Hope Town came alive today while raising money for the island’s fire department. They gave this demonstration of putting fire out on the water and we had hot dogs and viewed the silent auction goodies.After almost four months we finally met up with friends Andy and Mary on Good News and other Loopers we have more recently met, Brad and Patti on Salvage Crew and Joe and Judy Lynch on Night Star. They had all rented a run-a-bout to come…
A fun day today, it was finally calm enough that we took a trip into Hope Town and then on the way back we got to explore some of the marine life and beaches in the area. We saw several Manta Rays and Jim loved chasing them around. We were trying to get a good picture but this is all we could get. The star fish were a beautiful rusty read and showed up clearly against the sandy bottom.We used…
Hope Town, the city hub on Elbow Cay, is a very picturesque, small, harbor town, the only way in or out of this island is by boat. The streets are narrow, not much larger than a sidewalk, the houses a very colorful with pastels and bright summer colors.The focal point of Hope Town's harbor is the red and white striped Elbow Reef Lighthouse. England decided in 1863 to build a lighthouse at Hope Town to warn ships away from the extensive…
Elbow Cay is our home in the Abacos for the next thirty days. We were greeted by Junior and Rodney as we pulled into Sea Spray Marina, along with our friends on Charlie and Linda on Freedom’s Turn. Sea Spray is located in a small bay with the Atlantic Ocean no more than 200 feet up and over a hill from the bow of our boat.We wake up and go to sleep each day to the crashing sound of the…
As a boater, when you read or hear the words “DANGER,” you'd better pay attention.Whale Cay Passage, just south of Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, is one such place. In order to get to destinations further south in the Abacos all boaters have to travel through the Whale Cay Passage. The reason this can be so treacherous is that you have to leave the relative safety of the Sea of Abaco and the lee of the Cays out into…
Look closely at the bank hours (below-top/left). It seems they have to come from another island to open up this office only half days, two days a week. This was an interesting bottle of rum that we had never seen before. (below-top/middle) We found out that the burial society meets regularily on mondays at the coffee shop. (below-top/right)We heard that there was a fundraiser in the little town of New Plymouth today so we headed over in the dinghy. They really know how…
One of great things about the Bahamas are the friendly people. Lisa and I decided to walk the 3.5 miles into town because the waters were too rough to use the dinghy for transportation. We had not even walked a third of the way when we were offered a ride for part of the distance. As it turned out we walked about a third of the way there and received two rides, going back we again walked about a third…
Off early this morning to make our way south into the Sea of Abaco and Green Turtle Cay. The winds are 15 to 20 knots again, making the ride a little lumpy, but manageable. We arrived early enough to secure a mooring ball in Black Sound for the night. When we entered the harbor we were searching for an empty mooring ball to tie up to and were having a hard time since the harbor was quite full. After a…
We left on Tuesday morning with our friends from Freedom’s Turn to make our way to an anchorage in Great Sale Cay, an island in the middle of the Little Bahama Bank, 50 miles away from the West End. One enters the Bank from the Ocean through a break in the coral reef about a mile north of West End. The channel is narrow and the water is shallow so it’s important to take your time when navigating up onto…
After a nice calm crossing it’s nice to sit for a few days at Old Bahama Bay Marina, a first class marina resort complete with restaurant, pool, beach-side bar and entertainment.A dip in the pool, a walk on the beach, a cold rum drink and watching the sunset over the Atlantic were our first order of pleasure.The winds kicked up the day after our arrival preventing us of leaving so we ended staying three days... darn good I say cause Lisa…
After keeping an eye on the weather for over a week our original plan was to leave Fort Lauderdale on Friday early morning to cross over to the West End in the Abaco Islands. But as Thursday night arrived we started to see that a north wind was showing up on the weather maps. It was still there early Friday morning as we checked again and we all (Freedom's Turn, Charlie and Linda, is our buddy boat) decided to abort and…
The divergence of waterway activities from Boca Chita to Fort Lauderdale is remarkable in that the journey started with 15 miles of reef protected open water in the Biscayne Bay to the busy Miami area, up the ICW to Ft Lauderdale (considered one of the boating Mecca’s of the world. The Miami skyline grows larger the closer we get and the closer we get the greater our anxieties grow. For six weeks we’ve been used to the laid back life…
Boca Chita Key, an island located in Biscayne Bay National Park, is a small island approximately 12 miles south of the Cape Florida lighthouse on Key Biscayne. Boca Chita is a quiet oasis for boaters cruising to and from the Keys. Previously the island was privately owned but now is owned and operated by the U.S. National park services. The facilities are well kept up with warm ocean breezes and an amazing sunset view.HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!! Today we met up…
We left Marathon on Monday and were headed north to the Tarpon Basin but were diverted from our goal by a call from our friends Wade and Susie on Miss Happ. They were calling to say that they were in our area, actually we soon realized that we were only ten miles apart. They were headed to their slip in Taviner and we decided to cut our day short so that we could see them. We had been trying to…
We’d only planned on staying one night in Marathon as we make our way up the Keys towards Fort Lauderdale to wait for a good day to cross over to the Abacos, however back to back cold fronts brought high winds and waves making it necessary to stay put for four days, and counting. But it really is all good as it gave us time to pal around with people we love to spend time with.On Thursday, Charlie and Linda…
Bella Luna, C-Life, Sunshine and Wanderin’ L&M, Our Turn, Blue Max, Footloose, Highlander and Shore Thing are all boats that we’ve had the pleasure to travel, dock, anchor, sightsee and laugh with over the last five months. They have become friends and we look forward, with great anticipation, to meeting up with them whenever possible. Because of this we were excited to leave Key West and head for Marathon where all of these boats were docked for a month or…
We thought this houseboat in Marathon had enough lines on it. Don't think it's going anywhere.
