Sunday November 30: Leaving Lake Worth - West Palm Beach

We spent the last night at Ft. Pierce attending the Kenny Rogers Christmas show at the local Sunrise Theatre. A short bike ride on well lit streets :-)

Admittedly, I was a little concerned about going to see 75 year old Kenny Rogers. I mean I couldn't really name more than one or two songs I remember him singing. Was this show going to be any good?? Certainly I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as the many times we'd seen Anne Murray perform (best ever was in Nashville - a Christmas show where the Nashville Symphonic was her backup music! It was a real experience - Mom was with us - ended up with a giant pot of soup at the Chinese place. Just one more really good memory ...) but it seemed like a good way to start the holiday season.

The show was GREAT!! Especially for someone that has been in the entertainment industry for 50 years. Was his voice as good as it was 25 years ago? Probably not but then whose is :-) Was he a little stiff and less fluid in his movements? Definitely but again, who isn't!

He was very personable, funny and willing to make fun of his age himself.

All in all a great time. Even met a former math teacher from NY who recently moved to Vero Beach to escape the weather and high taxes of NY. He was very happy to no longer be living in the land of snow and cold.

Off early this morning as it was going to be a long travel day of 50 miles: 7 hours. The plan was to go to Lake Worth just north of West Palm Beach and anchor for the night.

Marinas around this area start at $2.00 a foot + a charge for electric. For us this usually means $85 by the time taxes are paid.

Easier (and free!) to just anchor when a nice place is available - always a challenge though when winds are in the teens all night.

The northern end of Lake Worth was perfect though. We arrived about 3:30 and were anchored and settled by 4. The winds were from the East so we chose a spot close to the eastern shoreline - and had the same view as the million dollar homes which surround this lake. Actually, I guess our view was better - we didn't have to look over an anchorage with 25 boats in it!

It was a pleasant travel day though. Even if it WAS a weekend - as is evidenced by the Snack Shack which was anchored near an area frequented by day boaters.

Lots of people using the waterways though. Including this guy who was fishing from his kayak. Can't see one of these guys without thinking of our nephew Christopher - he loves this kind of thing. Mmmmm .. but then that was BK (before kids). Hopefully he still gets out :-)

And signs of Christmas are being seen along the waterways as well. Too bad this wasn't taken at night as there are tons of lights on this house - kind of like the Griswolds :-)

Today we head to Hollywood, FL - home for the month of December. Long day - 60 miles. Through Ft. Lauderdale, on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon which will bring every boater within 30 miles to the waterways. Wish us luck :-)

Friday November 28: Black Friday

Yesterday was a quiet Thanksgiving. Steve managed to find some Pumpkin Spice liquor - hey - it's made by Bols so it had to be good, right?

Turns out it actually was :-)  Verified by Joy (from High Spirits) as she was the only other one willing to try it. She and Joe stopped on Wednesday as they were in the area (by car - High Spirits is in St. Augustine  - north of here). We had a great time with a Thai lunch and an afternoon of cards.

Sadly the guys won with 3 -2 in Euchre. More sad? I didn't think to take any pictures. Pretty bad. It had been some time since we've seen them - neither of us could remember .... but it's always like we saw them just yesterday whenever we do get together.

Anyway, we watched the Macy's parade - extra fun knowing that Matt and Wendy were in attendance. Matt provided us with pictures so it was just like being there with them - except we were a lot warmer than they looked to be :-)





Steve braved the bridge across the ICW to ride out to the ocean - nice view but VERY windy. I thought someone needed to stay and carry on the "watch football all day" tradition.

So I did :-)

After a great dinner (including mashed potatoes WITHOUT the skins!!), it was time to carry on the family tradition of watching none other than National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

It's still funny after years of watching it every Thanksgiving Day. Although I have to say, I think it started as a way to keep the grandkids entertained :-)

Sunset was a nice ending to the day. I love the lone tall palm tree that stands behind the marina.


Today is cool and windy again but sunny - which makes such a huge difference.

It was a quick ride to breakfast and then finally a visit to the manatee center which is right next to the marina.


I was concerned that after being here for 8 days we were never going to make it there!!


One of my favorite "stick you head in the hole" photo opps :-)




Finally, for Matt: we really liked this guy's bumper sticker and thought it was appropriate (except for the 'not as lean' part for Matt but for the guy that owned the truck, it was the truth!)








Footnote: yes it's Black Friday but I shopped via computer rather than fight the crowds! Some nice bargains out there :-)

Tuesday November 25: The Generator LIVES!!

So this is a picture of the water coming out of the thru hull fitting for the generator. You know - the one I decreed dead and ready to become our next best anchor!

Steve wanted to give it one more try today - no objection from my end but then I wasn't involved as I had already declared it dead and nothing but a weight in the bottom of the boat.

After checking that all of the cooling lines were free from obstructions and that the impeller was fine (assumed to be so but not checked), there was absolutely NO reason why this thing should not run as intended.

Of course the last time we started and ran it, one of the guys near us thought our boat was on fire - there was that much black smoke coming out of the exhaust outlet - which is actually under water! Only thing we could think was that the muffler didn't have enough water in it (which is a weird think all by itself but that's the way it's designed) and we weren't willing to let the generator run long enough to see if that was really the issue. I mean, if someone thinks your boat is on fire seems to me it's time to shut it down!

So after filling the muffler with water and THEN starting the generator - perfect :-) Good thing for it - I was definitely ready to deep six the sucker :-) I think we need a name for the generator. Any suggestions?

Anyway, back to yesterday. The neighbors had invited Steve out for a fishing trip to the gulf stream (about 20 miles out) on their sailboat-coverted-to-trawler called a Strawler Cruiser. Quite interesting all by itself.

Great day at sea though, as Steve would say :-) A VERY nice Spanish Mackeral (that's the neighbor Rene holding the fish), several small tuna fish, two crevel jacks (fun to catch but not great to eat - just our opinion) and one GIANT crevel jack that "got away."

Steve fought the fish for 30-45 minutes trying to get it in and when it was about 10 feet from the boat, it broke the line. Sadly no picture but Rene saw it and guessed it to be 40 to 50 lbs!! Not something you would keep anyway but a picture would have been nice :-)

Even with both Steve and I cleaning fish, it took a while to get it done. Nicely the marina has a fish cleaning station with running fresh water and a great space with a large cutting board area.

In the meantime, Rene spent the time hosing off and cleaning up their boat. as even though it was calm here at the dock, they ran into 2 - 3 foot waves as the winds picked up throughout the day.


I had to suffer and spend a whole 6 1/2 hours on the boat by myself. What I don't put up with somedays :-)

Sunday November 23: Really? The Browns Won???

Finally, it was the BROWNS that moved down the field with 44 seconds left. No penalties. No fumbles. No interception. Just good playing.

And with 5 seconds left in the game, kicked the game winning field goal to beat the Atlanta Falcons 26 to 24.

Who would have believed it? I had already resigned to losing another one in the last minute of the game after Atlanta kicked a field goat with 50 seconds left in the game. Guess I'm not a very loyal fan ....

Anyway yesterday's search for pans for the induction cooktop was very successful. We ended up at Bed, Bath & Beyond for the red frying pan and then Beall's Outlet for the saucepan.

Steve figures he now has what he needs. These induction cooktops require a pan that is magnetic (so iron) in order to work and what we had were aluminum - not iron.

After spending a good part of the day running around, it was time to relax the rest of the day. The winds continued blowing (15 - 25 mph) all day and through most of last night - plus it rained as well.

What's with the weather??

Today it finally quit - at least enough that it was pleasant enough to do something outside. Off to the jetty we went for some fishing (well, not me of course - I had a book and a phone to check the Brown's score).

The guy at the end of the jetty must have been crazy and had to have ended up just soaked. That's a true fisherperson, I guess.


Steve tried his luck but didn't catch anything that was a keeper. The mutton snapper he caught would have been big enough - but just barely so he sent it back into the water to grow a bit :-)

For me it was fun just watching the waves crashing over the jetty! No boats coming or going out of the inlet - except for a coast guard boat the went straight out until it was lost from sight. We assumed it must have been out on a rescue mission??

The beach was littered with sea grass washed in with the waves. We couldn't figure out what the folks were looking for in the grass though - so Steve went over and asked. Seems they are looking for shells! And apparently there were plenty of them mixed in with the grass.

Again more fun things for kids to play on - all center around a fish theme - including the park benches with their mosaic fishes!

Tomorrow: more fishing. The boat neighbor is headed out for some wahoo and mahi mahi fishing and invited Steve along!!!

Friday November 21: Ft. Pierce - Home Until After Thanksgiving!

Traveling to Ft. Pierce - a very short 15 miles - was an easy trip.

The wind was blowing south which simply just pushed us on our way even faster :-) It was actually a pleasant day after starting out as overcast and cool.

We saw minimal traffic along the way and it wasn't until we reached the north bridge at Ft. Pierce that we even encountered another boat!

Getting into the slip at Ft. Pierce is always a challenge due to the current which can really get strong at the change of the tide.

The plan was to time our arrival to coincide with a minimum amount of current flowing in and around the marina. It worked well.

Steve's biggest challenge with the lines was getting them over the super tall pilings! These are not floating docks so I'm not sure why the really tall poles. Normally we see these at floating docks - so if the water rises rapidly (as it does during a hurricane), there is plenty of piling height to handle the docks rising.

Ft. Pierce City Marina is actually making a nice comeback from the hurricane a number of years back that wiped out a large portion of the docks here. It's been a multi-year project to replace these docks and add some very substantial breakwalls to surround the new docks. Maybe they'll be done next trip by here.

In the meantime, Steve decreed it time to paint the teak trim today. Not on my agenda (but then doing teak never is!) but I helped anyway. He did the hard work of preparing all of the railings. Then we both brushed on the cetol.

Guess since I'm the one that keeps scraping the wood on the pilings when we come into a dock, I should help fix it, right?

Short bike ride around to check out the area. It's supposed to be not very nice weather for the next week so we decided to just stay until next Saturday. Should be a good place to celebrate Thanksgiving!!







This is a very nice area - even the dumpsters are nicely painted :-)

We'll see what tomorrow brings. There may be a serious search for pots and pans that work on induction burners. To that end, we picked up a car from Enterprise again - $40 for 3 days. Can't beat it :-)

Wednesday November 19: Cold Front in Vero

The cold weather from the north found us here in Vero Beach. Of course 'cold' means it's in the low 50's at night and the low 60's during the day - nothing like the cold weather up north!

Winds are coming from the north so all of the boats on mooring balls are all headed that direction. Fortunately, we are also facing north simply because of our dock location (orange arrow is pointing to us).

Steve took this picture from the bridge that crosses the intercoastal just south of the marina. Said he needed to get some exercise after mostly being on the boat for 2 days. We did manage a ride to the beach again yesterday. What a difference! It was freezing - I definitely should have worn gloves ....

This live oak is right near the marina. Seems these trees provide a home for lots of things to grow - aside from serving as a hanger for the Spanish moss that loves these trees!

The sunset was once again incredible ....

Tomorrow we are off to Ft. Pierce - a leisurely 15 mile day. The weather isn't supposed to change too much so we may just camp in there for a while. We have time - so why not?

Monday November 17: A Visit From Terri and Scott!

Terri and Scott arrived at noon yesterday - just as scheduled! It's always nice when a plan comes together. The weather was perfect so after a quick lunch (with Aunt Josie's pistachio desert - thanks, Terri!!), Steve and Terri headed off to the botanical gardens here in Vero Beach.

Both agreed it was very well done with tons of local tree, flower and plant varieties. 

For additional pictures of the gardens, click here.

And of course someone had to stay and guard the boat, so Scott and I volunteered to do that :-) Besides, we needed to check in on the Browns (who lost) and the Bengals (who won).

A late afternoon ride to the beach was in order and afterword, appetizer and chocolate wine (yep - that's right, chocolate wine :-) ) on the flybridge with dinner following.

It was really nice that they decided to make the 3 hour drive from Bradenton to Vero Beach as it's always fun to see them.

If only they weren't Bengals fans .....

After a nice breakfast out at the Kountry Kitchen (great place by the way), we sat around the boat for a while contemplating kayaking.

When the wind started picking up, that plan went by the wayside quickly. Those darn storms from the north were headed this way as wind and rain. And cool weather - but when I say cool, I mean the lower 60's - not the freezing stuff north of here!

By the time they made it back to Bradenton, the rain had arrived at there. Terri sent a picture saying it was headed out way!

So we quickly headed out for a bike ride before the rain arrived. It was the first time we really had to check out Steve's new bike (which worked out very well).

The side streets around here are crazy with live oaks, huge birds of paradise and all kinds of other plants and trees.

Somehow we ended up back at the beach again. Something about the sound of waves crashing to shore that keeps drawing us near.

Found a decorated turtle in the park near the beach area - it looked like the kind that cities have local artists decorate. We'll definitely keep an eye out for more. Never saw turtles done before!

Guess turtles are appropriate for the area as the beaches along here are used by the sea turtles as nesting habitats. But only March thru the end of October so I don't think we'll be seeing any.

The wind and rain came about 30 minutes after we returned to the boat. About 25 mph winds with higher gusts. But almost no rain. Perhaps it will come tonight.

Meanwhile, we'll enjoy being tied to a dock for the rest of our stay here at Vero.

Saturday November 15: Settled in at Vero Beach

It wasn't long until we were settled in our dock here at Vero Beach. And it wasn't much longer before we decided to try out the free bus system the city provides.

Southern Comfort was the breakfast place near Publix - just a short 10 minutes away. No problem finding the place but after waiting about 20 minutes with no breakfast, we decided something must be wrong! Yep - our order was lost :-(

No time now as we didn't want to wait an extra hour for the next bus. Very sad ...

But the fun part of waiting for the bus back was running into one of our dock neighbors and his dog Tucker. How could anyone resist petting this guy?

Tucker wasn't allowed on the bus unless he was in a bag! Pretty funny :-)


Next it was a quick call to Enterprise to rent a car for the weekend. They come pick you up and the car is $40 for 3 days. Bargain right? Especially when we saw our "compact" car - a 6 seated SUV! Worked for us because our goal was to find Steve a new bike.

Seems the "bargain" fix it job didn't last too long. But then in all fairness, the guy in St. Augustine just happened to have a used rear wheel that fit the bike Steve had. His last words of advice to Steve were "I wouldn't put any more money into that bike" so we took him at his word.

So the SUV suited our needs quite fine as we headed off to a big box store for a new bike. We've found that the salt water air just kind of destroys bikes. Our philosophy then is to find an inexpensive bike - use it for a couple of years and then get a new one. Steve now has the brightest bike in the lot!

Interesting in the directions for the bike though: don't use WD-40 on the chain. Seems that it is bad for it - use white lithium grease instead. Oops ... perhaps part of the problem??

That was yesterday (Friday). Today it was time to get some work done.

The sides of the boat were a mess. The yellow from the muddy water was back (especially visible where we didn't repaint the bow a year ago). And there was still a layer of black stuff from sitting in Jacksonville for 5 months.

Time for a cleaning.

The best way to clean the side not next to the dock is from the dinghy. Sadly there is only room for one person in this 10' dinghy so I passed the job over to Steve :-)


After picture tomorrow - but wow does it look better!

Terri and Scott are driving over from Brandenton tomorrow to visit. It'll be nice to see them! Even though Scott is a Bengals fan, he is still welcome on the boat .......