Sunday December 30: Thinking About Moving On ....

Where DOES the time go? It's been almost a week since we celebrated Christmas and yet it is hard to pinpoint exactly how we've spent the time.

There were a few bike rides to near places (the exception was Steve's 9 mile round-trip to the shopping center) like the hardware store (only a mile away).

And kayaking around the mangroves.

Steve's newest success at his vegan cooking is the beet burgers he made the other day. I know what you are probably thinking - the same thing I was thinking.

I don't even like beets.

But I kept an open mind ....

And was quite pleasantly surprised! They were actually very good! Not on a level of McDonald's yet, of course, but really good!

Want the recipe? Just send Steve and email - I'm sure he'll be happy to share.

Sadly, he did burn up the little drive wheel on the blender but one is on order already. I think he's thinking he might need a small food processor :-)

It's been quite cool at night which means clear skies as the winds from the north push down. It means snow up there in Ohio but for us just means a cooler than usual night - very comfortable sleeping with the low's in the high 50's.

When the moon isn't out quite so bright, the stars are plentiful and easy to see. Not a lot of light pollution at night around here.

The water is very blue - this is the cut that goes from the bayside to the oceanside. It's on the way to the shopping center.

Steve keeps looking for fish off of the bridge but not much luck seeing anything except very small fish.

Steve had a chance to go fishing with Mike - the guy that owns Flying Fish. Too bad it was so windy. 3 foot waves and that was only about 3 miles out from shore.

The best fishing is just beyond the reefs which lie about 7 miles offshore.

Maybe next time - Steve can always rent a car or take the bus up this way if Mike is going again sometime.

Like I always say: lots of fishing going on but not very much catching :-) But Steve said it was still fun!





The funnest things around there are the iguanas - particularly how they walk! Check out the video below of this iguana headed toward the fresh water bowl Pam sits out for the cats. Steve is walking up behind it ....

Just click on the small arrow in the lower left of the picture to start the video.

Tuesday December 25: Merry Christmas!

                                    Merry Christmas from the gang here on Yesterday's Dream :-)

And yes, Cactus Guy is the same one that sat on the kitchen counter at the farm for all of those years!

Monday December 24: Christmas Eve in Islamorada

After breakfast out, Steve decided it was time to try biking again. The rib is healing so off we went.

Mmmm ... he's still going after about 5 minutes so that's a good sign!

It was a very nice ride over to the city park a short ways from our marina. Extremely well planned and built park - complete with a fixed fence dog park.

We thought of Fozzi of course!

Part of the park is a marina which is accessible from the bay side. But it's still shallow - there were no sailboats  in the marina as most sailboat's draft is too deep for the channel in.

It's warmed back up again after the front that went through. The one that was causing all of the snow up north. I have to say I don't miss it ...

The shoreline here is all rock - mostly coral. The fossil imprints (not sure I'm describing that accurately) of what I'm assuming were some sort of sea fans or other plant life are so obvious on the coral.

It's like this all along this shore.

It was also hair cut day for Steve. One of these days I may just buzz it all off :-)

Not really - I tried that once - didn't like it!

Calculating how much $$ was saved over 41 years of haircutting: every six weeks (at least) so say 9 cuts a year for 41 years. That's 369 haircuts at an average of $10 a cut would be less than $4000.

Mmmm ... doesn't seem like that much of a savings, does it? It might be off to the barber for his next one!

Christmas Eve: what a better way to start than shrimp and a glass of wine before dinner?

Thinking of all the years of Christmas Eve at the farm. What a tradition that was ....

Sunday December 23: Enjoying Treasure Harbor

Talk about a laid back place.

The biggest happening around here the last few days has been the manatee that live in the harbor.

Steve spotted one and started splashing the water to attract it nearer.

And it worked!! The manatee just sort of swim around - breathing once in a while - but otherwise seem to just kind of hang around in the water.

Sort of ugly, actually :-)

Ty is back this year. We met him for the first time 1 1/2 years ago when we stayed here for a month. Really funny guy - his partner Bonnie said she was just staying in Wisconsin for the winter - too hot down here!

So he loans us his car in exchange for filling it with gas. Good deal for us as Steve still isn't riding his bike (engine room incident a week or so ago). Sore/bruised rib.

Ty is really funny - we enjoy his company!

More manatee today. All I had to do was to splash the water at the swim platform.

Amazing that they really like to be scratched! One turned over - I was afraid it was going to bite me but Steve assures me they are strictly vegetarians and he(she?) just wanted a flipper scratch!

