Key Largo FL
Position: 25 07.249 N, 080 25.847 W
Posted by Bill

Well, the blog site is back up and running on new technology. I hope it improves the speed.

We had a hard “stop” on our slip in Key West. The key hosts a big sailing regatta (race, in case you are not a sailor) and all of the marinas in Key West are booked for at least a week. For us and Sofia Jeanne, we had to vacate our slip on the 15th of January. Kurt and Sharon on Byrd Ketcher had a reservation in Key West until the end of January, so they were staying for a bit longer. The winds were blowing out of the east up to 25 knots for about 10 days, creating a lumpy sea state, so we opted to move to the next key up the chain, Stock Island. There is a really nice marina there, but it is really expensive ($4 per foot per day, plus electricity). We tied up at position: 24 33.906 N, 081 44.24 W. It was a short 2 hour trip, which was a good thing, because the sea state was 3-5 foot waves with a 4 second wave period…aka…very uncomfortable. We have gotten to the place in our cruising that we don’t like to be in an uncomfortable sea state for very long, so we bit the bullet and paid to stay in Stock until it improved.
View from our slip in Key West:

Some pictures coming out of Key West:

There is not much to do on Stock Island, a direct contrast to Key West, but they have a shuttle that regularly goes to town or to the grocery store if you want. We did some grocery shopping, but after a month in Key West, we were ready for a break. There are two really good restaurants within walking distance of the marina, Hogfish Bar and Grill, and Roostica. We hit both while we were there. Hogfish is known for their seafood, and Roostica is known for their pizza and Italian food. We had never been to Roostica before, and the pizza was absolutely fantastic. The best travel day in the weather forecast was Thursday the 19th, and we took off and motored to Marathon.

Our plan after Key West was to hole up in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon on a mooring ball until we left for the Bahamas. This time of year there is a waiting list for mooring balls and we ended up being number 36 on the list, with an estimated fulfillment time of 3 weeks. We ended up anchoring in the Sister’s Creek entrance to Boot Key at position: 24 42.216 N, 081 06.190 W. The anchorage was packed full, but we found an area to drop the hook. I tried several times to get the anchor to set properly, to no avail. The night we arrived had very settled weather, so we decided to set on the anchor and try to reset it the next day. We enjoyed dinner and drinks on the boat together with Matt and Shirley on Sofia Jeanne. It was a good night. Two other things were factors in our planning for the near term…Tricia’s sister had rented a house on Buttonwood Sound in Key Largo, just southwest of Tarpon Basin, and we wanted to spend some time with them; and there was a major weather event coming for Sunday through Tuesday, one which we needed decent shelter from south and west winds up to 40 knots. We were nervous about our anchor not setting well in Boot Key and how crowded it was…both not good for a nasty storm, so the next day we headed for Key Largo.
We left on the 20th, and had 2 to 4 foot beam (hitting the side of the boat) seas half of the way there, and we were rolling badly. At one point something fell and hit the water knob on the sink in the aft bathroom and flooded the sink, soaking everything inside it. Thankfully, Tricia noticed it before it dumped a bunch of our fresh water into the bilge! We made it to Buttonwood Sound and anchored a couple hundred yards off of her sister’s house, at position: 25 06.362 N, 080 26.632 W. The house has a small lagoon with a protected dock, and we were able to dinghy right in and tie up. She and her husband had a cocktail waiting at the Tiki Hut beside the dock, and since we hadn’t had a decent shower in 2 days, we took a shower in quick order. It was awesome to have this big shower to ourselves, and one that was not a public or marina bathroom!!!! We hadn’t intended to stay at their house, but the weather was still calm, and our boat was securely anchored, and we enjoyed a night in a real bed!!! We lived close to her sister (Diane) and husband (Mark) when we lived in Ohio, and we were always good friends and doing fun stuff with them, so it was really good to see them. Here are a couple of pictures of the awesome house and property they rented:



The wind was going to start to pick up the next day, so we moved the boat into neighboring Tarpon Basin in anticipation of the impending storm. Tarpon Basin has good protection from all compass directions, but has notoriously bad holding due to the amount of sea grass on the bottom. We had dragged anchor badly in 25 knot winds there several years ago, so my anxiety was up. Anticipating 35-40 knot winds from the south and west, we picked a spot close to the south and west edge of the basin and found a large patch of sand with no grass. We have 2 anchors, a Delta plow anchor and a Bruce anchor. The Bruce is better for the sea bed we had in the basin, so I used that, and we got a great set in the sand. Winds were 15-20 knots, but we had enough protection to go to the dinghy dock where Diane picked us up, and we spent the day at their house, returning that night to the boat. The anchor held great, so we joined them for breakfast the next day and then returned to the boat to get ready for the high winds and nasty storm front that was coming.

