Leaving the Keys

As a slight change in approach to these blog entries, I thought over the next several days of travel I would share a few of the thoughts and concerns that we address as we travel. It is in this way that we might share a bit more of life on the ICW.

Well, the trip didn't start out quite as planned. We'd checked the weather reports from several sources. They all seemed in agreement that the winds would be out of the SE and blowing from 10 – 15 kts. This would give us wind to sail but not so much as to create uncomfortable waves. That way, the Hawk Channel up the ocean side wouldn't be too rolly. We woke up to winds blowing more like 15-20 with lots of it near the 20 level. That created steep, choppy waves from 2-4ft with several five footers in there. The result was that, even though we could sail and did, Sandra didn't feel good all day and Maddie was sick five times in the cockpit. She wasn't a happy camper at all. At this point I was concerned about our anchorage at Rodriguez Key. You see, there aren't any good anchorages along Hawk Channel for sailboats with a five foot keel or more. Rodriguez Key offers a bit of protection if the winds are out of the south or north. Winds coming due east aren't good. And that is what it appeared we might have. Then the forecast changed a bit with predictions of winds out of the SW at 5-10 kts. That looked good for anchoring on the north side.

By the time we got there, the winds were light and the water flat, so we had a pleasant evening which naturally included a swim in the clear water. The only negative moment came at about 3 in the morning when a fellow in a small fishing boat had music blaring and buzzed us and other anchored boats yelling crazy comments. We soon were back to sleep, though.

The forecast for the next day as we would move up to Key Biscayne was to include light winds becoming 10-15 out of the northeast by afternoon. That would mean we'd have winds right on the nose, so we decided to leave early, so we could make the 50 mile trip mostly during the morning when the winds were supposed to be light.

We were on our way by a little after 6:30AM, just before the sun rose for the day. It was beautiful. The

Sunrise on Hawk Channel

winds were light, so the water was flat. Nobody was getting seasick today. The water in the northern Keys along Hawk Channel was really clear. We watched the bottom 20 feet below us as we slid by. We also saw two manatees along our route and noted an interesting ring around the sun. I guess the humidity caused that – not really sure.

Again, so much for accurate weather forecasts. The winds never picked up much and none of it came from the NE. We anchored off of No Name Harbor for another quiet evening. We did get ashore and provided Maddie with a little exercise. And did I mention that we went for another swim?

Guess we're out of the Keys!

The forecast for Tuesday was more accurate. We were to get drier air and wind blowing 15 – 18 out of the NE. But by now we were on the ICW, so there was little wave action. Tidal current was more a factor as we planned to arrive at each of 10 bridges at the scheduled opening time. We were successful most of the time, but twice had to do circles in a tight area waiting for the next opening, usually a half hour later. In spite of those minor issues, we arrived at our anchorage in Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale by 2 PM. For those not familiar with Lake Sylvia, it's not really a lake. It's really just a wide area in the extensive canal system there. It provides a safe anchorage with views of multi-million dollar homes along the shore.

How's this for a humble winter cottage?

Because we got there so early, we decided to try a dinghy ride to someplace where we could get out and walk around a bit. We followed a route described in our guide that took us under a low bridge and along a couple of canals to a small restaurant at the end of a canal where, if we bought some food, we could tie the dinghy for free. The trip over to this spot included views of so many million dollar yachts and homes. I'm sure we saw at least 25 boats over 75 feet long – some over 150 feet. And this was on the short dinghy ride. As we traveled through Ft. Lauderdale the next day, we must have seen 100 or more such yachts.

We just had to duck a bit.

So much for our astonishment. We had a bite to eat outside on the restaurant's deck (Maddie was with us) and then went for a walk that took us to the largest West Marine store in the country. It's described as their flagship store. On the walk back as we waited to cross a street, a young woman stopped in her car to offer us a ride. We had met her first in Marathon three years ago, then again in Bimini and last in Miami a year and a half ago. She said she noticed a couple who looked like cruisers (we do seem to have a look) and then recognized Maddie. What a surprise and a welcome gesture!

Just a few of the many large yachts we saw, a couple of older ones, but most new.

