2024 November: Lake Worth FL

 19 November 2024

Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 7:55

Arrive: Lake Worth FL anchorage 4:55

Distance: 63 nm

Before we could start today's travels, we needed to stop for a pumpout. We wanted to arrive at the marina as early as possible to get moving south. Anna and Don came down to the dock to say goodbye and help us with our lines. The trip to the marina took all of 15 minutes as it is very close to Don's house. Ten minutes later we were bringing in our lines from the marina fuel dock and heading towards Fort Pierce where we planned to go outside at the Fort Pierce inlet. 

I spent the first ten minutes after we left the fuel dock bringing in and stowing fenders, fender boards, the boat hook and all lines. I like to make sure that everything is where it should be immediately after we leave a dock or anchorage to be sure it is readily available for the next event whether that be an emergency on the water or a scheduled landing at the next dock. Once that was done, I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the sights.

Yesterday, I blogged about "people watching". Today it was cloud and boat watching that occupied most of my time.

As we prepared to leave our friends' dock, Clark said, "Look at those reflections in the calm water!" The reflections of the clouds was quite dramatic.

After dealing with my fenders and lines, I grabbed my phone to get some pictures as we traveled towards Fort Pierce. In the distance I could see what looked like three boats anchored. as we got closer, we determined that it was an anchored trimaran. It did not look to be in tip-top shape.

The next boat we saw looked to be in a bad situation. It seems to have misjudged the entrance to the marina. We could see rocks near the boat's bow.

Then, we saw a total wreck on shore.

Our path took us through the Fort Pierce North bridge where we could see a replacement under construction. Based on the heights of the supports there will no longer need to be a bridge tender here when the work is completed.

Next, we passed by a place off to the side where folks had beached their boat to enjoy the beach there.

I saw a small boat coming towards us, and I asked myself, "Do they have enough fenders?!"

Then I noticed their "hood ornament" doggy on guard duty.

We see all sorts of boats on our travels from ones like the above to ones like that shown below.

Next, we turned east and headed out the Fort Pierce inlet.

The waters here were extremely calm and the perfect time for some folks to pull our their motorized surf boards. 

Initially I only saw one person, but then a while later I saw that two folks were out enjoying rides.

One of them was standing on hers and then, after a while, decided to sit on it.

Folks enjoy the water in variety of ways like the man shown below alone, sitting on the rocks, and fishing.

The restaurant, "Manatee Island" shown below claims to be "Best Restaurant on the Water". That's quite a bold claim as there are an awful lot of restaurants "on the water".

Next we passed by "Jetty Park"

and made our way into the ocean alongside the jetty. For a Tuesday, the jetty appeared busy.

Continuing into the ocean, we had a close encounter with the woman boarder (one of those shown in pictures above). She seemed to be clueless that a boat our size, or any boat for that matter, might want to go out the inlet into the ocean. It was clear she had no idea we were approaching as she continued merrily into our path!  Clark blew the standard danger signal of 5 blasts on the horn. To quote Clark, "Technically, it's a motorized vessel."

Close enough to say "hello"

We left her in our wake.

With that excitement behind us, we had  ocean travel ahead of us with hopefully no surprises. Clark set the auto pilot to travel south for the next 5 hours.

Expected view for the next 5 hours -
water, sky, and occasional buildings off to the west

About a half hour later, around 11:00, we came upon something of interest. A small fishing boat was being chased by a helicopter. It went on for quite a while. Then the small boat stopped and sat while the helicopter hovered overhead. After a while, the small boat was off again at speed with the helicopter once again at chase. It looked like a training exercise taking advantage of the nice day and calm seas. It was exciting regardless of its purpose.

We had no more excitement with no more picture-taking opportunities until we reached the Palm Beach area at 4:00.

At the beginning of today's travel, the ocean water was calm, but the further south we went the more the wind picked up and the waves with it. Moving around on the boat was challenging. A trip to the head was an adventure. I was glad when we turned into the inlet to come inland. 

The stabilizer had its job cut out for it as we made the turn westward and the seas hit us abeam. Once we had fully made our turn and progressed into the inlet, things calmed down, and I quickly made a trip to the head!

Pictures of the West Palm / Lake Worth area ...

At the entrance of the inlet

Looking back at the inlet

When we arrived, the sun was low in the sky, and the cloud cover was heavy. I tried to capture the sun peeking through the clouds with rays breaking through on occasion to shine down on the buildings and boats below.

We saw a few big boats as we headed towards the anchorage.

We saw some boats moored in the area that we have seen here on previous visits.

Classic Wooden Boat

Smaller wooden boat in front of golf course

"Merit" (cigarettes) boat

What a life! 

Big boat, Big house, and
a golf course in the backyard!

As soon as we had the anchor down, I grabbed a bucket of water (several actually) to wash the salt off the windows and the railings. I find it very disagreeable to grab a railing and come away with a hand full of salt! After that I sat down to do this blog update, and now dinner will be very late tonight as it is already 7:00, and I haven't cooked a thing yet!

2024 November: Vero Beach Boardwalk

 18 November 2024

We arrived here in Vero Beach on the 8th of November and have stayed way longer than planned. Being able to stay at our friend's dock has been a true blessing.

One of our blog readers said they missed the "dinghy story". At that time, I responded that there really was no dinghy story. Well, now there is one!

At the beginning of our trip south, we discovered the dinghy was losing air. If we needed to use it, Clark had to pump air into the starboard side tube ahead of time. When we stopped in New Bern, NC, our friend Ralph recommended someone he knew located in Florida, Zoe, that does dinghy repair. Ralph was able to provide Clark with contact information.

