2022: Palm Beach to Marathon FL

 10 December 2022

Depart: Palm Beach anchorage 8:50

Arrive: Pompeno Beach Private Dock 2:00

Distance: ~ 40 nm

As we turned the corner to enter the Palm Beach inlet, I saw something near shore splashing in the water. Continuing to watch, I figured out it was a flipper (not on a dolphin)! I saw no dive boat nearby. I yelled to Clark "divers in the water on the starboard side" because after I saw the first diver, I saw two more. They seemed to be searching for something as they came up and dove down repeatedly. 

Once we got closer we finally saw the dive boat. The boat was close to shore and the divers were out in the waterway. 

Last night, we anchored close to the inlet, so it took very little time to get out into the ocean. Fortunately, the seas were favorable for an easy and enjoyable ride to Hillsboro Inlet. Clark heard predictions of 2 to 4 foot waves with occasional 5s with a 5 second period at Palm Beach on the weather radio. He decided to call Sea Tow to get info on Hillsboro where they were calling for 8' swells. The Sea Tow pilot told Clark he was sitting out in the ocean as he talked to him, and there was certainly nothing like 8-footers in the area.

View from the ocean near Palm Beach ...

Clark mentioned that we would be passing by Mar-a-Lago, so I got the camera ready and did some research online.

Our view of Mar-a-Lago from the ocean

                    Aerial view of Mar-a-Lago

(*picture found on the internet)

  

  With calm seas and good weather, we saw a number of dive boats out in the ocean.

Pirate's Paradise -- Dive Boat from Palm Beach

After almost five hours on the ocean, we came to Hillsboro Inlet just north of Pompano Beach - our destination for the day. As we turned to come in, Clark pointed out a boat on the beach. Later talking to our friend in Pompano, he said that it must have happened recently and was not due to hurricanes because it was not there the last time he went out the inlet!

Beached boat!

We had to navigate the inlet carefully using the local knowledge Clark got from Sea Tow captain; we needed to stay near the greens. As we approached the inlet the charter boat "Starlight 101" was coming out. Clark haled him on the radio to get passing information, and the captain could not be bothered to reply to us. Shortly after that, the boat abruptly turned to the north. Once it was out of the way, we could safely enter the inlet. 

We saw this boat last year here at the inlet, most likely with the same captain. The captain appears to be aggressive and rude. The Hillsboro Inlet bridge opens on the quarter hour, and boats back up waiting for the bridge to open. For some unfortunate ones, they happened to be where "Starlight 101" wanted to dock. We never heard a call on the radio from the captain who just plowed forward and forced everyone out of the way. The apparent motto - "Scatter or get hit! I'm bigger than you, and I'm coming in!"

"Starlight 101" - "outta my way, I'm coming through"!

Our friend's house is on the water only 15 minutes from the inlet. We passed through the bridge at 1:45 and were tying up at 2:00. Our friends were traveling this summer and thus far had not moved off their boat and into their house. We spent our time rafted together at their dock sharing stories and dinners.

Clark and Steve going off to Home Depot together

Sunset view from "Sunset Delight" stern while 

docked at our friends' house

11 December 2022

No boat travel

With so much to talk about, we knew in advance we would need to stay two nights here. Clark and Steve love to share boat stories and get technical while doing so. Steve's prior boat was the same model as ours, so we have a lot in common. 

They compared instruments and navigation apps. Clark explored Steve's engine room. Loads of fun! Meanwhile I talked to Judy about hobbies and boat travel. They went to Philadelphia this summer while we were in Maine.

Pompano Beach is between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, so there is always something happening. One day for no apparent reason, a blimp went overhead!

We found out that not only has Steve had a ride in a blimp, but he took lessons and knows how to fly one. He told us how nervous he got on takeoff the first time. The blimp, being full of helium, can take off at a 45 degree angle. A plane, which he was used to flying, would stall and crash at that angle!

Sunset at Pompano Beach

12 December 2022

Depart: Pompano Beach Private Dock 7:55

Arrive: Pumpkin Key anchorage 3:45

Distance: 63 nm

Checking out the shoreline can be interesting. Some of the building architecture is unusual and caught my attention. The tall pink buildings in the picture below are "The Palms" condo complex. While the "staircase" looking one is the "Auberge Beach Residences". Per the internet, these are apartments for the very wealthy.

           Offshore near Ft. Lauderdale

We saw a number of big ships anchored off Fort Lauderdale.

We saw another interesting building as we passed by Sunny Isles Beach called the "Pinnacle". It is a residence building rated 5 stars with two residences per floor with both ocean and city views.

