Saturday, February 3, 2007

We left the anchorage off of Pumpkin Key early this morning when it was still a little foggy.  We watched the sunrise as we were motoring along.  It was very calm, no wind and the water was  flat and very clear.  We could see right to the bottom in about 7 feet of water.  We had great fun  looking at the sea grass, Bahama sea stars (large starfish), and crab traps on the bottom. 

                                        Foggy Sunrise on Biscayne Bay

We anchored in a harbor on Key Biscayne called “No Name Harbor” – how’s that for a name?!  It’s in the middle of  "Bill Baggs" state park.   It’s a popular spot - lots of boats -  but a very beautiful place with nature walks, a restaurant on the water, lighthouse tours, and more.  We met our friends Craig and Amy Bush and dog Lucy from Mystic CT here.  They’ve been cruising on their boat “Ptarmigan”.  Had cocktails on shore at 5:00 pm ("it's five o'clock somewhere") under one of the pavilions with a dozen cruisers from other boats.  The park officially closes at 6:15 and boaters have to be back on their boats by then.  At 6:00 the  ranger came around in his little cart, waved, and shouted "15 minutes"!  We nodded, waved back and packed up our party to head back to our boats!   Have to say they do a great job of running the place and keeping it safe and secure.  We’re going to stay here at least until Monday.  Tomorrow we hope  to take a walk on the beach on the Atlantic side of the island and maybe go swimming.

                                  "Ptarmigan" from Mystic CT in "No Name" Harbor         Visiting with Craig, Amy and Lucy the "green eyed dog" from Mystic

Super Bowl Sunday

Rained all night and most of the day today.  We took a walk on the beach during one of the breaks in the rain. There was a warning on the beach about Man O War which are a nasty stinging jellyfish so no one was swimming.  Besides it was too cold.  Man O War are very colorful and we found lots of pieces of them washed up on the beach.  We also found a beautiful piece of what we think is red sponge  on the beach.  Brought it back to the boat to see what happens to it.  If it dries nicely it will prove to be a great find.  Heading back to the pavilion at 5:00 for pre-game cocktail party!  Looks like another rainy day tomorrow so we'll probably head up through Miami toward Lauderdale.  Might as well be on the move on a not so nice day and save the nice ones for a lay over somewhere.

                                                                                                   Miami

Monday, February 5 2007

Too windy to leave today - no boats going out.   It’s blowing 25-30 out of the northeast.  We set a second anchor and decided to hang out here in “No Name Harbor” for another day.  We walked to town with Craig and Amy, mailed some packages, stopped at the market and a great Cuban bakery.  We bought some pastries for breakfast tomorrow and decided to also have lunch there.  I tried my best at my Spanish with the young lady behind the counter who didn't speak English.  I haven't reached the level where I could describe what I wanted to eat there and what I wanted as "take out"!  Luckily the young man who worked there translated to her and told me how to ask for "take out.   We hope we’ll be able to leave tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

We were able to leave this morning.  The wind had died down long enough for us to raise anchor and get to Miami before it started picking up again.  Once we got to Miami we’re in the ICW and didn't  have to worry too much about the wind because it's pretty protected.  Today we went 35 miles and went through 12 bridge openings!  That’s a lot of bridges.  Have a lot more to go through tomorrow.  Never saw as many large (90+ foot) yachts in one place as In Fort Lauderdale.  It was unbelievable and the homes were beyond enormous!  The more amazing thing was that many of the homes had big yachts docked out front.  Where does all the money come from?? We anchored in a little spot called Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach.

Waterfront "homes" in Fort Lauderdale

One of the endless string of yachts in Fort Lauderdale

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

More bridges today—we went through another 12!  Anchored just off a restaurant called the Old Key Lime Restaurant in Latana.  It’s supposed to be the oldest waterfront restaurant in Florida.   Stopped there for a late lunch then walked around town. 

Approaching the bridge at DelRay Beach - one of the more "quaint" bridge designs

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Bridges, bridges and more bridges!  Today we went through another 12.  We made it all the way to a place called Manatee Pocket just north of the St. Lucie inlet.  Found a nice anchorage in Manatee Pocket and met some folks on another Schucker, "Mixed Blessing".  Tomorrow we only have to go about five miles and two more bridges.  Then we’ll be in Stuart which is where Alan is going to take his course. 

Lighthouse at St Lucie Inlet

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Yesterday we came over to Stuart early in the morning so we could get our name on a waiting list for a mooring in the city mooring field.  We're anchored just across the river from the mooring field.  We're hoping that something will open up before the end of the week when we're flying over to Marsh Harbor for a charter on "Island Girl".  If we can't get a mooring we'll have to go looking for a marina and a dock slip.  Problem with the mooring field is that this city has so much to offer the boaters that people get here and don't leave.

Stuart is a great little town and we're looking forward to spending time  here.  Everything is accessible from the water.  They have a wonderful "river walk"  where I go walking in the morning.  It's a beautiful , boardwalk right on the river with walkways into town.  The old town area is quaint with plenty of restaurants and shops.  Stuart prides itself as the "Sail Fish Capital" of the world. This weekend is the "Sail Fish Arts Fest". We went downtown today for it and it's one of the best arts festivals we've been to.  Besides plenty of art they had live entertainment in two different locations along with food stands, beer/wine gardens,  - the whole works.  We even bought a painting from a local artist.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Today we rented a car and drove across the state to Cape Coral to pick up our car and trailer. After we picked up our car we dropped the rental off in Fort Myers and drove back to Stuart.  Now we have our car here so we won't have to get a taxi to the airport on Friday and Alan will be able to drive to his classes when we get back.  We're still at anchor waiting to hear about the possibility of a mooring - it isn't looking promising.  A line of squalls came through this afternoon and produced a nice rainbow.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

No moorings available and no one seems to be moving so this morning we started calling around to marinas for a dock slip.  We were lucky to find a spot just up the river a bit.  We'll bring the boat over tomorrow morning and get ready to fly out on Friday for Marsh Harbor.  

Alan practicing blowing his conch horn at sunset - an island tradition. 

He's getting pretty good at it.  On our last trip to the Bahamas our

charterers, Margo and John, found this conch on the beach for us and

Alan made it into a horn with a screw driver and hammer!