It hit us pretty much as projected. 15-25 knots Sunday evening, 25-35 knots Monday into Tuesday. The storm front moved through about 4:30 AM and the wind shifted to the west. Lots of rain, lightning and a tornado watch. It was probably the worst storm we have had at anchor. The anchor held great, even through the wind shift. Right now it is blowing into the mid-30s and there is 2-3 foot breaking waves in this protected basin. There are not many boats in here, maybe because of the known holding issues, but no one seemed to have a problem dragging anchor here during this weather event. We heard from Sofia Jeanne, who is still in Sister’s Creek, and they are doing fine. There were several incidents with boats dragging there, and also dinghies floating away from the mother vessel! Thankfully, not with them. Tomorrow we will be able to go ashore again and rejoin Diane and Mark, and then Wednesday when the winds shift, we can anchor off of their house again. Here is a sample of the sea state in Tarpon Basin:

Here is a picture of our boat in the distance, anchored off of Mark and Diane’s house:

12/4/16
Marine Stadium, Miami FL
Position: 25 44.505N, 080 09.984W
Posted by Bill

We really enjoyed Stuart while we were there, and also some rest from traveling almost every day for weeks. The next stage of travel was to get through Fort Lauderdale, into Miami and Biscayne Bay, then head into the Florida Keys. Miami and Fort Lauderdale have placed several anchoring restrictions that severely limit the number of places you can anchor, which forces you into renting a slip. The slip prices in these places are pretty stiff, so we were looking to skip Fort Lauderdale all together and travel off shore from Lake Worth (Palm Beach) to Miami in one really long day. There are over 30 bridges to negociate when you take the ICW from Lake Worth to Miami, which is a major pain in the ass, so missing those by going off shore was a large factor in choosing that route. The next window of decent weather was looking like 12/2-12/3, so we left Stuart and traveled to Lake Worth, anchoring just off the inlet at position: 26 46.102N, 080 2.673W. Along the way, Byrd Ketcher broke an alternator belt, so we waited while Kurt put on a new one, and off we went. One of the things that I hate about south Florida are the power boaters. They are assholes. In the Carolinas and Georgia, everyone waves when we pass each other , and most power boats are aware of the effect of their wake on smaller boats and sailboats, so they are courteous. Not so in south Florida. You say hi…they ignore you like you are not there. They will throw a 4 foot wake flying right next to you with no regard of the effect. So here is Byrd Ketcher, anchored just off the channel, clearly broken down, and the power boats just go flying by! It is just unbelievable how rude and egotistical these people are. Really tough to work on a boat at anchor with power boats throwing wakes at you. End of rant…

We met up with Tricia’s cousin Bob and his wife Lynn in Lake Worth. They live nearby and really wanted to have dinner with us. We took the dinghy ashore to Riviera Beach Marina, paid a tie up fee, and they picked us up and treated us to a fantastic dinner. It was really nice talking to them and enjoying the meal. We had planned to leave at 4AM the next morning so we beat it back to the boat and checked the weather…window closed for leaving the next day off shore, but Friday looked OK for going off shore from Lauderdale to Miami (which we have to do because our mast is too tall to take the ICW for that stretch), so we decided to take the ICW to Lauderdale and try to find a place to anchor.

We left early on the 2nd, and about 2 hours into the trip Byrd Ketcher develops an engine overheating problem (rough luck for them this trip). It looks like they need to replace the water pump which will require an overnight stay at Boyten Beach to get parts. Sofia Jeanne and Byrd Ketcher can go ICW all the way to Miami since their masts are lower than ours, and the weather window for us to go off shore is about an 8 hour window, so we reluctantly leave them behind to deal with the issue and press on. We anchored in Sunset Bay in Fort Lauderdale in position: 26 08.577N, 080 06.525W. It was a great anchorage and there were only 2 other boats with us:

The next day we went out the inlet at Fort Lauderdale and motored to Govenors Cut inlet at Miami. We stayed about a mile and a half off shore and had pretty calm seas until the last 3rd of the trip:

The seas were following, so it was pretty comfortable. Pictures of arriving in Miami:





We seem so small next to the big ships!