After a quiet night, we headed out first thing the next day to deal with 19 more bridges most opening on a schedule designed for boats just a bit faster than ours. It was a long day, but otherwise uneventful, and we arrived in Lake Worth by Palm Beach by 6 PM. After a meal, we put on the TV to watch programs for the first time all winter. You see, we can't pick up any stations on our antenna from the Keys, so this was our first chance since heading down there in early December.

Today has another long day from Lake Worth to Vero Beach. We started even earlier – 6:15 AM – in order to be on time for the first of several more bridge openings. Once again the weather was great as were the views from the ICW of beautiful homes and lots of nature from dolphins, to osprey, pelicans and even a few frigate birds. By late morning we had dealt with our last scheduled bridge opening. We still had a couple more bridges to get openings from, but they were on request, meaning we didn't have to get there at a specific time. In fact, most of these bridge tenders (the official who runs the bridge opening) have the timing down so well that we never had to slow down. The only exception was by the Jupiter Inlet where the bridge wouldn't open at all till a technician performed some maintenance. We only had to wait a few minutes, though.

We finally arrived at the Vero Beach Marina about 5:30 PM. We'll spend a couple of days here restocking and enjoying the chance to get on land for some sightseeing and walking. This is a popular stop for many cruisers, due in part to the free bus service that takes you practically anywhere in town. It's so popular that it has the nickname of Velcro Beach, because cruisers just have a tough time leaving. In fact some cruisers don't leave. They stay long enough to sell their boats and move to dry land. They formed a group called CLODs (cruisers living on dirt) and still get together regularly.

OK, enough of this blog entry. It's time to get this posted. I'll just leave you with a couple of extra photos to let all know that Sandra is still busy making baskets even as we travel.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

It's time to leave Paradise and head north

Well in spite of my best intentions, it's been now a whole month since my last entry onto this blog. We have been busy, so I'll use that as the excuse.

Shortly after the last entry was posted, Samantha, Jeremy and family arrived for a two week stay. They had rented a house on a canal within view of our mooring. We went to Ft. Lauderdale to meet them and help transport the family back. They'd have needed a van because the boys each are young enough for a car seat, and three just don't fit in one seat. So we took the two oldest boys with us. First stop was Robert Is Here. It's a popular fruit and vegetable market with lots of tropical options to choose from. They also have lots of animals to see and a splash park for the kids. (Go to: http://www.robertishere.com/xcart/home.php to see all that is offered there.

From there we took the short drive to the Everglades National Park and a walk on a trail to lots of alligators. It was rather warm for our northern guests, so we didn't linger and continued south the Keys and their home for this vacation. During the next two weeks we managed to fill each day, and the older boys slept in the boat each night. We went to the beach on four occasions, went to a pool on four days, got down to Key West where we stopped at the Butterfly Conservatory and the aquarium. The kids got to the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center twice. They managed to get in a handshake and up close meeting with dolphins while there. They also enjoyed another splash park. All in all, everyone seemed to have a great time. The two weeks ended all too quickly and it was time for another trip to Ft. Lauderdale and a plane flight for them.

Sam, Ryan, Chris and Nathan were busy at the beach.

The boys taking a break at the Butterfly Conservatory.

It's good luck if a butterfly lands on you. Sandra was having a really lucky day!

Chris was about to shake with a dolphin.

Mother and daughter were happy to be together.

We headed back for a few days before we too headed north – in the car to return it to Virginia. During the two day trip north, we managed to stop at a marina in Brunswick, Georgia to check it out. We expect the day will arrive when we won't want to make the trip all the way up to VA again, so we're looking for some place acceptable that is closer to the Keys. Brunswick is about the halfway point. People we've met here use that marina as summer base, hence our interest in checking it out.

We arrived in Virginia in time to take the car to the marina we plan use this summer for the boat – Salt Ponds. We hadn't been there for 17 years, so we wanted to check it out and leave the car. Jenn met us there and then took us back to her house for the night. After an all-too-short visit, she drove us to the airport in Richmond the next morning for our flight back to Florida where we rented a car for the final leg of the journey back to Marathon.