Fun to just watch :-)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It will be a 'farm' Christmas Eve dinner: prime rib, mushroom soup green beans with onion rings on top, baked potato. The hell with the vegan eating ....... well at least for a day :-)

Wednesday December 19: 'Home' for the Holidays - Treasure Harbor

The sunrise yesterday morning was as great as the sunset the night before. It was a quiet night - but you can guess who had to go out in the rain to shut the front hatch because guess who didn't hear it raining ... not to name any names :-)

It was a very short travel day of 15 miles to Treasure Harbor Marina in Islamorda. The Florida Bay was very calm and very shallow. Lots of mangrove cut throughs.

When the depth finder read 6.5 feet in northern areas, I began to frantically look for the "channel" - meaning deeper water. Here on the bay side 6.5 or 7 feet is the norm. I'm still getting used to that.

We arrived at Treasure Harbor Marina about noon or so. The entrance is quite shallow but as long as we enter 3 hours on either side of high tide it's not a problem.

Pam welcomed us with open arms - it's so nice to be back. Kind of like Cheers - being somewhere where someone knows your name :-)

The plan is to be here for the next couple of weeks and then head on down to Marathon.

Steve of course loves the iguanas that live around here. Today there were about a dozen in the trees near our dock. Quite the fun looking creatures.

These are actually considered to be an invasive species that most likely originated in the area as released pets. If you want more information click here to go to a University of Florida web site that gives info about the iguanas in south Florida.

When it finally cooled of a bit this afternoon (note the almost cloudless sky!), it was time to put up the Christmas lights.

Last year we were in California at Matt and Wendy's for Christmas (as well as 2009 :-) ) so this year we will celebrate here on the boat at Treasure Harbor.

Must be time for some lights on the boat, right? First step is to get the lights onto the top of the mast.

Next is to put some lights around the flybridge.

And of course around the front railing - at least as far as the $4 pack of lights Steve found at the thrift store in St. Augustine would allow us to go.

Final result? A nicely decorated Yesterday's Dream :-)

We are ready now - just need to wait for Christmas in  less than a week!!!



Blogging will be intermittent as we are not traveling. Will update any project or 'excitement' as they happen :-)

In the meantime - Happy Holidays!!

Monday December 17: In the Keys :-)

Finally - we are in the Florida Keys! Tonight we are anchored behind Pigeon Key - off of Key Largo.

I think we may be home :-)

We passed by the lighthouse on Boca Chita on the way out of the harbor this morning. By the time we left, we were the only boat in the harbor. Quite the change from yesterday (but then we've read it's always packed on the weekends). It was a low tide so we waited about an hour to leave. I didn't really think we'd have any trouble getting out but there wasn't a great hurry anyway.

The no-see-ums were out in full force overnight. They are so named because they are only 1/8 of an inch in length! So you feel something biting but don't see anything - plus they come right through the screens they are so small.

Boca Chita was definitely worth the visit. There is no power or water but rather just a dock to which to tie.

Biscayne Bay was incredibly calm today - nothing like yesterday with a 1 foot chop.

Miami can be see in the distance as we move south on the bay - getting close to the Keys!

It was just like boating in an aquarium. The water here is about 7 feet deep. We've seen this before but it's been a long time since the water has been this clear for us.

What a difference than the travel in the rest of Florida as well and the other coastal states.

We knew we hit the Keys when we passed under the A1 bridge that travels the length of the keys from Key Largo to Key West.

This high fixed bridge used to be a draw bridge when we first started coming to the keys (in the 1980's?) so it's really how we know we have made it.

The nice weather held all day with more wind in the afternoon but still a very nice day.

Once we arrived and were anchored for the night, it was time to Link. This is the video game I'm playing as we travel. Fun way to spend the time although if there wasn't a cheat guide on line, I would have given up a long time ago :-)

The front cabin is a multi-purpose room. Video games, movies, football .....

And if you come to visit - it becomes your sleeping quarters - complete with a private head :-)

So if you are headed to the keys - we're already here and waiting for someone to show up!

Sunday December 6: Boca Chita - south of Miami

We enjoyed our last day in Hollywood even though the rain came and went (mostly went :-)). A last visit to the Hollywood beach theatre to see the local high school jazz band. Having experienced truly GREAT jazz band when the kids were at Brush HS, it was sad watching. Sometimes it's nice to be out of education …..

Anyway, we left by 8 or so. Only one bridge to 'time' – the others we either fit under or were on demand. The waterway here (north of Miami) is rather narrow and is surrounded on both sides by high rises and/or expensive homes.

