Ft. Lauderdale - Delray Beach - Lantana Anchorage

This one looks nice

Carol got back on the boat last night at Fort Lauderdale and this morning we headed north.  Traveling through miles and miles of mansions and mega-yachts was a real treat for the eyes.  We decided we better get back to something more like reality before our idea of “normal” became warped.  Maybe we really DO need a 12,000 sq. ft house with an infinity pool, 38 palm trees, 2 gardeners and our own pool boy.

Carol is back, Yeah!! Delray Beach

We stopped in Delray for a few hours and some very nice people were at the dock. One young man helped us tie up and then told us about his adventures in kayaking. He works on conservation projects in Vermont and thought he might like to do the Great Loop in a kayak.  We will be watching to see if that great idea becomes a reality.

The Blue Anchor Pub

Meat loaf and a side salad, 2 plus a doggy bag

A British Pub was our lunch stop and we had thoroughly enjoyed the break – and the meatloaf.   As we departed the dock, a big wake rocked our boat (it was a no-wake area but that doesn’t seem to count for much around here).  The dinghy motor clipped a dock post and bent the back of our aluminum dinghy, just a minor catastrophe.  Dennis got it repaired this evening.  We continued on to Lantana, Florida where we dropped the anchor in a quiet area just off the ICW near the Lantana bridge.   We passed under 15 bridges today about half had to be opened for a boat of our height. Because of the bridge timings every half hour on the hour or on the 15 minutes, boats begin to group together for part of the trip we were in a group of 5 boats.

OOPS!!!

Nice Bridge Design

The sun sets on another fun day

Lake Sylvia, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Carol departed for Omaha at 5:30 this morning to catch a 7:00 flight to Kansas City and then a car ride to Omaha. She called upon arrival in Kansas City and said it looked like March, rather than the summer she has been experiencing. I returned to bed, did a few boat chores this morning and then a bike ride to the largest West Marine in the USA, 50,000 square feet and reportedly every part available in their 1000+ page catalogue.

Everything Boat

Since marinas in Ft. Lauderdale are quite expensive I moved the boat to Lake Sylvia a very pretty spot surrounded by beautiful homes and large condominium buildings. Currently, there are 13 other boats anchored here. I will use the dinghy to go ashore for shopping and a bit of exercise. Lots of boat chores I so enjoy as part of this trip. 

A few pictures around the lake

   

   

   

    

    

Boat Maintenance requires all types of skills

Oleta River State Park to Hall of Fame Marina, Ft. Lauderdale

Leaving the State Park

Like from rural upstate Wisconsin to downtown Chicago in 15 easy miles. Today we traveled the Intracoastal passed the high rise village of North Miami Beach, past the container ship docks and into Ft. Lauderdale. A bustling beach community of huge boats, our boat could easily be a dinghy for one of the boats in this marina. Strong north winds all day blowing right down the Intracoastal, large ships and fishing cruise boats and all the commercial boats know exactly what they will do while we try to figure it out.

Beautiful Condos

Cool and windy all day high in the mid 60’s, I wore jeans with a receipt from January 30^th in the pocket, the last time I wore long pants. How quickly the weather changes once we are on the mainland of Florida. We had decktails with our neighbor Jonathan, The Boat Whisperer this evening. Jonathan is a delivery captain, professional boat person with much local knowledge of the waterways on the east coast of Florida all the way to Newport. He gave us his card and offered to help in any way he could, a very nice person.

Carol flies tomorrow early and will get a cab from the Marriott Courtyard across the street. I will anchor out in one of the bays here in Ft. Lauderdale until Sunday when she returns from her visit in Omaha. Mostly boat enhancements and a trip to the largest West Marine Store in the country are in my plans for the weekend. More adventures await tomorrow. 

Fantastic homes

The largest Tow Boat US we have seen

Container ships and tugs

Cruise ships

The boat across the street, from the Cayman Islands 

Two guys using water JetPaks, look close 

Jet Pak video   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiE58Ri5axQ

Oleta River State Park Anchorage

It rained last night starting about midnight and judging by the amount of water in the dinghy quite hard. So this morning first thing, I put up the windshields since it looked like rain, according to NOAA they expected the cold front to reverse direction and move north after a day of southern movement and come back through Miami as a warm front with more rain, a rather strange forecast. Didn’t happen. After breakfast, I went to bail the dinghy and slipped and fell my right lower back, upper butt contacting the aluminum seat, ouch!! Bailed the dinghy and went for a ride around the anchorage that is just beautiful. An oasis in the middle of high rise city, 163rd Street in North Miami Beach.