Then, in between all these tall buildings, I spied an eye-catching tower. I tried, and Clark tried with binoculars, to read the tower with no success. Finally, I used Google Maps satellite view to determine what I was observing - Hallandale Beach water tower.

The tower depicts a beach ball being held up by a spray of blue water.

Water tower dwarfed by the tall buildings

Land view of "beach ball water tower"

(*picture taken from the internet)

When not studying building architecture, I watched someone enjoying a parasail ride along the coast.

Somewhere along the way south, the water turned from a green too dark to see through to a light blue so clear we could see the ocean floor 20+ feet down! Other than a shark I spotted in the distance (only the fin was visible), I could find no other sea life to observe as we passed by. I thought it odd and disappointing. Clark said the boat noise probably drove them all away.

Our route today took us past historic Stiltsville, Florida. The "town" is a lot smaller than it used to be and no rebuilding or repairs are allowed, so it continues to get smaller as storms pass through. We only saw 5 or 6 houses still standing. We saw more last time we came this way.

View of Miami from Stiltsville, FL ...

Blue dot at bottom of map shows Stiltsville.

We dropped anchor at Pumpkin Key as we have done a number of times before.

Sunset at Pumpkin Key

13 December 2022

Depart: Pumpkin Key anchorage 8:15

Arrive: Marathon anchorage 4:15 / 4:30

Distance: 62 nm

Clark's original plan was to travel part way to Marathon from Pumpkin Key. After arriving at Barley Bay, where he had planned to anchor, at 12:30, we decided to keep going all the way to Marathon.

When I start seeing mangroves, I know we are getting close to our winter home.

We see many of the same sights year after year. The wreckage shown below has changed over time. The sunken sailboat near the mangroves has been there. It now has a bird's nest on the mast. A sunken sailboat is beside the first sunken sailboat. Two small power boats appear to be using the second sunken sailboat as a dock!

As we passed through the Key Largo area, I saw a tower that I have seen many times before. This time I decided to do research. After a bunch of digging, I discovered the history of this structure. This "massive concrete structure" is an abandoned microwave tower that AT&T converted into to a cell tower. It was constructed sometime prior to 1951, post World War II, as a long-range telephone / television tower.

When I am not surveying the passing scenery, I am frequently found in the position shown below on the upper helm of the boat. I am nearby if Clark needs me, and I alternate between snoozing and listening to the NPR stories on the radio. The hat is a must or the sun is in my eyes.

We arrived near Faro Blanco in Marathon at 4:00 and dropped anchor. I thought we were set for the night, but Clark decided that we might be too close to the Faro Blanco entrance. Knowing Clark, I decided we better pull up anchor and move right then and there because I sure as heck did not want to do it at midnight when he decided he couldn't sleep due to worrying about our anchor spot.

Faro Blanco lighthouse

Sunset in Marathon seen while anchored off Faro Blanco.

The lighthouse Christmas lights come on at sunset.

14 December 2022

Dinghy only

Having arrived in Marathon a day earlier than planned, we had a day to visit Faro Blanco and meet up with old friends.

As we entered Faro Blanco, we saw our friends from the boat "Fins" walking by the lighthouse. (Their boat was totaled in Hurricane Ian in September, so they are staying in a nearby condo.) We chatted for a while and then rode around the basin to see who else was around. We found the dockhand Josh that we have known for years. He was busy doing a pump-out, so we just said hello and kept going. We knocked on the boat "La Cigale" but found no one home. Then we tied up to the swim platform of Morning Star II and visited our friend Anne who lives there. 

Stella on MS II casually guarding the boat

I called Stella's name and she looked over for a photo shot.

While we were talking to Anne, her husband Mel came back from grocery shopping, so we got to see him too. Unfortunately, we had to run suddenly because it started to rain, and Clark had left a hatch open. It was a light rain, and nothing got seriously wet.

We ate lunch on the boat, and Clark started the generator to boost up the batteries. Later, when that was done, we took the dinghy back to Faro Blanco to visit Sandy and Bill on L'Attitude Adjustment. We stayed until docktails where I got to meet or get reacquainted with other boaters at the marina.

As sunset approached, Clark said we had to go turn on the anchor light, so we jumped back in the dinghy for the quick ride back to Sunset Delight.

15 December 2022

Depart: Marathon anchorage 11:20

Arrive: Marlin Bay Resort & Marina 11:45

Distance: < 1 nm

We stowed the dinghy when we got back from Faro Blanco last night, so this morning we had nothing to do boat-wise until it was time to move over to our slip at Marlin Bay. I read my latest novel and Clark plowed through his email that comes in volume from numerous boating-related forums.

