March 22-30

Our next port o' call was Melbourne where our friends, Jane and Sean, live on Gandalf, their Kady Krogen 42 during the winter. It was a brief (too brief) visit as the sky was threatening to unload rain at any moment. We packed some quick catching up into a few minutes, had a beer, and took off for Sabbatical on her anchor just outside the harbor.

We began our next leg on March 23 at 0900. We thought we would have plenty of time to reach our next anchorage off Titusville without an early start. Despite strong northerly winds on our nose, we did make reasonably good time but when we reached Titusville, we decided to try for a more sheltered anchorage behind the NASA railroad bridge to the north of Titusville. Apparently, the persistent northerlies had blown the water south and the shallow entrance to the anchorage proved too shallow for us to get in. What should we do now? We calculated that we could make New Smyrna Beach just after sunset if all went well, despite the wind and current against us. We pressed on and found a sheltered spot behind Chicken Island in Sheephead Cut in the middle of New Smyrna Beach. The next morning we got into our slip at the New Smyrna City Marina and called Donna and Frank Fischette, old friends who winter here. Frank and I had a tee time for golf and Donna and Annette would spend the day doing their thing in the shops and on the beaches of the area. We visited their condo on the beach and had a nice Italian dinner at a small restaurant nearby.

The next day it was golf again for the boys and shopping and sightseeing for the gals. We had dinner at a great seafood restaurant, Blackbeard's, and played our special game of Marbles on board Sabbatical. We had a great time laughing and recalling days past. Reluctantly, we left the next morning, March 26, for Halifax Harbor behind Daytona Beach where we anchored early in the day and spent a relaxing day reading and napping.

St. Augustine's anchorage south of the Bridge of Lions was our next stop. We had never anchored south of the bridge before, but found it a good place to be, close to the dinghy dock at the municipal marina and not too crowded at this time of the year. We were a bit leery of the anchorage based on our experiences north of th bridge, but the wind and current problem seems much less here. We were treated to another great sunset over the city.

Gerry and Lynda Hawke are Canadian sailing friends we met last year on the Great Loop trip. They are in a condo this year in St. Augustine for the month of March. We were able to get together with them on Thursday. We shopped a bit and then went to Sabbatical for some drinks and conversation. They were very pleased to be aboard a boat again. Later we went to dinner at Harry's, which is a New Orleans style restaurant overlooking the harbor. We have been fortunate to meet so many wonderful people on the trips we have taken by boat. The Hawkes are certainly among those that we consider our friends. We hope to see them again someday.

These last two days, March 29 and 30, we have remained at anchor at St. Augustine. On Saturday, we went ashore so Annette could explore the shops of St. George Street. I walked for exercise mainly out to the westside and back. Back on the boat, I finished the Ken Follett book and watched March Madness on TV. We were happy to learn that Mom had had a successful operation on her hip and was doing well in a Rochester hospital. She had fallen and injured herself while unloading groceries. She will recuperate in a local health facility and should be home again in about two weeks or so. This morning we saw the sun briefly and are currently experiencing high winds that are supposed to persist for a day or two. We plan to remain here until Tuesday.

March 15-21, The Trip Home So Far

We began the return trip for home from Key Largo on March 15, after a very nice sendoff party combined with an early St. Patrick's Day celebration the night before. Sabbatical followed the outside route up Hawke Channel to No Name Harbor where we anchored out after viewing the crowded conditions inside. Though the wind was blowing 15+knots we were kept from big waves by the shallow barrier bar and reef that separates Biscayne Bay from the Atlantic. The next morning we rounded Key Biscayne and sailed for Port Everglades on the ocean. It was a wonderful sail with an apparent wind on the starboard beam that gave us over 8 knots of speed. We obviously were getting some help from the currents off the Gulf Stream which was close to shore here.

Sylvia Lake in Fort Lauderdale was our next anchorage. Once the "Irish" revelers who had spent the afternoon playing on the lake departed, we settled in for a quiet evening despite the heavy winds off the ocean. We were well protected by the buildings and trees that surround this small lake.

Previously, we had always gone from Port Everglades to Lake Worth on the outside (on the ocean). Because of the high wind from the southeast, we decided to remain on the Intracoastal which gave us 18 bridges to have opened for passage. We created a list with distances and times. We made every bridge with the exception of the last two which were just a bit too far to travel the distance in the time allotted, particularly when we had to wait for a barge to clear the bridge just before these two. We were rewarded for our efforts, however, by sights like this bridge and the beautiful homes along this previously unseen (by us) stretch of the waterway. Lake Worth was a bit rough because of the winds and our desire to be at the far northwest corner in order to minimize the dinghy trip to shore.
Our stop in Lake Worth was highlighted by a visit with my friend from high school, Bonnie Sova Meere and her husband, Tony. They live nearby in Coral Springs and graciously invited us to their home and showed us the area. Bonnie's sister, Sharon, and her husband, Hugh, met us near where we had pulled up our dinghy. Sharon had been in my class in high school. They were coming to visit Bonnie and we arranged the rendezvous in a Publix parking lot. The next morning on Lake Worth was not nice. There were whitecaps everywhere. We debated whether to stay put or try the inside route. We finally decided to go for it. The first bridge was right around the corner and had to be timed as it opens every half hour. We started with what we thought would be sufficient time with some to spare. The wind had other plans for us. In taking up the anchor we managed to get the boat ahead of the anchor and then get the anchor rode across the bow so that we were beam-on to the waves. After a two tries we were able to get the boat rotated and freed from the bottom. We had lost out time margin, but did make the bridge opening by the barest of margins. The thought of having to maneuver the boat in front of the bridge with the tidal current and strong winds waiting for the next opening was not pleasant. Once on the ICW, we made good time and found an anchorage at Fort Pierce. It proved a little iffy in terms of depth and at two in the morning, I found us a little close to a big catamaran that was doing circles around its anchor. I woke Annette and we moved away and re-anchored safely nearby.

