The plan was "anchors up at 8:00". We only had 6 nm to get to Dinner Key. We were awake by 6:30 and had breakfast.
At 8:00, we all streamed out of the anchorage and headed south. The wind was blowing 12 kts over the rear quarter and we could see a couple of the sailors putting their jibs out. We arrived at Dinner Key and saw that the mooring field might look a litte bouncy. Matt and I volunteered to go down the mile entrance channel and check out the situation. As we approached the mooring field we could see that the boats on the moorings were hobby horsing. That wouldn't make for a good night's sleep. Just then, JourneyOn stated that since it was such nice sailing day, they would like to continue to Sand/Elliot Key which was 15 miles further. That anchorage would be protected from the east winds. Everyone agreed and we moved on. The sailors were having a great time finally being able to turn off the engine and sail. Blue Moon was bouncing along at 7 kts or so. We found that going a little faster gave us more a comfortable ride when the waves were hitting us on the beam. We arrived at the calm and protected anchorage at 11:45. The water was crystal clear. We dropped our anchor in 6 ft of water close to the shore. The tide would be going down 1.5 ft, and we only need 3 ft. I watched the anchor drop to the sandy bottom. I always wonder what our anchor did once it goes underwater, but today I could see it. Matt went right to work on the dinghy engine while I desalted railings, stanchions and windows. Within a half hour, he had the carburetor cleaned and we had the dinghy back in the water. It started right up. Matt found a little white blop in the carburetor which was due to ethanol or bad gas, so for now on we are keeping the tools needed to make the repair on the dinghy. With the dinghy now running, we headed to the beach. The water was so nice. I was able to walk out to Blue Moon's anchor and stand on it. We all played in the water, then returned to the shaded beach. After a while, Matt and I returned to Blue Moon to relax. At 16:00, we returned to the beach for Happy Hour. We discussed tomorrow's plans and decided to go to Alabama's Jacks in Barnes Sound for lunch, then go another eight miles and anchor in Blackwater Sound for the evening. We returned to Blue Moon. When we entered the cabin, we closed the door and somehow the lock activated. The door key was outside and we were locked inside. Matt gave me a boost and I gracefully crawled out of the v-berth hatch. I retrieved the key and opened the door. After showering, Matt barbecued steak and chicken for dinner. Then we enjoyed a glass of wine while we watched the sunset. It has been a wonderful trip so far. The only disappointment has been the lack of Pig It/Hog It games that have been played on this leg of the trip in comparison to the first four days of our trip when we were traveling with the southbound Punta Gorda Sailing Club group. But we'll make up for that when we get home.
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We were awake and picking up the anchor by 7:45. Miami was our destination. Matt and I along with Tigger and Ladyhawk had decided to stay on the inside , but the other four boats wanted to go offshore and do some sailing.