Since our return, we've prepared the boat and done the provisioning. Of course, since we are about to leave, problems arose. Our fresh water pump died; our outboard was running poorly, our toilet was backing up a bit and Sandra's bike got a flat tire. All this in addition to taking the dinghy to shore to clean the growth off the bottom and taking the big boat out to Coconut Key to clean its bottom. Boot Key Harbor is a fertile spot for algae and barnacle growth. I must hold my breath and dive down to either scrape or use a stiff brush. The result of this is that we'll travel a bit faster and use less fuel.With diesel fuel costing between four and five dollars a gallon, the fuel cost for the trip will be near $450 if we do well. It could end up costing an additional $200 with a dirty boat bottom, so I spend some time working on it. ( I know, you think this is a sailboat, so why all the fuel? Even for sailboats, most of this trip is done with the engine running, contrary to popular thinking.) We've also enjoyed some final social connections with cruisers and permanent residents who have become friends. One couple just arrived (Larry and Terri Howard). Another couple, Nicki and Franz on Skybird III were hoping to travel with us. (They have the identical boat to our Carpe Diem.) But time pressures forced them to leave before us.

All the above issues got resolved, and we are now anchored outside Boot Key Harbor ready to head up the Keys in the morning. We couldn't leave before now, because we had offered to help our local Tai Chi group put on an open house for new recruits. It went quite well today, with a number of new trainees ready to begin next week. We will miss our instructors Jeff and Susie along with Beth, Jack and a number of other participants, but we look forward to seeing them again upon our return.

So here we sit watching the sun get lower in a clear blue sky. The temperature is about 80 degrees, the breeze is light and the water is near the same temperature as the air. There are moments like this when we ask ourselves, why are we leaving this paradise? But we know we have things to do and people to visit north of here, and we also know that we plan to return in the fall. New adventures lie ahead for us, and we'll keep you abreast of most of them.

A Change of Seasons is Evident

We continue to enjoy our time in Marathon this winter. It seems to me that most of our activity is not so much boating related, so I haven't been motivated to share a blog update. Now that we're into April, we find ourselves noting the change of seasons here, so I thought it time for an update.

One of Sandra's most recent additions

Our activities haven't changed much from the earlier reports. Sandra is still involved with the basket classes. She has helped start quite a few in this craft. Now they have gotten so excited about it, they are planning trips to Big Pine Key for needle collection, trips to flea markets for items to add to the baskets and finding places to order supplies online. We both continue with Tai Chi. Since this is our second year going through the beginning classes, we have been able to help some of the first timers. We've also enjoyed the contra dancing.

Much of my boat work has been focused on power generation. Our wind generator and solar panels provide what we need most of the time. In looking for ways to eliminate a bit of our power demands to reduce charging demands, I've replaced our lighting with the more efficient LED lights where they would make a difference. This has gotten our power generation vs use to the point where we need to run the engine only about once a month, given the breeze and sunny days here during the winter.

The windless is working again, so I won't have to pull the anchor and chain up by hand on our trip north. However, it won't run as smoothly as I'd like, since the part of the chain rode that doesn't get used much has rusted and therefore hangs up when running through the windlass. When we get back up north to VA this summer, I'll plan to clean up the chain a bit. That should help. I've also completed a few other minor projects while putting still others on the list for completion once we get back to Virginia.

The harbor is no longer as full as it has been for the past two months. The breezy days are not as consistent, so weather windows are opening up for those wishing to move on to the Bahamas. Others are finding that it's just time to begin the travel back north. As a result of the exodus, the morning net is not quite as full of announcements for events and activity here. In spite of that fact, we continue to meet people and enjoy time with new friends. The harbor staged a dinghy poker game for St. Patrick's Day. Five boats in the harbor had decks of cards. We were instructed to find each boat and pick up a card. At one boat we also got to sample some green beer or wine. At a set time all participants met at the marina. The dinghy participants with the best and worst poker hands were awarded prizes. This was just a different way to meet other cruisers. One of the couples handing our cards was on a boat just like ours. One thing led to another, and we ended up heading out by boat with them to visit Bahia Honda State Park and then spend a night at Coconut Key, one of our favorite spots for just getting away from it all.

Keeping our schedule full, we managed to volunteer our time at the annual seafood festival here during March and also volunteered at the local community theater. This got us in to see their current production of Sound of Music with great performances by the cast, some of whom were boaters here in the harbor.