We pulled into Marine Stadium, which is an abandoned stadium where they held boat races and ski competitions, etc… It is now a really nice anchorage with a fantastic view of the Miami skyline:


As we pulled in, the bilge pump kick on, which it never does. We don’t get much water in the bilge normally, never enough to kick on the pump. Couple of minutes later, it kicks off again, and it kept doing it while we were looking for a spot to drop the hook. I did a quick drop, enough to find out what was dumping water into the bilge. You get a real sour feeling in the gut when you know the boat is taking on water, trust me. After troubleshooting, we found that a hose fitting on the hot water heater had broken and fresh water was being dumped into the bilge as fast as the pump would push it, then subsequently dumped into the bay by the bilge pump. Easy to stop it by switching off the fresh water pump, but we didn’t have a spare for that part of the system. I should also note that Marine Stadium is at least 4 miles away from anything that could potentially provide a new part. After digging through our spare plumbing parts, we found a fitting that matched from the air conditioner condensation drainage plumbing…an absolute miracle! It took some effort to remove the broken part, and we had to move all of the stuff out of the “garage” (aft berth) to do the repair, but all went well. Next, since we dumped more than half of our tank of fresh water, we needed to commission the new water maker I installed. We hadn’t been in decent water to run the thing until now, so yesterday I started it up, and we had issues. One, I had switched the output fittings on the pressure cylinder, so brine water was coming out of the fresh water hose. Two, the pump that we use to provide sea water wouldn’t push the air out of the system. I spent most of the day in the cockpit locker where all of the stuff is installed, and finally got it working. We made about 15 gallons of water in an hour and then called it quits for the day. Today we will do some exploring and make more water.

Meanwhile, our traveling partners continued to work on Byrd Ketcher several times along the way, and we expect them here this afternoon. I think the overheating problems are finally solved. Fingers crossed.

11/27/16
Stuart FL
Posted by Bill

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. As I said in the last post, it is always a time that we especially miss our family and Ohio friends, as we always had get-togethers with all. That being said…we had a delightful time with our cruising family here in Stuart. Hayden and Radeen on Island Spirit scored a great table at the marina sponsored Thanksgiving dinner. In addition to Hayden and Radeen, we had Matt and Shirley on Sofia Jeanne, and Kurt and Sharon on Byrd Ketcher, and a couple that we just met…from Travelin’ Light. There were over 100 people in attendance, and the marina provided turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberries. Everyone attending brought a side dish or dessert. It was really good and we had fun at our table!

On Friday, we walked to the historic downtown area of Stuart to browse the many shops and restaurants, and check out the tree lighting ceremony..complete with acrobatic elves:

Even Grady and Bart got to come, all dressed up for the occasion:

Yesterday, Matt and Shirley rented a car and we all went shopping for provisions and some general stuff that we needed, then had a cookout and sing-a-long around the fire with several others here at the marina. It was a great time hanging out. Looking forward, we are going to stage overnight at the Lake Worth Inlet and run offshore to Biscayne Bay/Miami later this week. We are watching the weather and so far it looks like Friday is the next best day for an offshore run. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy Stuart, the great weather we have been having, and the great sunsets:

11/22/16
Stuart, FL
Position 27 11.820N, 080 15.740W
Posted by Bill

We left Vero Beach on the 20th and went down the Indian River in some high winds all day. They were out of the north and the river flows north-south, so we had some rapids-like waves most of the day. At the Saint Lucie Inlet, we turned and went up the Saint Lucie River and went 8 miles up to the town of Stuart. Friends Kurt and Sharon on Byrd Ketcher were there and said that there was a great mooring field with lots of places to eat and shop in walking distance. We decided to change our plan of spending Thanksgiving in West Palm/Lake Worth and check out the mooring field. This place is really nice. Not only did we have a union of the 2015 Keys/Bahamas travel group, but we found friends Hayden and Radeen from Island Spirit! We booked a mooring for a week, the first time we have stopped for more than a couple days since we left. It is difficult to keep moving every day without a break we were ready for one. Yesterday we slept to almost 9 AM, and then walked to the grocery store, took a long dinghy ride to check out the shoreline. Today we caught the marina shuttle and went to the liquor store and West Marine, then came back to the boat for a nap in the cockpit. It was a beautiful day, warm with a nice breeze, and we have a fantastic water view. The marina here is extremely clean and well appointed. There is a great captains lounge with a popcorn machine, and really nice sitting areas surrounding the marina. Tomorrow we expect to make another run to the grocery (you can only carry so much stuff on foot…lol). The nearest grocery is a Publix and is just less than a mile. The liquor store is about 2 miles and West Marine is 3. The marina shuttle only runs a couple times a week, but you can use their bikes any time, and it is not really that far of a walk to any of those. I also took a 2 day break from boat work…wow, is that nice! Back on it tomorrow. We hear that the Thanksgiving feast at the marina is really nice and we are looking forward to checking it out. This is one of those times of year that we really miss our old family traditions, and seeing everyone, so we need something to keep our spirits up!!! Here are some pictures of our view from the mooring we are on:

