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We were anxious to leave the dock but didn’t want to leave our buddy boat Bilbo far behind so we went just as far as the St. Lucie Lock and anchored before the lock. However, the weather forecast was not good so we took one of the small docks that the campsite provides. Tight quarters, can you see the boat?
St. Lucie Locks has the biggest collection of turkey vultures you could ever hope to see.
Beautiful birds they are not and when they are on the quantities you find here they can be quite intimidating. Would you cross this bridge?
In the gloom of approaching night and bad weather it was like some mythological bridge to some unspeakable evil.
Wednesday 28th December
We got a call from Bilbo that they were on their way, so we left the dock and anchored out until they arrived to pass through the lock.
Once through it was too late in the day to make our next destination so we anchored until morning.
Movie of the day: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – One of the better Woody Allens.
Thursday 29th December
We’ve always anchored in Peck Lake when transiting north or south but this time we rang in the changes and anchored in a wide but peaceful Hobe Sound.
Movie of the day: Madagascar – no Pixar but entertaining.
Friday 30th December
Dawn over Hobe Sound while ashore with Buddy.
Down the Intracoastal to North Lake Worth where we meet up with Melodeon who invites us to join them for New Year’s in the anchorage south of Peanut Island, famous jumping off point for the Bahamas.
Saturday 31st December
We made a collective decision to take Melodeon up on its invite, so upped anchors and made the short journey south.
We had a great celebration aboard Melodeon with crew Frank and Chris.
Melodeon is a very unusual vessel – that giant vertical pipe is a tube that holds one of their three unstayed masts.
We did not make it to midnight as we intended to make use of a good window and head outside to Fort Lauderdale early in the morning. However, the fireworks kind of interrupted ours (and Buddy’s) sleep.
Sunday 1st January
By 7 a.m. we were heading out of the cut into the Atlantic and fighting the current that always seems to be running up the coast. Someone had told me to go out into 100’ of water to find the optimum distance from shore to be. That turned out not to be true, the closer to the coast had the least contrary current.
It took us about eight hours motorsailing with all sail out to make to Port Everglades, the entrance for Fort Lauderdale.
We anchored in Lake Sylvia where coincidentally we’d anchored on the New Year’s Eve the year before.
Monday 2nd January
Blbo decided the weather was good to continue on outside to Miami but we settled for the less exciting route and the bridges but still got their before them to one of our favourite anchorages in Sunset Lake, Miami to hole up for the approaching front.
Tuesday 3rd January
We spent a day in South Palm Beach attending to medical matters and doing a bit of food shopping.
Wednesday 4th January
Intended destination for both boats was Marathon in the Keys. We intended to make the trip we’ve done twice before and go on the Gulf side of the Keys. Bilbo with its 6’ draft cannot do that so we parted ways for a few days. They waited for a good weather window and we just headed off through Miami, down Biscayne Bay, past Stiltsville and anchored in Barnes Sound.
Movie of the day: City of Ember – intended for a younger age group we think.
Thursday 5th January
Relatively early start and another motorsailing day to Islamorada on Key Largo.
We bought our first fresh local fish and it was grilled wahoo for supper.
Friday 6th January
Carol’s Birthday and a milestone one too. She got something special from South Palm Beach for her 70th.
One more day’s journey to Marathon with crab cakes for lunch as a special treat.
When we got there after hours of dodging the crab pots which seemed worse than ever, there were no moorings available so we anchored in Sister Creek where we have before.
On the way down I had called Kathy and Steve our Wisconsin friends to arrange for a birthday celebration aboard Kit.
They invited Linda and Greg who we know very well and we had a wonderful meal (Carol didn’t have to cook it) and gabfest.
Saturday 7th January
Got a call from the marina and moorings are available and we got two next to each other, ready for Bilbo’s arrival.
Sunday 8th January
It’s Sunday and time to initiate John and Rejeanne into breakfast at the American Legion.
In the afternoon Linda came and picked us and Kathy and Steve up to take us to their place for supper.
We got to watch The Gard with Brendan Gleeson as an Irish cop – violent and outrageous but excellent. We did turn on English subtitles part way through though.
Monday 9th January
Sundowners on Kit with Kathy and George from Ishmael, once of Burrits Rapids (10m from where we lived in North Gower).
Tuesday 10th January
Toilet – sorry ‘head’ – acting up so ordered a replacement seal kit.
Also bought sunshade material from our local Home Despot.
Movie of the day Rise of Planet of the Apes with John and Rejeanne. It certainly gets you rooting for the apes.
Wednesday 11th January
Installed a side window shade.
