Tuesday, May 10, 2011

80°19.333’ W

27°26.988’ N

Fort Pierce City Marina

Fort Pierce, Florida



Leaving Stuart



Skip - Cheri - Bob



We continue to cruise 30 miles a day. The weather is beautiful and continues to be hot, tying or setting new high temperatures most everyday! The ICW is changing as we proceed north. It’s grown in size from a large river with mansions on both sides to a sizeable body of water a mile or two across. There are still lots of large estates but they are separated with what appears from the water as undeveloped wilderness. The channel is well marked but if you drift from the channel the water gets very shallow very fast!



Barb - Cheri - Skip - Bob




Bob & Skip



Cheri and Bob good friends from the Vancouver, Washington drove from Ft. Myers Beach where they were vacationing for a visit.  We did dinner at the marina restaurant with all of our cruising friends then returned to the boat for a couple bottles of wine and while catching up on family news! They are staying at a hotel on Hutchinson Island and will return to the boat in the morning to see us off.



Monday, May 9, 2011

80°15.574’ W

27°12 073’ N

Sunset Bay Marina

Stuart, Florida



Bridge leaving Palm Beach
heading to Stuart



Jupiter Inlet to the Atlantic



Today was slow going due to all of the posted speed restrictions. I personally think that slower speeds are posted in areas where the bigger homes are built! Money does talk!!!



Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse



Hobe Sound



Fast or slow the view was outstanding. At present were 8 miles off of the Intracoastal in a marina that was recommended by other loopers. At first glance it’s a good choice.





The weather continues to be flawless and close to 90 degrees. This marina has floating docks so the tides have no effect on us while in port.



MEGA House



South Jupiter Narrows





Tonight we will dine at the Riverwalk Café which features Oysters from the northeast!



Sailfish Fountain in Stuart



Tomorrow Barb and I will boat to Fort Pierce and join up with our good friends Cheri and Bob from Vancouver, Washington. They have a vacation home on the gulf side of Florida in Fort Myers Beach and will drive across the state to meet us.



Arriving at Sunset Bay Marina



Sunday, May 8, 2011

80°02 403’ W

26°46 828’ N

Cannonsport Marina on Singer Island

Palm Beach Shores, Florida

Happy Mothers Day!



Looking towards the Atlantic Ocean



Today was a fun day! Carl, Ricki, Barb and I rode the water taxi to Peanut Island then walked to President Kennedy’s bunker that was built for him in 1962 during the Cuban missile crises. The Kennedy family had a winter retreat about a mile away. We were told that the bunker could hold thirty people for thirty days.

Peanut Island

Huen and Linda took “Doc” to the local sand bar via their dinghy. Doc loves to swim and chase fish! The rest of the day was spent pool side at the marina.



Kennedy Bunker



Dinner was prepared by Huen and served on Lucky One. I added a couple of bottles of wine and before you could turn around the day was over.

Tomorrow we will move north to Sunset Bay on the St. Lucie River.

Inside the Bunker



President "Skip"



Kennedy Bunker

Beach on Peanut Island

Saturday May 7, 2011

80°02 403’ W

26°46 828’ N

Cannonsport Marina on Singer Island

Palm Beach Shores, Florida

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!



Heading north on ICW from
Delray Beach



Along the ICW



Chalk up another beautiful day of cruising. The real estate with mega yachts at water edge is truly something to see! This is a beautiful harbor with swimming pool and hot tub. We plan to stay for two days and visit Peanut Island where President Kennedy had a bunker constructed.



Mega Yacht with helicopter



Palm Beach area



Lucky One had a piece of shag carpet removed from his port prop. One of the locals at the dock was a diver and took care of the problem in less than an hour. I think he may have picked it up in Dania Beach harbor!



How far??



The tidal current within this harbor makes docking a challenge. Docking isn’t the only problem turning into or getting out of the harbor with lots of weekend boaters and fast moving water on your beam makes for an exciting time.



Ship being loaded in the port
of  Palm Beach



A late dinner at the Sailfish restaurant -.walking distance from the marina was a great finish to a beautiful day.



Sunset in Palm Beach

Peanut Island

Friday, May 6, 2011

80° 03.986’ W

26° 26.745’ N

Delray Harbor Club Marina

Delray Beach, Florida



Leaving Dania Beach



Heading north on the ICW

 

One of the many beidges we
needed opened



Along the ICW



It’s great to be under way again! Quest and Moor $tuff departed the harbor at 8:05 am and pointed our bows north. A few miles north of Dania Beach Marina, Lucky One stuck her bow out of the cut and joined the parade. The weather was overcast and a little windy which cleared up as we proceeded north. We decided to take the slow route on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to view the large homes and Yachts! All I can say is ----- WOW! I never realized that much wealth existed.