At 11:00 Clark called the marina, and they said we could come over when ready, so we pulled up anchor and headed in. During the night we had a storm with heavy rain and strong winds. The rain had passed, but some winds remained. Clark said the winds diminished as we got into the basin to dock. With the winds pushing us up against the dock, Clark had me hand a stern line to a dockhand as we came in to help hold the stern away from the dock as we tied up.

View of Marlin Bay as we approach the marina ... 

We could not see many of the boats in the basin, but we could see the boat "All Talk" in the same slip as last year.  Besides "All Talk" we knew that "Northern Lights", "Avalon" and "Journey", whom we also met last year, were back again this year.

On Thursdays, the Faro Blanco gang has docktails which they call "heavy Hors d'oeuvres" meaning "bring something besides potato chips". It is supposed to be enough that no one has to cook dinner afterwards. Several folks we know planned to attend, so at 5:00 we got on our bicycles to ride there to say hello. 

We got a big surprise, however, when we found long-time boating friends of ours, "Hour Plan", who are now boatless, were visiting by car from South Carolina. Two other couples we know from boating had also arrived by car for a short visit - one from Virginia ("Flight") and the other from North Carolina ("Amelie"). We also got to say hello to several other boating friends who currently have their boats at Faro Blanco. It was a great reunion!

When folks started leaving, we put on our bike lights and rode home. The trip in the dark was made all the more interesting as I forgot to bring my non-sunglasses. Fortunately, we made it back without incident.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seasonal Elf Humor ...

It's the "Elf on the Shelf" time of year, and people can be so creative. 

My elf is not a real "elf on the shelf" and is pretty lame.

Elf with Bestie

My son in Connecticut has a daughter and a son ...

My son in Idaho has 3 daughters ...

and someone I knew from high school has a wicked sense of humor.

2022: Vero Beach to Palm Beach FL

 8 December 2022

Vero Beach Private Dock - no boat travel.

We stayed an additional night in Vero Beach at our friend's dock. I took advantage of the opportunity to do a very large load of laundry. Afterwards, we headed out to lunch at a nearby restaurant - Citron Bistro. Even though we arrived late, around 1:20, we still had a 15 minute wait for a table for 3 to become available. They had room inside, but we wanted outside dining.

I shocked myself and Clark by deciding I wanted dessert! I almost always peruse the menu and then pass, but today I decided to go for the Ghirardelli Chocolate Brownie a la Mode. Truly decadent! Imagine the brownie shown below in a large bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, two shots of whipped cream, and drizzled with both caramel and chocolate syrup.

Clark and I both agreed that the vanilla ice cream tasted unusual and left an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth. We could not decipher what might have added the odd flavor. The brownie itself was heavenly!

When we got back to our friend's house, we sat on the patio overlooking the water and talked until the sun started to settle in the west.

Neighbor's decorated palm trees at sunset

9 December 2022

Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 8:10

Arrive: Lake Worth anchorage 4:00

Distance: 64 nm

We counted out the days to reach our destination of Marlin Bay in Marathon, Florida to see how much play we had in our schedule. From that we looked at our alternative paths and opted for traveling on the ocean today. Before exiting the ICW, Clark told me the prediction was for 6 foot waves with a 13 second period. That sounded fine to me, so that is the route we chose. 

The ocean trip was fine with the boat slowing going up and down as the waves passed. We had to fight the current to get out the inlet, but we got a push from the waves on the ocean and made better time than we had used to estimate our ocean travel time. The ocean was peaceful. At one point I saw a rambunctious dolphin that jumped way out of the water multiple times. Otherwise, we saw nothing of note until we reached the Palm Beach inlet.

Views from the ocean off North Palm Beach ...

As we approached the inlet, I could see lots of folks sunbathing on the beach. It still messes with my head to see sunbathers on a beach in December. Once we get to Marathon and everyone is wearing summer attire, it feels normal but until then it takes some getting used to.

Views as we enter the Palm Beach Inlet (aka Lake Worth Inlet) ...

Fishermen on the breakwater

Kite flying and beach umbrellas on the beach

Sailboat entering the inlet with us

Lots and lots of Palm Trees here

Typical scene - large house with palm trees in yard

View opposite of the beautiful houses and palm trees
as we came off the inlet

Time to look for a place to drop anchor in the crowded anchorage area ...

Clark found a spot for us at the far end of the anchorage. He had hoped for something a bit closer to the inlet but that was not to be. We exited the inlet at 3:30 and had the anchor down at 4:00.

