We were warned by a east bound boater that there was lots of "ice" ahead and to be careful as it was pretty thick. Well, we knew it was cold but we were surprised that we may run into an ice slick on a river in Florida. Our eyes were wide open and looking for the glistening "white" stuff but as we approached this bed of water hyacinths we laughed as suddenly we were pretty sure the boater said "hyacinth"…
Tonight's accommodations were exceptional, simple, quiet and easy. The town of LaBelle provides this free dock for boaters to tie up for a safe place to stay for the night.
When we left our spot on the "dolphins" this morning we sailed right through the lock since it has been completely open since we arrived last night. So our first lock today was a breeze.Not a whole lot to see while out in the middle of Lake Okeechobee but when you start to approach the other side, Coot Bay and Clewiston (on the west shore), it is a visual delight. Different from anywhere else we have been with the dead…
We had a peaceful stop tonight tied up to a couple of the big "dolphins,"these are sets of 6 pilings, spaced 45 to 60 feet apart, situated by locks for barges and pleasure craft to tie up to while waiting for the lock to open or to spend the night if one so chooses. We tied up to this set located just before the Port Mayaca Lock which separates the St. Lucie Canal and Lake Okeechobee. The lock was open…
It’s always a treat for us to be able to catch up with friends from home while we’re boating. The Ways (Scott, Angie, Hilary, Amber and Tyler of Charlevoix left on a family educational adventure last fall (www.waybigadventure.com) and were staying on Nettles Island visiting Angie’s mother, Teresa, when we arrived to the island. For perspective Nettles Island is just off Hutchinson Island and the ICW about 10 miles NE of Stuart, Florida. The small island started out as a…
The city of Cocoa also has a nice free dock for boaters passing through with a view overlooking the city's lights. We had dinner at Thai Thai Sushi Bar. Excellent choice, the fried rice was to die for.Haulover Canal is a pretty cut through the Canaveral National Seashore Park area. Lots of fishermen dot this canal in little boats or onshore.We love to see white pelicans. There was a flock of them at Fort Matanzas the other day and we…
A quick stop in downtown New Smyrna for the night at the free dock. This dock on the edge of the town's park We love this little bakery (below) and always pick up something to make our morning even sweeter.
Unfortunately, after our informative tour of Fort Matanzas, we had a little dinghy accident. As we were dragging the dinghy off the sand and into the water we suddenly heard a loud hissing sound coming from underneath one of the pontoons. A sharp shell embedded in the sand had sliced a six inch gash on one side of the dinghy. OPPS!!!After an initial moment of panic, we were wondering how we would get across the cold water, which had quite…
We were fortunate to tour Fort Matanzas when Kevin McCarthy was on duty as the tour guide. In my next life I would love to have Kevin as my history teacher. He has a very good grasp of local history and delivers his knowledge with lots of zest and enthusiasm.The Matanzas Inlet is 14 miles south of St. Augustine. The construction of Fort Matanzas (the spanish word for “slaughter”) in 1740-42, was Spain’s last effort to ward off British encroachments on…
Cold and a little dreary this time in St. Augustine. We did a quick walk around the downtown district and decided it was just not that enjoyable in the cold so we headed over to one of our favorite Cuban restaurants, Habana Village to put some warm food in our tummies. This is the only restaurant we have ever found that serves fried yucca which is similar to a fried potato but a little heavier. We found this little gem…
Refueling at Palm Cove Marina then on to an anchorage at Pine Island.Dinner was on Bella Luna tonight. Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes and pear salad. Yummy!!! After that a quick game of Liverpool and lots of hugs as Bella Luna takes off early in the morning without us. Unfortunately we had to split up as our schedules differ. They need to be south quicker to meet up with friends who will accompany them to Marathon and we need to…
Quite by happen-chance we hooked up with Terry and Judi Wilcox who keep their Huckins, Litenup III, at the Huckins Marina just up the river from where we’re docked. They had us over to their boat where we discussed long distance cruising as well as getting a tour of their 65-foot wooden classic. We enjoyed dinner together a few nights later at the Florida Yacht Club and really got to delve into our mutual boating passions.Huckins was started here in…
After a two-night layover, due to high winds, in Palatka, our last stop on the St. Johns River was also where we began it. However that day, a couple of weeks ago, Bella Luna was with us heading south on the river.One of the nicest things about traveling on this river during the off season is that, other than the small fishing or pleasure boats we only saw one or two boats our size the whole trip DOWN & BACK. Look…