 

On the ICW



To celebrate our first day of cruising together Ricki, Carl, Linda, Huen, Barb and I went to the local steak house that was walking distance from the marina. It was a great start to another chapter of our adventure.

 

Along the ICW



Lucky One still has a few minor problems that will get checked out and resolved in Cocoa a few days from now. I will use the time there to have our outboard repaired. I think it had some bad gas and probably needs to get cleaned out.

 

Along the ICW



No one is in a hurry so the pace will be thirty to forty miles a day. When we get to Cocoa we will probably stay a few days and visit the Kenney Space Center. At present we are 143 miles from Cocoa With the delay of the Shuttle launch we will probably get to view the launch, if not from Cocoa ----- somewhere on the coast not far from there!



Ship loading in Port Everglades







Thursday, May 5, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

First and foremost – HAPPY 16^th BIRTHDAY – to our grandson Patrick.

Happy Anniversary Ricki and Carl! They are celebrating their 20^th anniversary today. They took a day cruise to the Bahamas with Ken and Diane. Barb and I declined to go due to my leg issue which is getting better!

Huen and I worked on his boat most of today. All systems are ready to go. We moved his boat out of the Dania Beach Marina at low tide for he could clear the low bridge. By moving him today Quest and Moor $tuff will be able to get out of here earlier tomorrow as were not as tall as his boat. The plan is to join up after departing our marina.

I couldn’t find any one to repair our outboard motor today. Once out of this area I will try again to have it repaired. I was told by locals that that this isn’t the greatest place to have something fixed and should wait until 100 miles north of here!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

Not much to report other than we moved our boat to the other marina to pump out and top off our gas! Come Friday we will get out of here and head north. Barb and I are ready to get moving again.

Our outboard decided not to start! I’ll try to find some one to repair it tomorrow. Other than that little issue every thing is ready to go.

Huen has some last minute things to do tomorrow so will give him a hand.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

A decision has been made to depart at low tide Friday morning! There will be three boats traveling together Moor $tuff, Quest and Lucky One. Considering where we are located, we probably won’t cover many miles the first day. We have also decided to cruise the St. Johns River before departing Florida!

Our quiet and beautiful marina has become a noisy ear cracking place to get away from. The Fort Lauderdale airport is repairing one of its runways and will redirect all air traffic over this marina for the next 65 days! It truly is time to get moving.

Tomorrow I will pump out and fill our tanks with $4.76 a gallon gasoline - ouch!

Monday, May 2, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

Yesterday after I had written the Blog we walked to the end of the park where the marina is located and watched the last few heats of the yearly plywood regatta! Each group is given three sheets of quarter inch plywood to construct their boat from. The day after the boats are constructed and painted, they are raced on a buoyed course. Not all of the boats floated or stayed up right. It was a fun time for the contestants to compete and get wet!

Today was a busy day. Carl drove Ricki, Barb and I to the US Customs and Border Protection office to get our local boaters option registration cards. From there we went to West Marine where we purchased boat supplies for the up coming trip. A little lunch at Lester’s a local diner and the morning was gone.

On our return to the marina our shipment from home via UPS arrived right on time. In addition to general stuff we shipped our aft cockpit carpet and boat drapes that had been cleaned and repaired while at home last week. Everything has now been installed and is looking good.

Huen surprised everyone by cooking a pork shoulder on his grill. Barb had a bag of rolls so dinner was served after happy hour.

Friday is our target day to depart Dania Beach Marina and start north. It now looks like three boats will travel together up the east coast of Florida.

Tomorrow we hope to sit down and have a Captains meeting to plan out the next few weeks.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

We returned to our boat late Friday evening under cloudy skies and occasional light rain but the temp was 75! Our flight was somewhat bumpy for the last hour but on time! Huen picked us up at the airport and drove us to the marina. Our boat was in ship shape but in need soap and water. We no sooner got on the boat before we were invited to Joe and Stephanie’s boat for ribs and chicken. Huen and Ken were also there so a lot of “BS“and catching up was done. The Canadian boats are gone plus a few additional ones we socialized with.

On Saturday Carl and Ricki returned via rental car and Ken’s wife Diane now retired flew in at noon to join the fleet.