There was to be a N-NE wind blowing 10-20 kts. We had a very pleasant 20 nm trip on the inside. There was minimum boat traffic and most of the trip was in a slow speed zone, so no big wakes today. There was enough wind for sailing even inside and we could see Tigger sailing at our heels. We had only two bridges (one which we had to wait for 15 minutes). The second bridge was the Venetian Causeway in Miami. To avoid another 15 minute wait, we went to the east bridge (which was adjacent to the anchorage) instead of the west bridge. At noon, we were dropping the anchor. It didn't bite but on our second attempt we had success. Blue Moon wasn't going anywhere. Apparently, the sailboats on the outside where having a rougher time. The Navy was doing submarine maneuvers and the sailboats were directed a minimum of 3 miles out to sea. They somehow got into the Gulf Stream, where the southern current was colliding with the strong N-NE creating confused, high waves. When they finally arrived at the Governmenr Cut, the main channel was closed due to security. A NCL cruise ship was in port today, so they would have to go around Dodge Island the long way. Since no one in that group was familar with this route they got lost. They finally arrived at the anchorage at 15:00-ish. At 13:30, we took the dinghy down and headed for shore, but the dinghy motor died. As Matt tried to get it going, I took the oars out and started rowing back toward Blue Moon. On our way back, Matt got the engine going. We turned around and headed for shore. Then it died again and I started rowing again. This happened three times, before we finally got to the dinghy dock at 14:15. It was low tide and it was a climb up to the dock from the dinghy. We locked the dinghy to the dock and then headed over to Lincoln St. We walked down to South Beach, then along Ocean Blvd to Collins Blvd, then to Espanol Dr. We ended up back on Lincoln and had an ice cream. We did a lot of walking, and enjoyed the people watching but the whole time we were worried that the dinghy wouldn't get us back to Blue Moon. As we were returning to the dinghy dock, we saw Fred and Lea in their dinghy heading back to Ladyhawk. We waved Hi and they turned around. We explained to them about our finicky dinghy engine and they offered to escort us back to Blue Moon...just in case. The wind had increased since we had come ashore and it was challenging climbing down into the dinghy. The dinghy engine started right up and got us back to Blue Moon. We were suppose to return to shore at 4:30 with the group, but the dinghy engine wouldn't start. Bob and Mary offered to give us a lift, but it was too windy to have four people in their dinghy, so we declined. It was too bouncy for Matt to work on the dinghy engine so we had Happy Hour and dinner. We watched the full moon rise and the colorful Miami skyline light up after the sun set as we sipped our wine and listened to ambiance music. When we awoke this morning, the skies were very gray. I checked the internet weather and saw a massive area of green, yellow and red on the map. It was all around us. Yes, we would be getting some rain.
We had breakfast, then the rains began. At 8:00, we conferred with our group on the marine radio. We decided to wait until 8:30 and see what was happening with the rain. At 8:30, it was still raining, so we would talk again at 9:00. That gave me just enough time to clean the cabin and head. At 9:00, the rain was stopping and there was even a patch of blue sky to be seen. We decided to up anchors and make the 9:20 bridge opening. When we got to the second bridge, Blue Moon passed under it, but the sailboats would have to wait 20 minutes for it to open. There were a total of eight bridges for the sailboats, but Blue Moon had to contend with only 4 of them. Blue Moon arrived at the Sylvia Lake anchorage at 11:30. It was already crowded. We circled around looking for a place to drop our anchor. Once we were secure, we relaxed on the boat. Two hours later, the rest of our fleet arrived and managed to find somewhere to anchor. We then dinghied a mile across the ICW then went down a canal to Southport Raw Bar. They charge $10 to tie up our dinghies but we could use that $10 receipt toward food and beverage sometime today. We walked a half mile to the Ace Hardware so that JourneyOn could refill their propane tank and we could by some bug spray. When we returned to the Southport Raw Bar, we found a large table and were joined by the crews of Blown Away, Ladyhawk and Wanker. It was Ken's birthday and it was Happy Hour at the restaurant, which made for a fun time. It soon began to rain. Luckily we had closed up Blue Moon, but we would get wet on our way back. But first, we needed to walk across the street to WinnDixie to pick up a couple needed items. It was still raining when we got back to the dinghy and we had the mile trip back to our boats. It wasn't the most pleasant dinghy ride that we have taken especially when the lightening and thunder began. The tide had risen 2 ft since we left the boats earlier today and the bridge clearance was less. We anticipated this and had taken an alternate canal back which had a higher bridge, but we still had to get low into the dinghy to clear it. Once back on Blue Moon, we picked up the dinghy, showered then turned on the generater to charge the batteries a little. While the generator was running, we turned on the A/C to get some of the moisture out of the boat. We retired to the v-berth, where I read and Matt watched Spainish TV. It was a quiet evening. If it rained during the night, it wasn't enough to get us wet and wake us. We were up by 6:30 and picking up the anchor by 7:00. We decided that since we had 29 nm and 5 bridges to go (the sailboats had 12 bridges) and since there would be a lot of Sunday boat traffic, we would get going early. There was no movement on the other boats, so I left a facebook message for them and we quietly lifted our anchor. As we were leaving the anchorage, Bob on JourneyOn stuck his head out to say Bye.