It's cold and rainy today so we sought refuge at the free dock in Welaka. We made note of this dock as we were heading south on the river. As boaters are always looking for an inexpensive (or even better) free dockage. We think it's important to make sure we go into town to re-provision, eat at a restaurant and make use of the town's services when visiting a town dock, especially one that is provided free of charge to the boating…
After another leasurely morning and with no exact destination in mind other than turning our boat around and heading north towards Jacksonville, we decided to make a big day of it by traveling 34 miles to Silver Glen Springs, just off Lake George.Silver Glen Springs We weren't sure we could make it into this reportedly shallow area but we were determined to give it a good try. Wow, are we ever glad we did. Silver Glen Springs goes about three-quarter's of…
Because we were only traveling eight miles today we had a leisurely morning at anchor enjoying the beauty of nature before heading to Hontoon Island State Park. In the course of these eight miles we saw three bald eagles, five or six mannatee, several alligators and a big stork.The only way onto Hontoon Island is by private boat or a pontoon ferry that runs from across the river. This is a State Park that has slips for dockage with a…
After our farewell with Louis and Diane we had a nice walk through Sanford before we embarked for a leasurely eight mile cruise north, to an oxbow across from Wekiva River. We had heard taking a dinghy ride up this river was something we should not miss and we were not disappointed. The river meanders back off of the St Johns River for about five miles and the further you navigate back the wilder it becomes. Wild in that this…
For the last six weeks we have had the pleasure of sharing our boating travels with Louis and Diane Wade, Bella Luna. We have had dinners on-board one or the other boat or we've all gone out to have a taste of the local cuisine. We've played games, made repairs to our boats, visited with each other's friends and family, took shore excursions and just plain had fun.So it was bittersweet today when we gave each other hugs and said goodbye…
Sanford, Florida, the most southern point on the St. Johns River concludes the first half of our trip before we head north and stop at some places we missed on the way south. So we decided to stay two days so that we could take our time exploring.Between rain showers though we walked into the quaint downtown where we (Louis, Diane, Lisa and I) had a very authentic Germany dinner at Hollenbach’s Willowtree Café. The food was exceptional and to…
A beautiful, tropical spot to anchor for the night. Shortly after the anchors are set the dinghies are dropped for a trip over to visit Blue Spring State Park, just around the bend from our boats.Blue Spring State Park One of the wildlife highlights of our St Johns trip so far happened today at Blue Springs. We anchored just around the bend from the springs and dinghied over to see what all the fuss was about.First of all Blue Springs is…
From mile 115 to mile 143 is where we saw the most wildlife. It was this stretch where we had a friendly wager with Bella Luna on who would see the first alligator, bald eagle and manatee for the day and it was also this area where we saw so many alligators we finally just stopped counting. We saw small little guys of about two feet long to some huge maybe eleven foot long ones.We thought this was a unique…
Butch and Teresa (the owners of Georgetown Landing Marina) were kind enough to let us borrow their truck so we could drive seven miles to the neighboring town of Welaka and visit the...Welaka Maritime MuseumThis museum has a collection of one-of-a-kind wooden boats that were all built by Richard Speas and is now maintained by his son Rand (below-center). Of all the museums we’ve been to this was one of the best, not just because it was all about boats, but…
As potential bad weather was forecasted for the next couple of days we left Murphy's Creek and made our way for Georgetown Landing Marina, just south of Welaka on the St. Johns River. We wanted to be tied up snuggly while the inclimate weather made its way past us. It rained and the wind was brisk for the better part of our stay so we took advantage of the time by catching up on boat chores including changing the generator…
Our first anchorage after Palatka was in an oxbow (a u-shaped bend in the course of a river) in Murphy's Creek, just off of Dunn Creek. Once settled Lisa and I lowered the dinghy to go explore for gators, eagles and turtles three to four miles up Dunn Creek.It didn’t take long before we started to spot the gators sunning themselves on logs (below-gator is in the left side of the photo on the log and the turtles are hopping…
Once the winter home of the Mellon banking family and the end of the line for railroads, Palatka was once the largest shipper of cypress wood in the world. This town is also considered the spot where the St. Johns River starts to become wild with natural habitat... gators, manatee, birds, eagles, snakes and more.Jack Carpenter stopped by our boat tonight to chat about the wonders of the St. Johns River. We learned a lot from him about the area and look…
