March 9, 2018

We are at Fort Pierce City Marina.  Arrived yesterday.  More on that later.

We did one more dingy run while in Marathon.  Riley stayed home.  While running to our first stop, I got to see  a fever of stingrays, a man-of-war (beautiful) & dolphins.  Once again very skinny water.

We left March 1.  Headed for  an anchorage in Tarpon Basin after fueling at Keys Fishery.  The captain always checks for the best fuel prices in the area & that was it.  It was sunny 82 with winds at 10 out of the NE.  In other words, nice day.  Once again, CRAB POTS.  I can not believe there are any crabs left in the water!!!  Think that was the most ever.  Not to mention very skinny water.  We did see dolphins.  Riley refused to look.  When we got to Tarpon Basin, there had to be 30 boats at anchor.  Good place right?  Not for us.  We ran aground😟.  Finally got moving & decided not to try again.  Kept moving to find a dock.  When the captain noticed his steering was gone.  We were in a narrow channel with the current pushing us.  Not good.  He thought maybe the fluid was low again.  Of course the fluid was in the engine room.  He went down to retrieve it while I kept us off to the side of the channel & not  aground again.  Fluid was not the answer.  Now what?  I spotted a tow boat & said, "guess we call".  That's what we have insurance for.  Right??  The captain called.  By the time the person on the other end asked their 50 questions, we had steering.  Cancel tow.  I spotted a place with plenty of open dock.  My solution, pull up, dock it & then worry about whether we could stay.  That is what we did.  We were able to stay the night.  Captain figured out, the auto pilot was on, which renders the steering wheel useless.  We also had a shimmy after grounding when trying to get up on plane.  That also stopped.  Skinny water?  Anyway, the place we stayed:  Anchorage Resort & Yacht Club, Key Largo.  We were docked just before Jew Fish Bridge.  When the current was running  out, it was the perfect place to shrimp.  Unfortunately we did not have a net, but the locals were hauling them in.

Next stop,  Dinner Key, Miami.  We stayed 3 days on a mooring ball.   Got to try out my new hook.  It did not work as expected for various reasons.  Number 1,  user error.  Number 2, either not long enough or user to short or a combination.  Anyway, went back to my old way of hooking the ball & we were settled, or so I thought.  As the winds picked up so did the noise of the line chaffing on the eye of the ball.  Not only was it annoying, but I was worried the line would break.  Not good for sleeping! I started looking around at the other boats.  Some were tied like ours & some were   different.  Um, what is the best way??  Isn't google a wonderful thing?  Ours was not the best.  It was dark & very windy, but we (I think we, at least I was) determined to fix it.  So flashlight in hand on the bow, set up the lines, & Tim took the dinghy out to the ball to do some rearranging there.   It worked like a charm.  No more noise & way more secure.  Sleep was easier that night.

 Dinner Key is in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami.  It is a historic district with a small state park, so walking was good & restaurants were plentiful.  Oh the sites you"ll see.  I just wish I had one of those "hidden in my lapel" cameras, because I didn't think it was polite to take pictures of strangers.   It seems this is a place people still dress to go out.  No sweats & tennis shoes.  Also, it seems they have taken the skin cancer warnings seriously.  Almost no one was tan.  Not sure how one stays so pale with so much skin exposed.

Before relating this next tidbit, for anyone that does not know, I am a "rule follower".  If the sign says "Do Not  Walk On The Grass",   I don't.  Makes Tim crazy.   Anyway,  the restrooms at Dinner Key had a sign.  "Restrooms Closed for cleaning 3-4 & 9-10."  I happened to stop at 3:15, so I went into the office & asked if there was another restroom somewhere.  The five people behind the desk & the one on my side of the desk said "you need a key" & tried to give me one.  I said "no, I have a key".  They said "is it not working?" & tried to take me to the restroom to help me in.  "No", I said, "It's the time.  It's closed for cleaning". Dead silence, while they all stared at me like I had 3 heads.  Finally, one of them said "you're not from Miami, are you?  Just go use the restroom."

Next stop, Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale.  Another mooring ball & a chance to redeem myself with the new hook.  No luck.  User error was corrected, but I had not grown & hook was no longer.  To add the that, the eye was not floating but below the water.  No go.  Had to use my old hook & old method.  Never fear, I am determined that new hook will someday work for me.   The mooring field was near a park & just before a bridge.  We were about 3 feet from the wall at the park.

Arrived Fort Lauderdale at spring break time.  It was packed.

 While taking a walk with Riley on the sidewalk along the beach, he attracted the attention of the mounted police, who by the way were on the sidewalk.  They questioned whether "that dog" was under control.  MY dog not under control, really???  All I ever hear from strangers is what a well behaved dog he is.  Tim said yes & kept walking.  He knows my mouth can sometimes get me in trouble.

