Staying put

Yes, that is right, we are staying in Florida. Many reasons:  weather squalls keep popping up, waves are okay to cross, but then get higher if we try to leave West End on Grand Bahama to go to the Abacos,  prices at most all marinas went up substantially this month so we would be anchoring in iffy weather and dinghying Ollie to shore, winds remain coming from the East right on our nose, we do not have a buddy boat to go with anymore and we only have a month before hurricane season begins and we would not like to be stuck there. We found out rates went up due to fishing season and tournaments occurring. Plus , you have to pay $300  to get into the Bahamas and I want my money's worth being Dutch. Luckily, we traveled often to Caribbean islands and don't feel like this is our only chance. So, we will stay put,  not feel rushed to get somewhere or try to push it. That is when "stuff" happens. If the dog remains healthy, we can try again next year when we would have more time. Soon, we will head north to look for places to spend time this summer, hopefully safe from hurricanes. We also would like to check out the west coast of Florida even though we are told it is shallow.

Ft. Lauderdale has been hot and humid. We are in a summer weather pattern. We get storm cells popping up. Oliver takes his long walk at night when the sun goes down. Luckily we are plugged in at a dock running the air conditioner. There was the Tortugas festival here last weekend at the beach. We could hear Kenny Cheasney from the boat. Not sure what it was all about, but between rain, it was 2 days of concerts. This weekend is an air festival. We saw some planes practicing today. 

Anyway, that is our little update. Oliver is glad we are not traveling in rough seas for 10-12 hours. Our buddy boats that went had 3-5 footers on the nose with waves breaking over the bow for 13-14 hours. Yuck! They love it there now. Oliver prefers watching the cats, chasing little lizards and being lazy. We even got to watch the Master's tournament as we had local TV channels here. Now, with the Boston Marathon incident, we are praying for all those affected. 

Oliver couldn't find the cats

our view down the river

The 5 airplanes practicing sky writing. 

Marathon to Ft. Lauderdale

We have come full circle. We are waiting in Ft. Lauderdale at Bruno's for a weather window to go the Bahamas or head North for the summer. Before we left Marathon, we went to Key West to get our Local Boater Option cards which means with a phone call we can get back in the US in certain parts of Florida. They invited Oliver right in the customs and immigration offices. They fingerprinted Dale and I and took our boat info and passports.They teased about taking Oliver's paw prints to make sure he wasn't a felon. Also as many of you know, we were going to wait until next year for the Bahamas but Oliver has been doing so well and the vet in Marathon checked twice for pericardial effusion and did not see any fluid. The weather is suppose to be calmer this time of year too.

Our trip from Marathon on Easter was exciting. We had 2-4 foot seas, lots of wind and a rollicking ride about 50 miles to an anchorage by Rodriquez key. We were pretty heeled over and Oliver was not happy until about noon when he found a good place to lay without crashing. We keep him in the cockpit as things below can fall if a large wave hits us funny. It has happened before, so we do not chance it. You think you store stuff away, but something always gets missed by me.

Anyway, we anchored there and got Oliver ashore. It was a windy night , but OK. The next day, April 1, we headed up to No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne by Miami, another 47 miles. We were about 25-30 miles north and the sky looked a touch dark to the north. The iPhone did not show much, but Dale turned on this weather program, Sirius, on our chart plotter. It showed a real strong cell hitting the Miami area. We talked with our buddy boats and tried to be patient and wait it out. It was April Fool's Day, so of course the storm grew and grew and a tail came south, right at us. We all turned south and motored as fast as we could south. The other boats are bigger, with bigger engines, so we were behind, trying our best to outrun the storm. We did and regrouped at Rodriquez Key. With a dog needing to go to shore the only other place to anchor would not have worked because of mangroves, plus we would have been hit by the storm had we stayed farther North. We got dinner at the Mandalay grill that night and then went to bed. Age is catching up with us.

The 2nd we headed North again and made it to No Name Harbor. While there, we did some wash, Brian and Judy got on bikes and went shopping bringing us back bananas and salad, Judy and I walked to the lighthouse and the beach, lots of dog walks between those storms which persisted on and off for a few days and watching boats crash into each other, or nearly as anchors dragged during high winds. We dragged one night during a storm and had to reset the anchor 3 times. We found our anchor had hooked on to a submerged dock ladder, so our hold was not good when the winds picked up. Sweet Escape went to a larger anchorage as they were by a large ketch who put out so much chain, no one else could anchor near him as he swung around. They also were dragging as well as most other boats. Most boaters play it safe.