After lots of discussion and planning we’re finally heading into the St Johns River to explore Florida’s hidden gems including the wildlife we’ve long heard and read so much about.First stop was a free dock at Six-mile Creek and a visit to the Outback Crab Shack, the restaurant which provides the free-dock, if you buy a meal at the restaurant. We were also surprised to run into a few slip holders from Ortega Landing Marina in Jacksonville, we just left…
We flew back from Ohio today. Larry and Louis met us at the airport and brought us back to the boat and a huge Thanksgiving day meal. They had been working on this meal all day and it truly was a feast. We were of course exhausted from the funeral and the long travel day. Our friends knew this and took good care of us and our tired souls. Thank you Larry & Margie, Wanderin' L & M and Louis…
Nature still reigns on Cumberland Island offering many wonders from saltwater marshes, canopies of live oak richly covered in silver moss, sandy dunes, beaches and even some remnants of its past human inhabitants. The animal life brings some surprises especially when you come upon one, or a group, of the wild horses that this island is well known for. On his first day of exploring, Ross saw an armadillo. There are also many racoons, great horned owls and peregrine falcons just…
We left Oyster Creek and St. Augustine this morning transiting underneath the Bridge of Lions which has been in construction mode since we ventured by here in 2005. This iconic bridge links the city, founded by Spanish military forces in 1565, with the resort communities of Anastasia Island is getting more than a facelift – it will be rebuilt in its own image, but in a way that will stand the test of time for generations to come.After a long day…
Our son Ross Favors joins us on the boat for a week. We picked him up Monday, while docked for a few days in Palm Coast, and left there Tuesday morning for St. Augustine.This old town of St. Augustine is one of our favorite stops. We loved showing Ross the Oldest Wood Schoolhouse and the Oldest House. We stopped in to sample different hot sauces and Ross let us sip his expresso.From our last trip we remembered the great Cuban…
We like to stay at Oyster Creek Marina when in St. Augustine because it is off all the commotion of the ICW. It is still a short walk into town and it gets us a chance to stretch our legs.
We left our boat in Palm Coast while we rented a car and took a little road trip to the AGLCA Spring Rendezvous in Charleston. We planned to only attend the last day of the event and a AGLCA Advisory meeting the next day. It was fun to meet new Loopers or those planning for the future. We even saw some familiar faces among those in attendance. We ate well and enjoyed a little time off the boat. Now, when…
We arrived at Palm Coast Marina on Wednesday. We are leaving the boat here for a couple of days while we drive to Charleston for the last day of the AGLCA Rendezvous and a meeting the next day. Once here we decided to stay a few more days in this quiet little spot while we wait for our son Ross to join us on Monday.Easter morning we fixed the steering and then went for a long walk through the nature…
We love Free Docks. They are almost always situated right near the heart of a little town. There usually is no electricity or water however, we have been to some that do have these "extras." We have been to this one in New Smyrna before and loved how it is situated.While I was working on the boat Jim went to find a mailbox and came back sporting a new haircut. If you have seen his pics lately it was a…
We got into Cocoa early this morning and tied up to the Free Dock next to the big park downtown.We remember we enjoyed exploring this town on our first Loop and are excited to visit it again. Cocoa is such a cute little town. Lots to see and do. We had to do the usual errands... find a mail box, hardware and grocery store.The park (above), which is right on the water is well maintained and is a fun place,…
On our way up the ICW now with the first stop being in Banana River where Loopers Mike and Bobbie Huck live with their beautiful Grand Banks boats tied up to their dock right in front of their house. We anchored almost in front of them and were so happy that Mike came to visit up in his dinghy to invite us over to catch up on both our cruising adventures. We met Mike and Bobbie on our first Loop…
Hello Florida, we're back enjoying, once again, the amenities we have forsaken while in the Abacos. However, while we are slowly calling and emailing friends and family to announce our return, we miss the pace of the islands and being AWAY. Jim had declared our first night in the Abacos that we should not watch any news the whole time we were there and I agreed. That small decision combined with no phone reception and sporadic internet connections made for…
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.