We had just got onto the ICW when a small fishing boat went speeding by throwing a big wake and OJ was spilled on Matt, and on Blue Moon's walls, steering wheel and cabin sole. Guess we didn't get up early enough to beat all the Sunday boaters. We slowly made our way down the ICW trying to time the bridges and avoid the wakes of the more inconsiderate boaters. There were a couple confusing and strange occurrences that we encountered in our travels....besides the OJ incident. At one bridge, a sailboat positioned itself across the center of the bridge opening for 10 minutes almost blocking thru traffic as he attempted to call the bridgetender. Also, there was some dredging going on in tbe ICW with floating bouys around it to indicate to stay away, but no indication where we should be to find the deep water. We never did find the deep water, but it was deep enough for our 3 ft draft. Then when we arrived at the charted Lantana Bridge, it wasn't there. Yes, strange but true. Finally at 12:30, we were approaching the anchorage. It was a busy place with lots of small power boats sitting on the shoal in the center. There were lots of people swimming, playing and partying. We found a spot and dropped our anchor. The water was so clear and it looked so inviting. After about an hour, I gave in and jumped in. Matt quickly joined me. When I stood up in the water, it was chest level deep. Blue Moon was sitting in 4 ft of water . We played in the water for about 1 1/2 hours until our fingers became wrinkled. Our neighbors on the trawler, Lady Lee dinghied over to introduce themselves. They were Jamie and Joe from Ft Myers. They said that they recognized our boat from Pelican Bay. We enjoyed chatting with them. I'm sure we'll see them again back in home waters. The sailboats arrived about 15:00. After they found a spot to anchor, the crews from Tigger, JourneyOn and Blown Away joined us in the water. It was so pleasant swimming there. We had thought about going ashore with Bob, Mary, Nancy and Ken to explore, but we bailed and decided to enjoy Happy Hour on board instead. We took showers to rinse the salt off, had Happy Hour followed by dinner. After dinner, we played Words With Friends and read. Tomorrow, we plan to go to Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale. The anchorage was still last night which was nice after such a bumpy and windy day. We awoke at first light, had breakfast then awaited the 8:00 radio communication with the other boats in our fleet.
After a brief discussion, we decided that we would be going to the Lake Worth anchorage. It was only 19 nm away but there were 7 bridges that needed to be opened for the sailboats. Blue Moon would be able to sneak under all of them. We all lifted anchor by 8:30 and were on our way. Since we weren't delayed by the bridges, we soon lost sight of the fleet, but we knew that we would see them in the anchorage. There weren't too many boats out for a Saturday morning. It could be because the weather forecast is for 60% of rain. Personally, I prefer the occasional rain shower if it lessens the boat traffic...a small price to pay. Soon after we passed the Jupiter Light, we were hit by a sudden downpour. It only lasted five minutes, and it was enough to give Blue Moon a good rinse....no more salt! (at least for now). At 12:50, we were secure in the Lake Worth anchorage. Fifty minutes later, the fleet of sailboats arrived. The anchorage is very large and there was plenty of room for all the boats. We spent the afternoon reading, puttering and Matt practicing on his uke. We had planned to go ashore but the skies were becoming darker. Soon, the winds picked up and it began to rain. I checked the local weater radar and we decided that we should plan on remaining on the boat. We had our Happy Hour followed by dinner and a movie. It was a good night to watch a movie. The weather forecast for the next several days calls for an increase chance of rain. We are hoping (weather permitting) to get an early start tomorrow so we can avoid the boat traffic later in the day. We were up, had breakfast and were pulling away from the mooring ball by 8:30. Our first stop was the fuel dock at Sunset Bay Marina. We filled up Blue Moon's fuel tank and water tank then pumped out. We also topped off the spare gas tank used for the dinghy and generator.
