Saturday April 30: On a Race to See the Shuttle Launch

We are now 4,500 miles into our journey and are headed up the coast of Florida. Yesterday from Hollywood 55 1/2 miles to Fort Worth. Since the weather was forecast to have a nice SW wind, the push from behind would move us along our way.

The day was overcast as we cast off from Joe's Crab Shack - home for the last 4 weeks. Traveling the short 10 miles to Fort Lauderdale reminded us that this truly is an actual port! Many freighters, navy ships, cruise ships, large yachts, and small boats - which is why we opted to travel out on the ocean side instead of up the intercoastal. That and the bridges! Of the 20 bridges along the intercoastal, we would have had to wait for 12 of them. None are on request but instead open twice an hour at specific times. Outside was very nice - beaches and high rises as far as you could see in either direction. The only glitch was the very sudden onset of a very gusty north wind - not sure of the strength but Lake Okeechobee had tornado warnings so we think it was the edges of the wind they were getting. I have to say I don't ever recall a wind coming on so quickly - not even on Lake Erie.

After multiple wind blown splashes over the flybridge, I got a little better at avoiding the really big waves :-) Ever try to see through smeared, salt-water covered glasses?! Anyway, we made it safely into the marina Steve had made reservations at. VERY glad to be tied up as it continued to blow and finally then rained.

Left this morning with mild winds and currents against us (we really need to time our leaving better as we lose up to 1.5 mph due to the currents). This time traveling the inside route with great canals running through mangroves, mansions and mega-yachts (I waited for this one to go under the bridge :-)). We ended up just north of Stuart. The goal: make it another hundred miles to Port Canaveral in time to see the shuttle launch which is scheduled for Monday late afternoon. We waited to see one with Paul and Miriam one year but after sitting around for ??? it was scrubbed. Maybe this time.......

Thursday April 28: Back to the Boat :-)

After a great 3 weeks in Encinitas visiting Matt, Wendy and Rebecca, we arrived back 'home' last night about midnight to find the boat just as we left it. Put the new generator impeller in, did some grocery shopping and miscellaneous before returning the car we rented for the day. Fozzi had lots of beach walks and a highlight of the visit was with Rebecca and her friend Janie at the Warner Brothers studios. Janie was able to get us into the Friend's set (yes it's still up!). Will post pictures of the trip on picasaweb for anyone interested. Wendy and Matt had a great trip to Australia!

The plan is now to leave tomorrow but who knows. It's very hot and humid here - Encinitas was much more pleasant :-) We'll be moving up the Florida coast for the next week or so.

Thursday April 7: Off to California!

We leave today for California to visit the kids. Blog will continue when we return to the boat in late April :-)

Tuesday April 5: Back to Working

For a single engine 36' boat, it seems there sure is a lot of work to do. The generator was overheating a couple of days ago - the decision was that the water pump impeller (which sucks raw water from outside the boat to circulate through the generator to keep it cool) was bad. Unbelievably, we did not have a spare! 3 spares for the engine but none for the generator. So today we took the pump off and checked for sure. The picture of it is at left. It should have 6 arms on it :-) Some of the pieces were still inside - kind of makes me wonder where the rest of it is. Also changed the oil and filter in both the generator and engine as we wanted to have the job done when we return from California at the end of April.

The boardwalk is great for biking - wonderful breeze next to the ocean. We rode by the Diana Motel that is right on the boardwalk here at Hollywood - stayed there a number of times in the past. Then a 6 mile round trip bike to the pier at Dania.Lots of people fishing for pompano. Apparently they travel in schools and when they hit, EVERYONE has a fish on. Must be quite interesting as many poles were lined up within 1 foot of each other. It was very windy!!!