I am in the midst of reading an epic set of novels based on true stories about archers traveling on boats between England and Constantinople during the crusades. As soon as we were settled in, I grabbed my book to continue reading my saga. Eventually I heard Clark give a shout out that it was sunset time, so I grabbed my camera to go take a picture.

Later, when I went to start dinner, I noticed that the sky was a lot redder than earlier and the buildings were lit, so I snuck out for a couple more shots.

2022: St Augustine to Vero Beach FL

Update to previous blog post:. Clark took pictures  of the goose-poop covered boat that I was not aware of. 

So glad to be out of the s#it storms.

 5 December 2022

Depart: Tolomato River anchorage 9:05

Arrive: New Smyrna FL - Callalisa anchorage 5:50

Distance: 71 nm

As we approached St. Augustine we could see three boats following each other at high speed and going in circles. We watched in wonder of what they were doing. I thought that if it wasn't 9:00 in the morning that they were some jokers who had too much to drink. Then I wondered who would drive a boat at high speed in circles given the waste of fuel involved. 

When we got closer to the three boats, I pointed out to Clark that two of the boats had blue lights flashing. Those two were chasing the other boat. That's when Clark figured out that they were practicing. We were in a marshland, so it was a non-populated area with lots of water to play in.

Ten minutes later we saw another set of 3 boats doing the same exercises. I grabbed my camera to get pictures of the second group. As they sped by us in their chase scenario, the officers not driving waved hello like crazy. They were obviously having a good time. What a fun job assignment -- playing cops and robbers in speed boats on a beautiful, sunny day.

2 gray police boats and 1 on the run

As the boats passed by us, I could see that all the
men were in uniform including the ones in the getaway boat.

Later, when we left the ICW to travel south on the Atlantic Ocean, we saw a familiar sight. Several vehicles sat on the beach at the inlet.

Vehicles on the beach at the St. Augustine Inlet

The ocean was very calm today. Before we ventured out, we checked the forecast and heard 3 foot seas with a 10 second period. Six hours later we arrived at the Ponce de Leon inlet just north of New Smyrna Beach.

Breakwater and beach at Ponce de Leon Inlet, FL

Fisherman by breakwater

Clark pointed out that he could see surfers riding the waves on the far side of the breakwater. I could not quite get a picture as we passed by.

We had to shop around for an anchorage for the night. Clark had something in mind. It looked like a great spot, but when we got there the anchorage contained too many boats for us to drop anchor and have sufficient swing room. He had two other spots to check out. One of those was also full of sailboats, but luckily we found a good spot at the third choice.  

As we looked for a place to drop our anchor, the sun got increasingly lower in the sky.

As we searched out an anchorage, we saw a house with decorated palm trees for the Christmas season.

Christmas decorations Florida style

6 December 2022

Depart: Callalisa anchorage 8:50

Arrive: Merritt Island anchorage near Melbourne, FL 3:40

Distance: 54 nm

We were still dozing in bed at 7:30 this morning when Clark got a phone call. Boaters we met last year at Marlin Bay were in their boat on their way back to MB and right then were passing by our anchored boat. They gave us a call to say they were passing by! Clark talked on the phone for a while and then, since we were now awake, decided that it was probably time to get up and get moving.

Dolphins sometimes come over to our boat but rarely play alongside. Today three of them decided to play in our wake for several minutes.

Clark said we would be dropping anchor south of Cocoa. When we got to Cocoa, he started talking about aiming for an anchorage 3 hours further on. I hate when he does the bait-and-switch anchoring plan. I was tired and had my heart set on being done traveling early and suddenly discovered that we would be dropping anchor at sunset. I complained loudly. 

He compromised and found an anchorage only 1.5 hours further south and slightly north of Melbourne.

The compromise got him closer to Vero Beach and let me have some craft time after we dropped anchor mid-afternoon. As I worked on my latest project, I saw the sun going down and ran out with my camera to catch some pictures.

7 December 2022

Depart: Merritt Island anchorage 9:10

Arrive: Vero Beach Private Dock 2:10

Distance: 38 nm

We had an easy travel day today with no interesting incidents. As is our habit when we travel through Vero, we tied up to our friend's dock for a couple of nights. His house is on the water with a great view at sunset.

