Day 200 / 201 New Smyrna & Daytona

Belated alligator pictures from when Steve drove us through the Canaveral National Seashore wild life sanctuary.
















Someone was having a bad day!








The seagulls were hoping our boat would stir up some breakfast this morning.







Bob & Anita Robacker and us at their condo







Bob and Anita





Merritt Island, -- It had rained all Sunday night and Monday morning so we delayed our departure 1 ½ hours waiting for the rain to let up. It was still a light rain when we left at 8:30 but soon it turned into torrential rains for three hours. Next, the fog set in and visibility became difficult. We relied on electronic navigation to navigate our way through the fog. The fog remained for a solid hour, not fun but we made it the 32 miles to New Smyrna Beach City Marina where we ended up with a nice sunny day. This marina is on the west side on the Indian River. After riding around this area (most of the shops were closed on Monday), Tom got ambitious and rode his bike across the causeway to check out the Atlantic side. It was quite a distance to bike plus fighting a strong wind on his return. Glad I came back to the boat, and after showering, I relaxed on the back deck and my book. Had we stayed another day we could have used the water taxi to the restaurants and the lighthouse at Ponce de Leon Inlet off the Atlantic.

Before we headed 15 miles to Daytona, we had a very nice breakfast at a sidewalk cafe. Anita and Bob Robacker have a beautiful condo on the ICW and keep their boat at Loggerhead Marina. Bob and Anita were so gracious, making previous arrangements with Loggerhead Marina for our stay in Daytona Beach. We called Bob by cell phone as we passed their condo located on the ICW, switched communications to VHF and chatted as we passed by waving to each other. Bob and Anita drove to Loggerhead Marina greeting us upon arrival. How cool!!. Bob reminded us that this was our 200 day on our journey and we are able to spend it together! Loggerhead Marina is first class facility with a swimming pool, hot tub, restaurant, ships store,live music and impeccable grounds. One thing I really like about Loggerhead Marinas (there are 12 operations throughout FL) is the signage they post right off the ICW with visual aids to guide you in. We rode our bicycles around the area and couldn’t get over all the different motorcycle and specialty shops. Bike week in Daytona was a couple of weeks ago. We stopped for a sandwich, and then returned to wash the salt off the boat.

On the way to Bob and Anita's condo for cocktails, Bob provided a guided tour along the packed hard sand Daytona Beach, actually driving us down the beach in his vehicle. (there is actually a roadway). I guess they allow vehicles to drive on the beach because in 1903 cars started racing on the hard packed sandy beaches and in 1959 the first Daytona 500 was run.

Bob and Anita have a absolutely stunning condo on the 9th floor of a 21 story hi-rise overlooking the ICW as well as the Atlantic Ocean. The view is nothing less than spectacular!!!! It is a first class operation with underground parking, swimming pool, hot tub, weight/excercise room, game room, meeting room, common community room and a 9 hole golf course, just to mention a few of the many amenities. After cocktails and a gorgeous sunset witnessed from their west facing balcony they took us to their favorite Italian restaurant “Bella Valentino’s” which was excellent. We can’t thank Bob and Anita enough for their generous hospitality and providing us with a very memorable experience on our journey.

Day 196, 197 & 198, Cape Canaveral

Cocoa Village City Hall, a beautiful building





Cindy and Alex Shue at Cocoa Village







Steve Parrish & Cindy Lyons at Steve's house






Steve's daughter Mirina, Steve, Cindy & us





Us at the beach




Jess and Mike at the beach




Thursday when we arrived at Harbortown Marina on Merritt Island, Steve Parrish had his Ford 250 diesel truck waiting for us in the parking lot, the keys and a map to his house. He invited us to join him at his home for dinner that evening so we were able to meet his daughter, Mirina and friend Cindy Lyons. He also suggested we bring our laundry and we took him up on it. Wine & dinner were awesome but the conversation was even better. Other than seeing Steve briefly in the Quad Cities a few years ago, we last saw him in Florida way to many years ago.

Friday morning Tom spent a couple of hours changing oil while I cleaned. I’m not sure how he manages to squeeze his body in those small compartments, but he does.

Steve had arranged for the two of us to take a tour of the Merritt Island Sea Ray plant with his good friend Wendell Newsome . Wendell was so gracious to offer his own time off to personally escort us through this beautiful well organized, detailed facility. It was very educational seeing the start to finish production of a boat. The smallest production boat constructed at Merritt Island Plant is 58’ in length. We saw the finished product of a 61’ 2 million dollar and 58’ 1.5 million dollar boats. I’ll let Tom expand on the production process: Tom was like a kid in a candy store, especially when he saw (2) Mann diesels sitting on the floor ready to be dropped in a new constructed vessel. This tour was an eye opener for us to see the emphasis Sea Ray applies to engineering, plant efficiency, safety and quality control. Meridian Yachts are also manufactured at this same facility. Interesting to witness the difference in the two vessels specifications.

