KEY LARGO



Did we make a wrong turn and end up in the Caribbean???



View from back of the boat on Biscayne Bay





YIKES!



Saw this going on outside the Tiki Bar

After an uneventful trip down Biscayne Bay, we officially arrived at the KEYS! We are staying at Gilbert's Resort Marina tonight....a place Jimmy Buffet would love. It ain't fancy (at all), but it is a friendly spot with a great TIKI bar. 

SOUTH BEACH

Yes, sounds glamorous, but we had to get some work done here. Our water pump had gone out on Saturday, so we had to order a new one. It was delivered to our marina (Sunset Harbour) and John installed it this afternoon. We had stayed here last year. It is a very nice marina with VERY nice yachts. Again, we are the littlest kid on the docks. We continue to be amazed at the mega yachts down here. We never see the "owners" but there sure is plenty of crew around in their matching outfits with the yacht's logo on them.
We also had the dingy crane guy come and finally fix it. I am so excited, because that means it will be less hassle putting the dinghy in the water. I am looking forward to dingying in the Keys!!!!
Tomorrow, we head south to the Keys. We have spent HOURS trying to decide whether to take the "inside ICW " route or the "outside Atlantic" route. We have settled on the inside route. Bad news is that it is very shallow. Wish us luck. We both have some angst about these next few days.

FORT LAUDERDALE, BABY!

Steven Spielberg's $200 million  yacht (SEVEN SEAS) docked just opposite us on the dock. I took this picture from our sun deck!

Guess this is the Klampetts moving to Ft.Lauderdale instead of Beverly Hills.

Another interesting day. We went under 22 bridges, many of which we had to wait for an opening. Because it was a warm, lovely day....every boat owner in Florida had their boat out on the water. It was very slow going and a bit like dodging bumper cars except it was boats. Tonight we are at the Hyatt Pier 66 in Ft.Lauderdale. We look like a dinghy next to the mega yachts docked here. Google "Seven Seas yacht" to see the details on Steve's boat. Thus far, he has not invited us over for happy hour.

NORTH PALM BEACH

We're not in Kansas anymore! No pickup trucks here!

JUPITER INLET LIGHTHOUSE

PELICANS A PLENTY

JOHN NEEDS TO CLEAN OUR BOAT THIS WAY......NOT!!!!

DISTANT COUSIN OF KNOTUGAL

We arrive here at Old Port Cove Thursday afternoon. We have greatly enjoyed this beautiful stop. It is so pretty in this area. Mark and Maridee rented a car for their month's stay here and have shown us all around. Mary and Bill Hallmark have their boat here, and we saw them last night. There is a lot to see and do here. The water color at the beach is turquoise!

FT.PIERCE,FL

We got an early start this morning. We wanted to "get out" of the marina before the wind picked up again. It was so horrendous yesterday :-(
The farther south we cruised the warmer it became. The water from Vero Beach south, began to get that blue color. Tonight we are docked at Harbor Isle in Ft.Pierce. It is a private marina within a condo complex. It was a pretty entrance in to the dock. We would come back here again. It would be a great hurricane hole. There are some beautiful yachts here. Also..has a great dog walk area, Dorsey wanted to mention this.

DAYTONA TO COCOA, FL

Launch site, Cape Canaveral

Yesterday we arrived at Daytona. Walked into town and had a great dinner at an Italian Restauant. Our waitress was a hoot and we had a good time.
This morning we headed to Cocoa. Along the way, we passed Cape Canaveral. It was REALLY windy and our arrival at the Cocoa Marina was very scary. Both John and Mark had their hands full with docking our boats in these winds. We had been on the Indian River all day with following seas. John had to steer all day...could not use auto pilot, also, shallow outside the ICW channel. It was pretty exhausting .
We met some liveaboards on a sailboat next to us. Come to find out they had lived in Kemah in the 90's and knew many mutal friends of ours. They are true adventurers and had sailed their boat from CA through the Panama Canal to Florida. Very nice and very interesting couple! We had an enjoyable happy hour on our boat with them, Mark and Maridee.
For dinner tonight, we walked into town for a tasty Thai meal.

ST AUGUSTINE

 John proudly using his National Parks Lifetime Pass to get Mark, Maridee and me into the Fort for FREE!

Knotugal and Folie a Deaux at the dock.

Today we walked into town, did some touristy shopping and sightseeing, and had a good lunch at the Casa Maya. It was such a pretty day, that after we got back to the boats, Mark and Maridee took down their dinghy and we went for a ride around the area. It was such a fun day, I felt like we were at Summer Camp.

ST AUGUSTINE

Leaving Jacksonville

Had a great dinner with Mark and Maridee last night at The Brick in Avondale, FL. We took a cab. I had a Kale/Salmon Salad . It was sooooo good!

We left at 8AM on the dot this morning and enjoyed the cruise to St. Augustine. We are staying at  Camachee Cove Marina. There is a 65' bridge right next to us, so after docking, John and I took a brisk walk over it. The wind was blowing like crazy.

Because SA is such a charming city, we will sleep in tomorrow and spend the day sightseeing.

JACKSONVILLE, FL

Spent last night at Fernandina Beach. Walked the cute town and enjoyed an ice cream cone. Gorgeous weather continues. Tonight and for the next 3 nights we are in Jacksonville at the Marina at Ortega Landing, just off the St.John's River. It is a really nice place with lots of shopping and restaurants very close by. We restocked a couple things and had dinner at Panera Bread. Tomorrow, we'll clean the boat inside and out and get caught up on things. Friday, good friends Mark and Maridee, boaters from the Clear Lake area will arrive. Their boat is docked here. Both boats will head south on Saturday .

BRUNSWICK/ST.SIMONS , GA

I am still having problems adding pictures! I'll keep trying!

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and NO FOG! We had a long day with lots of low tide, and low water....but didn't run aground! We're at the Hidden Harbor Marina tonight....nice docks, nice people.

ISLE OF HOPE, GA

We left Hilton Head about 8:30 this morning. We did have some fog to contend with, but could see far enough ahead to continue. After an hour, the sun burned it off, and we had a gorgeous day to cruise. It is amazing how different our days are on the water. The normal day to day activities of home in no way compare to the day to day activities on the water. I had to rethink how to talk on the radio without getting tongue tied.
We arrived at our marina well before low tide. We took a nice walk along the bluff here strolling past the antebellum houses. Since this was a fairly short day, I did a couple loads of laundry. It is always nice when I get the laundry room all to myself and don't have to wait.
I tried to add a photo or two, but it is not cooperating with me :-(

BEST LAID PLANS

We are back to the boat at Windmill Harbour in Hilton Head, SC. We arrived 3 days ago and have been provisioning to leave this morning to start south to the Keys. We got up at the crack o' dawn ready to head out. Well, wouldn't you know there is a down side to the beautiful 80 degree sunny weather we've been enjoying here, and that is the dreaded SEA FOG. We dropped the lines, made it through the lock and sat there for a couple hours waiting for the fog to lift. Just as we turned around and went back to the slip....it cleared up. By this time it was too late to leave. There is a 9.5' tide swing here. Our destination 4 hours away would have been at low tide upon arrival, not to mention having to pass through HELLS GATE ( a notorious location on the ICW) at low tide.

We enjoyed the day taking a walk around the gorgeous area here and are soon off to a movie. Not so bad, after all. We'll do the same drill tomorrow morning and hope it works. As we always say....we don't do Fog or Dark.