Next stop Lantana for one night.   The marina we stayed at had no amenities & the price per foot did not reflect that.  We stayed there as a last resort.  No one else had space, still windy & we were tired.

The plan was to leave early & head to an anchorage at Manatee Pocket.  It was a slow ride on the ICW, but at least we lost only 30 min waiting for a bridge to open.  Lots of bridges, but luckily we can get under most of them.  The weather gods were smiling on us.  Thunderstorms were predicted, but somehow we managed to run between the bands of storms & eventually out run them.  As we got near Manatee Pocket, the captain asked "How far to Fort Pierce?".  We had reservations at Fort Pierce for the next night.  After some speedy calculations, I determined Fort Pierce could be reached no later than 5PM.  Sunset was around 6:30.  A call was made & yes Fort Pierce could take us a day early.  We pushed on & docked at Fort Pierce with sunlight to spare.

Once again, unseasonably cool weather.  Last 2 mornings have been in the 40's.⛄

Now for random observations😀

Given the different languages heard in Marathon, it must be popular with Europeans.
Dragon flies are everywhere in Miami.
English is the second language in Miami.
Running the intercoastal, we got to see how the 1% lives.
Being part of the 1% does not guarantee good taste!
The dock at Fort Pierce is populated with pigeons.  Where have all the egrets gone???

MIAMI AT NIGHT

STONE WALL

STORM BREWING

MOORING BALL VIEW

LAST TIME YOU SAW ONE OF THESE???

CLEANING RIB BOTTOM

CALLED SHOTGUN? OR ATTEMPTED GRAND THEFT RIB?? YOU DECIDE.

MY WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE

SAILBOAT FLOTILLA

MORE SAILBOATS

AGAIN SAILBOATS

UNKNOWN SCULPTURE IN MIAMI

2/18/2018

Still in Faro Blanco.  We have about 1.5 weeks left here.  Still undecided about where to go next.  We wanted to go to Islamorada, but 2 things are conspiring against that.  Irma hit that area pretty hard & some of the marinas are not up & running at full capacity.  Also my research has shown some pretty skinny water.  That was confirmed when we drove up there & visited some of the marinas.  To be continued.....

So what has been happening here....

We continue with our morning walks along the Overseas Highway.  It is 4 lanes & the speed limit is 35 to 55 MPH.  Very noisy with many trucks.  Very few traffic lights.  The closest one to us is 2 miles down the road. If one needs to get across the street, you run when there is a break in the traffic.  Not my favorite thing to do, but I always need to know what is on the other side!  The sidewalks remain littered with broken glass.

We have only had a few days without the wind.  I will not complain about that until it comes time to leave!  We are in a protected spot & it keeps us a little cooler.  A few light sprinkles, but till mostly sunny, created some perfect rainbows.  Did not get pictures that would do them justice, nor did I find the pot of gold😟

We have been  spending some of our time at the pool.  It is surrounded on 3 sides by the hotel, so even with the wind it is comfortable.  When we first started going to the pool, there were many iguanas.  Now,  not so much.  Seems they are a nuisance & people are afraid of them, so they are exterminated.  We are seeing more by our dock now.  Not sure if that is due to warmer temps or they passed the word it was not safe to go to the pool.

Tim sometimes turns on the underwater swim platforms lights at night.  Usually the only thing to see is minnows, but one night we had a brief shark sighting.  About 3' in length.  He was gone in a flash.
Speaking of sea creatures, this AM, a manatee was hanging out at a boat a couple docks down from us.  Once again, no good picture.  He would not surface long enough for a face shot.  Could only capture his tail as he went back under.

Getting Riley on & off the dinghy here is a problem, so he has not been out.😟 But we have only been out once & that was yesterday.  Went with a group of loopers to a couple of waterside bar/restaurants.  We had to use a ladder to climb up to their docks.  On the up side, we did find a sandbar & hopefully we will go there to clean the dinghy bottom & let Riley do a little swimming.

Speaking of Riley, he finally got to the groomer.  He is no longer my "surfer dude", now he is my "preppy boy."  He was there for 4 hours.  Have to admit, I am sweeping up a lot less fur.

We have had some company while here.  Marsh & Linda stayed with us for a couple of days.  They are snowbirds from Avon Lake, who drove down from their winter home in Ocala.  It was fun to see them.  Anne & Dan & June & Tommer, also from home stopped.  They were visiting FL & stopped on their way to Key West.  We went to the No Name Pub for lunch.  It is papered with dollar bills.  In 2006 it was estimated there were 70,000 of them.  Mary & Jim, also visiting FL. stopped. They are docked at our marina back home. They did the loop in '09/10.  They have always been patient when answering all my questions about looping.  A good time was had by all.  At least we enjoyed it.