As soon as we got tied up Jim had to rinse off the boat as it felt and looked like someone had sprinkled kosher salt all over it. Apparently this manatee liked all the fresh water around our boat.On the way to lunch one day we saw this big turtle right next to our dinghy.
That's how fast our time went in Key West. We enjoyed the city, sights and sounds but most important... the people, so, we'll be back.Prior to departure for the days cruise to Marathon I checked the weather and the waves inside the reef were forecasted for two-footers with a light chop close to shore. WRONG, more like four to five-footers on the beam with no light chop in sight. Forty-five miles of rocking and rolling and Lisa, who often gets…
Our first day here we met the Foster family. Dave, Vickie and kids Gunnar, Maxwell, Trey and Christopher. They welcomed us to the marina with a big plate of homemade cookies. During our stay they have provided local knowledge, given us directions, lent us their bike, shared a movie on the history of Key West with us and had us over for dinner on their 58' Gulfstar sailboat. This is an adventurous young family who intend to do some traveling…
Last summer before we left our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan we made plans with a few of our friends to meet in Key West near the mid to end of January. Last time we did the Loop we all planned to meet in the Abacos and it was so much fun we had to plan to meet again this year. We were pretty busy our last week in Key West while our friends from home flew in within days of…
We’ve been in Key West long enough (three weeks) now and we’re beginning to recognize some of the locals. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not!I (Jim) visited Floyd’s Barber shop last week. This little shop has been in operation for over fifty years and my barber’s family is a fourth generation family having been here 110 years. The only reason I mention this is to let everyone know that the locals are not 5-year transplants.Key…
Key West has so many colorful restaurants and bars. As we said before we like to visit places that are off the beaten track. The more local the better. The Seafood and Cuban restaurants have been tops on our list and we just can’t get enough.Jim and I both wish this ENTRANCE sign (left) was real.We went to dinner with Rick and Elene last week to try Hogfish Bar and Grille, a local place definitely off the beaten path on…
Our friends Rick and Elene just arrived yesterday in Key West for the winter. We have looked forward to spending some time with them before we leave for the Abacos at the end of the month. So, after lending us their car the night before, we met them for breakfast downtown at Pepe’s Cafe the next morning. Pepe’s, which is open every day, is the oldest restaurant in town. Opened in 1909 it is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year.…
This afternoon we hopped on a bus to go down to Bayview Park for the fourth annual Key West Seafood Festival. Lots of choices for some good seafood at low prices along with a great local band, Mr Nice Guy. Lisa got to satisfy her sweet tooth with a huge cone of cotton candy.There was a petting tank provided by the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, Fish & Wildlife. The salt water tank was staffed with real live scientists who can…
More cemetery photos. Flowers, tombstones and statues. Well worth a visit while in Key West.We loved the sign on the fence of the cemetery.