We are leaving the boat in front of a waterfront restaurant when we leave for CA later this week as the marinas around here are very expensive. A fellow MTOA member worked this out with the owner for us (his boat is the one at the other end of the dock- the MI-T-MO - quite an interesting boat that we first saw in Jacksonville several years ago. He carries a mini-van on the front deck!). The restaurant doesn't have breakfast though but we have managed to find places right on the beach which is just a couple of blocks away. Steve also tried his hand at fishing since one of the guys working here pulled in a nice mangrove snapper! The sushi chef gave Steve a small piece of salmon and tuna to try for bait - nice of him. But it didn't work as Steve couldn't get the big snapper (you can see the fish under the boat) didn't go for it. Maybe tomorrow :-)

Sunday April 3: Arrived at Hollywood

We were up bright and early yesterday as we wanted to get across Biscayne Bay first thing. The spot we anchored was to the right of this bridge - it was very peaceful.

The entrance to Biscayne Bay looks as thought you are headed out into the ocean! A very large body of water and the wind/weather was perfect for the crossing. It wasn't too long before the skyline of Miami began to appear in the horizon - still about 30 miles away though. The first thing we did when we arrived was to check out the Coconut Grove area (supposedly the 'old Miami') complete with a Johnny Rocket so a shake, root beer float and onion rings were a perfect late afternoon snack :-) Steve checked out the park farther down the way - oldest house, history of the area and a hurricane-proof house that outlived the gentleman that designed it in the 20's. Even Hurricane Andrew didn't get it!

Miami used to be home to the largest number of anchored (permanently) boats in the US. For a number of reasons (including abandoned sunken boats), the city opted for a new approach and put in a mooring field with over 200 spots. This is were we stayed last night. Steve had to take a picture of Bolero - one of the smaller big boats we saw in the area - we've heard Ft. Lauderdale will have even more of even bigger boats (I guess at some point I need to use the description yacht).

Up early again this morning so we could stop at No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne at a state park there. It was very nice but small so we were glad we went to the mooring field instead. There was a very nice bike path (it was really hot in the sun so the shade was very welcome). There was also rebuilt lighthouse (Steve went to the top - I opted not to) that was fun. The history of it included the Seminole Indians attacking it during the wars with the natives of the area. Imagine that - they preferred to stay living in the Keys area instead of moving to the middle of nowhere on a reservation.

Overall - this area is just a crazy place on the water! Boats everywhere (of course it was Sunday so we kind of figured but really?) Downtown Miami is quite impressive from the water and the Port of Miami had 4 cruise boats in which would leave later in the day. There were 4 different ones in yesterday - business in the cruise industry must still be doing well. As we continued north, we came upon what we thought was a huge marina - turn out it was just a huge number of boats all anchored in this tiny spot. Sorry for the person in the middle! Crazy though - 10 times more crazy than Big Chief by Orillia. Miamian's do love their boating!!

Boats are everywhere but the cutest we saw was the little tug boat we passed: Little Toot . What else could you name this little boat?! Tomorrow: we explore Hollywood - a place we stayed many time before but never having arrived by water!

Saturday April 2: Miami!

We left Treasure Harbor yesterday morning intending to travel about 30 miles or so. The winds were blowing at about 15 mph but we were going to go up the bay side of the upper keys instead of the oceanside so it wasn't a problem. In fact with the winds from the west, we actually got a push from behind!

The last job to do before we left was to put a new fuel line on the generator. This (and the strategic use of the permatex sealant) solved the diesel leak so we were VERY happy about that! A last look back as we pulled out onto the ocean side and headed for the route to take us bayside.

The good thing about traveling bayside is the water is on average about 6 feet deep - sometimes a bit more, sometimes less. I don't get nervous until I start seeing 3 feet! The Florida Bay is really a huge area - most of which you could walk across it's just that shallow. Part of the route was through mangroves. All in all a nice trip - could have done without the 10 minute downpour but at least it wasn't a lightening storm.

The new bridge at the north end of Key Largo passes over Jewfish Creek. For all of the times we have come to the keys (by car), we have crossed the old lift bridge and looked with longing at the intercoastal route we were driving over - it's still hard to believe that we are able to actually do what we are doing :-)

The anchorage last night was great - good holding in about 6 feet of water. And back to where we have sunsets. Missed these at Treasure Harbor at there were too many trees to ever really have a good look at the sun going down. We are now at the mooring field in Miami - more on that tomorrow!