Provo Keeping Hydrated!
Leaving Abacos was bittersweet; who wouldn’t miss all the brightly colored buildings, cool, clear water and smiling faces. We visited many snorkel spots, saw a few Junkanoo’s and tasted several of the local restaurant’s flavors.
As we cruise along the Intracoastal, someone combing to water for sea life almost always occupies the dolphin rider seat. I counted 12 dolphins, a sea turtle, a cool, little snake and a family of 3 rays. The anchorage in New Smyrna Beach is fun because there is a great park that we can kick the soccer ball around and watch the local fisherman throw cast nets. We happen to know New Smyrna very well and were very hungry so we made our way down US1 in search of Pizza and Dairy Queen. We turned the phone back on and called our family and friends to let them know we were back in town. The next day we would take a short ride up to Daytona Beach where we would catch up with them.Met some friends at the park and chilled out.
When we entered the Abaco Islands our goal was to get further down the chain of Islands than we had the last time we visited 3 years ago. So we pushed through to get down to Little Harbor and Hopetown. We faced head winds the whole way down but our sailing back up the chain was perfect with the wind behind us, we motored very little.
A perfect weather forecast for our departure would have let us sail straight from Allan’s-Pensacola to St. Augustine but the weather God’s wouldn’t have it. The wind died down so we headed straight across the mirror-like stream to Ft. Pierce.
Man of War Cay
FT.PIERCE – VERO BEACH
Roughly 24 hours later, we dropped the hook just south of the North Ft. Pierce Highway Bridge at 2 am. Sleep came easy. The next morning we motored up to Vero Beach, a short day, intending to take full advantage of some shore time. Vero Beach’s City Marina offers mooring balls for just $13 a night. After we picked up our ball we noticed our friends Larry and Linda on Enchantress were our neighbors. They have a lounge with a courtesy telephone for clearing into customs. After a shower, we drove the dink over to an awesome little restaurant that serves a killer burger. When walking the docks we caught site of a sea otter, he was whipping his tail around and at first we thought it might have been a snake. The lounge provided such a great relief from the heat that we stayed inside and watched a movie on the tv.
TITUSVILLE
Next morning we caught the tide right at about 6am and rode it all the way to Titusville which is a really great day at a whopping 73 miles. At Titusville, we can use the dinghy dock at the marina. They only ask that you come into the office and say, ” Hello.” We always just ask if it’s okay to tie up in case the rules may have changed. Just a short walk down the road is Westland Marine, a boatyard we like to walk around in and look at boats. Just down from that is a great park for the miniature human to run off some of that pent up energy. We make our way across the major intersection and order a Pizza at Papa John’s, grab some cold beverages at the 7-11 and enjoy our meal in the park.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH
Daytona – St. Augustine
- Our Gift from the Anchorage in St. Augustine
When we sold our 424 Pearson, we remained good friends with the buyer. Our friend Wilfreid drove from Georgia to meet with us in St. Augustine, and spent the night sampling beers from the A1A Ale House and Micro brewery, and eating steak like kings, and queens! He spent the night with us, God love him. That morning we were heading back to Daytona. When I assumed my position on the bow to yank the anchor, I noticed it was particularly difficult to hoist. Somehow after jumping with all my weight on the lever we pulled up an ugly mess of tangled rebarb, no doubt leftovers from the old bridge. With a bit of maneuvering and a lot of prayer we were able to free ourselves and move along down river.
We stayed just long enough to say goodbye to our old homeland, but we were very excited to head back to Miami. We were not, however, excited about motoring down the Intracoastal where one has to constantly sit at the wheel and keep it in the ditch between the reds and greens. We decided to make short trips and make our stops as fun as possible.
Nite 1 – New Smryna
Nite 2 – Titusville
After our last stop in Titusville, we were definitely in the mood for more Papa John’s. So we had a repeat of that. But the best part was, we actually got to get on one of the boats in the yard that was for sale, quenching our look at boat thirsts. 7-11 contributed some complimentary reading material and we stuffed our bag full of Boat Trader, RV Trader, Cycle Trader etc.
Nite 3 – Cocoa/Merritt Island
The last time we stopped here, we were just coming back form our first shake-down with the 424 Pearson. GR ran to Publix and bought us an ice cream cake and we devoured it as we watched some shuttle launch. This time our hearts were set on Olive Garden. Dropped the hook right at 12 noon and huffed it into town for All You Can Eat Soup, Salad & Breadsticks! Thoroughly stuffed, it was time for a walk around Cocoa Village. They had one of those parks where water shoots up from the ground, it was swarming with kids, Gia jumped right in. Not long after we reached the cobblestone streets, we heard a few loud sounds like if someone were to go on a shooting spree. Some shopkeepers rushed out and looked frantically at each other and than to us asking, ” What was that?!” Thick, black smoke began to rise up from behind the buildings. The entire block was immediately out of power, thus ruling out all options for us to enjoy a beer. We stayed around to watch the fire trucks arrive and do nothing but watch the blaze engulf a small SUV, slowly they starting to push all the gawkers away. We decided there was nothing more to see. Later that night, we walked in to town again and enjoyed Free Wifi with our purchase from Denny’s and visited Publix for goodies from the next night’s bonfire.