We've continued to enjoy the company of visitors here in Boot Key Harbor. Our friends on Tarwathie, Dick

A long awaited swim for Dick and Libby

and Libby, arrived for a visit.  They apparently missed Marathon, since they were spending the winter way up north in North Carolina. We had a great four-day visit with them, during which they also got to catch up with a few of their other friends.  Libby even got to a basket making class, one that she had started a couple of years ago.

As we got to the end of March, Jennifer and Kaya arrived for a week's visit. Jennifer appreciates the warm weather more than most, so it was unfortunate that a cold front passed through shortly after she arrived. This meant that some of the clothes she brought for traveling to and from Virginia were needed while she was here. We managed a nice trip to Key West and another to the Dolphin Research Center in addition to getting out for a night a Coconut Key again. We also got over to Boot Key for a walk as well. Kaya loves the water and thoroughly enjoyed her time at Sombrero Beach, even if the water was a bit cool for us. She didn't want to come out of the water. We don't know if her swimming and barking while doing so was what

Jenn & Sandra enjoy great weather at the beginning of her visit.

attracted the dolphins so close to her

As Jenn drove back north, my sister Mary Jo and her husband Scott and son Toby came down for a day visit from West Palm Beach. We managed to get them out for a nice sail with several dolphins coming by very close to the boat.

Although many of our friends on boats have already left or are planning to do so in the next few days, the locals are still here for us to enjoy. We got a front row seat while a local fisherman caught and fought with a six foot tarpon for what seemed like a half hour. The following afternoon he was back with another big tarpon on the line. The fish were either released or got free of the hook after a good fight. On the

same day as the first tarpon fight, I noticed another local cleaning up the algae at the dinghy dock – a manatee. And of course, it's always fun to watch the pelicans diving for dinner in the harbor.

Samantha and family are our next visitors. They are due here in a little more than a week. We really look forward to spending time here with our three grandsons. It's such a different place from their home in NH.

Come the first of May, we'll begin to get ourselves heading north. Because we have the car here, we'll be driving that to VA first and flying back to move the boat.

In spite of all the planning, we try to live each day fully. This is a great community with lots to do, so we do our best to remember that. An example of how helpful the community can be when one is need came this morning. During the overnight we got hit by a line of thunderstorms with winds gusting up in the mid 50s. One sailboat had some worn shrouds which let go, causing the mast to come down. This morning, a call went out for help to get the end of the mast out of the mud and get it back on deck safely before the next round of storms came through today. They had more help than necessary within a short time and quickly got the mast secured on deck. Yesterday I got to help another boater who, in attempting to move their boat past other moored boats, managed to get blown into the shallows where they ran aground. With the assistance from several of us, they got a halyard stretched over to another boat and then got their boat healed enough to free the keel and get the boat into deeper water. They were appreciative, and it felt good to be of help to them.

As we prepare for our last weeks here and then head north, I'll try to be a bit more regular with blog entries. Hope all is well with you readers.

Carpe Diem,

Captain Bob

Appreciating Paradise

Nearly a month has passed since the last entry to this blog. The time lapse is due mostly to the fact that I don't appear to have experienced anything particularly noteworthy or new, given that this is our fifth season here in Boot Key Harbor. But then again, it may be that we're so accustomed to our time in this part of paradise that we forget how fascinating it is to others.

We were reminded of this by a friend who visited us for a few days earlier this month. Priscilla Temple, who lives in North Carolina and has driven to meet us several times as we pass through that state on the ICW, flew down to spend her first nights on a boat. We picked her up in Ft. Lauderdale and drove back to the Keys with a stop in the Everglades to see the birds and alligators as well as a stop at a fruit and vegetable stand to introduce her to some interesting new fruits. These included tamerin, mango and papaya as well as a few others whose names are now forgotten but the great taste remains. On the way down to Marathon we stopped at a waterside restaurant for a meal. As this is not unusual here, we were outside at a table in the sand not more than 15 feet from the water. Oh yes, there was live music playing during our meal.

Looking down on the anchorage and beach at Bahia Honda

During her stay we managed to get her out overnight to experience the peacefulness of Florida Bay. We were probably several miles from the closest lights, so the clear sky offered a thousand stars not usually visible closer to towns. The winds cooperated to allow us to get her out to Sombrero Reef for her first bit of snorkeling with clear water and lots of fish to see. We also managed to visit the Dolphin Research Center and Bahia Honda state park with its beautiful setting.