It was fun passing by the cruise ship harbor in Miami. There were 4 Carnival ships on the pier. Seems like it would be time for them to get underway!

We have a new vote for cool yacht. Not only did it have a powerboat on the second deck (along with other boats on other decks) but it had a helicopter sitting on the aft deck. 

Maybe this belongs to James Bond??

The day was 4 hours of travel to Boca Chita Key - about 15 miles south of Miami. There is a 'fake' lighthouse built a long time ago to help the owner  find his way to the island. Makes for a nice view of the harbor. We are docked at the far right side. Really neat place - with much history. Read the history here. A really great picture showing Miami: click here.

There isn't much here but it's a nice place to spend a day. It was VERY busy today because it was a weekend but tonight there are only 3 of us left.

A small beach is on the eastern shore although we didn't see much in the water. The current is VERY strong so the kayaks stayed on the decks for now.

No see um's are out tonight - TINY, TINY biting bugs that go right through our screens. It may be a long hot night :-)

Not sure where we are headed tomorrow - guess time will tell ....

Friday December 14: Hanging Around Hollywood

Florida is certainly a VERY long state - it's been 11 travel days so far (granted some of the days were short days of 15 - 20 miles). From here in Hollywood, it will be 3 days or so (depending on how the weather is) until we arrive at Treasure Harbor in Islamorada.

This is the marina from which we have rented both sail and power boats on and off for about 15 years. And spent a month here a year and a half ago. We'll stay there until we move to Banana Bay in Marathon at the first of the new year.

Pam runs this place and is just a great person - as are so many of the people we have come across on our travels. We look forward to seeing her - and Ty as well. He was there when we spent the month last time. Lots of fun and a great guy.

In the meantime, a bike ride to the pier in Dania Beach was in order - after breakfast of course. Mike from Mi-T-Mo joined us.

He has quite an interesting history and many adventures. Fun to be around also!

The boardwalk here is one of our favorite places. Easy riding along the beach and palm trees to look as you go by.

Many restaurants and mom and pop type of hotels also line this boardwalk.

The pier is a 5 1/2 mile round trip ride so it makes a nice trip. Lots of fishing but not much catching --- again......

It's still fun to walk out on the pier though. With so many people fishing I don't understand how the lines don't end up in one big tangled mess - but they don't.

Many of the restaurants are decked out for Christmas also. I liked the Santa sleigh and the Disney characters!

It's been nice just staying in one place for a couple of days. Not sure it we travel tomorrow or not but I'm sure it wont' be too early :-)

Several projects made the list today. On my list was to fix the little scanner I use to help keep any accumulation of paper down. There are records mostly related to boat work that I like to keep but really don't want the paper. This little scanner seemed to be the perfect solution.

Sadly when I tried to use it several weeks back it made a noise but wouldn't feed the paper through. What an easy fix though! Took the 4 small screws out that held the top and bottom together, plugged it into the computer to run it and with a bit of encouragement from a small screwdriver the drive gear (on the bottom far right) started turning again! It just needed a bit of a push having not run in such a long time - job done :-)

Steve put some thread lock on the screws holding the valve cover down (on the engine) so the small amount of oil leaking will hopefully now be no oil leaking. He spent an hour or so cleaning the bilge the other day. Seems I'm always busy when that job has to be done .....

Another fake Santa bill?? Actually not! Steve purchased this at Publix the other day and it is a REAL $1 bill! Very neat disguise - Santa's face on a removable sticker placed on a real dollar bill. Mmmm .... might make a good Christmas present!

 Best innovation lately? Cutting up a hat and using the hot glue gun to attach it to my bike helmet.

Joy said we needed to use our helmets and we didn't disagree. But I tried wearing a visor/ballcap under the helmet but it just didn't work. So I just didn't wear the helmet.

This is perfect!! We now wear our helmets everywhere we ride again ....

Good job, Joy :-)

Thursday December 13: Hollywood - Florida, that is

I did it again yesterday - slept right through another gorgeous sunrise :-(

The plan was to leave Lake Worth early - 7 am - and make our way to Hollywood. Definitely was going to be a long day of 55 miles. We wanted to just go outside for this trip but the weather just didn't seem to want us to do that for some reason.

Getting away from the dock was a challenge (Steve even resorted to getting one of the dock guys to help) because of the current and the wind - once again ripping through the marina. Just like it was when we came in. Just like it has been 2 of the 3 times we've been to Lake Worth. What is it about this place???