Wednesday, dolphins came to visit and put on quite a show. They swam around our boat and even flipped there tail flippers on their backs at Oliver. He was ecstatic, running around the boat following them and barking. Many tourists took pictures of us and the dolphins. I was watching that Ollie would not jump in so I could not take pictures, but Dale grabbed a camera and tried.  Thursday, we had more storms and the weekend is a zoo. All the locals in 80 foot to 8 foot boats come here to party. They squeeze between boats at anchor trying to get in, take up all the wall space to get ashore with Ollie and party like most 20-30 year olds do. The music choice is not my taste, but they seem to enjoy dancing and yelling at each other over the music. Many boats have children which will all be hearing impaired as adults.

So we sat in No Name Harbor for almost a week waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  We were buddied up with our friends from Wisconsin, Brian and Judy on Sweet Escape and new friends Ron and Dee on Ursa Minor that also wanted to do a spring crossing of the Gulfstream. The Gulfstream is like a 2-3 knot current that is 20-30 miles wide that you have to cross between Florida and the  Bahamas. It runs north, so you do not want to cross when the wind is opposed to the current or you get big waves and lumpy seas. From what we have studied, you want a slow moving high pressure with winds more southerly, but not too strong or you get big waves. So, the prudent thing for us newbies is to wait and watch. Unfortunately hurricane season begins in June and we don't want to delay too much longer.After much discussion, we decided to go to Ft. Lauderdale and our buddy boats left at 10:00 Monday night for the crossing. We had issues with crossing in rough seas at night, the weather not being great for the the end of week when we would transit to the Abacos area and anchor out plus we have a slower and smaller boat. We are glad we made the decision to wait as we had the biggest  2-4 footers and rolly seas just between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. It was uncomfortable for 5 hours let alone 10. We did hear the other boats made it but it was very tiring and rough. Dale and I have been caught in enough junk to play it safe now.

Anyway, that is some of our excitement. All is calm here. Oliver thinks he is at his second home.  I will let you all know where we end up. I stay in daily contact with my sister Mary. Love to all.

Oliver looking for dolphins in Marathon to say good by

Last look at the Marathon Viking

Oliver at the Customs office

Sweet Escape heeling over on the passage to Rodriquez Key.

Radar on nav station that made us decide to turn around. Black dot south of storm is our boat. 

Storm we ran from. This is Sweet Escape. 

Oliver sites land, thank goodness!

Iguana at No Name Harbor

Lighthouse at Florida Channel

Lighthouse keeper house. 

No Name on the weekend. Loco as they would say. 

Ron and Susan on Mandate took this of us leaving Marathon. 

My Christmas cactus finally bloomed, a little late. Oh well. 

Here are a few pictures of the dolphins hanging around Oliver and our boat.

Marathon part 2

We continue to be out on a mooring ball overlooking the Boot Key Harbor. I have mastered the dinghy now, so I can go shore for yoga, shopping or time with friends. Even the dog and I solo in as some friends of ours call it.

We had a treat in the form of my sister Mary coming for a visit last week. We rented a car and picked her up at the Miami airport. What a zoo! We did get her safely back to the boat the night of February 24. Her luggage even fit in the dinghy okay with all of us. She is a former sailor, so she knew how to pack. We had a great visit and the weather for the most part cooperated, 80s and sun until the last couple of days. The cold front blew in after she left luckily. We went shopping, to Key West for a day,shopping around here, to Sombrero beach and out for soft shelled crab for her. The last night we grilled lobster and NY strips on board with some Pinot Noir (Dale of course stuck to his Miller Lite).  In Key West we ate at Margaritaville, but no Jimmy Buffet sightings. We also took a trolley tour because we had to get from the parking garage to Duval street. It was nice in that we did not have to try to master the crazy traffic there. We saw the Hemingway house, Truman annex and the southernmost point.  Many days the dolphins made an appearance by the boat and once in the dinghy to fascinate us. They never get old. Mary is now back in the cold North and just got a promotion. Our drive back to the boat after dropping her off was a nightmare. There is one road through the keys. If there is an accident, well you can imagine. We sat on the Florida Highway 1 parking lot for an hour and a half. Ollie was not happy as he had not had dinner. Luckily in Homestead we had stopped for a potty break for him. He was a crazy dog with glee at having Mary visit. I would go so far as to say obnoxious.

 Now we are all back to normal. Oliver spends his time on dolphin patrol, pelican patrol, walking in the park, greeting other dogs and people, sleeping and eating. He has a chihuahua friend named Gator. They run to each other like long lost friends. Talk about the odd couple. Oliver seems to be ok yet. Next week he has shots due, so we go to the vet here. Say doggy prayers. 

Dale works on the boat, rides the bike to Home Depot or the store and keeps up with life on his laptop. I ride the bike for errands, do laundry early as there are 8 machines for over 200 boats and joined Yoga last week. They have a book swap too which keeps me happy. Our friends, Laura and Tom, came back from the Bahamas and are staying here awhile, so Laura and I went to breakfast at the Stuffed Pig. They have great omelets. It was nice to catch up. We also met friends from Wisconsin, Judy and Brian and from Pennsylvania, Victor and Kathy for a happy hour on Wednesday. You do meet some really nice people.