She enjoyed it all, including the sunsets, and in the process it helped us to regain some extra appreciation for our time here in a bit of paradise.

So when you receive and invitation from us to come down for a visit, you should realize the purpose is two fold. We certainly want to share the setting with friends and family, but we also find that such visits remind us of what a special opportunity we have to experience this for a whole season each year. It's only fair that we do our best to share it with others when we can.

Sandra's latest creation

OK, so what else have we been up to in the past few weeks? We continue to bump into other cruisers we have met in previous seasons as well as meeting those whom friends have sent our way. Sandra continues to help others with the pine needle baskets. It's a growing group. A bit more than a week ago we joined with others from Tai Chi to celebrate the Chinese new year. If you're interested, this is the year of the snake. Not sure what that means, but just needed to pass it along. In addition to Tai Chi classes and a bit of contra dancing, we still have on our list a trip to Key West by car. The anchoring situation there isn't attractive, so it's much easier just to drive down for the day. That's about all we need of Key West on one outing anyway. It's an interesting place, but a little bizarre.

Then there are the regular chores. Our dinghy bottom is getting covered with algae and barnacles, so a cleaning job is in the cards. The big boat has anti-fouling paint. It's most effective when we travel and water is moving over the surface. When we're sitting on the mooring for a week or two, I still must dive down and do a bit of cleaning. I'm still struggling with the windlass. (For the uninitiated, this is an electrical device that pulls up our chain and anchor, making my life much easier.) The part that was obviously broken has been repaired, but a more subtle issue still must be addressed. Hopefully we'll be back up and running by week's end.

This is not a life of all work and no relaxation. We still continue to meet people and enjoy that part of our adventure. One of the ways we've gotten to meet people is due to two somewhat unusual if not unique attractions we offer to others. One is the dinghy. We have a Portland Pudgy. It's less than 8 feet long; it rows well, is stable and also serves as our life raft. It's appearance alone seems to attract attention. In our first year in Marathon, we were stopped nearly every day over the four months of our stay by people asking about the boat. In the years since, we continue to be asked questions, but perhaps only 4-5 times a week.

Our two special attractions

And the other attraction...it's Maddie, of course. She loves to meet people and people seem compelled to stop to say hello to her. Then they ask us what her breed is. We tell them she's a Coton, and they generally respond with an, “Oh, what's that?” In the meantime they're getting licked and jumped on. They love it. They tell us she's the cutest dog they've seen. Some seem to want to take her home.

So life continues to be good down here. We'll do our best to fully enjoy it. And of course we love company.

Carpe Diem.

Captain Bob

Back South in Marathon

Well, we're back again in the sunny south after a holiday season full of great visits with Jenn and Greg, Sam, Jeremy and our grandsons, Nathan, Chris and Ryan, as well as with Sandra's sister Paula and her brother Scott and family. What a full and enjoyable three weeks for us! Of course it was winter up there. We managed to get slowed down by a winter storm as we attempted to make it from Virginia to New Hampshire in a day. It ended up taking two. We were glad that we kept our winter jackets with Sam in New Hampshire. With temps dipping down as low as 5 degrees, we were reminded why we spend this time of year in the Keys. After the visits, we drove our car down to the Keys to provide us with extra mobility as we've done for the past two years.

The title of the last blog entry included the word “Home” in the title. Now that we've returned to Marathon and our boat, I've been thinking a bit more about what is behind that term for us. During our travel north, we visited areas of the country we once called home. While still familiar, they don't any longer fit the definition of “home” for me. How do I define home these days. Do I not have any real home. Certainly the definitions offered by the norms of our culture fail to provide as adequate description. Most people have a house or rental unit in some town they call home. We have the boat,but it isn't connected to a particular geographic location.

As I thought more about the subject, I came to the conclusion that other factors are key. While we are here in Marathon, we are more involved with local activities. We appear to be more social as well. While we can't say that the friends we spent time with last year while here are the ones we socialize with this year. (There's always some change in the population each year.) So far we've split our time between boaters we called friends last year with others we met after we arrived this year. There are still others who live in Marathon all year. We've reconnected with a few of these as well as the boaters in the harbor. When we combine all this with the list of activities attracting our attention, we find ourselves forced to make decisions about what we will engage in and what we'll bypass so we don't find ourselves over scheduled. We still look forward to spending time at the beach or taking the boat out periodically to some remote island in Florida Bay for a couple of days of isolation.

