4/10/2018

We left Melbourne & arrived Cocoa Village Marina on 3/31.

Left the dock at Melbourne at 10:10.  By 10:15 we were hard aground in the channel.  BTW,  "Mr Personality" (the dock hand) knew nothing about problems with the channel.  We could not move.  Whenever the captain put Craic in gear she would stall.  Called Tow Boat.  Norman came to our rescue.  He pulled us off stern first.  It was not an easy task.  He told us it was hard packed sand & his outboard would dig a trough to get us through.  The whole thing, from grounding to moving on, took about an hour.

A few other issues cropped up.  Tim finally figured out why we had water in the bilge:  generator hose with a crack in it & a float switch that was not working.  Tim sealed  the hose until it can be replaced &  replaced the float switch.  He has also been working on the shower.

Cocoa Village Marina was by far one of my favorites.  Staff was friendly & helpful as were our dock neighbors.  There was a great place to walk Riley.  Residential on one side of the street & the Indian River on the other.  The houses ranged from fabulous to scary.  One especially stood out.  It appeared to be uninhabited.  The yard was over grown.  Some windows boarded up, but the wind chime on the porch could always be heard.😱

The hardware store was amazing.   S.F. Travis & Company, circa 1885.  It was huge.  One could get lost in it, but all you had to do was ask & an employee would take you right to whatever you wanted.  For people from home, Tim described it as Buck Hardware in Avon, on steroids.  I would say mega steroids.  I asked if at one time they had to do an actual physical inventory & the answer was yes.  That had to be a Herculean task.

It seems the loopers are backing up again, due to weather.  So there was an evening of docktails & dinner & discussions of where to go next & for how long.

There was a space  launch on 4/2 which we watched from the dock.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so the view was not as good as it could have been, but still awesome to see.  The pictures are courtesy of  Jonell from Getting Looped.

Speaking of space.....I got to see & have dinner with some of my  former co-workers from Kennedy.  I looked forward to & enjoyed that.

Fellow loopers Mike & Jonell asked if we wanted to join them for an air boat ride.  We did.  It was on the St John's River Marshes.  We have never been on an air boat.  Way cool!  They can run in only inches of water, are fast,  can turn on a dime, & are very loud.  We all wore headsets with microphones attached.   The only way to hear/talk while underway.  The captain did complement me on my large brimmed hat with chin strap, but said it was not going to work.  He was right.  Headset would not go over or under the hat.  Darn, I thought that hat was good thinking on my part!  At one point we stopped & took off the headsets  so the captain could talk.  When he started up again, I was slow putting them back on.  The noise was deafening.  The marsh was surrounded by grazing land.  Cows were every where.  We were told the gators did not really bother them & they seemed to be very relaxed! The only sad site was a downed cow at the edge of the water with Vultures feasting on it.  The captain surmised she had a breach birth & that is what put her down.  An Indian mound & its use was pointed out to us.  When the area flooded, the Indians would use these as way points & to be able to stop on land.  Our captain also told us, when in Florida waters, assume there are gators.  Tim had just seen one that morning while walking on our dock.  In addition to things in the wild, there was a small menagerie of other animals kept on the grounds.

All good things must come to an end.  It was time to move on.  Our dock partner, Jack, played the violin on the dock as we left.  We were headed to Titusville for an overnight on our way to New Smyrna.

We arrived New Smyrna 4/8.  It was about 4.5 hour slow run on the ICW.  It was cold, cloudy & windy.  The channel was narrow & the captain was wary of shoaling.  Lots of getting waked.  We made it without incident.

Sue (a co-worker of Tim's at United) & Vic were in town & came to visit.  After catching up with a few cocktails on the boat, we all went to dinner.  A good time was had by all.

Our dock at New Smyrna Beach City Marina is nice.  We are out on the end.  The view from our boat allows us to watch the dolphins.  Riley is getting more bold & now stands guard.  We also saw a very large turtle surface a couple of times.

We walked to the beach.  Once again over bridges.  It was the 1st time we had seen a beach that allowed cars.  The hard packed sand & traffic signs!!

THE WALK TO NEXT BUILDING OF HARDWARE STORE

TIM WITH RESIDENT PIG AT MIDWAY AIR BOAT RIDE

EAGLE SPOTTED ON AIR BOAT RIDE

GATOR SEEN ON AIR BOAT RIDE

AIR BOAT

NEW SMYRNA BEACH

NEW SMYRNA BEACH

TRAFFIC SIGNS NEW SMYRNA BEACH

DEMOLISHED DOCK ALONG ICW

DEMOLISHED DOCS ON ICW

BRIDGE SENTINELS

HARDWARE STORE

HARDWARE STORE

HARDWARE STORE
MAYTAG DEALER?

KENNEDY FRIENDS
STEVE, SUSAN & NANCY

MY NEW FRIEND
CAN I KEEP HIM?

