Sun. March 30    0800 - 1520

49 miles    North Palm Beach to Faber Cove, Fort Pierce, FL

Up and early again today getting to an anchorage close to where we will have the boat pulled out on Tues. The ICW opened up a little wider during our cruising today and the homes along this section sat on acres of sprawling lawns. The wind came right out of the north straight at us but we had clear skies and the temps. were in the mid 70’s. It was a nice day to cruise, even being a Sunday the boat traffic was not bad.

Jupiter Inlet looking east toward the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 Jupiter Light.

 

 Sunken sailboat.

 

  One of many docks reaching out to get to deep enough water.

 

 St. Lucie Inlet looking east toward Atlantic Ocean.

 

 Looking west at the St. Lucie River which cuts through the entire state of Florida.

 

 Nettles Island (my parents spent many winters here).

 

 Faber Cove, Fort Pierce FL. (our anchorage for the night).

Sat. March 29    0740 - 1640

52 miles    Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale to North Palm Beach

After about 30 miles of multimillion dollar houses and boats we “crossed the tracks” to the million dollar homes. (I know we can’t feel to sorry for them either). The farther north we went the landscape did start to change. We started to see more of your average size homes and boats, even a trailer park on the water. 

Yes that is a helicopter on this boat.

 

 Cruising along the ICW.

 

 One of about a dozen bridges we had to go through today.

 

 Here's the trailer park.

 

 This casino ship goes in & out of Palm Beach.

 

 Anybody hungry? This "hotdog" stand was hanging out near a sand bar.

 

 Not sure what this was. It looks like a sailboat/junkyard on anchor.

 

Our anchorage for the night is in North Palm Beach. Not far off the ICW and located in a little bay surrounded by nice homes.

 

Thurs. March 27 & Fri. March 28    

0 miles    Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The last 2 days we stayed in our anchorage in Fort Lauderdale. Both days we took out the dinghy and rode around. There is not many places in this area that you can tie up a dinghy and get out and walk, but we did find a restaurant that would let you if you ate there. Everywhere you look you see one boat and house after another and they both just seem to get bigger. It’s nothing to see a 150’ boat docked out in front of a beautiful house. The water ways are extremely busy with all kinds of boats. You see tow boats, water taxi’s, pleasure boats, and working boats.

Here is the restaurant we could tie up to. (very good food)

 

 There were several finger canals off of our anchorage we could dinghy up and down and drool.

 

 

Wed. March 26   1000-1250    

16 miles    Oleta State Park, North Miami to Lake Sylvia, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Last night the wind picked up out of the north so the temperature dropped to the lower 60’s, then the sun came out and the day warmed up to 70 degrees. Once we got under way we felt a vibration which got worse the faster we went, which means we did get some damage to the props when we hit bottom on Monday. We will have to find a place to have the boat hauled out of the water, take off the props, and get them fixed. $$$$$ That’s what “BOAT” stands for: break out another thousand.

Along the way we say this guy playing with a water jet pack on. This sure looks fun.

 

 How would you like a high rise building in your back yard?

 

 Here is a yacht that the side opens for a water level "patio". 

 

 

The anchorage, (Lake Sylvia) we picked for the night is a

small bay completely surrounded by beautiful homes.

Tues. March 25    

0 miles    Oleta State Park, North Miami, FL

We decided to stay another day so we dropped the dinghy and took a ride to the State Park. There was a nice sandy half circle beach and lots of trails to walk on. We went back to the boat for lunch and got a call from Carol (she is off one of the boats we have been traveling with the past several days). Her husband Dennis took a bad fall in their aluminum rowboat and they were afraid he injured his kidney. We got him off their boat, took him by dinghy to shore, called a taxi and off they went to the hospital to get him checked out. 3 ½ hours later Dennis was back on their boat with no serious injuries, just badly bruised.

Mon. March 24     1010-1250

13 miles     Marine Stadium Basin, Miami to Oleta State Park, North Miami, FL

Our ride today took us right along side the towering buildings of Miami and through several bridges. 2 of them were to low so we had to wait for them to be opened. Most bridges have a set time to open like on the half hour so timing them just right can be a challenge. Just before we reached the turn off for our anchorage for the night we came upon a dredger right in the middle of the channel. Trying to go around him we had to leave the channel and the boat came to a complete stop. We were grounded!!! We looked at each other and said thank goodness we have Tow Boat Insurance. But Randy saved the day and after about 5 min. of maneuvering got us loose and we were on our way. Thankfully it was a sandy bottom so there wasn’t any damage. We anchored for the night at Oleta State Park in North Miami. It’s a very nice spot between the park and FIU (Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management)

Leaving our anchorage.

 

 One of the "little" yachts we start seeing.

Cruise ships.

 

 Had to wait for this barge before going through the bridge.

 

 Miami Beach skyline.

 

 Priorities leaving downtown Miami.

 

 Our anchorage at Oleta State Park.

 

 FIU campus.

 

 Happy hour with Dennis, Carol, Randy, Martha, Sherri, & Bob.