On the first day of Spring, March 20th, we found our mooring ball at the Vero Beach City Marina. This is a picture of the bridge next to our mooring as it is lit up during the night. The next day found us on the bus system finding our way to book stores and all the other places we like to go when ashore. On the recommendation of Richard Condon, a friend we made in Key Largo, I bought a copy of Ken Follette's The Pillars of the Earth. This life affords one the opportunity to read which I consider one of life's great pleasures.

We had looked forward to our time in Vero Beach as it is the home of two friends, Bill and Mary, whom we met on the trip down in the fall. After a first day of shopping and relaxing, we spent our next evening enjoying their company and attempting to repay their kind hospitality of our last visit to Vero. We went to Good Friday services at their church and then to a nice meal at a beachside restaurant.

Key Largo Memories

Shopping included art shows. Annette stopped a tennis match I was in to try to show me this present she bought for me. I couldn't get around the fence so I asked her to show me later. She had it shipped home where it will hang in my den.

The people at Marina Del Mar where we spent the winter for the second year are wonderful. Their leader is Patty. She is a special lady with a love of seahorses which we brought back for her whenever we went out shopping in the Keys.

Tennis was a daily two and one half hour delight for me. We had as many as 25 or so regular players who faithfully showed up everyday. One guy, Sonny, asked me one day what I did for transportation while I was here. I told him we walked or rode our bicycles. He asked if I would like to drive a Corvette while I was at Key Largo. You know my answer. Here's basic transportation at Key Largo. I had a great time playing tennis. They were another group of generous and interesting people. We had a pasta and wine party with one of the players acting as chef and explaining the process and the wine choices as he went through the preparations in the kitchen. Some of the players went out on our boat to rendezvous with Sonny's boat, Saturday's Child, a Hunter 35. I will miss this part of the Key Largo experience a lot.

The caption for this one could be an old fossil contemplating another old fossil. We had brunch that morning at the totally decadent Rusty Pelican with its chocolate fountain and unlimited mimosas. To balance the decadence, we pursued the intellectual at the planetarium and science museum nearby. These dinosaurs are from China and that in itself is a unique event as the Chinese are reluctant to send them out of the country. The discovery of fossils that link dinosaurs with modern birds in China was a highlight of the exhibit. We attended a presentation regarding this link conducted by an expert at the museum.

For Valentine's Day, we had (what else) a party. We had parties for Superbowl, and whenever one of the boats was leaving and any other time we could find the slightest reason or not. We even celebrated Cosmo's birthday. He's the handsome one on Walt's lap. This is most of the gang that spent the winter at Key Largo plus and minus a few.


For Valentine's Day it was a desert party. Annette made her English Trifle which was a big hit.

The Miami Boatshow was a must go see for us. We had a great day oogling all the pretty boats. Here's a go fast boat that uses as much gasoline in an hour as we would use in a week in our SUV. We are happy that Sabbatical only uses a half gallon of diesel an hour.

We spent a day exploring South Beach with the Washers. The nearly naked volleyball games were interesting. The beach is beautiful and the small hotels that line the streets are tres chic.

It's a tough life here in the Keys. Our dockmates, Howard and Dianna, were hard at work one day on their boat. Naturally, we wanted to document with this image their collective contribution to the betterment of life on the docks this particular day.

Annette became an internet user par excellent. She can find the nearest source of the rarest of yarns in a flash and communicate with children and grandchildren with IM and email. While she has been here in Key Largo, Annette has become the dock guru on knitting, leading a number of the gals into the hobby.

Of course grandma must still keep her green thumb green. This is one of the plants we have on board to make that all possible. This gardenia is called "Brenda", named after a friend here at the marina whose love of gardenias inspired Annette to get this one.

This creature was the original project for the knitters in Annette's "classroom". The local suppliers of knitting products gained a number of sales out of this endeavor. Alligator scarves will obviously be the next big thing. You saw it here first.

Here's what the real thing looks like. These are some of the 250 gators in the breeding pond at an alligator farm we visited. We also took an airboat ride while there, with Mark and Gary sitting up front in the macho seats which basically meant that they got wetter than anybody.

Mark thought this guy was a nice wardrobe addition until he found out he would have to keep his purse full of dead mice. However, snakeskin shoes may be in his future.

Vicki, not to be outdone, thought she would start small and train this guy to fetch (she didn't say what she would teach it to fetch). Judging by the looks of the people near her, it probably isn't going to make her more popular. We had a great time with my personal highlight being the Florida panthers. My impression had been that a Florida panther was relatively small and black. The Florida panther is a close relative of cougars and looks like the mountain lions we associate with the West.

Annette's next excellent adventure paired her with Dianna in the Cole kayak. While Howard, Gary, and Steven Washer biked to The Pilot House restaurant, the intrepid explorers braved the mighty Atlantic in their little boat to reach the lunch site.

After a mighty lunch, our heroines once again were off to find the ends of the earth. They made excellent time, returning to the Key Largo canal in good spirits and only a little wet.