* Key Largo to Fort Pierce, Florida *
After enjoying a few days in Key Largo, 7:30 am was our planned departure for our voyage to Key Biscayne.
The skies were gray and after we untied the lines and pulled off the dock, we noticed a change as the skies turned dark gray and spotted two water spouts side by side.
We decided we would pull back on a face dock as we were in a great protected cove to wait out what was viewed on radar. Believing most of the storm had passed, we headed out into gray skies with our buddy boat, Freedom.
We were kind of wrong. No, we were really wrong and so were our weather apps and forecasters. It was a 50-mile run in the Atlantic north to No Name Harbor, and in unprotected waters to Key Biscayne.
The weather sure did its own thing and not what was forecasted. We had runs of rain, dark clouds, giant swells, and wind. Several times, we had relief and it appeared that the storms had passed and then it would start all over. It was an uncomfortable ride for the first mate and first dog. So much rolling that we didn’t go down below, skipped lunch, skipped bathroom breaks, and the couple times we did need to get up, we got tossed around.
Forecasts were wrong all along the coast of Florid. Friends, Rick and Lori on I’ll Have Another were supposed to be in the Bahamas by now. They too, had horrible weather for their crossing and after heading out 20 miles and getting hit with 7-8 footers over the bow, aborted plans, and cruised to Lauderdale. They weatherd bad enough conditions, they decided to postpone the Bahama’s until next season. We also learned of another looper who tried to cross to the Bahama’s the day prior from Stuart, Florida and got pummeled to death and aborted and returned to the mainland. The entire contents of the inside of their boat were tossed, a mirror in the bath broken, a closet door taken off, and the light fixtures dropped from the ceiling. They came back and are waiting for another weather window that might possibly be a week out. The weather this season has been unforgiving.
As we headed passed Stiltsville, the wind and waves subsided, and all were relieved to find calm waters on the approach to No Name Harbor.
Built in the 1930’s, Stiltsville is a group of wood stilt houses located one mile south of Cape Florida, on sand banks of the Safety Valve on the edge of Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The structures stand on wood or reinforced concrete pilings, generally ten feet above the shallow water, which varies from one to three feet deep at low tide.
Some were originally built as social clubs, gambling venues (at the end of prohibition) legal one mile offshore. Now protected by a trust and part of the national park system, preservation is in full force to protect and keep this part of history. There are seven homes remaining from the 27 original.
Stiltsville has been the setting for scenes in numerous media works such as films, Around the World and Under the Sea, Absence of Malice, television – Miami Vice, Dexter, and the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
No Name Harbor is part of Biscayne National Park, and you may anchor in the small harbor for $20 or tie up to the wall for the day for $8. We went to the wall immediately for Remy and Freedom anchored for the night nearby. They don’t allow you to be tied to the wall overnight though we both had heard from others that boats have been known to do so recently. We paid our $20, ate dinner at the restaurant in the park, and returned to our boat. It was late, dark, and we decided to try to stay on the wall. Park rangers passed our boat regularly and one sat behind us in his vehicle right up to closing at 11:00 pm but never told us to get off the wall. So, we took our chances and stayed on the wall as did another boat with a dog. All went well, no knock on the boat overnight. The following morning Tasha walked Remy in the park prior to the official opening time, passed two park rangers that never said a word. Returning from our morning walk, Tasha sat on a bench for a minute by our boat, Remy retreated behind it and laid down, we believe trying to hide, as to not have to board again after the prior days cruise. She has turned into a dock dog and not so much a cruising pup.
Just as we were untying to leave, a volunteer park guide approached David. He inquired to see if we had paid for being in the park, wanted to see our receipt, and nicely but firmly let us know that there was no overnighting on the wall in the park. He indicated the park closed at 11:00 pm and no one was to remain on the wall. We should not do that in the future. Luckily, we will probably not return, and we were able to get our pup on and off as needed. We found it strange that the official, paid park patrols did not say a word, but the volunteer did. The captain is not one to break the rules and we might have felt a little bit bad for doing so, though the ease and comfort for our pup trumped his guilt.
We pushed off around 8:00 am and headed for Fort Lauderdale. A much nicer, enjoyable, cruising day with many bridges through downtown Miami. After being in the Keys for a month, this was a big dose of big city civilization all at once.
Everything big, ultra-lux, and CRAZY money. So much to see, take photos of, and to comprehend the wealth in this area. UN REAL!
We were cruising along, minding our own business and the ICW opened a bit wider. We saw three sea planes fly overhead, loop around, and then proceed to land right in front of us scooting across our bow. We have seen lots of sea planes in the North Channel, some on the Ohio River, though did not expect them on the ICW and to land right there with us.
Southeast Florida is not a favorite of loopers, congested waterways (not too bad for us on an early weekday), crazy boaters with no courtesy for others, and high rent for moorage. We cruised right through Miami and into Fort Lauderdale. With the need for getting Remy off the boat, we paid in the high rent rate for two nights to get us out of SE Florida. We stopped at the downtown Fort Lauderdale Hilton for the night, a hoppin’ hotel, with tightly packed boats in a small basin. We were moored at the entry to the basin right off a main Lauderdale channel and 150 feet off the Intracoastal waterway. The spot had a sweet view, though we were not there long enough to enjoy.
There were not great areas to walk Remy (not so much grass) but she did enjoy the great activity around the pool (afternoon and nightlife) and greeting everyone!
We had just visited with Columbus friends, Joy and Keith Reising in Marathon for lunch. We were now in their winter home grounds, and they joined us for dinner in Fort Lauderdale. We had a brief tour of cruising by the Fort Lauderdale beach front, party scene, and beautiful homes. But the traffic (we thought it was bad on the water) was crazy bad on land. Their home was 7 miles from the marina and on a good day at least a 30-minute drive, today with the bridge being stuck and having to reroute, almost an hour and a half. It was good to see them again and spend an evening together.
Our time in Fort Lauderdale was gone too quickly. It was a great hotel with a ton of amenities, we were docked in a great spot with lots of activity in the canal and didn’t get to take advantage of it at all. It’s a shame the cost of docking for less than 18 hours and not being able to take it all in. It was time to go again.
We had a great cruising day from Fort Lauderdale to North Palm Beach. We left as the sun was rising for our 52-mile journey that would include 20 bridges, seven that we would need to time or wait for openings and two that we weren’t sure of.
Our air height is somewhere around 18’ with all the antennas and navigation nights folded down. Our dinghy is stored on our aft deck roof and the engine is a bit higher than our fly bridge hard top.
We have a radar unit and two satellite domes on our hard top that are even higher. Our 4 antennas can be lowered, and the captain put them down right away for the day. Most bridges are measured at low steel and are higher in the middle.
The captain did a great job of timing bridges and we had very little wait time this day. He also sent the first mate up top to the aft deck roof (this entails climbing up on the roof behind the helm, scooting and rolling on one’s belly to climb through an opening in the strataglass, and then standing on slick, polished, buffed fiberglass, and holding on the fly bridge hardtop) to monitor situation on the two bridges we were not so sure by standing while we go under the bridges.
All have boards out front that tell you water levels at that time. We watch the boards, the tides, the waves, the wakes, and we go slow. And sometimes we cross our fingers and pray!
Tasha’s head was higher than the radar so she would hit the steel girders first should we be too high! And just as she was climbing up top, the water police were cruising by. Tasha was having to eyeball the height to see if we could get under the bridge prior to us getting to the bridge and know with enough advance notice should we have to back up. Standing on the roof she would have to hold onto for dear life if the captain reversed the ship. Luckily, she has good height perception, informed the captain that we would make it, stood on the roof the whole way under the bridge, tried to take photos, and touch the girders. She could not reach the steel and we had plenty of room to traverse. As she lowered (crawled and rolled) herself back down the way she went up, the captain asked more specific height questions and she had to return to the roof to do a better job measuring.
Luckily this was not a time a boat came through and waked us.
The day was hot, and this wore on the first dog. As she has aged, the heat gets to her much more and we work to keep her comfortable. Sometimes she lets us know we haven’t done the job well. We haven’t seen this type of heat in cruising since last summer in the rivers. Our quest to get further north, to cooler days, is real for her sake.
It is hard to describe and comprehend the number of mega yachts and multimillion-dollar homes we saw this day.
The trip through Miami had its share but not like today. The pictures do not depict any of it at all. Just when we thought we had seen in all and were done with photos, bigger and grander boats and homes appeared. Mile after mile.
Crazy money for thousands of people. We live a very blessed life and have all that we need and much more but what we saw today, there are so many that are so wealthy beyond anything we could even dream of.
Our last bridge of the day had us cruising by Mar-a-Lago, home of our 45th and colorful President. Due to landscaping and distance from shore, we were not able to catch a glimpse of anything but the large American flag that flew high above the trees. We love to see the colors of our country on display and flow proudly. We had just remarked earlier that we are disappointed at how few vessels and homes fly old glory. Tasha had taken flag pictures earlier in the day of homes flying our colors. While we stand with Ukraine, it was disheartening to see many more Ukraine flags today on our journey than American.
Just as we arrived at our marina in North Palm Beach, the winds kicked up. Our captain did a great job of getting us in our slip and tied up. We did our typical routine after arriving at port, Tasha took Remy on a long walk (which wasn’t that long as she was hot, tired and there wasn’t much grass or shade) and David hooked us up to power (a/c) and situated the boat. We knew rain was coming but had no idea the storm on the horizon. We were tied up for the night, but not tied up for what was brewing.
