3 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles - ugh more like - Buses, MetroMovers and Bikes

Well, we spent 2 weeks soaking up everything that was Key West!  We had our twin nieces and their husbands join us (one the husband's parents were there too so we had a great crowd). 

We found some great restaurants, some fabulous entertainment (that's really not at all difficult in Key West), enjoyed snorkeling ,paddle boarding and even went deep sea fishing (no, we didn't catch anything but a great sunset)! By the time, we left we were "locals".  MaryAnn met some great and interesting people every time she stepped out in front of the Library where we went to get some "real" work done!  Apparently she looked hungry because they all offered her food (she says it's good to be
her)!!!

We loved Key West but time had come to head out.  We headed back east and then north.  We caught a fish on the way and stopped to do some snorkeling in Key Largo area.  The reefs are definitely suffering.  We still saw a lot of interesting marine life (including turtles) but the actual reefs look like someone dropped a bomb on them.  It was very sad especially compared to what we'd seen when we first started coming to this area nearly 30 years ago.



We sailed into Miami and decided to take a day to explore as cruisers!  We've been there many times by car and sailed through several times but never sailed and stopped.  We dropped the dinghy and motored into Crandon Park Marina, bought a day pass for the dinghy dock and hopped onto the Metro Bus.  From there we hopped onto the Metro Mover (had to transfer to another Metro Mover) and then another Metro Bus! MaryAnn always says that everyone should have their own engineer!  Thankfully, ours was able to navigate not only on the sea but the very busy transit system schedules in Miami.

 Finally, we were on South Beach!!!!  We found a great little Cuban restaurant for lunch and rented some bikes (apparently 2 weeks of constant biking in Key West wasn't enough).  We rode the boardwalk and the pier and just enjoyed watching people!  Dropping the bikes off, we reversed the order of our bus and mover transfers and dinghied back home in time for a gorgeous sunset!  
















We pulled up anchor the next morning and two great days of sailing, stopping again for the night in West Palm Beach and again in Ft. Pierce.  Because it was Saturday when we arrived in Ft. Pierce, we dropped the dinghy and went in to one of our favorite farmer's markets and loaded up with produce and amazing cheeses.  We also had to check out the new brewery that wasn't yet open last time we were in town!  Yummy too!

We then motored to Sebastian (very narrow channel from Ft. Pierce to Sebastian)  and were able to have a perfect sail from there back into Cocoa Village Marina.  We're in Cocoa for about a month to get some boat repairs done, some travel taken care of and even a dental appointment!  Then we're planning to head north up the east coast of the US and see what happens!

Until next post!

2 - Key West

We stayed in West Palm Beach for about 4 days until the wind calmed (I know you'd think a sailboat would want wind but the dang Coast Guard posted a small craft advisory so we thought we'd listen) and then clocked around the northeast (it had been blowing really hard from the south - the exact direction we wanted to go) and took off !!!  A week and a day and we were finally in the ocean and sailing!  It was completely wonderful! 

We sailed into Miami to drop anchor for the first night. 

The next morning, we decided to go outside the channel (fought the gulf stream some but the water was so pretty it was worth it) and we only made Rodrigues Key the second night!  Then onto Marathon where we ran into friends we knew we were meeting in Key West but had no idea we'd meet them on the way (small world).   Got a great picture of our girl as we were heading back home from dinner!!

 

 

Pulled up anchor again (they were predicting storms in that area for the weekend so we decided to get out) and had to motor sail most of the day to get into Key West (apparently the wind wore itself out the previous weekend).  We had 3 dolphins follow us for a short while and we even saw a hammerhead shark.

Pulled into Key West early afternoon checked in, walked to town and were able to buy a couple of beach cruiser bikes to use for the couple of weeks we planned to stay! 

Spent the next few days exploring and taking in all that is Key West!  We cheered on the participants of the Drag Racing on Duval and made great use of our new transportation!

So far, we love it!  Always something to do (or just relax on the boat), weather has been perfect and we've met some great people! 
 
Until next post!

1 - Well...They Where Right

WELL...THEY WHERE RIGHT.

You know how "they" always say one thing or another.  We have always heard "you will never be ready just go".  On Monday April 9, 2018 at 9:30 am (per our astrologer - Betty Flowe) we untied the lines and left the dock heading south towards Key West or Bust.  We have been sitting at the dock for the past several months waiting on our canvas contractor to complete their work.  While the work is looking good they are only about half complete.  But we decided it was adequate for this little trip down and back up the coast.  We told them we would be back in four to six weeks and they could complete the project then.  

We spent our first night and two days anchored out in the Sebastian Inlet park area.  We used our new little "too hot Sue" dingy engine to make a run to the park.  The area was nice and secluded.  The weather was great.  A small storm blew in with just enough rain to allow us to clean and wipe down the boat.

We then pulled up anchor and proceeded to Ft. Pierce Inlet.  We spent one day and one night anchored up behind Inlet Island.  We had planned to proceed south to Lake Worth Inlet but the weather and wind did not cooperate.  So we ended up motoring down the ICW to North Palm Beach.  During this motoring run the canvas guys called and wanted to let me know they would be at the boat this afternoon to work again on the canvas.  We told them they could, but we would most likely be in Palm Beach so they better gas up the van for the trip.
 
We spent one night in the North Palm Beach Area and made a dingy trip to Munion Island.  The next morning Gary had a client meeting.  So, we took the dinghy into shore to dropped Gary off at the Publix so that his client could pick him up.  He looked a little funny wearing board shorts to a board meeting but it worked.  We thought it was pretty cool that we could make this work out.

We pulled up anchor again and headed south to Lake Worth and anchored between Peanut Island and downtown West Palm Beach.  Once anchored and settled, we launched "too hot Sue" (MaryAnn is still calling the dingy "What He Gets" but we'll work that out later) for a run to downtown West Palm Beach to rent some bicycles, walk around town (Green Market Day) and download some audio books via the free internet at Duffy's Sports Bar.  We got to walk around town but once we got in Duffy's and got our free internet and buy one get one beer, we decided to skip the bike rentals until another time.

We are currently chilling at anchor waiting on a weather window to leave Lake Worth and sail South. Looks like Tuesday morning we will head out the inlet and sail South.  In the meantime, we will enjoy the wonderful "breeze" and go back to downtown to rent bikes and explore.

Until next post!