19 March 2023
Depart: Buttonwood Sound anchorage, Key Largo, FL 8:50
Arrive: No Name anchorage, near Miami, FL 3:00
Distance: ~ 40 nm
Conditions: Overcast, Cool
The water was so clear at the Buttonwood Sound anchorage that we could see our anchor sitting on the bottom. At first I wondered what that green snake-like thing was floating on the water, and then I realized it was the anchor resting on the bottom! Since it is lying on its side, it didn't appear to be doing much work, but we had barely any wind so the boat was just sitting there and not pulling on the anchor.
When we left anchorage, we were low on water in our tanks, so we hoped to pick up some from a marina along the way. We figured we could do a pump-out at the same time, but that was not as urgent as the water need. The marinas Clark called either did not answer the phone, did not have a working pump-out, or would not give us water without a fuel purchase. One place, Gilbert's Resort, said that could sell us water for $25, but it would be free with fuel.
Without checking on the price, Clark decided to get fuel instead of paying the $25. We took on 130 gallons at $5.29 / gallon. At that price, we paid a lot more than $25! On the bright side, we won't have to stop for fuel again for a while. In addition to being expensive, the fuel fill and especially the water fill were the slowest ever. It took forever to get water in the tanks.
20 March 2023
No boat travel.
Last night was somewhat rocky in the anchorage. Since we prefer to travel on the outside, i.e. in the Atlantic Ocean, I convinced Clark to stay put for an additional night. I prefer rocky waters to dealing with Miami bridge openings and traffic.
I relaxed with my book and crossword puzzles while Clark did some boat repairs. He decided to look into the auto-pilot problem; however, when he checked to see why it was failing, it appeared to work fine. The other maintenance item he had to deal with was two gauges whose screens have a burned-out appearance obscuring the display. He replaced the ones we use on the upper helm with the two from the lower helm that we almost never used. So now we have good gauges and can once again see our RPM numbers.
Clark took some pictures at sunset.
 |
| Blue dot shows our anchor position |
21 March 2023
Depart: No Name anchorage 9:35
Arrive: Private Dock Pompano Beach 3:00
Distance: ~ 40 nm
Conditions: Sunny, 60s, Puffy Clouds
~ 18 knot wind, 4' to 5' waves on ocean
I took a variety of pictures looking back at No Name as we sailed away.
 |
| Miami in the distance |
 |
| Some of what's left of Stiltsville |
 |
| Lighthouse at No Name |
 |
| Viewed from the ocean |
As we motored towards the Hillsboro Inlet past Fort Lauderdale, I was entertained watching Clark trying to get a picture of the flying fish. Mostly he got pictures of the ocean, but he finally got a decent photo.
 |
| Flying fish in center of picture |
We arrived at the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge just before 2:30, but the bridge tender said she would open for us at 2:45. Clark did the station keep routine while I put out lines and fenders for docking next to our friend's boat.
 |
| Station Keeping by the lighthouse at Hillsboro Inlet |
We arrived at Steve's house just past 3:00 and fussed with positioning the boat,, tying the lines, and plugging into electric for another half hour until we had it all just right.
Steve put an elevator in his house for easier access to the upstairs. I reminded him that we didn't get to see it in December, so he brought us in and let us check it out.
 |
| Ev with Steve at the controls |
 |
| Clark solo trip |
I offered to make dinner. Steve had chicken he wanted to get eaten, so it was his chicken and my cooking. I made one of our favorites called "Chicken Testaverde" although instead of making it as a casserole, I served the piece parts separately so folks could pick and choose how they combined the ingredients. It's basically chicken, rice and cream of chicken soup combined with Lipton Onion soup mix. Yummy!
22 March 2023
No boat travel.
Clark has been having some problems with a rash that refuses to get better and started to spread. We decided that today's mission would be to visit an Urgent Care facility and get some professional help and prescriptions. Steve dropped us off at the Urgent Care and promised to come back for us later.
The doctor we got was a character. He kept cracking jokes as he did his job. He was knowledgeable and performed multi-tasking with aplomb. In short order he had us on our way with prescriptions in hand. We walked from there to the CVS about a mile down the road. CVS said the prescriptions would be ready in two hours, and since it was just after 11:00, we decided to walk around and find some place to eat lunch.
We found a TD bank, so we went in and got some cash and then continued on to the Red Fox Diner.
 |
| photo from internet |
After a delicious lunch, we still had time to kill before our 2 hour wait was up, so we walked around a bit. Took a lightning quick walk through the Dollar Store and then picked us some items at Publix for dinner.
We had to wait in line at CVS pharmacy when we got there, and by the time we stepped up to the counter the prescriptions were ready for pickup. As promised, Steve came and got us from the CVS parking lot.
I made dinner again tonight. Steve's house is on the ICW, and the weather was pleasant. We ate the pasta dish I prepared al fresco watching the boats go by the house.
23 March 2023
No boat travel.
We planned to stay at Steve's dock for two nights, but when we learned that he planned to drive to the Palm Beach Boat Show on Friday, I convinced Clark to stay for two more nights, so he could go with Steve. It took a lot of pushing and shoving, but Clark finally gave in and said we could stay.
Today was a casual day chatting with Judy and Steve and watching the boat traffic. All sorts of water vessels pass by Steve's house from hover boards to barges. Some are interesting to look at. Some are noisy with scantily clad females dancing on the bow. Some are tow boats and police boats. Some go fast (when they should not) and make a big wake to shake us up. Others blare their music so loud it makes my ears hurt. It's quite a never-ending show. I heard boats going by with music blaring at midnight as well as at 6:00 a.m.
When we discussed dinner, Steve volunteered to cook us steak and baked potatoes. He demonstrated his method to tenderize a steak. It worked and the steak was very tender.
At sunset, the view from the stern of our boat was nothing to complain about.
 |
| Sunset view from our stern |
24 March 2023
No boat travel.
Having taken the sunset picture last night, I decided to take the daytime picture this morning.
Steve told us the drive to Palm Springs for the Boat Show from his house would take about 45 minutes or so. We were up early. I made Clark breakfast and gave him a bag with food packed for lunch at the show. I planned to stay in Pompano and do a bunch of laundry as well as some other chores and then just relax for the rest of the day. Having spent time with Clark at prior boat shows, I knew that doing laundry had much more interesting prospects!
We had a bit of time to wait while Steve finished getting ready to leave. While we waited, I got to watch this fellow run around on the table where we were sitting.
They left around 9:00, and Judy and I did not hear another word from them for hours. Finally around 4:00 Clark texted to ask how things were on our end. We were fine; he was fine, so we didn't hear anything else until Clark texted to say they were on their way back and would bring pizza when they came. We sat down to eat dinner at 8:00. We were all very hungry!
Clark took a couple of pictures at the show. They had BIG boats at this particular show.
While eating dinner, Clark got a text from boating friends of ours who said that they are currently at a marina in Jensen Beach which is on our planned route north to Vero Beach. We have made arrangements to meet up with them Sunday morning to see their new American Tug before continuing on to Vero.
South winds at 10 to 15 knots predicted for tomorrow, so we plan to be traveling on the ocean once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment