February 24... second day of summer!

February 24, 2015

It is very muggy this morning. The humidity level is 92% and the windows are all steamed up outside. We didn’t drop the screens last night so the cockpit cushions are all wet, but the sun will fix that shortly.

I talked to Liz last night and she told me that that it had warmed up to about -20 from -35. I can’t imagine what y’all are going through right now.  I don’t ever want to experience that again, and Thunder Bay must be even worse! But if it makes you feel better, we are experiencing nasty little no-see-ums. So who cares, right?

There are lots of little geckos here. We might have to capture one and keep it on the boat to eat the flies. The birds here are very noisy. We can hear them even when the motor is running.

This morning the river is like glass. It’s 7:15 am and already the sun is hot. Two boats left and a stupid sport-fisher just ran up river and rocked everybody in the anchorage, so we’re all awake and probably mopping up coffee.  One little cabin cruiser was rocking so badly I thought the old man was going overboard. Then when he left, he did the same thing...pushed it up and sent waves back through the anchorage. I think the heat fries the common sense brain cells. And this is a manatee zone...no wake/slow speed?!?

C-Soul is way ahead of us in North Palm Beach, but we didn’t want to pass up this opportunity to get into the water. We will catch up!

We are heading over to the beach again to catch some rays and bug bites. Then decide how far we will go today. Might even do some housekeeping...or not!  It’s supposed to rain on Fri-Sat with t-storms so I could save the inside stuff until then.

So three hours of swimming, sunning, shelling (walking looking at the ground) and we came back to the boat when the sky clouded over. We had lunch and pulled up the anchor. Sigh. That was a great place!

We ambled our way ten miles down river this afternoon. Couldn’t find anything close to as nice as the ocean beach, but we are in a manatee anchorage, so maybe they’ll come by and have their pictures taken. It is fairly calm at night... not too many idiots out after dark. We are anchored due east of the ranger station in John Dickinson National Park. (That’s for Sue who likes geography lessons!) Tomorrow we are going to North Lake Worth to an anchorage to meet up with Joseph. He has a truck and can take us for stuff if we need to go get anything, then its south to Miami so we can head across the Stream.  Hope to catch up to C-Soul soon.  For now, supper and bed...boy, swimming takes a lot of energy when you’re not used to it.  Here’s today’ pics.

Checking out the morning surf

Leaving the morning anchorage

You don't see this on streets and trips

This guy was the anchorage guardian

retrieving a shoe!

This is a manatee!

I wonder if shows on the street view from google earth

Pretty boat... bad driver

You can't see me

You talkin' t'me?

Way down there in the anchorage

First day of summer Feb 23

February 23, 2015

OMG!  We left Meridian Maine and headed back out to the ICW. We didn’t leave until afternoon because we were waiting for Jon and Joyce to leave and then we tried to get our internet expanded to cover longer... complicated process.

We went as far as “Lake Peck” which is barely a widening in the river at Mile 992 in the ICW, but Joyce and Job recommended it as a stop. There are 18 boats anchored here and across the river is a marina. It is Hobe Sound and Jupiter Island is beside us. It is a wildlife refuge and protected area.

OK, you might want to stop reading now. We went swimming in the ocean today. It was crazy warm! We anchored off the channel as Jon suggested and dinghied to shore. We walked over the dunes and went straight into the ocean. The water was warmer than the ICW, which is only 19C degrees. It was amazing! W were over there for two hours! We found turtle egg shells, shells obviously, kelp, and lots of other stuff. The sand was warm and rough... massage and pedicure all at once. And free!!

If tomorrow turns out to be as beautiful as today was, we will go back and lie in the sun for a couple of hours before heading further south.

We sat on the deck and watched the sunset, and now we will have dinner, rinse off the salt in the cockpit when the lights are out and then head for bed, after I talk to Liz.

So we think we have extended our time with Verizon but this has been very difficult to organize so we aren’t sure if it will still work. Keep checking to see if we are still online!

Anyway, here are some pics from today’s adventure.

C-Soul leaving without us!

Joyce securing the dinghy

Red Griffon II heading north

Pretty shore birds

Leaving Meridian Marina

Needs no words!!!

Awesome day!

Anchorage

Tonight's sunset

February 23

February 23

Today we leave Meridian Marina and Palm City to head down to Miami and then head out. Our Verizon hotspot cycle ends today as well, so the other option for us is to go to marinas or MacDonald’s  to access internet. So this will be the last posting for awhile. But I will post before we cross the Stream and when we get to the Bahamas if I can’t post, I will call Liz and she can post on my Facebook page. This assumes that we can’t get the Verizon re-booted.

We spent the last two days with Jon and Joyce and catching up on Thunder Bay friends and places to go and thing to see on our way over to the Bahamas. Gail’s friend Mary, lent us Mark and her car so we could all go get some last minute groceries and supplies.

We will fill the water tanks and say good bye to Tim and his staff and head out around 10 am. We will post as often as possible. Ttyl

February 19-20

February 19-20

Yesterday was kind of a sad day. It was Dad’s birthday; he would have been 90 years old. So I had my usual little cry. I like to think he and Mom are following my blog with the rest of you.

We didn’t do much except finish the dinghy and went for a long walk through the subdivision. It’s a beautiful area here and we are getting way too comfortable here at this marina.

Joseph whipped through to pick up his jacket. He left it in the car when we came back from the Boat Show. He missed seeing Gail and Mark who had gone out with one of their friends. We heard from Jon and Joyce [Red Griffon II] Thunder Bay, and they are almost here!

We took the windows out of the dodger to re-bed them today. They both tend to leak a bit in the rain, which is really uncomfortable when you’re driving.  So tomorrow we will finish bedding them when the sun is out and warms up the glass and the glue.

Mostly we are sitting around, or going for walks, chatting with the sheriff 's men when they come by and with Rosann and the marina staff. I asked if there was a job she needed help with. This is the first place I’ve been where it makes me miss working.

We haven’t been doing anything very exciting. As soon as we visit with Jon and Joyce we are heading south to cross over to the Bahamas.

It’s only 40 -60 miles, depending where we leave from, so it’s just a long sailing day. The weather is consistently warmer now. The last two nights were cold but not cold enough to use a heater.

So other than the fact that we are 40 degrees warmer than you are, nothing is news worthy right now.  Ttyl!

It looked a lot worse than this... stuff growing on the bottom

tooka about 2 hours to get it cleaned down

Inside not so bad but ...

Looks almost new with keel guard to protect it from the shells and rocks

Our neighbour... love the sticker on the back end of the boat