During the dinghy ride I began to hurt a bit more and returned to the boat. To make a long story short, we spent the afternoon in urgent care at a hospital. I am fine, no broken bones but very sore, better with Vicodin. We returned about 5:00, Randy and Sheri from Priorities were most helpful, providing moral support, agreeing to watch our boat for 24 hours if necessary, and taking and returning us to shore in their dinghy.

Back on the boat this evening everything stowed ready for tomorrow’s adventure.

Trees and Mangroves all around

The park rents kayaks and canoes

Great clouds and a bit windy today

Seeing Miami from the ICW

Sculpture Native American and Conch Shell

We traveled only a short way today, through the Intra Coastal Waterway at Miami. The skyline is beautiful, so many glistening white buildings that look great in this bright sunshine.  We went through several bridges, and past the cruise ship piers.  There were three mega ships in port today – between their own great sailing destinations.

Cruise Boats close to the ICW

Coming up the ICW it was well marked, but we also encountered a shoaling operation.  There are dredges parked in the middle of the channel trying to move a sandbar that has built up, out of the channel.  So we crossed through water that our depth gauge read as 2 feet deep.  We managed to slide through – we have a keel along the whole length of our boat that protects our propeller.  But the two boats following us both ran aground temporarily – we think they all have the same depth below the water but they may have gone slightly to the left or right of our path.  In any case they were able to get loose and come into this harbor where the water is 16 feet deep and we will be very comfortable.

We are anchored in a very unusual spot.  It is the Oleta State Park and it feels like a beautiful rural lagoon except for the surrounding skyscrapers in the near distance.  It is adjacent to Florida International University and we could hear the sounds of a crowd cheering at a game this afternoon.  When we arrived there were a dozen kayakers and several paddle boarders, but now as the sun sets we have the company of half a dozen sailboats and a few trawlers so it should be a quiet evening.  

Fuel Barge in Downtown Miami

Oleta State Park Anchorage, North Miami Beach

Miami Downtown from the ICW

Pretty interesting architecture

Tarpon Basin anchorage, Key Largo to Marine Stadium Anchorage, Miami

Great Tiki Bar with Beach at the Overseas Hwy Bridge

Last night we spent in a nice anchorage off Key Largo called Tarpon Basin.  It was spacious and calm and very much “wilderness”, completely surrounded by Mangroves.  This morning we departed there followed by Field Trip, Beach Quest and Priorities.  The seascape here is large bays separated by small land masses with canals and Tiki bars  We made our way up Biscayne Bay and headed for anchorage at Boca Chita.  We knew this was not a sure thing – Boca Chita is known for being a party spot and indeed it was.  The small ring shaped harbor has a small lighthouse at the entrance and an interior circle of cement seawall with cleats.  Every inch of that wall was filled and some boats were rafted off double.  The surrounding park was peppered with tents and loud music was blasting from every direction.  We determined that the advice to only stop there on weeknights and not even try on the weekend was valid and we moved on.

Field Trip, Beach Quest and Priorities

We advanced north up Biscayne Bay with Miami in sight and slowly entered the City part of the ICW.  In this area, boats are coming fast and furious from all directions.  Coming under the Rickenbocker causeway, we turned to the right and came into Marine Stadium.  Marine Stadium is a large anchorage, well protected, and has a fabulous view of the Miami skyline.  There is actually a large stadium of seats on one side of the basin.  In years past there was a floating stage where bands played and large performances were held for people in the stadium as well as boats parked all around the basin.  The stage and performers no longer gather here – the stadium needs renovation and renewal, but meanwhile it’s a great spot for a traveling boat.

Friends now arrive by dinghy for decktails

After setting our anchors, our fellow travelers got in a dinghy and came over to visit us on Reunion.  We shared some snacks and drinks and talked of books and adventures.  The view of the skyline is breathtaking and a cool breeze is blowing through the boat where we have all the windows open.

