Rockhouse Creek

Sunset at Rockhouse Creek

I'm not sure if it was the sound of the text message arrival or the constant rhythmic chatter, tap tap, of the shrimp that woke me up,but once I was awake, all I could hear was the shrimp.  The sound was giving new meaning to the name Rockhouse Creek. I have become accustom to hearing these little tap taps in the night in these waters, but this night it sounded like they were rapping on the companionway door!  In my night-train -of thought, I imagined giant pink shrimp with skinny long legs no longer being satisfied with just tapping.  Now they want to climb on board and "rap" to let us know the true meaning of their creek.

We pulled anchor at 0700 and watched a spectacular sunrise with Ponce de Leon inlet lighthouse on the horizon.  At Port Orange bridge, there is a rookery where we observed the pelicans carrying their nesting materials and the egrets were all puffed up-- it must be spring!  Yesterday as we passed near Merritt Island, we saw a small flock of scarlet spoonbills flying by ,  a manatee swimming by in mosquito lagoon and many dolphins.  We arrived in St.  Augustine at 1600 where we met up with some friends that we had met in GA.  They have been here for 3 weeks and have witnessed the birth of dolphins during their visit.  She said they are slightly pink and of course, small.

Tomorrow we plan to sail up to the St. Mary's inlet and hopefully get a chance to visit Cumberland Island.

North Lake Worth to Stuart

On the vernal equinox we departed from Lake Worth and set our sails for the St. Lucie inlet.  We had a fast sail and had to furl the yankee or we would arrive too early for the trip up river.  The inlet was being dredged and we were told to hug the south side of the channel.  That worked but we did bounce over a few shoal areas but fortunately we were able to keep moving.  As we headed to the crossroads of the ICW and the river we did get caught on some shoal that had reached out into the channel.  As we sat there thinking about our next move, we were approached by a very friendly sea tow guy who was off duty.  He happened to be from Yarmouth, ME.  He had recently moved to this area and was very helpful to us.  Meanwhile there was another well meaning boater who was circling us trying to produce a large enough wake to wash us off the shoal but creating some havoc with his actions. We manged to get off without a hitch and proceeded up river when another sea tow guy pulled up along side.  We were both thinking at this time that he was probably going to save us from another snag on some unknown shoal, but no, he was also from Maine and wanted to know how we were doing and did we know some of the same people in Maine etc.  There seems to be a huge connection between Maine and Florida!  At any rate, he rendered his approving opinion on the marina where we planned to pick up a mooring and was on his way.  We did get in just before the dock closed for the evening.  We have been in Stuart now for 3 days and may stay for the art festival tomorrow.  It has been another beautiful port with and old town filled with artists and good restaurants.  

House in Stuart with sail boat shutters and screen door

Fort Lauderdale to Key Biscayne 

We finally got back to internet access and can update things again. The water has that wonderful aquamarine shade every where in this area. We have been anchoring out more down here and have enjoyed finding wonderful parks in almost every stop. At Key Biscayne we anchored in Key Biscayne Bay with wonderful views of the Miami Skyline.

Miami at night

We then moved to the south end of the key to No Name Harbor, a very well protected basin in Bill Baggs Park. There were bike trails and hiking trails right by the dingy tie up and we walked just about the whole thing. We saw an iguana over two feet long, our first such siting.  Off to the south and over a mile offshore is a place called Stiltsville. The houses are built on stilts in shallow water and some have been there since the 30's or 40's.

Stiltsville

This was our turnaround point as time is going by and we have decided to sail up to Charleston and take a train back to Maine mid-April. Things move slow when cruising and there are many places that once we stop, we want to spend a few days to see some of the sights and get to know the area somewhat.

Key Biscayne to North Lake Worth

From Key Biscayne we sailed north to South Beach and anchored between two islands which gave us some protection from the wakes of passing boats. There is a canal that one can dingy up and tie up by a bridge then walk to South Beach with its big walking mall with every store conceivable. We found a great little grocery store that had a whole dairy case of goat cheeses and a wonderful anti-pasta bar. We sailed outside the next day to Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale where we anchored again in a protected spot. The house closest to us put on a show for us to watch. First just before dark, they lit up the gas torches and fire-pits; then when it was dark, the turned on the lights. We were expecting a lot of people to show up but only saw one person and two dogs!