We had a cold front come in and temperatures went into the 50s at night and 60s during the day. I hate to say, we turned into pansy Florida people and donned the fleeces and jackets. I even wore a hat one night to dinghy Ollie ashore. He loved the cool temps. He has a little 18 year old Schnauzer friend that had a coat on!   The Saturday night concert at the Tiki Hut was even cancelled. It is trying to warm up, maybe 70's.

We aren't sure of our plans, but plan to stay here for March. We will keep you posted. Love to all!

on dolphin patrol

Margaritaville

Mary at Keys Fisheries for soft shelled crab

Oldest school in Key West for my teacher friends

palm tree within a tree in Key West

Original Sloppy Joes, not the tourist one

Chickens in Key West, forgot about those in the years since we had been there. 

Key West house

Manatees at the water hose in Marathon, we do not use it

Oliver still looking for dolphins

another pretty sunset

Oliver at Sombrero Beach. He had a bath last week, oh well!

We are in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, FL

With the Okay from the vet, we started our journey south again. We did not know if we wanted to spend more time in the Biscayne Bay or stop there on the way North in the Spring. Such dilemmas! We decided to keep heading south and will visit other places in the Spring.
We left Ft Lauderdale February 4 , got the engine full of diesel and headed to the Miami area. We went out Port Everglades for 2 reasons; we wanted to sail and there is a bridge in Miami we might scrap as it is only at 55 feet. Being out in the ocean with the sails full out and winds in the right direction we reached Miami area, the Biscayne Bay in no time. We came in the Florida Channel.  We decided to anchor at a place called. "No Name Harbor". It is in the Bill Baggs State Park, perfect for walking a dog. You pay to anchor there on the honor system. From what we could tell, many people don't leave the boats to do this, but we are always the ones that follow rules. It was beautiful and had great walking paths.

Boats anchored at No Name Harbor

Stiltsville outside the harbor. Houses , now condemned. Who had this crazy thought?

Oliver looking for our friendly manatee

Florida Channel lighthouse

Sunset at the harbor. 

The next day we left knowing we would return to head about 50 miles south to an anchorage. The winds had picked up and there were 2-3 footers, but we sailed fast and furious to Rodriquez Key with the east/southeast winds. More wind throughout the day made for a bumpy anchorage. To get the dog ashore we had to travel about a mile or so in the dinghy with the waves hitting us from the side. Not pleasant. Oliver , as usual was hanging out the side until a good wave hit him and then he stood in the dinghy . In the dark, before bed, it was even more exciting. We ended up with dinner at the restaurant there and then had a good night's sleep.

looking at Key Largo where we had to dinghy Oliver, long ride

another gorgeous sunset.

We left early as it was another 45 miles to go. It was a windy, sunny day, so we had another great sail. We were  in Hawk Channel which protects you from the worst of the ocean waves by a reef. so even though the waves outside the channel were high, we only had 2-3 footers again. We had to anchor out in the harbor, report to the harbormaster's office and we were put on a waiting list for a mooring ball. We were number 6, so we figured it may take a couple days as weather was rough for people headed out. Well, we were lucky and got a mooring the next day. So we are here, pretty far out in a mooring field of 266 balls, but secure in the winds without worrying about an anchor dragging. 
Oliver loves it here as we had a visit from a dolphin and manatee. The dolphins put on a show a first day here, jumping, splashing and swimming around the boats. Oliver was in heaven. His tail was wagging and he barked in approval. We also see beautiful ospreys and egrets on the mangrove area across from us. We plan to stay here a month. The town is a little scruffy, but it has 2 grocery stores, Home Depot, West Marine, Walgreens, a big park for Oliver and some tourist shops and restaurants. Saturday nights there is entertainment at the tiki hut,.Everyday there is entertainment watching the boater's dinghy by, some standing, some sitting, some sideways,  and a couple that both stand. Dale is working on batteries, inverters, etc., I cleaned and shopped and Oliver visits, sleeps, walks and watches for his dolphin friend. So far, so good with the heart issues. We have a vet on call here, so keep praying. Everyone gets around on bikes or by walking. 
Many people dinghy by us and say hello to Oliver. He is a popular guy! We do have to do laundry soon, but that can wait a couple more days. 
We did get to see that basketball game this week against a maize colored team, which we enjoyed!

entering Boot Key Harbor

Looking at the dolphin

Dolphin spotted

Another dolphin spotted

Jumping dolphin in front of this sailboat, sorry hard to see, Ollie loved it.

one night

another night

our row of boats moored, we are on the end of S row. 

Oliver enjoying the sunset

contemplating life

this is an interesting dinghy, it also sails. 

one more sunset, every night is a treat. 

Oliver continues his quest for dolphin, pelican or manatee sightings.