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 ...