Approaching Miami through the Biscayne Bay

Night approaches

The sun sets

On the Road Again-Marathon to Tarpon Basin Anchorage

We are singing the Willie Nelson classic this evening, we departed Coral Lagoon Resort and Boathouse Marina after a glorious month this morning about 9:00 on our journey north. The first time we have traveled in a northerly direction for an extended period of time on this trip. We traveled on the ocean side of the keys for about 20 miles to Caloosa Cove Marina and fueled the boat. Lowest diesel prices in the keys and maybe on the entire trip. Dennis was very pleased. About 6 miles of backtracking under the Channel 5 bridge crossing the keys to the gulf side and the Intracoastal waterway. The trip on the ocean this morning was quite calm with a 1 foot beam wave on a long period that rocked and rolled the boat for the entire 20 miles.

Puffy cumulus clouds, lots of humidity

Lunch on the fly bridge, yum!!

The Gulf side was quite calm and we moved through shallow water all afternoon. Large bays with water depths 3 to 7 feet, very unusual for those of us that boat on Lake Michigan where the water is 20 feet at the end of the dock and 50 to 1000 feet on the lake. Some very pretty clouds today a few that produced some rain but not in our vicinity. We arrived at Tarpon Basin about 5:30 a very nice days cruise. We are traveling with Field Trip and anchored tonight with Beach Quest and Priorities. We met Priorities at Joe Wheeler they shared a dock with us. Tonight docktails were on Beach Quest with Priorities providing complementary dinghy rides. 

Atlantic Ocean

Key West for a day

Went to Key West yesterday via the Keys Pink Conch Shuttle – that’s what its called – but its actually the kind of bus they use to shuttle around airports, and its not really set up for a two hour ride.  Lots of folks had to stand all the way to Key West.

Ships wheel carved into the upper gingerbread

We had a beautiful day for walking around like a couple of tourists, oh yeah we are a couple of tourists.  We took the Conch Train to get a history lesson and a feel for all the backstreets of the city. Learned about architecture and some of the famous characters of Key West.  Then we went to the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum, walked Duval Street and went down to the harbor for a fine grouper dinner.  We watched the sunset from Mallory Square and then went back through town to catch the return bus. 

A tour boat with the Sunset

On both the southbound and the northbound trip we were on the bus with 10 retired boaters who were a little loud and boisterous on the way down.  After spending the day bar-hopping they were more than a little boisterous and I said “I hope no one ever hears these people complain about college students on spring break”. 

Today we cleaned up the boat, did the grocery shopping and did all the things necessary to be ready to depart this little piece of paradise.

All wild life is protected in Key West, even roosters

Tourists at the Southern most point

Brave Tourists with a lobster catch

The March 20 blog

The last couple of days have been fairly calm but not truly boring.  We have done regular boat chores and enjoyed being outdoors in this gorgeous weather.  Sunday 80, Monday 80, Tuesday 80, Wednesday 80. 

Cardboard keeps the fresh epoxy in the shade

Dennis has been sealing the teak rails with coats of epoxy (varnish to keep it shiny) and yesterday I got to sew for several hours.   Evenings always turn social and there are plenty of Loopers and other friendly boaters to share tall tales and a drink or two.  In the next few days several boats will be leaving here to head up the east coast of Florida, but others have come in to fill their spots.

The highlight of the week is the amount of great food we’ve been having.  I think tonight was the 3^rd potluck in less than a week  and it was incredible.  We chipped in on lobster and a couple of guys went to the fish market to get them fresh and then they cooked them on the dock. Along with all the homemade salads and grilled potatoes and strawberry shortcake it was a feast to behold.   A few nights ago the featured food was hot dogs and before that it was meatballs and ham and scalloped potatoes followed by key lime pie.

The guys on Bob's boat

Another visitor to the marina

One or more manatees live in this shallow marina area.  At least one large manatee can be heard snuffling around outside our boat every day around sunrise.  Tonight he/she was right next to the dock and got a drink of fresh water from a hose.  Giving them food or water is discouraged because they get dependent on humans and come too close to moving boats – resulting in nasty scars from boat propellers.

Fresh lobster tails

Happy Birthday to Laura, may you have a fabulous year, a great new business and a fun trip to visit Florida.

Ladies having Docktails

Saturday it was hot dogs