A Bahamas seminar

We've been back here after the holidays for two weeks. In that time We've been to a couple of seminars focused on boat maintenance and the Bahamas; Sandra has also spent time helping others learn how to make pine needle baskets;we've both been to Tai Chi classes in addition to spending some time helping others new to Tai Chi; we've been to contra dancing twice, once led by our local dentist. We've both also worked on several boat projects. And we spent a couple of days out in Florida Bay totally by ourselves. Additionally, we've had friends over to dinner twice and been on the boat of friends on another occasion. Our schedule at any other time of the year in other places has been nowhere near this busy. Does this level of activity help to define “home” for us? I'm still trying to figure it out. What do you think, and how would you define “home”?

Our neighborhood...home?

I've been dealing with energy issues and the repair of our windlass, but these will be the topic of a future blog entry. Till then....

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

Our "Winter" Home

Well, we made it back to Marathon to begin our fifth season here. I could have said fifth winter, but given the weather conditions, that description just doesn't fit. Our last two days of travel down from Key Biscayne were pretty uneventful. We had some bouncy conditions until we got down Hawk Channel far enough to get some protection from the reef. On our second day of travel in the Keys, we arrived in Boot Key Harbor by mid afternoon. We even managed to get the same mooring ball we had last year. We like this spot, since it's out on the edge of the mooring field and provides great views of sunset, the mangroves and incoming boats. It also provided us with front row seats for the annual Christmas boat parade.

It took no time at all to be reminded why we come here. But on our trip down, it seemed that everyone was headed for the Bahamas. At times I even wondered if we were headed to the right place. After all, these people can't all be wrong. But now that we're here, the reasoning all comes back. Some might say that the attraction of the Bahamas is that it's a different country. Well the Keys is practically a foreign country. Some say it is – the Conch Republic. Leaving Miami, one can see such a dramatic change in the scenery and culture that it might as well be. But the cell phones still work. Many still speak English (in fact more than in Miami) and our money works here. (Some might be quick to remind me that more people speak English in the Bahamas than in the Keys.)

It didn't take us long to get in to the swing of life here. Our bikes are ashore, and we've rearranged the boat for the non-travel life for a bit. We've already been to the Saturday farm stand for some great fresh veggies and tropical fruit. We've also already gotten over to Keys Fisheries for a lobster reuben. Life is good.

Sargent Majors by our dinghy at the reef

We've attended a couple of Tai Chi classes so far. Since we haven't done anything with Tai Chi since April, it will take a little practice to get back to where we left off. We've also gone out to Sombrero Reef for a bit of snorkeling as well. The water was clear and the fish were plentiful, so we enjoyed our visit.

One of the advantages of spending a season down here is that we're joined by cruisers from all over. Some are full time cruisers like us while others enjoy a few months on their boat before heading back up north when the weather moderates to a home on dry land. One couple we met were from Alberta, Canada. They drove down to their boat in Florida after shoveling snow three times up there this fall. They knew it was time to head south. Another couple nearby just sold their house and moved aboard in July up in Deltaville, VA. They noticed the VA home port on our boat and came over to say “Hi.” Yet a third couple we met already knew our names. It seems that we have mutual cruising friends on Tarwathie currently up in New Bern, NC. We had tried to meet up with them last year, but we just didn't find each other. This year we're parked right next to each other. This reminds us of one of the benefits of cruising. It's such a fluid community, that neighbors in one spot may just end up being neighbors later in the same or another location. One just never knows where you'll bump into them again.

Sunset at the entrance to Boot Key Harbor - photo taken while at
 dinner at an outdoor restaurant

As I complete this latest addition to the blog, we have already flown north to VA to enjoy Christmas with Jenn and Gregg before heading still farther north to spend another Christmas with Sam, Jeremy and family plus visit Sandra's brother Scott and sister Paula. We spent enough time in the Keys to know why we choose to go there each winter, but we also are fortunate to be able to fly north to spend this important time with family. So we'll get a bit of real winter weather – plenty as far as we're concerned – and then head back to where the water is turquoise and the palm trees sway. More to come following our return in January.