Our visit to Stuart had been fun and relaxing. Everyone in our little group agreed that Stuart was a great little town to visit and that Sunset Bay Marina and Anchorage was a great place to stay. Half hour later, we pulled away from the fuel dock and called the bridge tender to request a opening. The wind was blowing. It was forecasted to be 15-20 kts and gusty. We had only 10.5 nm to go, but we were going right into the wind and waves, which caused Blue Moon to get a nice coating of salt. We arrived at Peck Lake at 10:45 and dropped the anchor. As we were giving Blue Moon a sponge bath, the rest of the fleet arrived. This anchorage would be pleasant if it weren't for the passing boats on the ICW throwing those big wakes. We waited a couple hours to make sure that Blue Moon wasn't going to drag, then we lowered the dinghy and headed to shore. It was a short walk across the island to the ocean. There was a very nice beach but it was so windy there. Matt and I walked about a mile along the water then turned around and headed back to the dinghy. We all spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging on our boats. Matt practiced his ukulele, we read and just enjoyed being on the boat. At 16:00, Bob called over from JourneyOn to say Happy Hour was cancelled, but no reason was given. It was Friday afternoon...Happy Hour must go on!!! Matt and I improvised and enjoyed our own Happy Hour on Blue Moon. The wind was blowing 20 kts and Matt decided to barbeque the pork tenderloin which had been in our freezer. Somehow he managed to get the propane grill lit even though the wind really wanted to blow it out. The pork and the noodle side dish made for a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we played Words With Friends and read. At about 21:00, the winds finally began to lessen and the anchorage was peaceful. The cool night air allowed us a very pleasant sleep . Although every hour or so, a train came by and repetitively blew its whistle. Some in a group found it to be a "comforting" sound, but I just found it annoying.
We were up early. We had breakfast and read the internet newspaper while our generator charged Blue Moon's battery bank. The morning was dedicated to chores. We refilled our drinking water jugs and bought ice at the marina. Then Mary, Bob ,Matt and I dingied over to a nearby park where we tied up to the sea wall. We walked about a 1/2 mile to Publix where we restocked some needed perishables. It was now 11:30, and time for a rest. Matt practiced his ukulele and I read. Later ,we dinghied to shore to check out the stained glass store and get our daily dose of ice cream. Today, we tried Kilwins ice cream and found it a little more expensive than the shop across the street, but well worth it. It was delicious! After a quick shower at the marina, we were back on Blue Moon. The Mini-loopers met for Happy Hour at Pelican Cafe, then walked over to Duffy's for its Thursday night $9.99 rib special. Following dinner, we went back to the marina where we were treated to a chocolate cake which Mary and Bob had baked that morning. "Pass the trash" and "pig it/hog it' where also in the cards for the evening. By 21:00, we were all heading back to our boats. Back on Blue Moon, we turned the generator on and retired to the v-berth do some reading. Tomorrow, we plan to go to Peak Lake. It was another nice night at anchor. We slept in late and didn't get up until 7:45. After we had breakfast and read the morning paper in the internet, Matt went to work on Blue Moon's brightwork. He finished sanding and applied te first coat of Cetol. I relaxed and got caught up on some paperwork.
As we were relaxing on the back deck, we noticed the four boats from our group arrive in Stuart. JourneyOn, Blown Away, Wanker and Ladyhawk had been traveling one day behind us but now the seven boats have merged into one tribe. After welcoming the new arrivals, Matt and I went to shore for a shower at the marina and an ice cream in town. We then strolled the riverwalk over to the Pelican Cafe. It was Happy Hour and we were all meeting there at 16:00. It was good to see the whole group and to hear all the stories from the past week. We decided to stay another day in Stuart. There are things to see, chores to be done and ice cream, beer and ribs to be consumed. We returned to our own boats for dinner and we enjoyed a relaxing night reading, while others went ashore to play PigIt/HogIt It was a wonderful night to be sleeping out on the water. The air temperature was perfect. We were up at 6:30, had breakfast and read the newspaper on the internet.