Our 9 hour cruising day was slowed by the 21 bridges between Lake Worth and Hollywood. Two of the 21 bridges were on demand (they raise the bridge at any time of the day), 1 bridge was removed, 9 bridges we fit under (thanks to the low tide) and the remaining 9 bridges we had to have raised.  No problem - except each bridge has a schedule: open on the 1/4 and 3/4 hour, open on the hour and 1/2 hour or open on the hour, 20 after the hour and 40 after the hour. A long day of using the GPS to time our arrival at the bridge at the right time. The only issue was a bridge I thought we could fit under but didn't - had to wait 20 minutes for the next opening.

There was no shortage of sights along this area to see.

The mega yachts were out in force. Many at Lake Worth and then all along the way to Ft. Lauderdale.

We saw this ship with 2 large yachts on it's deck. I guess this is the easy way to get it across the ocean! And probably less expensive than just driving it over.

This mega-yacht got the prize for most unique look.

The name of it is ACE. Wonder if it's a corporate yacht for Ace Hardware??? If so, it might be time to quit shopping at that store - way too much money being spent!

The real prize for yachts was spotted as we passed by Port Everglades. Look closely at the picture on the right - at the bottom center of the picture.

This yacht had at least one (it looked like more than one) rather nice boat inside the hull storage area.

Where DO these folks make their money???

Many homes along the waterway are decorated for the holidays. Still looks strange to me - here in the land of the sunshine and warm weather. Well, not always warm but certainly not the land of the snows!

Our home base for the next few days here in Hollywood will be being tied to the side of Mi-T-Mo - a converted army tug. We first met the owner, Mike, at the very first MTOA rendezvous we attended (by car) in Jacksonville. At that time, we had a record of 32 people in the engine compartment of his boat! 65 feet long and all steel. She's quite a boat ...

Beach, restaurants and the Hollywood open air theater are all just a block away.


Steve's already been to West Marine and Publix - thanks to Mike. He keeps his boat here and in Baltimore - and his car travels with him on the front deck! And not a little smart car but a regular SUV. Crazy!!

Tuesday December 11: Still Dodging the Storms in Lake Worth

We said our "see you down the waterways" to Joe and Joy as they untied and headed out from Serenity Island yesterday morning.

They were headed for Vero Beach for a short stay and then a longer stay for the holidays to visit family. We'll see them in Marathon in a month or so.

We are continuing south ....

The day of travel yesterday to Ft. Pierce was pleasant enough - sun and clouds. Mostly we had sun but off to the west were clouds - storm clouds. Somehow we managed to dodge them for the entire day!

We anchored just south of the Ft. Pierce inlet - along with a few sailboats and kept a watchful eye on the skies. Somehow we ended up inbetween all of the the storms, rains and tornadoes in the area. There was a short smattering of rain but that was it. There was quite the lightening show north of us. Tried to catch some on film as we sat on the back of the boat just wasn't successful.

The wind really never settled the way it was supposed to (what are weather forecast for???) but overall it was a good night.

And the wonderful sunrise (of course captured by Steve as I slept on :-) ) is always nice to see. I peeked out of my little porthole by the bed and saw something yellow and then promptly turned over and went back to sleep!

We still managed to leave before 8 - with breakfast on the way.

The weather was still cloudy with the sun showing up every once in a while but more windy as the day went on.

The destination for today was Lake Worth - a very nice anchorage that we had yet to try.

But tonight was not going to be the night. Storms were mostly to the west of us but wind predictions were not great. South and then north and then back to south. But it was the white caps as we entered Lake Worth that made us decide to head to a marina for the night.

Turns out it was the right decision. As we sit tied nicely to our dock here at the New Cove Marine Center in Lake Worth, the wind continues to howl and the lightening continues to brighten the skies.

Steve decided on pizza for dinner - always a good choice!

The air conditioner is running - what a change from just a couple of days ago when we had the heat on instead. Guess we might be getting far enough south :-)

Most interesting boat we passed today: the boat of a person who is a sailor at heart but in practicality is a trawler person. The best of both worlds!

A sailboat with an aft cabin over which a pilot house was built. Very interesting ...

Tomorrow will be a long bridge day as the weather is not conducive to going outside. I am going through Active Captain to check the heights and restrictions (like opens only on the hour and half-hour or opens only on the 1/4 and 3/4 hour). So far I am half way through to our destination of Hollywood, FL and have listed 16 bridges. I see a long day in our future ... which means an early leave time ... which means no breakfast out :-(