TIM'S NEW FRIEND

SNAKE AT MIDWAY

SNAKE AT MIDWAY

TIM ALWAYS MAKING FRIENDS

TREES ON THE WALK AT COCOA

LAUNCH

LAUNCH

LAUNCH

Something I forgot to mention in a previous post.

We visited the Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce.  If you are ever in Fort Pierce it is not to be missed.   I knew these guys were tough & the best of the best, but I had no idea just how tough.    I left there with a whole new level of respect & awe.  One more thing I learned at the museum.  I am a proponent  of the 5 P's.  Prior planning prevents poor performance.  The SEALS subscribe to 7 P's, proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.  It remains to be seen if Tim will finally listen & join the club!?!?

March 30, 2018


We finally said goodbye to Fort Pierce on 3/27.  It was a nice marina with a town in walking distance, but we also had the loan of a car the entire time we were there.  Jeff & Stacie from our home port are snowbirds who have a home in Port St Lucie.  They were kind enough to loan us one of their  cars.  Complete with drop off & pick up service!

The square by the marina had a farm market on Wednesdays & Saturdays.  Best lettuce ever.  Also was introduced to tomatoes the size of blueberries.  Hope to find them again.  I'm hooked.

We had visitors while there.  Jeff & Stacie, Captain TJ, Marsh & Linda (all friends) & Tim's brother Ed & sister-in-law, Mary Beth & Tim's sister Danielle.  Needless to say we kept busy.

We walked Riley every morning, once again, over a bridge.  When the wind was blowing, which was often, it was not pleasant.  Riley & I were going to sign up for the St Patrick's Day 5K, but sadly, no dogs allowed.  I said I would not go without my running partner. They ran it on our usual walk course so we were there, but unable to get the T Shirt!

Landed at Vero Beach on 3/27.  Stayed 2 days.  Riley really liked it for 2 reasons:  floating docks & a huge dog park.  He got to run his legs off.  The residential streets we walked were beautiful.  We are back to seeing moss hanging from the trees.

Arrived Melbourne 3/29.  It was quite a trip.  Not long, but eventful.  The wind was howling & only partly sunny.   The ICW was choppy.  Not a day, I would expect to see much traffic.  Wrong.  The channel was narrow in many places & the water was skinny.  Two boats, I will not soon forget that passed us: YES DEAR, home port SC & PEARL, home port NH.  PEARL came up on our stern & proceeded to pass us on our starboard, so close, we could have handed him a beer.  A bikini clad female was sunning on the bow, 3 young men were on the bridge with the captain.  The captain was older, large, shirtless & puffing on a cigar.  Not one of them looked at us.  After our near miss, they came even closer to knocking out the channel marker.  Have to wonder what was in that cigar???

Melbourne is a nice marina & town.  The wind was still howling when we arrived, but as usual, the captain was able to dock without a problem.  Yea Captain😀

Happy Easter to all.

ED, MARY BETH, DANIELLE,TIM, PATTI

ED, DANIELLE, TIM

LEFT OVER FROM IRMA

TREE IN VERO

SEA PLANE FORT PIERCE

MANATEE FORT PIERCE

TIM & RILEY ON ST PATRICK'S DAY

VIEW OF ICW FROM DOCK AT MELBOURNE
NOTE THE SAILBOARDER

ST PATRICK'S DAY PUB

THIS TREE IS GROWING SNAKES!!

OUR VIEW AT VERO
SOMEONE LIVES ON BOARD

                                                   ****SPECIAL EDITION****


 Saturday March 10

 Fort Pierce City Marina decided there was room for us to stay longer but we would have to move to another slip.  We just sat down after tying up at new slip when we heard a loud BOOM.  What the heck??  We looked up & saw flames across the dock & a few slips down from us.  A boat was on fire. We both ran for fire extinguishers.  Tim got his first & ran over to the fire.  Other boaters did the same.  They all determined it was no use.  A boat on one side of the fire quickly cut lines & pulled out.  The boat on the other side was not so lucky.  The wind was blowing the fire right on their boat.  The surrounding boats were quickly evacuated & people & dogs moved off the dock.  We pulled our lines & left the dock.  We floated in the harbor, waiting to see what would happen.  The fire department responded quickly & the flames were extinguished , but the coast guard would not allow us back in.  We found an empty slip & tied up.  We eventually contacted  the marina & were told to stay there for the night.  We returned to our slip the next day.  We were told one man was taken to the hospital with burns, but he would be okay.  No other casualties.  The boat burned to the water line.  The boat next to it was scorched.  Did I mention the new slip put us much closer to the exploding boat?!  Three slips away.

FIRE

VIEW FROM HARBOR

VIEW FROM HARBOR

THE AFTERMATH

THE AFTERMATH

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