2022: Raining Poop in Florida

 4 December 2022

Depart: Lamb's Yacht Center near Jacksonville, FL 9:30

Arrive: Tolomato River anchorage near St. Augustine, FL 3:30

Distance: 47 nm

The boat stayed in the Jacksonville area for a while as we took a trip back to New Jersey for a variety of activities. We attended a wedding, got together with friends, and saw way too many doctors of one kind or another. We drove 16 hours straight each way stopping only for gas and restroom breaks. Hoping for less traffic, we opted to spend Thanksgiving Day driving back to the boat. Other than 2 minor slowdowns, we had minimal traffic issues, so it seemed to work well. I gave Clark a turkey sandwich as he drove. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sadly, both Clark and I were feeling under the weather as we drove back to Florida - him worse than me and he was the one driving! After several days of not improving, he went to the Minit Clinic at CVS. Strange name for a place that could only give him an appointment 36 hours into the future. Given the closeness of the CVS and that it was a weekend, he took what he could get. 

The CVS seemed to be wiped out on meds - the OTC cold-remedy counter was practically empty, and the store could not fill his prescription because they were out of that too. We had to go to Publix and have the prescription transferred over. The pharmacist there said she had been taking transfers of prescriptions from CVS all day long.

Over all it turned into a, quite literally, crappy week. We have stayed / left our boat at Lamb's for the last few years with good results. It is close to Publix, CVS, and West Marine, the facility is decent, and the price is right. We have never had any serious issues until this stay. 

This time they had us side-tie the boat at the end of the B docks' covered slips. That seemed fine until the wind blew. The area has a large population of Canada geese that like to observe the area while standing on the roof of the covered slips. Where there is a goose, there is goose poop! When the wind blows, the dried goose poop blows off the roof onto whatever is down below. In our case, that was us! 

In a heavy wind, we could hear the s#it falling and hitting the boat sounding like small hail stones. I went out one day with a broom to sweep the side of the boat. By the time I got down one side, it looked like I had done nothing as more had blown off the room. I decided that I had a "job for life"! I gave up and put my broom away. Later Clark followed along with the broom and then a hose after the wind had died down. Throughout our time here, I refused to allow the starboard side windows / port holes to be opened as I did not want to breathe in goose poop dust or find it in my galley!

The folks docked behind us just took possession of their brand new boat that the owner actually helped to build due to staffing shortages. I could not help but feel sorry for him (as well as us) being showered in s#it in a brand new boat!

One day we had strong winds preceding a rain storm. The "hail stones" got more plentiful and hit the deck harder. Then we got torrential rain, and it was literally raining s#it down on the boat. It was streaming down the sides of the boat in a grayish black river. For a while it dammed up at the end of the walkay, and I thought I'd have to go shovel the s#it off. By the time it stopped raining, however, most of the gunk had washed on down the boat and out the scuppers. What had not washed away had splashed up the sides of the boat. Once again Clark pulled out the hose to wash the boat down.

At some point Clark asked the dockmaster if we could move to a more pleasant location. Just about anything would have been better. He said they could not move us as the marina was full and promised that the stuff would quit hitting the decks when the wind changed direction. Ha ha!

Our reservation was through the 7th of December, but we had a good weather window and favorable current coming up, so we decided to get out of the marina before the next wind storm. We talked about picking a day and opted for asap which meant leaving today. Before leaving we had a list of things that had to be done: empty holding tank, fill water tank, buy groceries, do last loads of laundry, mail some packages, and wash the last of the goose poop off the decks so we have a clean boat for travel.

Clark spent yesterday washing the boat from top to bottom. I prayed for no wind and for the predicted rains to hold off until we got the heck out of Dodge! It looked good for a "go" until Clark said he did not feel well again this morning. Oh no! Even so, he agreed we should still leave today. But he said that he did not feel up to cleaning the goose poop off the top of the pilot house, and he could not stand looking at it. So, I climbed out through the front opening of the full enclosure to clean the piled up, wet poop off the boat. What a lovely way to start the day!

Between taking in all the thick lines we had on the boat for Hurricane Nicole, pulling in the extra fenders, and cleaning up the muck, it took longer than usual to get away from the dock. As I finally pulled in my fenders, I used a brush to sweep away the last of the goose poop that had attached itself to the fenders. Needless to say I was extremely happy to say goodbye to that docking spot!

I did not see much on the ride from the marina to the ICW down the St. John's River. I did see enough to notice that we were traveling for a while at around 11 knots with the current, so it was a fast ride for us. Mostly I was busy pulling in lines, sweeping fenders, wrapping up fender boards, stowing equipment, etc. 

Later, as we traveled the ICW, I noticed quite a bit of construction / repair of the docks along the waterway. I expect that it was mostly work caused by either Ian or Nicole when they came through here. Other than a couple of Christmas decorations - a Santa, a snowman, and a "Merry Christmas" sign, there was nothing new to look at other than the dock work.

Given the lack of new sights, we sat back and enjoyed the ride and listened to stories on NPR to pass the time.

Clark found an anchorage just north of St. Augustine for the night.