Tried the generator after it wouldn’t work at all in Indiantown. It started but would not run properly. Decided to try the stuff that got the outboard working a couple of years ago so took a walk to good old West Marine for some Powertune and got back in time to miss rain and high (41kn gust registered on Kit) winds.
It didn’t deter us from heading out to the movies later with Kathy and Steve. My Week With Marilyn – most enjoyable with star turns from Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.
Thursday 12th January
Pumped that generator carb full of Powertune and installed our rear sunshade – works great
Friday 13th January
Tried the generator again, still no workie. This calls for more serious work and some assistance ‘cos I can’t figure for the life of me how to get the carburetor out of it.
Helped re-install Kit’s wind generator – scary.
Modified our old busted automatic anchor light to have an LED strip instead of the old wimpy incandescent. We now havethe brightest anchor light in the harbor, perhaps I need to cut down on the number of LEDS.
Saturday 14th January
Steve had offered to help me fix the generator so I carted it over to their boat since they have a rear deck the size of a football pitch – I exaggerate of course.
We disassembled the carburetor and cleaned everything but when it was together it was no better – sigh! We agreed to leave it for another day and we all headed off to the movies – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – really good movie – why oh why was it not nominated for best movie at the Oscars?
The ladies went shopping at Publix, Steve went back to Kit and I took Buddy ashore. On returning to Kit I find Steve has fixed the generator – good man.
Sunday 15th January
After a Legion breakfast and the weekly shopping Carol made her world famous bouillabaisse which we took over to Kit for supper.
Herons and egrets abound at this time of year. Here’s one fishing from his dinghy.
Most days this fellow is stalking up and down the dinghy dock.
Movie of the day – You Highness – Crude and rude but nonetheless funny.
Monday 16th January
Martin Luther King day and the marina is closed – a rare event.
We had John and Rejeanne over for supper.
Tuesday 17th January
Carol got her hair ‘done’ and I did some on-shore computing where the WiFi speed and the power is (virtually) unlimited.
People race ‘Dragon’ boats all the time but they don’t look like this one.
Wednesday 18th January
Laundry day for Carol while I mess around with the anchor light and reduce the glare somewhat.
Over to Kit for sundowners with Ishmael’s crew.
Thursday 19th January
Had the excellent $5 lunch at Hurricane with Chris and Divya of Maggie M who came down here before Christmas.
Movie of the day: Nothing but the Truth – well-intentioned but a little pedestrian.
Friday 20th January
Dropped Carol off on Kit for a day of cards while I continued replacing and fluorescent lights with LED strips.
After lunch (you wouldn’t want to have lunch in the middle of this job) I took the pump mechanism off the toilet and with new seal kit in hand I took everything shore with a bucket and into one of the shower/toilet cubicles.
Oh what a lovely job, dismantling the pump, removing the clogged valves, cleaning all the parts and re-assembling with new parts while crouched on the concrete bathroom floor. Re-installed on the boat it actually worked right away which was a huge relief. New toilets are so cheap a lot of people just throw them away after 3 years and buy a new one – I can see why.
Nightcap on Bilbo.
Saturday 21st January
News reached us via the morning radio net that there was to be a nautical flea market in Big Pine Key, a bus ride away.
John and I were all for it but the ladies demurred. We all had breakfast at the Stuffed Pig
across the road from the marina and John and I took the bus to the flea market.
Mostly the market was fishing gear but these things intrigued us.
They’re purported to be jelly fish encased in plastic. It seems improbable that you could do that with so fragile a creature.
John almost bought one for Rejeanne as she collects shells and things of that nature but the price put him off.
I did buy a few things though: a hat with a flap, in-line fuel filters for the outboard, a 3-D bookmark for Carol and Cuban fishing reel or Yo-yo for Steve.
Movie of the day: Tangled – Classic Disney but great 3-D animation.
Sunday 22nd January
Hosted a happy hour aboard Incognita with John and Rejeanne and Bob from Sea Elf who we’d met in Indiantown and his cousin Leslie and husband Rudy.
Monday 23rd January
Bought a serious hair clipper and cut my hair, that feels better.
Tuesday 24th January
Bus to Key West. Only $1.50 (for us oldies) to go 50 miles.
It’s a zany place with some zany people.
Couldn’t take a trip to Key West without eating at B.O.’s with the accompaniment of this handsome fellow.
Everywhere you go there are chickens and they’re all well fed and good to look at.
Wednesday 25th January
Had a cockpit full of people over for sundowners: Kathy & Steve, Greg & Linda and John & Rejeanne.
Thursday 26th January
Haircut day for Buddy. Since we left HIS clippers in the RV he’s spared the Lynton cut.
Movie of the day: Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince.
Friday 27th January
Laundry day again.