11/19/16
Vero Beach FL
Position 27 39.600N, 080 22.244W
Posted by Bill

On the 17th we departed Marineland and motored the ICW to Rockhouse Creek at Ponce Inlet, anchoring at position 29 03.701N, 080 55.878W. It is just south of Daytona Beach. We have anchored several times before in this creek. There is a great beach there and a beautiful view of Ponce Inlet and the lighthouse there. We all took the dinghys to the beach and let Grady run and swim. He is like a furry kid, and it is so much fun to travel with him. He had a great time. The next day we motored to Cocoa/ Cocoa Beach and anchored in position 28 21.122N, 080 43.160W. We have also stopped here every trip north and south. We checked out the really cool hardware store they have and had some Jurassic appetizers at a local restaurant. The trip through New Smyrna Beach was another round of boats tossed up on shore, tarped roofs on houses and damaged docks from hurricane Matthew. We have seen this damage all along the route from South Carolina through New Smyrna. More pics:



Many of the boats were clearly “live-a-boards” and people that did not have a lot of money. We feel for them. We also saw tons of dolphins and manatee along this route. We have been seeing dolphin regularly since the Georgia/South Carolina border, but they have been very prevalent since the Florida border. The manatees were in herds of dozens, many in the channels that we traverse. We have not seen manatee in the channels like this ever before. It was crazy, and we had to dodge them for hours. Very cool.



It was also cool to see the sun rises over the last several weeks. I can count the number of sun rises I saw in my dirt dwelling life with my toes and fingers, and it is amazing to me to see them every day, most rising above the water with dolphins, pelicans and various wildlife filling the scene. Very cool, despite the fact that we have to get up at the butt crack of dawn while in this travel mode.

Today we motored to Vero Beach, one of our favorite stops along the Florida coast, and took a mooring. It ended up being a crazy day on the Florida ICW, especially since it was a weekend day. You all know how much I hate the Florida ICW on the weekends if you have been following the blog. Today was not much different. Vero was pretty full, as it always gets for Thanksgiving. This year we have decided to stay one night here and move on to a mooring field and marina in Stuart Florida. We are meeting up with Kurt and Sharon on Byrd Ketcher, and it will be a major reunion!!! Just after dark we watched a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center. It was very cool!!! We are going to miss spending some time in Vero but are looking forward to a new place in Stuart. There have been many stops along the route south this year that are new stops for us, and that has been really fun. We have found many cool anchorages that we will definitely return to. We will chill in Stuart until after Thanksgiving and then begin the trek through the Keys. The last couple of weeks has been fun but very tiring. We are looking forward to some down time and enjoying the nice weather now that we are in central Florida.

11/16/16
Marineland Marina, Palm Coast FL
Position: 29 40.140N, 081 12.887W
Posted by Bill

On the 14th, things had calmed down enough that we could transit St Andrew’s Sound just south of Jekyll Island. If you remember, last fall we got our asses kicked going across the sound in high winds out of the north. Smarter this year, we waited until the weather calmed down. We made our way into Florida and past Fernandina Beach, one of our usual stops. The marina and mooring field are still closed from hurricane Matthew damage. We started to see much more evidence as we got into southern Georgia and continue to see it through Florida, mostly damaged docks and boats.

We pressed on and tried to get a spot on the free dock outside of Jacksonville FL, but it was full. We doubled back to the Fort George River, one of our favorite anchorages, but we arrived at low tide and found the river entrance to be shoaled over. After running aground and backing off, I was able to find a deep spot in the entrance to get us in to the river and anchorage area. Sophia Jeanne followed and we rafted off to them after they set their anchor in position 30 26.600N, 081 26.489W. That night we ate dinner together and enjoyed the Beaver Full Moon over the water. It was spectacular!

On the 15th we upped anchor and made it to St Augustine, taking a mooring in the south mooring field. We went ashore and enjoyed our favorite happy hour in St Augustine, then partied with Matt and Shirley on our boat for several hours. Great fun!! Picture of the mooring field:

Today we did a short day run to Marineland marina on the Palm Coast. We did some boat maintenance and walked the beach.


It was finally a warm day. The last 5 days we have been freezing our asses off in low 50s temps at night and mid 60s in the day. Funny how your perspective changes after you live in the south for a few years. It was nice to take a short trip and enjoy the beach as we have been running pretty strong.

The next 3 days will take us to Vero Beach where we will meet up with good friends Kurt and Sharon on Byrd Ketcher. We also expect to see many other friends that will be gathering there for the Thanksgiving festivities that are very popular. We really enjoyed it last year and will be looking forward to seeing people that we have met and catching up with them.