We had a lunch at the restaurant here at the harbor and then headed to Walgreens for a prescription. From there we drove to Cocoa Village and as we were looking for parking we spotted Cindy and Alex Shue off “Tug Hill Tug” on the sidewalk. We found a sidewalk café to have a coffee with them and catch up on their travels. In the village is a very old hardware store called BF Travis Co Inc. where Tom found some needed items for the boat. Cocoa Village is an interesting area with lots of shops, restaurants and a marina close by. We stopped by the Coca Village Marina for a short visit with looper friends Ted & Nancy off “Aloha Friday”. Nice Marina and another very nice community here on the Eastern Coast of Florida.

Saturday afternoon we connected with hometown friends Jesse Brady and Mike Brinn. After a visit at their beautiful condo on Merritt Island and a walk to the nearby beach, we drove over to the “Port” for beverages at Milliken’s water front restaurant. It was a beautiful afternoon on the water, with good conversation, and live entertainment. We then drove a couple of blocks to “Fishlips” restaurant only to find an hour wait. Back to Milliken’s where Jess and I lucked out finding a great table that was just being vacated. We had a wonderful dining experience in a very nice setting and a fun evening.

Sunday we reconnected with Steve Parrish and Cindy Lyons for a fun educational experience driving through the Canaveral National Seashore wild life sanctuary. We were fortunate to see about a dozen Florida alligators up close and personal. (Pictures to come later) Steve is very knowledgeable about where to go for a drive through “Old Florida”, gater hangouts, and an area where we were able to see several Manatees. We had a late lunch at “Grills Seafood Deck” located in the “Port”. Jesse and Mike joined us for beverages and to watch the cruise ships as they depart Port Cape Canaveral. The ships pass so close to where we are sitting it was very exciting. This has been a very enjoyable 4 day visit with great friends

Day 194, Vero Beach

Vero Beach at the Atlantic Ocean, having breakfast











Aft deck of Noah Genda before dinner at the Vero Beach Yacht Club







Vero Beach Municipal Marina from the vehicular bridge








"Food For Thought" dispay at Art Museum







Art Museum









Diann at breakfast at Mulligans on the Atlantic Ocean








Vero Beach residential area.









It was still a light rain and cloudy when we left Ft Pierce Monday morning heading for Vero Beach where we were able to get the last available slip. It appeared the area where we docked was a new addition to the Vero Beach municipal Marina since there was a yacht club between us and the rest of the City Marina. When I say new it doesn’t mean newly built, the docks were sturdy but not enough water faucets and no cable TV and unable to receive WIFI; other than that it was fine. There are many mooring balls but you are still expected to share a ball if necessary.

These communities along the eastern coast of Florida just seem to keep getting better and better. Tuesday we rode our bicycles over to Mulligan's located about a mile east of Vero Beach Municipal Marina. Mulligan's is on the Atlantic Coast with outside patio dining overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It was a spectacular view and the breakfast was great. Next we rode to the Vero Beach Art Museum for a viewing of some well displayed works of art. The museum is free except for one exhibit called “Ships and Shorelines”. “Food for Thought” is a series of huge outdoor bronze sculptures in the form of giant food items. See above images

We spent the rest of the day, Monday, finding our way around town on the County provided mass transit authorities free shuttle bus service. It will take you to just about any retail venue you could possibly need. West Marine, Publix, Indian River Mall with a 24 screen theater, Wal-Mart, Fresh Market, Target are just a few of the front door drop-off locations. After you complete your errands, return to the bus pick up station and the same bus will pick you up on its continuous loop. At the transfer station you jump on a bus back to the marina. This marina has a reputation for guests booking a one night stay and end up staying a week. I can see why. Also you can find tons of dining establishments. After returning to our boat we chilled out, watching dolphins around our boat as they were circling the mullet fish for a feeding frenzy. We never tire of watching dolphins.

Tuesday evening we made reservations at the Vero Beach Yacht Club for dinner. This may be our best dining to date. It is a 650 membership club, very private, very high end, very professional with superb service and food. Nice way to cap off our last night here in Vero Beach. They have a casual dining area which only requires a collared shirt; no shorts or jeans and that is where Tom made reservations. When we arrived the only seating available was in the main dining room that required a sport jacket. Tom balked but said okay when they told us he would have to borrow a jacket from their well stocked closet, At first he wasn’t too happy, but found a jacket to fit and actually all worked out well.