Saturday 28th January
Movie day and off we go with Kathy & Steve and Chris & Divia – Warhorse – Shamelessly manipulative.
Sunday 29th January
Our usual Sunday: breakfast at the Legion and shopping at Publix.
Happy hour aboard Maggie M with Chris & Divya and guests from Snowgoose, Anna and Richard.
Monday 30th January
Movie of the day: Back to the Future III – never saw it when it came out – dated now.
Tuesday 31st January
Windy but warm. A day hanging around on the boat, running the generator to keep those batteries up, finally fixed the cockpit light which had never worked this season.
Movie of the day: Moneyball – most excellent movie.
Wednesday 1st February
Wind still quite strong.
A day computing in the marina office with a break for that $5 Hurricane lunch with Kathy and Steve.
We had John and Rejeanne over to watch Beginners but we actually gave up on it after 20 mins and watched Moneyball again.
Thursday 2nd February
Borrowed a table saw from Barnacle Bill – he makes a living scraping barnacles off the bottom of boats in the harbor.
Steve helped me rip a couple of inches off the wings on our downstairs table to make navigating round it a little easier.
Hurricane for lunch again.
Movie of the day on Kit: Midnight in Paris. It’s been a long time since Woody made a film this good.
Friday 3rd February
Defrost the boat fridge day and reinstall the table flaps – much better.
Movie of the day: Kung Fu Panda II on Bilbo. We don’t get those kinds of movies, no plot to speak of, non-stop action with no chance that anything bad is really going to happen to the main characters no matter what happens to them – booooring.
Saturday 4tht February
A crowd of us went to see Sherlock Holmes 2 at the local movie theatre. Either we’re getting used to them or it really was better than the first one.
Kathy and George of Ishmael had been back to Michigan to dispense with the contents of their house after selling it. One of the things they had to dispense with was hundreds of bottles of wine from their wine making business. They brought 200 bottles back with them and hosted a wine ‘tasting’ under the Tiki hut near the marina office.
Here’s George saying a final goodbye to his collection.
The wine was fabulous and we drank a lot and said goodbye to Kit as they planned to leave for Key Largo before hopping over to the Bahamas.
It was also Captain Jack’s birthday. Captain Jack lives on his small sailboat in the marina 12 months a year. Here he is with his birthday cake on which there are 90 candles.
Sunday 5th February
A gloomy start to the day turned into a total downpour which soaked us to the skin on our walk to the Legion for breakfast.
However, by the time we finished shopping at Publix we were completely dried out and enjoyed following a pod of dolphins across the harbor in the dinghy.
We got a call from Kit who were back in the harbour after giving up on their journey when waves were splashing over their dodger which on their boat is pretty high up. So to celebrate their return we took our fresh salmon over and joined them for supper.
More really heavy rain.
Monday 6th February
After pumping gallons of water out of the dinghy I went ashore and joined in a Yoga session for the first time in my life. Felt really good after.
Later we had sundowners on Incognita with Chris & Divya. John & Rejeanne dropped by. Big yakfest.
.
Tuesday 7th February
Laundry and computing ashore.
Movie of the day: Seven Pounds – Interesting idea that didn’t quite work.
Wednesday 8th February
Carol made cucumber sandwiches and we took them over to Maggie M for English high tea.
Thursday 9th February
A day with no socializing – makes a change.
Friday 10th February
Time for an oil change so Carol got dropped ashore and the oil got changed in sweltering heat – not a comfortable day.
Jonado, a boat that John and Rejeanne know had invited us to the Dockside bar where we met Adam (Igloo) from Indiantown who had just arrived from the West coast (of Florida) and we drank copious amounts of beer and ate fish and fries.
While we were sat digesting the meal Mike and Judy of C-Sharp came and said hello. These are New Brunswickians we hadn’t seen since we had supper on their boat in Warderick Wells, Bahamas almost a year ago.
Movie of the day: Cars 2. Not the greatest Pixar but beat the hell out of Kung Fu Panda II.
Saturday 11th February
Running the generator and messing about on the boat.
Sunday 12th February
Last chance for a Legion breakfast before we leave. John and Rejeanne joined us for that and a trip to Home Depot, Walgreens and Publix to stock up on that consumer stuff before we leave civilization.
Monday 13th February
Last lunch at Hurricane with Chris and Divya, John and Rejeanne joined us
before our ‘last’ shopping prior to leaving.
Goodbye Marathon again.
Tuesday 14th February
Both our water carriers failed at the same time but a call for help on the morning Net and we had two replacements.
Carol makes what must surely be our last shopping expedition before we cast off from the mooring, fuel up, head outside the harbour and anchor ready to sail north in the morning.