SEVEN MILE BRIDGE

TIM, LINDA & MARSH

IGUANA AT THE POOL

LOOKING FOR A FREE RIDE??

TRAILER ALONG THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

MARATHON MOORING FIELD

RED SKY AT NIGHT....

NO NAME PUB, THOSE ARE DOLLAR BILLS
DAN & JUNE

PREPPY BOY

RAINBOW

RAINBOW

WANTS IN TO THE AIR CONDITIONING!

SUNSET AT SUNSET GRILL

TIM CONTEMPLATING HIS DAY

1/28/2018

We arrived Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club, Marathon, FL on 1/20.  We ended up staying at Rose Marina 3 days due to weather.  The silver lining.....we were able to get the bottom cleaned while we were there.  That made for a faster run with less fuel on our trip to Marathon.  We both stood the entire way to watch for the ever present crab pots.  I stood on the 5.5 inch foot rest & Tim on a stool.  We needed to do that to see clearly over the bow.  The markers for crab pots are about the size of a grapefruit & come in different colors.  Depending on the waves & the sun, some are easier to see than others.  It was a long 5 hours, but we made it without mishap.

We were lucky to catch up with friends Lori & Derek on Donna Mae before they left for Fort Lauderdale to cross their wake.  A good time was had by all.  We miss them.

Our slip at Faro Blanco is tucked into a corner. (See pictures) It offers good protection from the almost non-stop winds (average 25 mph) we have been having.  Luckily, it was not windy when we docked, as Tim had only inches to maneuver.  As usual his performance was stellar.  Once again, the dinghy is boxed in & we are unable to to get in the garage!  A problem to be solved another day.

As with everything, there are pluses & minuses to this dock.  We are on a corner, so a lot of foot traffic, which keeps Riley constantly on guard.  The dock is not at an optimal level for Riley & myself.  The staff was kind enough to lend us stairs.  Riley will not use them.  He would rather jump over the side, which he does pretty well.

 We do not have 50 amp service at this dock, so we needed to use our splitter.  It worked to begin with & then we had no power.  Same thing happened at Rose Marina.  At Rose they had to rewire the post, of course we thought it was the same problem.  Turns out, it was not.  Our splitter was broken.  Luckily, the boat next to us had a spare.  We were able to use that until Tim ordered another on line & it was delivered.  It always seems to work.  Someone has something you need & they are willing to share.

This Resort is part of a Hilton Complex.  They deliver free ice 2x/day & deliver 2 newspapers/day.  (Wall Street & USA Today).  That is helpful as there is no TV service.   There is a free breakfast in the hotel, which we are allowed to share in.  The restaurant on site is good & offers specials.  There are 2 pools.

Speaking of pools...we were sitting at one of them with the palms behind our backs, watching lizards sunning themselves.  We kept hearing noise in the palms.  We thought it was the wind blowing the palms.  Next thing I hear is a big plop & what do my wondering eyes behold???  Two rather large lizards fell out of the tree right next to us.  They sat for awhile & then went back up the tree.

The closest shopping is about 1.5 miles away.  We took a cab to provision. We do walk it but not if we need to carry a lot.  While walking, one can see how hard hit this area was by Irma.  Much is up & running, but a lot is gone.  It seems the walk north is in a little better condition.

There is a Turtle Hospital down the road.  We have not visited it yet, but plan to.

SEVEN MILE BRIDGE 

OUR DOCK

OUR DOCK

OUR DOCK

GOOD BYE TO DONNA MAE

VIEW FROM THE END OF THE DOCK

CHESS BOARD IN THE DOG WALK AREA
DIDN'T KNOW DOGS COULD PLAY???

PROTECTED SEA GRASS AT DOCKS

FARO BLANCO LIGHT HOUSE

LIZARD AFTER HE WENT BACK UP TREE

ALONG THE SIDEWALKS

ALONG THE SIDEWALKS

ALWAYS NEED A SKY PICTURE!

THE SUN DID IT

PARKED IN FRONT OF TURTLE HOSPITAL

1/18/18


We arrived Marco Island yesterday after leaving Fort Myers Beach.  The Gulf was kind to us.  Almost flat.  One thing we did notice was a 5mph slow down.  Go figure, when we can run, we can't!  Think we sat too long & gathered too much on the hull.  We will have it cleaned at Marathon. One other wrench: CRAB POTS!!