Today, Wednesday, we cruised up the ICW to an anchorage at MM 918.2 near Melbourne, FL or about 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral. We also had the pleasure of playful dolphins surfing our trailing wake. The winds are modest out of the east. This is a very quiet, protected, remote anchorage just a ½ mile off the ICW. Looks like a very nice night to have some solitude, fire up the grille and just enjoy a night by ourselves anchored in the quite cove. Over the air TV is limited but we have DVD’s, strong air card signal, XM radio. Diann has started a jig-saw puzzle to occupy the night away. The sunset is spectacular, life is good and we feel very fortunate to experience this journey.

Day 191 Jazz/Blues Fest Ft Pierce

Jazz/Blues fest at City of Ft Pierce Marina today







One of the scheduled four bands to play today. This blues band was very entertaining and creative. Good time was had by all.









A park adjacent to the city marina where an open air food and craft market is held every Sat. until 2:00pm.



At the park with intracoastal behind us








A couple caught groupers (non-endangered type) amberjack and tile fish






Carving the fish for take home






Pelicans will put up quite a fight to get a scrap of fish









This guy thought a higher view might be an advantage. They have learned they are not allowed past the end of his fish cleaning station.


Stuart is definitely worth a stop and there is so much going on you probably need at least 2 nights. We left Sunsest Bay Marina at 9:45 which was a little late to avoid the Saturday morning boat traffic. Hang on, some of those boats put out 4-5 foot wakes.

We made it to Fort Pierce City Marina and found another nice town although it seemed quieter than Stuart, however a very clean small town feel. Most restaurants have live music on week-ends. They also have a live theatre with a variety of well know professional artists appearing regularly. It is amazing the talent these small towns are able to book.

There are 2 Tiki Hut restaurants on site at the Marina, one at each end of the marina. We had lunch at one on the water where they had a male singer entertaining all day. We tried the other one called “Cobb’s Landing”, for dinner and listened to a three member band playing Spanish guitar music for your dining pleasure.

Our friends Dave and Pam Feltner of " Adagio" pulled in shortly after us. It was great seeing them again since we hadn’t seen them since Marathon.

This community is truly about artists and music. Tom saw online there was a scheduled free jazz/blues fest Sunday 3/21. On cue, they set up this morning, started playing around noon. The first group was a jazz band that was perfect for the start of a Sunday afternoon. The second band was a blues band that was really fun to listen to and watch perform. A very entertaining afternoon 100' from our boat. We could listen on board or walk to the park and be visually entertained as well. The food vendors were very good and reasonable. Unfortunately afternoon showers developed about 4:00 PM and brought the entertainment to a close. We bought vendors food, dined on board and called it an extremely fun day here in Ft Pierce. What a neat community.

Tomorrow it is a very short cruise to Vero Beach for a couple days. Then on to Canaveral for a connection with longtime friend Steve Parrish. We are really looking forward to our visit with Steve. It has been all to long.

Day 189, Stuart, FL

Typical home along the Florida ICW








Another home along the Florida ICW











65' cleaarance ICW fixed bridge











Typical ICW bascule bridge with 25' clearance










Homes along the ICW









St Lucie lighthouse on the ICW










64' Ocean Alexander exterior








Brokered 64' OA interior








Brokered 64' OA interior








Tom at Stuart Fl veterans memorial









Stuart Historic District











Diann at Stuart Historic District











Shot of a beautiful, typical sportfisherman located a Sunset Bay Marina









Looking off aft deck of "Noah Genda" at Sunset Bay Marina, in our assigned slip









We experienced a very nice cruise up the ICW from Riviera Beach to Stuart. We are just amazed at the number of high end homes, beautiful yachts and the gorgeous scenery of the Eastern Florida ICW. Granted the ICW is mostly a minimum wake zone(15” max wake, whatever that means) , however that gives you ample time to take in all of the beautiful sites. We passed the St Lucie light house, and ventured seven miles up the St Lucie River to a brand new marina named Sunset Bay Marina located adjacent to the Stuart Riverwalk area. It is so new that is not illustrated on Google Earth. So if you see our vessel sitting out in the open water, we are actually, in fact, tied up to new floating docks. This facility is quite impressive. The City of Stuart is the first Floridian city we have enjoyed the feel of a small town environment. There are a number of beautiful City Parks, Riverwalk, bicycle paths, Historic District with many shops, restaurants, and of course several ice cream stores. There are so many inviting restauransts that it is difficult to make a final choice. We had lunch at a sidewalk Cafécalled Maria's. We strolled over to Hoffman's Ice Cream store and sampled a dip of Kosher Ice Cream. Hoffman's rates high on our scale.

After lunch we road our bicycles to a City Park that is hosting a Music fest week-end. There are just tons of things to do here, and it has been easy to strike up conversation with residents of Stuart. This harbor is no exception to several of the harbors along the way; many Americans have sold their homes, and become full time live aboards traveling the east coast, Bahamas and the Keys of Florida.