A few days ago, Lisa and I ventured out in our dinghy to the protected Sand Key reef area in the Atlantic Ocean side of Key West to go snorkeling. The day had all the characteristics of the perfect day, clear blue sky, calm waters and no wind. On the way to our destination we saw a good sized turtle, feeder sharks, crabs, flower pot sponges and lots of fish from the dinghy in only 4-5 foot water depths. Our…
Steve and Pat are from Omaha, Nebraska, we had the pleasure of meeting up with them in Key West. They boat in Lake of the Ozarks and have an interest in doing the Great Loop and thought we might be able to answer their Looping questions. We had a fun lunch at Hog's Breath, downtown and we think they'll be venturing out some day in the near future on the Loop route.For us, boating has been a way of making…
We dinghied into town on Thursday to visit our boating friends Charlie and Linda, on Freedom’s Turn, at their slip in one of the downtown marinas. We were with them last at Tarpon Springs in December before they flew home for the holidays. Today we decided to do a walking tour with Charlie and Linda to the historic Key West Cemetery only five blocks away from their marina. The cemetery is located on the highest point on the island and…
Our marina is teaming with fish. There are at least a dozen Tarpon, some over three feet. They swim near the harbor office with lots of smaller fish, today I saw two stingrays. I think they hang out in this spot waiting to get fed, along with the friendly pelicans, by the returning fishermen who clean their fish on the dock. Lisa bought me a fishing pole so I’m sure we’ll be having some fishing photos soon. I have been…
It’s a good thing we’re spending a month in Key West as there’s so much to see and do. We are looking forward to getting “Key’s Disease.”We decided to spend Skyler’s last day with us by going downtown mid afternoon to relax some more and explore a little. We found this great little bar, B. O.s Fish Wagon, that is more like having a drink in a treehouse.We headed downtown for our first, of many while here, Key West sunset.We…
Yesterday we took a long dinghy ride all the way around the Key West Island. It was a little choppy on the outside and we got a little wet but we enjoyed seeing the Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish float by us using their gas filled bladders to catch the wind. Today, we took the boat out to Sand Key (sorry, Lisa lost all the photos on the card today) to go snorkeling, however the water was a little too…
Our son Skyler Nelles, a graphic and web designer in northern Michigan - http://www.skyboxdesign.net, had never been to Key West before so we hopped on a bus from the marina and headed downtown. The downtown area was buzzing with lots of tourists filling the streets. We picked Hog’s Breath Saloon for lunch because it looked like a fun place. Funky decor and quality entertainment. After lunch we walked around some more and then went to the southernmost point in the United…
We made the short trip from Marathon down to our slip in Key West today (Wednesday, December 30th). We went on the ocean side then went around the end of Key West over to the Gulf side, to Stock Island and to Sunset Marina where we will be staying for the month of January.New years day we thoroughly cleaned the boat from top to bottom, inside out. Our son Skyler will be joining us New Years day for a week…
We crossed under the bridge at Marathon mid-day after another great weather day. Calm waters, light breeze and sunny skies. We tied up on a mooring ball in Boot Key and took the dinghy onto shore to get an early dinner at a restaurant where, according to the harbormaster, the locals eat. We had lobster reubens while sitting by the water. After we dinghyed around the harbor until sunset. No bugs tonight. Life is good.Tomorrow we head to our slip…
Night One - Russell Pass Anchorage We took the inside route through Marco Island today to Russell Pass in the Everglades National Park. We have always wanted to do this route to the Keys, so this is new territory for us. Our first Loop took us through Lake Ockeechobee to get to Fort Lauderdale so that we could cross over to the Abacos. We just did not have time to do the Abacos and the Keys in 2006. This time we…
One more night with Bart as part of our crew. We cruised outside to get to Naples and the weather and water could not have been better. We are sure that our anchorage tonight is one of those "Million Dollar Views" but for us it was free.We too the dinghy into the small town and found that they were having an art fair. We walked around the fair then found a hardware store with the idea of procuring a fishing…
We started the day with beignets and coffee as we headed for our dock at Fort Myers Beach. It's a little hard getting used to the idea of it being Christmas when the temperature is in the eighties but we managed. So today we just relaxed, tried to stay cool, went to the beach, cooked a big Christmas dinner, watched the sun set and walked around the little beach town after we ate.Friday we did some work in the morning…
Christmas Eve finds us anchored in Pelican Bay just across from Useppa Island.After lunch on Cabbage Key we checked on the boat and then dinghied over to the Cayo Costa State Park to walk across the island to the beach. Bart went swimming and we tried to take a nap on the beach but the flies wouldn’t leave us alone.It was amazing how many boats were anchored out here for the night. We saw lots of Christmas lights. We had…
We decided to linger on Useppa Island as long as we could in the morning. We got up and walked to the pool again which is a little hike across the island. We stayed until check-out time and then it was a very quick hop over to anchor at Pelican Bay. Just after we got settled at anchor we hopped in the dinghy for what turned out to be a very wet ride over to Cabbage Key to get the famous…
We are often asked what is/was your favorite place. That is so hard to answer and I usually say that wherever we are at the moment because it is all good. Well now I will have to say that Useppa Island is very special and at the top of this list I don’t have. This lush tropical island is loaded with exotic plants and the quaint architecture reminded us so much of the Bahamas. We'll let the photos speak for…