Three or possibly four boats will be departing later this week to start moving up the east coast. The Bahamas have been put on hold indefinitely due to a health issue with me! I picked up a serious leg infection the last week we were in Florida and spent a week in the hospital while home. Everything seams to be under control for now but the Doctor wants me to stay in the US close to medical help if needed for a couple of months. The leg has changed a few plans and has my full attention ---- so will follow my doctor’s advice! Other than that ---- life is still VERY, VERY good!

For the two weeks we were home I got out of the house on a limited basis for the last few days. I had great intensions to see a lot of old friends but that didn’t work out! We did get to spend time at home with three of our four children Keith, Sherri, Jill and their families over the Easter holiday. We spent quality time with nine of our twelve Grandkids which was a treat – twelve would have been better! The other three are scattered all cross the country (California, Iowa & South Carolina) at this time in college with Mom and Dad in New Hampshire.

Barb is out grocery shopping with Carl and Huen while I rest the leg! Barb sure has stepped up to the plate the past three weeks and did everything since I was grounded. She’s a great first mate!

Monday, April 4 thru Saturday, April 30, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida



Fort Lauderdale Beach



Looking north along
Fort Lauderdale Beach



We will not be posting again until May 1, 2011. On our return to the boat the blog will again be posted daily. Thanks for following our boating adventure.

Barb and Skip

On Moor$tuff

Sunday, April 3, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

The weather continues to be unseasonably hot! This part of the state could use some rain as the vegetation is turning brown.

Barb and I went shopping for blinds for the boat without any luck. Monday we will try to purchase them at a different store or possibly get what we now have repaired! The new canvas hasn’t been delivered but should be sometime this week.

Carl and I helped Huen move his old boat for a pump out before turning his boat over to a broker to sell it. Later in the evening, he put together a small dinner party and served stone crab claws with drawn butter. Another great finish to a perfect day.

I think everyone is getting restless sitting at a dock and wants to get underway again. There are a few more boats coming to this harbor which will make our numbers grow. I’m still not sure where we are headed from here but I’m sure we will get out of here the first of May!

Thursday, Friday & Saturday, March 31 thru April 2, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida







BOB



The past couple of days have been spent helping Huen transfer and sort stuff from his old boat to his new boat. In the process we identified and installed most of the canvas on the new boat. As with any boat there are a few things that need tweaking! I think the boat is at the point where a good scrub down will set her apart from the rest!

Ken is heading home for a week to help with the house before Diane retires at the end of the month. Everyone will miss “BOB” his 170 pound Great Dane.

Barb and I are thinking about purchasing new sun blocking shades for our boat. As much as we love the sunshine it can make your life miserably hot and uncomfortable unless you can remove yourself during certain periods of the day!

Tuesday & Wednesday, March 29 & 30, 2011

80° 06.764’ W

26° 03.393’ N

The Dania Beach Marina

Dania Beach, Florida

Tuesday was hot and muggy with an occasional rain drop or two!

Not much is going on in the marina today. I did complete the installation of the traducer and serviced the AC unit that is getting a good work out!

Wednesday A.M. – I was having coffee when the canvas man started moving his tools and ladders on the boat! When I heard the noise I thought I was being invaded by Raccoons that are getting on boats and tearing them up in this marina. I was surprised as I was pleased that they are starting a week early to fabricate the new canvas. Alvin installed a track on the radar arch and a few snaps on the transom to hold it in place. He then made a pattern of plastic sheeting and headed for the canvas shop to construct the final product. As he left he said that we will probably see him in a few days or later today!?!

Bruce and Chris called this AM. They returned from the Bahamas yesterday. After talking to them I think Barb and I need to reconsider our trip to the islands. The size of our boat has limitations when traveling to countries that don’t have facilities that are available in Canada and the USA. Among all of the short comings the cost of fuel has passed $6.00 a gallon and is climbing! Considering what we burn per mile it’s getting a little out of hand! It’s still a once in a lifetime opportunity so we’ll probably still go!

This afternoon Barb and I were picked up by Ann and Ralph for dinner at their home in Fort Lauderdale Beach. We first met them in 2009 at the flight of eight locks on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We had an opportunity to meet many of their friends and neighbors at their daily happy hour on their dock. Ralph prepared a wonderful meal while Ann brought us up to date with stories of all of their adventures. The more time we spend at friends homes in the sunshine belt the more I wonder why I live in snow country. (It’s our kids and grandkids!)