Friday, April 23, 2010 North Palm Beach

Friday, 4-23 Left Coral Reef Yacht Club at 7:30 a.m. and we were back at the dock in North Palm Beach at 4:45 p.m. We were helped along by the Gulfstream making 12 knots over ground at our fastest speed. Our usual cruising speed without assistance from the current is 8 knots.

Thursday, April 22, 2010, Coral Reef Yacht Club

We enjoyed the cruise from Islamorada to Biscayne Bay. We entered Biscayne Bay through south of Key Biscayne with the Cape Florida lighthouse to our right and Stiltsville to our left. The Coral Reef yacht club was a welcome stop after Islamorada and we enjoyed meeting members Doug and Ellen Oppenheimer for dinner at the club that evening.



Stiltsville

Stiltsville has a colorful history that dates back to the 1930s, when "Crawfish Eddie Walker" built the first shack on stilts above the water. Others followed and at its peak in 1960 there were 27 structures. The area is accessible only by water. The Federal Government took over ownership of the land in 1985 and no new buildings are allowed. There are seven structures remaining.

April 21, 2010, Wednesday - Islamorada

Entrance to Islamorada

Islamorada was pretty disappointing. Not long ago there was quite a bit of activity at the resort. It was never very fancy, but it had some charm. It looks like a ghost town now and thankfully we found a decent restaurant a short cab ride away. The highlight of our one-night stay was watching a manatee drink fresh water as a fisherman was cleaning his catch at the marina.

April 20, 2010, Tuesday - Little Palm Island

First time having our name on the slip
for a one-night st at a

Left the dock in Key West at 8 a.m and arrived at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa just before noon. Little Palm is a five-acre island located at the entrance to Newfound Harbor on Pine Island Key. The resort is accessible only by water. In 1962, Warner Brothers selected Little Palm Island as the location for the filming of PT-109. We enjoyed kayaking, time at the pool, key deer and a wonderful dinner on the beach. This was one of our favorite stops.  

The Key Deer were prevalent and very friendly

Lagoon style pool overlooking the ocean

Dinner on the beach -
one of the best meals we've ever had

April 18 and 19, 2010 - Key West

View from the lookout above the
Key West Shipwreck Museum

Mallory Square at sundown

Joe and Jennifer at the Southernmost
 point in the Continental USA

"Wreck Ashore"
From the Lookout at the Key West Shipwreck Museum

Only in Key West

Mallory Square

Early morning sunrise from the marina

Enjoyed a relaxing two days in Key West. From walking tours, the Florida Shipwreck Museum, laundry and lots of good eating before planning our next stop at Little Palm Island.

Saturday, April 17th

When we went to bed the night before the wind had died down, so we were encouraged about the trip to Key West the next day. I awoke about 3:30 a.m. to the sound of wind that had picked up again in the night. I couldn't get to sleep, so I got up to start getting ready to leave. Joe held out until 4:00 a.m. and we left the dock at 5:00 a.m. It couldn't have been any darker out. After picking our way out of the inlet, we set our course for Key West. The combination of the wind, waves, crab pots and rain made for a very uncomfortable trip. At one point I considered turning back. I went below and was holding onto the ceiling grab rails as the boat pitched 30 degrees each way. I decided it if got any worse before we made our halfway point, I would turn back. By noon we felt that it was as bad as it was going to get and we settled in for the remaining five hours. The navigation system and autopilot were amazing. The autopilot hummed continually as it kept us on course through pitching and rolling. We decided no human could maintain a course like that in those conditions.

We arrived at the dock at 5 p.m. pretty well exhausted.

By 6:00 p.m. we were enjoying drinks and music at the Conch Seafood bar followed by dinner at Prime. After our 12 hour ordeal, we decided steaks were in order. The steaks were wonderful as well as the service. We especially enjoyed the She Crab soup.

Captain Tony's, the self-proclaimed,
"oldest bar in florida"

After dinner we stopped at Captain Tony's, Sloppy Joes and then the Hogs Breath Inn where we ran into a group of family and friends who had participated in a charity run that day.

Our new friends - I let him win

Friday April 16, 2010 Karen and Jennifer in Key West

Brad and Joe still in Marco Island:

After deciding to wait another day Marco Island, we spent an uneventful day getting ready to go to Key West early the next day. A fair amount of time was spent plotting our course for Key West Harbor and getting the two chart plotters to talk to each other. Turns out the course has to be entered on the upper station. One of those things to look into someday. Lesson learned - enter above or be prepared to re-enter.

Karen and Jennifer in Key West:

Hemmingway's desk

Had continental breakfast by the pool at the Chelsea Hotel. We then went and had a great tour of Hemmingway's Key West House. After the tour we walked over to Pepe's for a delicious lunch and Bloody Mary. The chili was terrific. Then we went shopping at a clothing store next door and we both bought some great clothes. After back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation around the pool. We walked back into town to the Red School house Theater for a play. It consisted of eight 10 minute plays. Very funny and well done.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Karen and Jennifer left on the Key West Express at 8:30 a.m. The wind was predicted to be 20 from the East Northeast. We told the crew of Whale Watcher about our plan to take our boat to Key West on Friday when the winds were predicted to settle down.

The ferry was docked right next to our boat. The girls waved good bye and proceeded to have an extremely bumpy ride 3 and 1/2 hour trip to Key West.