There is an Ocean Alexander dealer here at Sunset Bay marina. They have a new 60’ and a brokered 64’ on display. We couldn’t resist the temptation to go aboard and take a look. It is so pleasant to admire the craftsmanship of these impeccable vessels, even though we know it is not even close to a possibility. I guess I look at this way. Someday that will be a used boat, ours was.

Tomorrow is a short hop back down the river and up the ICW to Ft Pierce. There is a week-end Jazz, Blues fest at the Ft Pierce City Marina. I think that sounds like a plan.

Day 187 St Patricks at Riviera Beach Marina

Rybovich Marina











Happy St Patrick’s Day!

We had planned on traveling only 24 miles to Delray Beach today because of all the low bridges (7'- 12' above the water line) we had to have opened. We passed under (20) bridges today, eight of the twenty required opening. Florida actually has the timing calulated at trawler speed to make the next bridge opening with-out delay, if you go slow. Otherwise it is hurry up and wait for the next scheduled opening every 30 minutes. So if you time it accurately there is no delay from bridge to bridge. Consequently, after figuring out the routine, we were able to continue an additional 22 miles to Rivera Beach Marina.

It drizzled most of the day but the scenery on the ICW was still awesome with very expensive spectacular homes along Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Lantana, Boyton and West Palm Beach. This area of Florida has hundreds and hundreds of miles of beautiful homes and condo's along the endless canals and the ICW. On the ICW every home has a swimming pool and patio between thier home and the ICW, landscaped to perfection. What a awsome set up.

Tom took a couple of pictures of the well known Rybovich Marina which is a mega yacht service facility for boats up to 275’. If someone is interested, we saw lots of possible anchorages along the way.

It quit drizzling as soon as we arrived here at Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. We walked to the onsite restaurant, good 60's 70's live music, not to loud and quite a few people were dancing. The food was pretty good for bar food, Tom had sheppards pie that was excellent, and I had fish taco appetizer that was good. For anyone following us, you can probably find a nicer marina a few miles farther north.

We walked back to the boat, caught up with mail from home (thank you Amy), e-mails, blogspot and watched some TV. We were going to stay here two days, but the facilities are less than we expected and I think we will move on to Stuart and stay there a couple of days.

Day 186 Las Olas Marina Ft Lauderdale

One of the many water taxi's available all day. Notice the width of the "New River" here in Ft Lauderdale. It is a busy river with very large vessel's









Skyline of Miami



Cruise ships waiting for departure





One of the many mega yachts we passed










Awsome beach







Out for a birthday dinner.








Evil Kneivel's boat at one time





Now it is the accountants "Bottom Line"







Lunch at Bahia Mar





Small cottage on the ICW

After departing Coconut Grove FL on Monday we traveled 30 miles up the coast to Ft Lauderdale Municipal Marina located about 2 miles up the ICW from the mega-yacht centers Bahia Mar and Pier 66 marinas. They only want boats 60 to 250’ and slip fees at one harbor was $8.75’. Where do they get all this money?

The entire distance from Dinner Key (Coconut Grove) to Ft Lauderdale was a no wake zone plus (18) bridges. We were able to get under (16) of them without asking to have the bridge raised. The other two had only a 12' clearance but opened on the hour and half hour like clock-work. The scenery along the way was spectacular with mega homes, mega condo's and mega yachts.

We launched bicycles upon arrival and road two blocks over to Ft Lauderdale Beach and observed the thousands of spring-breakers. We rode down the boardwalk and had lunch outside at the "Oasis Cafe" and enjoyed the beach, ocean and people watching.

I had a birthday dinner at the sidewalk cafe, “Café Del Mar” overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I noticed several restaurants advertised 50% off bottles of wine. Since I was the only one drinking, I asked the waiter if I could take home what was left and he said yes. By the time I deducted what a single glass of wine would cost, the bottle ended up pretty reasonable. We were entertained with live Flamingo guitar and a Flamingo dancer. Also entertaining were the many kids on spring break walking around and on their cell phones trying to locate their friends..

When we arrived here at Las Olas Marina, Ft Lauderdale we ran into (2) loopers we have been traveling off and on with. Monk's Vineyard and Second Star are here waiting for the Atlantic Ocean to calm down for a Bahama Gulf Stream crossing. They have tried earlier only to turn around and come back due to rough seas. The weather dictates when you can venture out to sea.

A few steps from where we are docked is a water taxi that makes 14 stops throughout Ft Lauderdale. You can get on and off as often as you want all day long and into the evening. It is also narrated so we learned about the homes and boats of the rich and famous. Story has it that Evil Kneivel loved to gamble but he wasn’t the best at it and he ended up betting and losing his boat. It used to be named “The Evil Eye” but now the name is “Bottom Line” because the guy who won it is an accountant.
Our stay here in Ft Lauderdale has been very rewarding, the community is beautiful, and it is fun to see the area from the water.