Nite 3 – Melbourne
Melbourne Island is just a small spit of land where the locals go to cool off in the muddy brown water. The fact that we can have a bonfire is makes up for the fact that the water is muddy brown. We hit the shore and flipped the dinghy over to scrub off the reef that had grown on it in such a short time. That brought some odd looks. The boat next to us had twin 7 year old girls who quickly made Gia their friend, so we invited them to stay for our piratical bonfire, complete with smores. They couldn’t say no.
Nite 4 – Ft. Pierce
Another scorcher of a day left us reading motionless in the cockpit as we navigated further south. Vero would have been our stop today but we made pretty good time and decided to get to Ft. Pierce. Here we could get offshore first thing in the morning and try to head for Lake Worth. When it’s only been a few days since your last shower passing one up doesn’t leave you feeling like a kid who just watched the last piece of cake be eaten. I just kept thinking ahead to Miami, once we got there we would be home, and it’s not to stop roaming for a little while. In Ft. Pierce we walked around Riverside Boatyard, and you guessed it, looked at boats. Then met Gram Kergedes and gave her plenty of hugs and kisses, hopefully enough to last untill the next time we see her.
Nite 5 – Lake Worth
The tide rips out of Ft. Pierce inlet at a whopping 2.5 knots, we have been on the other end of that tide so riding it out at 5 am was a relief. We were getting effects from the Gulf Stream at just about 3 miles offshore. So we motored along against the current but at least we had the Autopilot going and had the freedom to sit on deck under the shade of the sails. We were trolling the waters and put our requests in for a tuna. We thought about just doing an overnight to get to Miami the following day. Just outside of Lake Worth inlet at about 4 pm we heard the most amazing sound! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING! Fish on! GR reeled in in as Gia and I squeeld in delight! It was a tuna. With no ice aboard we decided to head into port to cook ourselves a fab dinner. We could just wake up early and head out again. So that is just what we did. Lake Worth is a really easy inlet to get in and out of, short and sweet, not too many confusing lights. Dropped the hook turned on the AC, and pan seared some tuna in sesame oil then tossed that in sesame seeds and dipped that in soy and wasabi! Now that is a little bit of heaven!
Nite 6 – Ft. Lauderdale All day you can hear the Coast Guard come on the VHF with messages about sinking vessels or vessels on fire but it’s not every day you hear the Navy come on and give out a message to steer clear of their operations. We heard the Navy would be doing some kind of towing operations involving a Navy helicopter from Port Everglades’s inlet (Ft. Lauderdale) to Haulover inlet. It was hot, and we didn’t feel like dodging any flying objects so we put in to Las Olas mooring field for the night. We have friends in Ft. Lauderdale so we called them up and made plans to meet with them for dinner. When we went to check in at marina, we were told that due to summer rates it would be cheaper for us to tie up to the dock. $28 to stay in a slip, that’s only 70 cents a foot, whereas all the marinas from St. Augustine south were no less that $1.50 per foot. Sweet, that was like hearing coach was booked and we would have to sit in first class! So into the slip we went, with the AC blasting we hopped off the boat to enjoy our night with friends. After an excellent night’s sleep we decided to take full advantage of being in Ft. Lauderdale and make a trip to Bluewater Books to drool over the cruising and travel guides, globes and charts. Public transportation in Ft. Lauderdale was neither as convenient as Miami nor as cheap. With all the fresh water we could stand at the dock we took all the chain out of the locker and stretched it out on the dock for a good scrubbing. Anchoring in the Intracoastal leaves tons of mud on the chain, ick. Scrubbed the boat from top to bottom and said farewell to the dock life.
Nite 7 – MiamiWe pulled into Diner Key Marina mid-afternoon, and our friends in the surrounding boats and in the marina office greeted us. We were able to pick our same mooring ball. Not much has changed since we left. So the next night we picked back up right where we left off, with a night a The Sandbar for wings, beer and trivia!
It’s good to be home. The trip was a whole lot of fun. It was great to see all our family and friends. We love you all!
(Home Sweet Hell on Water!)
With Gia visiting her Grandparents we made our way up to St. Augustine. We had heard that moorings were going to be put in and we had a few friends to visit there. Although we have been there several times it seems there is always something new to experience there. We had a big list of things to look for at Sailor’s Exchange, although we found nothing there, it is still fun to look. A new restaurant called Madre’s offer cheap beer and even cheaper burritos that were very tasty. We scoured the area in search of a friend we never found, Chris if you read this get in touch! Singer and songwriter, Beau Duggan, another friend of ours we met in Marathon introduced us to the most incredibly healthy and delicious burritos ever. The place is called Stir-it-Up on the beachside, a very laid-back surfer type atmosphere, boasting lot of avocados and hummus on whole-wheat wraps and pitas.