Karen and Jennifer in Key West:

Once off the ferry we took an hour long train ride tour around the island to get our bearings. Got off at Duval Street and walked to our hotel called the Chelsea house. We had a very small room, but it had a nice pool. We dropped our things and walked around town. Had a very nice late lunch at Mangos. Still very windy. Everything on the table at lunch was blowing around. We went down to the water at 7pm to watch an amazing sunset after drinks at the conch bar.

We went to dinner at Hogs Breath where we were joined at our table with about 8 other people. We chatted and had dinner with them. They were from Nashville, TN. After dinner we said our good byes and Karen and I went to have the last beer a Kevin's Bar and listen to music. Fun night!

Brad and Joe still in Marco Island:

Joe and I went fishing on a 3 hour backwater pontoon boat with two other parties, one from England and the other from Chicago. We caught two stingrays, two Sheepshead, one Spanish Mackerel and a lady fish. Captain Rick cleaned the Spanish Mackerel and the Sheepshead. Because the others on the boat didn't want there fish, Joe and I ended up with two or three extra fish. We took the fish to the Tiki Restaurant next to the marina where they blackened the Sheepshead and deep fried the Mackerel. The blackened Sheepshead was delightful. It was very flavorfull, light and flakey. The Mackerel was prepared well, but didn't have much flavor. During the course of the day we continually monitored the weather and spoke with Karen and Jennifer who had a very rough trip to Key West. The crew of Whale Watcher sought them out and strongly suggested that we not make the trip on Friday, but instead wait until Saturday. After dinner Joe and I waited for Whale Watcher to return from their trip to Key West. They were over an hour late and told us they had to go up the Atlantic side to Marathon and then head north to Marco to avoid the seas in the Northwest Passage. We explored options to go to Marathon on Friday and then to Key West from Marathon on Saturday, but decided a straight shot on Saturday made the most sense. Looking at the sea prediction tables with NOAA definitely showed improvement on Saturday.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010



Dinner at Snooks Inn

Left the dock at 11:30 a.m. Practiced setting waypoints and following them to the entrance to Marco Bay. The wind was steady 15 to 20 and as we got off shore we had a rocky trip. We set a course for Naples and then travelled parallel to the coast to Marco Island. Closer in to shore was much more comfortable. Outside of the Marco inlet, we followed "Hot Chocolate" into Marco River Marina. Docking was a challenge with wind and current pushing against or port side while attempting a stern in maneuver. After two attempts, we turned around in the basin and headed into the wind. By backing down and using the bow thruster simultaneously, we were able to stick it into the slip. There was so much salt from the trip from Fort Myers Beach, a short finger stroke on the rail produced a fair amount of salt. After cleaning the boat, we walked a mile and a half to Snook's Restaurant for dinner. There was much discussion about the weather and when and how we would get to Key West. The window opporunity appeared to be for Friday, so we decided that Karen and Jennifer would take the Key West express. Joe and I would take the boat to Key West on Friday.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spent the day enjoying Fort Myers Beach. Keenan joined us for dinner. Decided to head to Marco Island in order to get to Key West by Thursday evening so we could spend three full days in Key West.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Left Clewiston at 7:30 a.m. We arrived at Moore Haven Lock at 9 a.m. The Lockmaster gave us a choice of a Port or Starboard tie. We chose Port thinking the wind would keep us off the walls, but the wind caught the boat so that we pivoted almost 180 degrees. We switched to a Starboard tie. We were alone in the Moore Haven Lock. We dropped about 4 feet. We arrived at Ortona Lock at 11 a.m. We had to wait for two eastbound sailboats to exit before we could enter. The wind was 15 to 20 on our stern as we waited. This lockmaster was the most aggressive yet. There was a commercal tug waiting to go eastbound, so we think the lockmaster sped up the process. We dropped about 6 feet in a very short time. From Ortona the waterway became more river like with twists and turns. The smell of orange blossoms were very strong. We reached the last lock of our trip at 2 p.m. The river got much wider as we got closer to Fort Myers. We arrived at Fort Myers Beach at 7 p.m. We had called ahead to Moss Marina for a slip assignment. When we arrived there was no one at the Marina, but we were assisted by someone in the slip next to us. The winds were very strong, but a large casino boat at the end of the dock blocked the wind allowing us to dock without incident. Keenan was able to join us for dinner on the second day at Fort Myers Beach.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Left Pirates Cove Marina at 7:30 a.m. Arrived at the Saint Lucie Canal Lock at 9:30 a.m. It took about 1/2 an hour to rise 8 feet and then continue on through the Canal. Arrived at Port Mayaca lock at 12 noon. The lockmaster opened the lock and because the Lake level was only slightly higher than the canal we continued through without closing the gates. We planned to take the lake route which is 10 miles shorter, but because of weather over the lake, we decided to take the rim route. The rim route turned out to be much more interesting than the Lake route would have been. We arrived at Clewiston at 6 p.m. We were planning to have dinner at the Clewiston Inn, but they close at 4 p.m. on Sundays. We took a taxi to Beef O'Brady's.

Saturday, April 10,2010

North Palm Beach to Manatee
pocket.

Today we left the dock at 11 a.m. We cruised up the ICW past Jonathan's Landing and past the pink house Joe and Jennifer rented in 2008. Arrived at Port Salerno, Pirates Cove Marina at 3 p.m. Ate dinner at Pirates Cove. Plan to leave tomorrow morning at 6:30 am and attempt to get to Clewiston before dark. Weather is predicted to be rainy and windy.