When we got to Marco, we found a dock at Rose Marine.  Shortly after tying up the winds picked up.  I do not remember wind that bad before.  Tim was out checking the lines when I came out on deck.  The canvas was flapping.  Odd, I thought.  Why would Tim unsnap it???  Turns out he did not, the wind did it.  The temp went down to 37 overnight & the wind never stopped.  The water slapped the hull all night.  Today made it to 57, but at least it was sunny.  Looks like a better day tomorrow.  Hope so.  We plan to leave for Marathon.

Friends Denise & Henry came to visit from the frozen north.  Bill & Mo also spent a couple of days at the beach.  A good time was had by all.  Even if the weather did not always cooperate.

Tim refers to this trip as "chasing 80's."  We may be chasing, but are not doing real well with the catching.  It seems wherever we go the cold weather follows.

SAYING GOODBYE TO FMB

HORSESHOE CRAB (A RILEY FAVORITE)

TRAVELING INCOGNITO 

OUR VIEW AT ROSE MARINE

SAND CASTLE FMB

1/3/2018

Happy New Year🙌🎉

We are still in Fort Myers Beach.  Our friends, Toni & Fred came for Christmas.  We had a great time.  Weather was beautiful.  We spent every day on the beach. We met all our "Christmas Beach Friends" daily.  Same people & place for the third year.  They built a beer pong table on the beach & played almost non stop.  It was not played with traditional rules, one did not need to drink to play. The table attracted a lot of attention.  We always knew who the current champ was, as they wore the winners necklace.  It was as coveted as the Survivor immunity necklace.  Toni & Fred stayed at our usual place, Silver Sands.  We were able to dinghy to a dock there & leave all our paraphernalia at their place for pick up before heading to the beach.  A big convenience for us.

Riley loves the beach & retrieving his new toy from the water.  Another favorite of his is rolling in the sand after getting out of the water.  To include us in his joy, he then shakes, to get us full of sand!

New Years Eve was spent with Tim's brother, Ed & sister in law Mary Beth, her sister & husband, Jeri Ann & Roger.  They came to the boat & we went to dinner at Parrot Key & back to the boat for desert & champagne (which they brought).  We watched the Fort Myers Beach fire works from the boat.  It was a magnificent display, which I neglected to catch in pictures.😞. New Years day found us at Jeri Ann & Rogers house in Bonita Springs.  Roger is a closet celebrity chef, I think.  We had the traditional pork & sauerkraut,  but what stole the show was his hors d'oeuvres, once again, no pictures😟  Melt in your mouth crackers with a light spread, topped with minced green onion & minced tomato.  My description does not do them justice.  Sorry Roger.

Our weather has not been ideal FL since New Years.  I know, nothing compared to the frozen north, but we have had to bundle up to walk Riley, no sitting on the beach & no dinghy rides.  One night it went to 39 & the days have been hi 50's & low 60's, &  the wind keeps howling.

Speaking of walking Riley, every morning we walk over the bridge & down to the beach & back.  The wind on the bridge is especially strong, I can feel it pushing me around!

The other day we took Lee Tran to re provision.  What a deal!  $0.35 a piece each way.  That is the senior price.  Web site said we would have to show our medicare card to get the price, but the bus driver said he believed us.  That is a double edged sword....thank you for  believing us,  but do we really look like medicare recipients????   Ok, Ill give him Tim, what with the white hair, but ME???

Yesterday seemed a little warmer, so we decided on a dinghy ride to explore the Estero Bay back channel.  We were out about 2 hours.  It was much colder out there than it had been sitting on the back of the boat.  Lesson learned....get off the boat to check the weather.

Good news, the radar is fixed. Yea.  We had someone look at it.  He felt it was possible it was the wiring harness after talking to tech support.  He planned to bring out a harness to test the theory, which he did & the diagnosis was made.  The next step was to order a new one for installation.  Tim of course kept thinking about it & checking for ground issues.  He found it by retracing his steps.  He created the problem to begin with.....while  he was securing the anchor light, a screw perforated the cable.  Tim removed the offending screw & we now have a working radar.

Now we are looking forward to our friends Denise & Henry visiting us before we move on to Marathon in the FL Keys.

Thank you to our friends Kris & Mike for the flamingo sweater & Lake Erie t-shirt.

FRED

LAKE GIRL

OUR BIKES & POTENTIAL THIEF??

BEACH BUDDIES

SAIL BOAT CHRISTMAS TREE

COLD BEACH DAY

SALTY SANDY DOG

SANTA &  RUDOLPH?

ELVES?

ANOTHER COLD BEACH DAY

TONI

BEER PONG TABLE

SUNSET FROM OUR BOAT DOCK

BRIDGE TO BEACH