Clark called Zoe from New Bern and made arrangements to have repair work done once we arrived in Florida, i.e. by the time we got there our name would be at the top of their priority list. Stopping at a friend's dock in the Satellite Beach, FL area, Clark was able to drive the dinghy to a boat ramp where he was met by a rep from the repair shop to take the dinghy away on a trailer to their shop. They quickly sent us a video of the issues they found and got to work on the repairs.

The plan included the dinghy being returned to us in Vero Beach after repairs were completed. We got the good news on the 13th that Clark could pick up the repaired dinghy the next day. As I mentioned in the blog update of the 14th, the outboard was making unusual noises when raised or lowered. Clark spent the next day, somewhat unsuccessfully, working on the outboard. 

During his time spent with the dinghy, Clark discovered that the starboard tube was still losing air. He sprayed soap on the tube and then sent pictures of the resultant bubbles to the repair folks. They were horrified with this news and told him to bring the dinghy back to the Vero Beach boat ramp the very next day for a return to dinghy "hospital". Even though it was a Saturday, they picked up the dinghy in the morning and jumped right on looking into the issue. They said they would need time for the repair work and the glue to dry before the dinghy could be returned to us.

This morning, Clark received a text-message video outlining the repair work that was completed since Saturday. Shortly thereafter, he received a phone call scheduling pickup for this afternoon. With no discussion, they told Clark that they stand by their work and there would be no charge for the rework. We now have some "cosmetic" patches on patches as well to prevent potential future issues.

Clark got a ride to the boat ramp from our host, Don, and picked up the dinghy around 3:00. We are expecting everything to now be in good shape and will finally be leaving Don's dock tomorrow morning. We needed to kill time before arriving in Marathon for our reservation in December, but we did not intend to spend this much time in one place. 

Knowing that we would be leaving tomorrow, I spent today focused on activities that are not easily done while on board. First, having gotten in the mood to do acrylic painting, I tried something a little different today. Back in August I went shopping in Michael's and saw a ceramic snail on sale for around $5. On a whim I picked it up for a future fun activity. When I packed the boat, I brought the snail along figuring I might find time one day to work on it. Today was that day.

As sold at Michael's

I tried a few different ideas and eventually ended with a faux wood look for my snails.

The snail is now our boat card (like a business card but different) holder. 

In between coats of paint, I did a last load of laundry to be all set until we get to Marathon. 

After lunch, when Clark prepared to go retrieve the dinghy with Don, I decided to go for a walk. My destination for today was a return to the Vero Beach boardwalk. I took a water bottle and my kindle planning to sit there for a while, enjoy the sights, and feel the ocean breeze. The plan worked as intended. The ocean is an amazing stress reliever, and I enjoyed every minute of time I spent there.

I walked from one end of the boardwalk to the other a total of four times as the sign at one end says 4 times equates to 1.5 miles. Including the distance to and from the boardwalk, by the time I arrived back at the boat, I had walked about 2.5 miles. That totals about 10 miles walked over the last 3 days. 

Even though today was a Monday, I saw more folks at the beach than I did yesterday.

Folks enjoying the Vero Beach beach

Looking down from the boardwalk, 
I spied a bunny busy nibbling

A man stuck his toes in the water as
sandpipers ran back and forth behind him
(and his wife watched from the beach chair)

End of lap 1 of 4

I realized today that part of the beach has a life guard and the rest is denoted as "swim at own risk". Pets are not allowed on the protected portion but appear to be allowed on the "at risk" section.

Yesterday was a red flag day;
Today was a yellow flag day.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the 
US flag blowing in the breeze
on a cloudy day.

This young girl enjoyed running away from
the waves as they rolled in towards her.

Off in the distance I could see a large
vessel traveling in a southerly direction

Most folks stayed out of the water. A few brave souls went in. I noticed that no one was in the life-guard protected water. They were all in the ocean where it was labeled "swim at own risk". 

One gray-haired guy amused me as he frolicked in the water like a teenager playing with the waves. When he got to the ocean's edge, he jumped around a bit probably psyching himself up to get ready to enter the ocean water, and then he ran in like a little kid.  He dove into the waves, body surfed on them, and let the waves just carry him where he stood. Eventually another person, who might have been his wife, joined him to frolic in the waves as well. 

As I watched, I had to smile as I pictured my Idaho son and his wife doing this in their old age as well. Fortunately, they have quite a few years to go before old age arrives!

Two black dots in the water are the
wave surfers / wave divers.

Here they are again bobbing in the water

After my 1.5 mile walk, I did find a bench with a view of the ocean and pull out my kindle for a bit, but it was much more entertaining to "people watch" than to read. Some time after 3:00 I got a call from Clark to say he was back "home" with the repaired dinghy. I stayed for a while longer and then made my way back to our boat where I found him tying down the dinghy in preparation for our departure in the morning.

Knowing we would be pulling in our lines tomorrow, our friends Cathy and Franklin came over for a quick visit. We sat on the patio with Anna and Don for one last docktails. Unfortunately, the gnats / mosquitoes were out enforce tonight. The party broke up just before 6:00, and everyone went their separate ways to find dinner, etc.

After dinner I worked on this blog update. While I did that, Clark was out, in the dark, gluing down the mini solar panel that charges the battery for the dinghy -- his last activity before we pull in our lines in the morning. He said it would possibly blow away if he didn't take care of it tonight. At this point, we are both hoping the dinghy is done making demands on Clark's time.

We still have more time to kill and more friends to connect with before we reach the Florida Keys. At our next, non-anchoring stop we plan to connect with a friend of Clark's that he has known since elementary school. She also migrates to Florida in the winter months but not on a boat.