Till then... Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

South Florida is Full of Interesting Contrasts

Since we left Vero Beach, we've managed to gain some pretty significantly contrasting perspectives on this part of the country. We spent our first day heading south to an anchorage called Peck Lake. It's not really a lake – just a wide spot in the Indian River which the ICW follows. On shore at Peck Lake is a state park with a beautiful, empty beach just a few short steps away. The ocean water was warm and tropical in color. Maddie had a great time at the beach. We had it all to ourselves.

The beach we had to ourselves at Peck Lake

Sunrise at Peck Lake - with two or three other boats at anchor - very quiet!

The next day we continued south to Lake Worth and West Palm Beach where my sister Mary Jo and family live. We spent most of the next day with them and had a great visit, meeting Amelia, her youngest grandchild. Her husband Scott picked us up from the WPB city docks and took us home to see Toby, Jill and Peter. She took us to see the new movie Lincoln which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The next day, it was off through “the canyon” and on to Lake Sylvia, another non-lake, this one in Ft. Lauderdale. And then we continued on to Miami Beach to an anchorage near South Beach. This portion of the trip we find to be quite interesting. In past years we'd tried hard to avoid this stretch, since there are more than 30 bridges that must open for us to make the passage. Most are on a schedule that we can just make if all goes well. But it doesn't. On this occasion we made it to all but two of them at the appointed time. At the the other two, we were forced to hang around for nearly a half hour for the next opening. That's always great fun with the winds, which were strong, and the tidal current both do their best to run us into the bridge or at least out of the channel where we could run aground. As an added bonus, as I mentioned above, part of this stretch is called “the canyon.” That's because the ICW is narrow here with concrete or rocky shorelines which allow the wakes of passing boats to bounce back and forth across the waterway for several minutes after the boat passes. Through most of this stretch boats aren't supposed to be creating large wakes, but some are in a hurry and others just don't care. For us it means constant motion as we travel down what should be a smooth section of water. Fortunately this didn't impact us much of the day, since we seemed to be alone on the Waterway.

Busy and often a bit confusing in Miami - lots of people living here!

The peaceful setting at No Name, the contrast is so obvious!

As stated in the beginning of an earlier paragraph, we find this portion of the trip of great interest. The contrasts are dramatic. We left the solitude of Peck Lake and passed through a stretch down to the Palm Beach area with the ICW and offshooting canals to be filled with expensive homes, many of which would be considered mansions by us humble folk. Frequently their 100+ foot yacht is parked at the dock in front. And these homes were packed in with little or no land between them. No sign of middle America here. Of course not everyone could live in these homes. So many are living in highrise condos that line the beach and the ICW from North Palm Beach to Miami. Their height was often in the 10 -25 story range, and they must have numbered in the hundreds. There are just so many people here with money. Little sign of a economic downturn.

Before we arrived at our anchorage by the WPB city docks, we passed by one marina and boat yard that was packed with huge yachts. It appeared that the minimum length was over 100 feet with some approaching 200 feet. And there were so many of them all in one place.

The evidence of wealth continued with few breaks all the way to Miami. As we entered Ft. Lauderdale, we noticed a sign welcoming us to the Yachting capital of the world. What we've seen of this “Gold Coast” of Florida certainly did nothing to make us believe otherwise. Every couple of miles at least there was another marina with many large power yachts and a few smaller ones.

The daily scene at the port of Miami

From the Waterway, it appeared that Ft. Lauderdale and Miami were built around the canals, and one could carry on most of the needed day-to-day activities by boat. We saw lots of areas where one could tie up and go to restaurants or shopping. There were a few places where the Waterway paralleled the street. From our boat's cockpit, it seemed as though the street was at a lower level than us. I can't imagine what a damage a five foot storm surge here would cause. And if the glaciers are melting and the ocean level is rising, the city leaders had better start considering what should be done. The city appears to be tied so closely to the water and dependent on it for economic health. And yet this whole stretch of coastline is dependent on water levels remaining as they are.

We'll shortly leave this fascinating part of the country for another that is equally fascinating in very different ways.

So until the next entry from the Conch Republic, Carpe Diem.

Captain Bob