Boating with Sunset Delight: 2021: Titusville to Vero Beach to Lake Worth FL

25 November 2021

Depart: NASA Causeway Bridge anchorage 7:25

Arrive: Vero Beach Private Dock 2:30

Distance: 60 nm

Conditions: Partial Sun, 70s, Cool breeze on water

It took a long time to clean the anchor this morning before we could get underway. While I watched Clark work on the anchor, I slipped out a couple of times to capture sunrise pictures.

As we left the anchorage, we got a couple more pictures of the Causeway Bridge to Kennedy Space Center.

We passed a few small islands through this section of the ICW.

Kayak on this island

We even saw a stop sign on the water!

We did not stop!

Channel 16 on the VHF radio is for haling and distress calls only. Sometimes folks stretch the point, and when they do, someone from the Jacksonville Coast Guard comes on the radio to reprimand them for their improper use of the channel. I had a good laugh today when a boater came on the radio after a coast guard person had been talking on the radio and said, "If you're not haling or in distress, stop using this channel ... Coast Guard!"

We, or I should say Clark, pushed the extra hour yesterday to get us as far along as possible to get to Vero Beach tonight to have Thanksgiving dinner with our Mainship boating friends - Cathy and Franklin. When we arrived at our mutual friend's dock to tie up, Franklin was there to greet us and help with lines. As soon as we got the boat settled, we jumped in his car for the ride to his house and a sumptuous dinner prepared by Cathy.

Being able to share the day with friends made it very special. Prior to Cathy and Franklin's invite to dinner, I had been joking that we would be having turkey sandwiches at anchor for Thanksgiving.

Ev and the side dishes

and here is the carved turkey as well!

Cathy, Franklin, Ev, and Clark - ready to eat!

We stayed and talked until quite late and then Franklin drove us home to "Sunset Delight". What a lovely way to spend the day!

26 November 2021

Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 8:10

Arrive: Lake Worth 4:30

Distance: 63 nm

Conditions: 70s, Sunny

I slept an extra hour this morning. It felt good to snooze a bit longer, but I paid the price later. When I came out to the salon, Clark was ready to leave. He started the engines and I threw off the last of the lines. Since I refuse to leave line cleanup until later, in case I forget, I tidied up all the lines and the power cable. Cleanup took 20 minutes and I was more than ready to sit down to a cup of tea to truly start my day.

When I was working to remove the last of the lines, I had a bit of a problem with the bow line wrapped around a pole. Clark kept saying, "Just flick it. Just flick it!" I told him I was ready to "flick" him right off the boat! He is taller, stronger, and has a longer reach than I do. I got the line off, but I did it my way and I did not "flick it"!

I asked Clark what the travel plans were for today, and he said we would be going out the Fort Pierce inlet to run on the ocean. Knowing I would be looking mostly at the ocean today, I grabbed a bunch of pictures as we traveled from Vero Beach towards the inlet.

Billboard advertising Florida style ...

Trees along the ICW ...

Coming to Fort Pierce inlet, we saw less trees and more boats ...

We noticed one boat with a blue hull that almost perfectly matched the color of the water, Clark jokingly suggested perhaps it was a 'stealth' boat for drug smuggling.

After we passed the "stealth" boat, we traversed the inlet towards the ocean.

Lots of folks on the jetty

Waves splashing on rocks -
very little wave action today on the ocean

As we approached the Lake Worth inlet aka Port of Palm Beach, we got to see large buildings indicating a city was coming into view.

Clearly the weather was great today as folks were out enjoying the ocean.

Beach umbrellas lined the shoreline

"Palm Beach Inlet"

The view of people sunning themselves on the beach felt surreal. Even in Florida the temperatures thus far have not warranted sunbathing. Today, however, with the temperature approaching 80 it made sense it just shocked me into Florida reality.

I could tell we were near Palm Beach based on the scenery.

Expensive homes ...

We passed not one, but two, expensive Trumpy boats. Sea Tabby passed us as we were looking for a place to anchor. I was too busy gaping to get a picture. The boat was built in 1938 and is used by a Miami realtor to entertain family and clients.

Didn't catch the name of this Trumpy at anchor

What else? A golf course!

Clark said we needed to start looking for a place to drop anchor. Yeah right! The anchorage looked more than a little crowded to me. It was mostly full of sailboats that drop chain straight down usually. We put out over 100 feet of line plus chain and need a good amount of swing room!

We kept moving south until we found a pretty empty spot with lots of swing room.

With the anchor down an hour before sunset, Clark decided it was finally time to dive under the boat to see what happened when we hit something up near St. Augustine. He checked the water temperature and found it at 72 degrees to be just slightly cooler than the air temp of 75. He donned his shorty wetsuit to take a quick dip. Being concerned that the port side was not on the sunny side, he was pleasantly surprised to find the water clear and visibility good to take a look under the boat.

The strong current and buoyant wetsuit did not do him any favors as he repeatedly dove under to survey the situation. When all was done, he decided that the situation could be left as is. The cutter is damaged, but fortunately, it is not impairing the prop action as the bent portion of the cutter is spinning with the prop. It will need to be addressed, but the work can wait until another day.

After his analysis, he ran to take a shower to get rid of the saltwater in his hair and on his body. While he did that, I watched the sunset.