Ilona got a kayak

and red hair!  now she can solo, off the mother ship, without needing to take the husband.  But I still get the dinghy - less tippy, bigger motor, much faster and less work to run it.

We are still in Fort Lauderdale.  Great place.  Marina is 3 short blocks to the beach - it's like Spring Break here.  Lots of restaurants, sun, sand, waves, bikinis, and a good wife to keep me out of trouble.  Biking, walking, good buses and trolley, shopping, and more.  F.L. is a great town!


Headed south to the Keys, sometime - maybe this weekend?

Blue Water

From Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, the Gulf Stream is only a few miles offshore.  We followed the 50 foot contour (approximately), staying only a mile or so off the shore.  A mile or so farther out, the depth drops to a hundred feet (or much more) - here the Gulf Stream has a couple of knot northerly current, so we didn't want to be out there when heading south.

The water is incredibly blue here.  I didn't think that it could be that deep blue in that close to shore, or in water that shallow. I have seen it before, notably in the center of the Gulf Stream, much farther out.

Does anyone know what causes this color?

Beautiful!

Bluewater, in the Atlantic off of Boca Raton, Florida

down to Fort Lauderdale

Two days out on the Atlantic, moving down from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.  Some motor-sailing with tailwinds on 1/25, tricky entrance into Hillsboro Inlet that afternoon.  Highest concentration of [expletive-deleted] motorboats; hard enough to make it into the narrow channel without these nuts flying by at high speed and higher wakes.  Great day sailing.  Marina was a new-worst-ever: would not talk on VHF or cellphone, then pointed us down a fairway between slips that was only slightly wider than our boat length - tried to turn around and/or make it into a slip; couldn't.  We got the hell out of there and anchored for the night.

January 25

January 26

Bobby sailing on the Atlantic - on his birthday!

Leaving Palm Beach, headed south on the Atlantic

Next day, a short 10 mile run down to Fort Lauderdale.  Very wide, 50' deep entrance channel.  Some cruise boats here are larger than most upscale hotels!  Got a terrific slip right here, only 3 block walk over to F.L. Beach - looks like Spring Break here.  A lot of fun, fantastic weather.  Will stay for awhile.

Fort Lauderdale Beach - perfect weather and scenery

Ilona & Bob at Fort Lauderdale Beach

Jan and Lynn drove over from Naples yesterday.  They are at the Fort Lauderdale Hilton Marina hotel; nice warm pool there.  This was after eating in a bar & grill near the beach, and walking over to the beach.  What a perfect day!!!  They will be with us again this afternoon, then driving back to their 5th-wheel in Naples.

Fort Lauderdale Inlet from the Hilton Marina Hotel (10th floor)

Going Outside and Sailing tomorrow!

Forecast for 41 to 55 mile sail tomorrow from Lake Worth outlet to Hillsboro Inlet or Fort Lauderdale Inlet. Hillsboro Inlet can be tough to navigate. NE to ENE winds at about 10 knots; 2-4 waves, swells of course. Temps: 60-75. Haven't done this for a while. Leaving about 7:30 am. Diane and Frank on Utopia are buddy-boating with us. They have friends at Lighthouse Point just off the Hillsboro Inlet. We may hang with them all the way to the Keys.

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Duff & Maintenance today in North Palm Beach

Boat maintenance day in North Palm Beach Marina. Oil and filters changed. Transmission fluid checked. Refrigerator cleaned. Rugs washed. Pump out done. Diesel tank & jerry cans filled. Water tank filled. Added more lines to Lazy Jacks (4 per side, was only 2) - hope it works and we don't have to go forward as often. [Boat gets washed next?] You just have to have these days sometimes. Easier when it is warm and sunny outside. Perfect weather.  Small craft warnings, of course - Wolf! Wolf!

Flagler

Decided to go to Flagler Museum in Palm Beach with Diane and Frank by cab. $40 later, with our eyes huge we get out. We had expected $25. Then $18/person to get in. Interesting and beautiful place. But $40?!! So we check our phones out for path back by bus to marina. We certainly amused the other passengers and bewildered the drivers. $1.50/person. Long walk on the front end and at the back end. AND two hours. But this is the journey. On-line bus schedules were changing while we were viewing them [note to Palm Beach Bus Works: get your shit together]

Joe de la Cova says that $40 is just the gratuity in Palm Beach.

Music Room, Flagler Museum

in Flagler

Lake Worth, Palm Beach from Flagler Museum

Flagrant Female at Flagler

on to Palm Beach

Well, Bad Bob here.  Have been MUCH too busy enjoying the good life in the cruiser communities (read: mooring balls, marinas, other sailers, restaurants, shopping, hanging out) in Vero Beach and in Stuart.

Today we headed down the ICW to North Palm Beach.  We are buddy-boating with Diane & Frank Albani; may stay with them to the Keys.  [or not?]