At 8:45, we decided it was time to be movin' on. We freed Blue Moon from the two dolphins, then hailed the St. Lucie lockmaster. Since he was about to lock through a westbound boat, we were told that it would be an eighteen minute wait. We soon were in the lock and were being gracefully lowered 14 ft to sea level where we continued on our way to Stuart. At 10:30, we picked up our slimey mooring at Sunset Marina and Anchorage. Once secure, we lowered the dinghy and went ashore to register. Checking their records, we learned that we arrived here on April 16th last year when we were heading for the Chesapeake. We were reminded that the showers and laundry room were closed from 11:00 to 1:30 for cleaning. But we were able to throw a couple loads of laundry into the washer. While our clothes were being held hostage in the laundry room, we returned to the boat. I read and Matt went to work scraping and sanding the brightwork on Blue Moon. At 1:30, we went ashore to finish the laundry and shower. Once we had the clean sheets on the bed and the clothes stowed, we headed back to shore. Barb, Frank, Matt and I walked over to the Pelican Cafe for a well earned Happy Hour. This place reminded us of the Tiki Bar in Punta Gorda...waterfront and laid back. The topics of conversation covered many subjects...one being what day of the week it was. But after checking the phone, we realized it was Tuesday. They should have an app for that. Matt and I then visited to one of the local ice cream shops where we split a cup of ice cream (Barb and Frank had already had theirs). Then we walked down to Publix where we bought a fresh grinder roll and some shrimp. We returned to Blue Moon and enjoyed our dinner onboard. After watching the sunset, Matt turned on the generator and we retired to the v-berth to read . At 4:00 am, a rain shower passed over Clewiston and dumped a load of water, but Blue Moon was all closed up with the A/C working, so we just went back to sleep.
We woke up at 6:30 and were pulling out of the slip by 7:00 since we had over 40 nm to go today. We exited the Hurricane gate and headed across Lake Okeechobee. There was a nice 10-12 kt breeze blowing when we started the trip, but an hour later, the water was flat. When we arrived at Port Mayaca Lock, I hailed the lockmaster on the radio. H e said that the lock was open and to proceed through. That was nice...no locks today. My back and neck haven't recovered from yesterday's locking episode. At 13:15, we arrived at St. Lucie lock. We had decided to tie up to a dolphin on the west side of the lock, so we wouldn't have to deal with tides and barnacles on the east side. Matt steered Blue Moon's bow toward the dolphin. Using a boat hook, I looped a line around the cleat on the dolphin and secured the long line on Blue Moon. Matt then backed Blue Moon toward the rear dolphin. Again I used the boat hook to loop a line onto the cleat. Then we adjusted the lines so that Blue Moon was situated between the dolphins. It was very hot with no breeze at all. At 15:00, we were cooling off enjoying an ice cold beer and Tigger went by. They were headed for some nearby docks. Jack warned us that it was going to be windy at "5:00". English Rose had decided to stop at Indiantown Marina since they'd never been there before. We spent the next couple hours relaxing. I read and Matt practiced his ukulele out on the back deck. At 4:38, the sky became black and the winds picked up. We monitored the lines tied to the dolphins. Being dock lines, there was quite a bit of stretching. Matt kept trying to shorten the lines, to keep Blue Moon centered between the dolphins. When there was a lull in the wind, Matt went out to the bow to shorten the bow line, while I let out the stern line. It then started to downpour and a lightening bolt and thunder simutaneously struck. That was close. We quicky finshed the chore and Matt returned to the safety of the boat cabin. Soon the wind and rain stopped, so Matt and I returned to the back deck to watch the show that the birds and fish were performing for us. And it was time for Happy Hour. We did try to watch the Evening News to find out what happened in Boston, but all we could get was ABC news. After fifteen minutes, we turned it off . We took our showers and had dinner. The rest of the night was spent reading. The rain storm had cooled things off, so the sleeping temperature was pleasant. |
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