House with fire

House with lights

The next stop was North Lake Worth anchorage where we met some folks from Massachusetts on Mon Ami. We had talked with them on the cruising radio net but had not met them in person before. Nice folks who invited us to stop by later as we passed through Onset on the way home. A beautiful sunset followed.

We have had some of the best sailing yet since we started north from Key Biscayne. The Easterly trades have kicked in and reaching is the norm. Emme has been doing well and seems happy to be sailing along in the trade winds again.

North Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale

It sure was nice to get outside and under sail again. The winds were perfect so we were able to unfurl all 3 sails for the first time this trip. We sailed the 48 miles in less than 8 hours and had great views of the beaches along the way as we stayed within a mile of the coast to avoid the currents that were flowing in the opposite direction. The skies were mostly sunny and the water changed to that beautiful aqua marine blue.  We sailed into the busiest port on the east coast, so they say. It's called Port Everglade.  Fortunately we were able to get a mooring at the city marina.  Today we biked to the Bonnet house and gardens, which is an oasis  in the morass of towering buildings.  It  is a plantation home built and designed by Frederick Bartlett.  He got out of Chicago and headed to this home in the winter months.  It still has all the charm of its day and the local flora was still intact.

After all of that touring, we headed to the beach to cool off in the surf.  Beautiful!

Bonnet House

Large Banyan Tree in Gardens 

Vero Beach to North Palm Beach

Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge At Peck Lake

One of the many fishing boats on the ICW. Note the Pelican sitting on the right outboard; it's real as it soon flew off, just taking a break we guess.

One of the smaller of the homes along this section, we were able to get it all in one frame!


We finally left Vero Beach on the 8th and headed South again. The winds had calmed down to about 15-20 so we thought we would continue. The waterway is fairly protected with it seldom being over a mile wide with lots of places being a quarter mile or less. Crossing a lake or when the Indian River widens out provides more wind but there are no big waves because the water is so shallow. We anchored in Peck Lake for the night and in the morning went ashore and hiked the hundred yards across the barrier island to the ocean beach. this is the Hobe Sound Preserve and it is a wildlife sanctuary with day use allowed on the beach but not in the dunes where seabirds nest.

Yesterday we came the remaining 22 miles to North Palm Beach. This is where the bridges really begin with some opening on demand some on the hour and half hour and some at 15 and 45 minutes past. This is also the area with many very large homes, some you would think must be luxury hotels or resorts but then you notice no one is there and there are only four chairs at the tiki bar by the dock!

Last evening we went for a walk along the winding paved sidewalks that go along PGA boulevard.  We found a Vietnamese restaurant/jazz piano bar where we decided to have dinner.  The chef was incredibly helpful as he circulated among the tables to help us order and understand the menu. We were not disappointed as we cleaned our plates while listening to a piano/vocalist duo playing and singing many of the old standards.

Since we stayed a couple of extra days here, we got the bikes out to explore a wider range.  We visited the John MacArthur state park  where we could hike to the beach (just in time for an ominous looking rain storm).

We were able to take refuge under a lean to til the worst of it passed and then we moved on   to the amphitheater where there was a bluegrass group was playing the tunes of the Grateful Dead, Townes Van Zandt, and other great artists.  

Pelicans at Ponce

 Ibises in Titusville

Vero Beach
Wow is it March 3rd already? We have made more progress south, leaving Ponce and moving to Titusville and now on to Vero Beach for a few days. In Titusville we met an old friend from Aroostook County and had great time catching up over lunch.  We visited a park near the waterfront and marveled yet again about the birds.  There were so many white ibises that they seemed like pigeons.  They walk right up to you.  There was one lone juvenile wood stork and a couple of great blues.
  We found a nice anchorage along the way and have dolphins swimming along side of us each day.  The weather has been quite glorious so we headed to the beach soon after arriving in Vero Beach. Vero Beach is known in cruising circles as Velcro Beach because cruisers seen to stick around here for a long time. In fact we met some folks we know from Falmouth, Maine who has been here since December 19th. they just left this morning to continue south. The water is now in the low 70's which is warmer than Maine all summer.  This city provides free bus transportation about any where you would want to go. There many parks and things to see and do and we will try to do a few.