As we were all inside cooling off and working on boat routing and marina planning, we heard rain, felt the winds kick up, and then got slammed against the dock. We went up top and started closing the strataglass as the wind had the rain blowing sideways. We then received thunderstorm and tornado warnings on our phones. Tornado warnings aren’t the tornado warnings from when we were young. They used to alert you that a tornado had been sighted by an official observer (weather forecaster or law enforcement) and you should take shelter immediately. Somewhere along the way, they went to a tornado warning (rather than watch) when thunderstorm warnings were given, and the conditions were right for a tornado to form. They thought this would give more warning time and save lives, but we have seen (from being in broadcasting and law enforcement) that people don’t pay as much attention. We fell into that category and went back below without securing additional lines and our stairs on the boat.
What came next, we can’t fully describe, our pictures and video do not show the intensity of the storm and our cruising mates from Freedom are the only ones that will really comprehend what we went through.
The lighting came and it was straight up and down and close. The winds blew and jerked us side to side, front to back, and directions we didn’t know the boat could lurch. The rain pelted the boat, and rain was coming in above and below the wing doors on the aft deck and through the hawse pipes (the small holes in the aft cabin where our lines go through from our cleats on our deck to the dock), and the flag was beating against the strataglass. The storm shifted quickly, and the winds came from every direction, just when you thought they might subside, here they came again from another direction. The wave action in the marina was fierce, and visibility very little. A couple times when you could see, we saw boat furniture floating in the harbor, piece after piece. The crew of Freedom were in a different part of the harbor and saw huge fenders floating by.
The storm just didn’t let up. It continued for almost two hours. Remy, having listened during safety briefings from school days, took refuge in the lowest part of the boat. She only frequents the lower level when she is stressed. She sought out the shower for her safe place. It made us laugh a bit as if you’ve ever been on our boat, you know the shower is very tiny and very dark with no light. But she went low and around the plumbing like they teach us all in school!
We were worried about our Marquipt stairs. These are our boarding stairs that fasten to the side of the boat in two places and drop down onto the dock on wheels. (We haven’t used them in months as the docking conditions weren’t right for them). The extreme movement of the boat was jerking them around greatly. The captain has just retrieved the boat hook from the helm and was going to go out in the pelting rain to secure them better when the winds made a huge turn and jerked us the opposite direction. One of the brackets on the deck of the boat holding them up was plucked clean out of the deck of the boat. Our first casualty of crazy weather and we were oh so close to securing them. The captain went out in the downpour to get the steps off the decks and keep them from being ruined. He then added another line and tightened a line to keep our swim platform from hitting the dock. We were still being tossed in all directions but not slamming the dock like we were.
While we were so glad to be on a safe, secure, floating dock (our first floating dock in months), but we were both scared. This by far was the worst storm we had been in on our boat. While Tasha and Remy would have felt safer in the boaters building (never had time to get there), we were glad we (David) were on the boat to secure it better to prevent even further damage.
We met up Judy and Dave from Freedom for dinner (about 90 minutes later than planned) and rehashed the storm from two different parts of the marina. This has not been a favorable weather week and it was only half over! Freedom was at anchor the night prior, and we were relieved that this didn’t happen the previous night. Also, our friends on Cell Mates had been at anchor in the area for the last week, they had motored to Fort Pierce this day and missed the storms all together. Thankful both crews were tied up safely.
Unfortunately, with the storm and all we did not have time to venture into North Palm Beach at all.
The following day we had what we hoped would be an uneventful fifty-mile trip to Fort Pierce with ten bridges and capabilities of getting under all of them without openings and without Tasha crawling up on the roof! It was another hot day and Remy was over it all. Just as we neared Fort Pierce, we got warning from Cell Mates who were already there that a storm was brewing. High winds coming in fast. It was not meant to be another uneventful day. As we watched the storm come from west to east just north of us, we received reports of high winds, heavy rain, and hail. We turned around to avoid getting into the storm. Luckily it was quick lived, blew out to sea and we hurried back and into our slip before the predicted winds picked up in late afternoon. Storm three of the week we watched from nearby. Whew!
Luckily, we had planned a two day stay in Fort Pierce and the temperature dropped the second day getting us in better standing with our senior golden. Just when the captain hopes to have a free day, he’s got the Marquipt stair deck to fix and a leaking toilet to work on.
We still were able to pack in some fun. We caught up with the crew on Cell Mates and had dinner at the marina with them. We had an enjoyable day with David’s nephew Rick and his wife Marnie from Okeechobee.
We drove to Hutchinson Island for lunch, ran a few errands while we had a car, and finished our visit at the marina with Remy and dinner.
Before heading out to Melbourne, we frequented a wonderful farmers market in the park by the marina.
We continue to cruise with Judy and Dave on Freedom and enjoyed another beautiful day on the water in the cooler weather. Remy is happy.
Cheers! David, Tasha, & Remy
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Quite the adventure! Storms are no joke.
Ready for calm!