Had a great evening yesterday with Laurence & Joan Wright (of the Trailer Sailors).  We will probably leave our boat for next summer where they do - in Indiantown, Florida.  Fresh water, 25 miles inland so no hurricane problem.  They rent jackstands and help with all the work of summerizing (I used to say winterizing) the boat - including haulout, DYI or they-do maintenance, renting air conditioned storage lockers (no mildew on the clothes or cushions!). Can even have someone check the boat monthly and pump up the DampRid.

Some day, Bad Bob will elaborate about the great boater stops at Vero & Stuart.  But after a hard day fighting bridges on the ICW, it's time for rest and rum ...

on to Stuart

Placeholder blog entry.  Will write more about our great stay here when we get time.  Come back, y'all ...

We are now on a mooring ball in Stuart, Florida.  Another boater-friendly community.  Will be here for several days.

Vero Beach

Placeholder blog entry.  Will write more about our great stay here when we get time.  Come back, y'all ...

on to Fort Pierce

Placeholder blog entry.  Will write more about our great stay here when we get time.  Come back, y'all ...

Shoally Melbourne to Vero Beach

At last!  A really neat place to stop.  Got a mooring ball; rafted up with our friends Diane & Frank Albani as this was the practice here with so many boats.  Very boater-friendly.  Dinghy dock. Free shuttle buses all over town. Restaurants. Expensive [EXPENSIVE] homes [mansions].  Off-loaded the bicycles so we could spend several days ashore.  Great place!  It will be hard to get unstuck from and leave "Velcro Beach".

Old Titusville to Shallow Melbourne

As seems to be usual, we picked an ugly town to marina ourselves in [is marina a verb?].  The marina itself was the worst we have encountered yet.  Got stuck ["shoally-hit!"] in the middle of the channel on the way in, got ourselves off, then hit bottom several times more on our way to our not-quite-deep-enough slip.  Pelican poles were so far off the much-too-short finger piers that we had serious trouble getting into the slip; had to double the dock lines to make them long enough to tie the stern cleats to the way-out-there pelican poles. Then had to climb over the bow to get onto the finger piers.

So, instead of hanging out there another day, we figured to head south the next morning, again. That makes 3 nights in a row that we found a marina, planned to stay and extra day, aborted that plan and got the hell out of Dodge.

from New Smyrna to Old Titusville

Last night we were in New Smyrna Beach.  Cute old Florida town, but everything was closed or under remodeling.  Heard that it usually was like that.  So, instead of hanging out there another day, we headed south - another 32 miles today.  Winds fairly strong from the north. Foul current 0.5 to 1.5 knots from the south.

The Bowling Alley -
down the channel for miles between the daymarks on Mosquito Lagoon.
Very shallow everywhere except down the lane.

We motored with the full Genny out most of the day. 

Tonight we are in Titusville.  Again, hoped to spend the next day resting here. But this is probably the most depressing town we have stopped at yet (!).  Everything within walking distance of the marina was either dead or dying.

We did, however, have a good dinner of Rock Shrimp at Dixie's Crossroads in town - only a half hour walk from the marina.  Ilona raved about the women's head in the restaurant - luxurious, and she didn't even have to work the pump in order to flush.

Women's Restroom @ Dixie's

Tomorrow [Tuesday] - on to Melbourne, probably.

Stop, and Go

Friday - arrived at the Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach.  Picked up by Judy Kane and her friend Marvin; Thai dinner in town then Shabbat services in Ormand Beach (FL), and then a night in her home - a real bed! a real house! a toilet that doesn't need pumping!

Saturday - hanging out with them; sightseeing tour (a real car!) - including one of the many oldest and largest live oak trees in Florida. Then a wonderful dinner cooked by Marvin. Then back to the boat and following as the Packers destroyed the Vikings.

Sunday (today) - from Daytona Beach down the ICW to the New Smyrna Beach City Marina.  Resting, then exploring the town [closed on Sunday]. Very nice historic town; not much to do here though.

Monday (tomorrow) - probably will move on, to Titusville.

AIS track - January 6, 2013

Dinner @ Judy's

Judy & Ilona & Tree

Less Judy & Ilona, More Tree

Marvin & Judy,
Ormand Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach

Arrived at the Halifax Harbor Marina in downtown Daytona Beach today.  A nice day to move south - fair winds (~10 knots), fair current (most of the time, 1/2 to 1 knot), cold with rain [well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad).

Will be staying a couple of days, visiting with Judy Kane (from Minnesota).

St. Augustine pictures

Conch House Restaurant & Tiki Bar

The F of Y in St. Augustine
(pretty easy to find; how did Ponce de Leon miss it)

Blurb at the Fountain

Street scene in St. Augustine,
outside of the Fountain of Youth

Headed south again

Ihana leaving St. Augustine,
about to go through the Bridge of Lions

AIS track, 1/3/2013
St. Augustine to Palm Coast, Florida