A link to the photos for this weekWe finally depart Vero Beach (Loggerhead Marina) on Friday, 2/1/12, after spending several days provisioning and getting the boat ready to go to the Bahamas. We really had not planned on the Bahamas, but changed our plans as we learned more from other cruising folk who are on their way. Not that much of this trip from Penetanguishene has been “planned”. We knew we wanted to cruise certain areas (e.g. Georgian Bay, the Erie Canal) and we knew we had to traverse certain routes (e.g. outside around New Jersey), and we knew we were headed south, so once we arrived “south”, the question then became “what next?”. We were seriously considering cruising the Florida Keys, and we still would like to do that – maybe next winter.
We left our slip at Loggerhead at 8AM, and stopped at the fuel dock to top everything off and pumped out holding tanks. It is sunny, but the wind is blowing 10-15 out of the north (a tail wind for us today). The trip south from here on the ICW has lots of bridges that need to open. They are “timed” so that you (theoretically) can make it from one to the other, but many times that theory does not work. Many of the bascule bridges (the ones that tilt up when open) have been replaced along the ICW with spans that are 65 feet high, which allows most sailboats (including us) to pass under. Not so in south Florida. We negotiate one bridge at Fort Pierce and then 7 more when we reach North Palm Beach. The last bridge today has a shoal right in the middle of the channel in front of the opening, so you have to hug the shoreline, then move over at the bridge to the center to clear the bridge. Fun! We arrive at Lake Worth at 5:45PM and get the anchor down at 6PM. After dinner, while watching a movie, we hear a “hum” that comes and goes about every 5 seconds. It is pretty regular, and we all spent quite a while trying to figure out is something on our boat was amiss. Never did figure it out, but by 11PM, it stopped. There was a large motor yacht (100+ feet) in the anchorage, with a lot of people on board, music, etc., so maybe it was a harmonic from there. The lower in the boat and the more forward in the boat you were, the more you could hear it. A mystery. Lake Worth, North Palm Beach, 26°50.18’ North, 080°03.33’ West. 66 Statute Miles, 54 Nautical Miles.
Saturday, 2/2/12. The days dawns clear and bright and the wind has died down to a whisper. We have a bit of trouble getting the anchor up because the wind overnight has pushed us against it pretty hard and the anchor is buried deep. After a couple of tries, it is up and we once again head south. We want to get to Boca Raton today and meet up with Hazel Trembley, who is there tending her sister. Her sister is pretty ill and waiting on a liver transplant. Hazel is James’ and Jeff’s godmother and resides in Salem, MA, when not in Florida.
The weather is very nice and today is spent negotiating bridges. As we said previously, they are timed so that when you make an opening at one, you should be able to make it to the next one when it opens. The opening schedules are usually on the hour and half-hour, or on the quarter hour and the 3/4 hour. One of them is every 20 minutes. We are luck on some and not on others. We cover 38 SM (32 NM) today – and 14 bridges! We stop at Lighthouse Marina for fuel and then backtrack 2 miles to Lighthouse Point Yacht Club, where we are tied up at 5:00PM. Hazel came by for dinner and we had great Italian at Amatos in Pompano Beach. Late to bed. Tomorrow they are moving Hazel’s sister to Miami in preparation for a transplant. Yeah! Lighthouse Point YC, Pompano Beach, 26°17.08’ North, 080°04.98’West. 38 SM, 31.7 NM today.
Sunday, 2/3/12, Super Bowl Sunday. No Patriots in the game today. We depart Lighthouse Point at 9:30AM. Sunny, 65, wind NW @ 10. We make our way down to Fort Lauderdale. 7 bridges today, and then outside at Fort Lauderdale to Miami. We have to go outside because there is one bridge on the ICW between Fort Lauderdale and Miami that does not open and is only has 56 feet of clearance (we need at least 60). Once outside, we hoist sails and the wind dies off, so we try to motor sail. Soon there is no wind at all, so we motor the 20 miles down the beach to Miami (Government Cut Inlet). As we turn into the channel, we have to dodge a couple of giant cruise ships heading out to sea. Inside the harbor proper, the buoy system changes and there are lots of them. We manage to touch bottom in one shallow spot, but make it through the Venetian Causway Bridge and then back to the west to the Sunset Islands and anchor at 6PM. Autumn Borne is here. We hope to make the crossing to the Bahamas with them later in the week when the weather and wind is correct (fair weather, wind
south, SW or W). Sunset Island Anchorage, Miami Beach, 25°48.46’ North, 080°08.51’ West. 45.5 SM, 38.7 NM today.
Monday, 2/4/12. Spent most of the day walking around Lincoln Mall and South Beach. Lunch at Finnegans’ Way on the beach. We were with Dean and Susan and also took in a movie “Quartet”. If you have not seen it, it is very good. Back at the boat around 7PM.
Tuesday, 2/5/12. It looks like we might have a good weather window on Friday. Jeff went into town with dean and Susna to do a bit of grocery shopping. We plan to head to the Bahamas Friday.
Sincerely,
Benny, Jeff, and Lisa
No comments:
Post a Comment