Merry Christmas

Some of the folks get a little carried away, otherwise you would not know it was Christmas in 70 degree weather.

After opening 19 bridges in two days from West Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale, we arrived.  We spent a very pleasant night on anchor in Boca Raton, before Ft Lauderdale.  We then proceeded up the New River where we tied off to spend Christmas.  Great selection of restaurants and sights for the holidays.

Notice the Tow Boat Ahead of this Behemoth 

New rule; if you are too big to navigate the river on your own and require two tugs (one in the front and one in the back), your boat is too big!  Evidently, the New River is one of the places you go to see and be seen.  The parade of boats on "the cruise" is quite entertaining.

Dog Park

 Our slip is surrounded by numerous high-rise apartment building.  The green space near our boat is the favorite dog walking area.  With about 3 foot of tidal action, we sometimes look out of the boat and are on eye level with a dachshund doing their business.  We have met some great dogs and owners.  

West Palm Beach

 After opening 6 bridges, we arrived in West Palm Beach.  The last bridge we opened, The Flagler Memorial Bridge, opened 15 minutes after the hour and 15 minutes before the hour.  We arrived at 2:50 p.m., but the bridge tender was nice enough to hold the opening for us, backing up a lot of vehicle traffic.  The next day on the way to the grocery store, we got caught waiting for a boat to pass through.

Pay backs are hell.

The marina we are staying in is very nice and pricey.  But, it is all inclusive (laundry, pump out, golf cart ride to boat, etc.) so we are making the most of it.

Nearby the marina is the Waterfront Commons they have Sunday on the Waterfront.  This Sunday was Still Surfin' (a Tribute to the Beach Boys).  In attendance was the Mayor of West Palm Beach, handing out free brownies.

Pollie dancing with the Honorable Mayor Lois J. Frankel

Second Month Anniversary and S#%t Storm

While anchored in Manatee Pocket we celebrated our two month anniversary as full time cruisers.

Dredging Operation in Manatee Pocket

Manatee Pocket is a small cove off of the ICW near Stuart, FL.  Unfortunately, that evening we experienced a clogged toilet line that required pin pointing, then clean out - not pleasant.  All is well now and we are being more liberal with water when flushing.

 

Moving South

Our plan is to move south while we are enjoying somewhat improved temperatures (still cold at night).  Some of our cruising friends don't seem to mind the temperatures.

Dolphins Playing in Our Wake

(Pollie worked hard to get a picture of the dolphins)

This morning after leaving Titusville, we had to open two bridges, the Titusville Bridge and the NASA Causeway Bridge.  The first was not a problem other than a 42' catamaran that pulled in front of us because he had to be first.  The second bridge was more challenging.  It had a barge with a dredger working under the bridge.  The bridge tender advertised that there was 20' between the barge and the fender of the bridge.  This eliminated the catamaran, as his beam was 22'.  This put Serenity in the lead.  As we went through, I saw about 3' on either side of our 10.4' beam.  After we got through, I advised the bridge tender, "Serenity is clear, thank you for the opening, now I will now go take my blood pressure medicine."  The boat behind us ask if they could have some too!

Frontal Passage

We decided to wait another day in Daytona Beach to let a cold front roll through that was predicted to produce "rough" conditions on intracoastal waters.  The next day was forecasted to be "choppy."  Choppy we can handle.  While in Daytona we decided on activities that would be best considering the wind chill.  So, we rented a car to make a Wally-World run to reprovision and do some sightseeing.

The Cube on the Beach

In addition to visiting museums, we found other warm inside activities.

Of course we only visit the classy joints.

 

"The gift that keeps on giving"

While in St Augustine, we visited the Dow Museum of Historic Homes.  Seems Kenneth Dow, and his wife Mary spent their life and inherited fortune traveling and acquiring artifacts.  In St. Augustine he bought several house and had others moved in to create a little compound to store his finds.  After touring the homes, Pollie asked the curator, "where is the really good stuff."  We were directed to The Museum of Arts and Science in Daytona Beach.

We were not disappointed, Mr. and Mrs. Dow had put together an incredible large and diverse collection.

Additionally, the museum housed a collection from the Root family that made their fortune from inventing and producing the Coke bottle.

We also enjoyed a Cuban exhibit.

One of the homes in St Augustine had been inhabited by a nephew of Napoleon.  This inspired Mr. Dow to go to France and buy all the Napoleonic artifacts he could lay his hands on.  Many of the documents and artifacts from his collection are still in boxes waiting to be opened and cataloged, thus the statement from the curator, "we call the Dow bequeath the gift the keeps on giving."



 

St. Augustine

Greetings from St. Augustine, FL

Due to the "Arctic  Blast" we decided to take a slip rather than a mooring ball.  Good choice, as the dinghy ride to shore would have been on the nippy side, and the winds last night and today has created a pretty good chop at the docks, probably very uncomfortable in the mooring field.  Today we are enjoying cool temperatures, wind and light rain. We have been justifying using marinas more than we had planned on with the fact that if we spent every night in a marina at $2.00 per foot, it is less money than our mortgage in DC.  Slip fees have probably averaged about $1.75 peer foot with the highest in Savannah, $3.00 per foot and the lowest in Jacksonville, $.90 per foot.  The length of our boat has been variable also.  On the stern we are identified as a Nauticat 33.  The 33' is referring to the length on deck, while the overall length is 36.5 with the bowsprit, and the dinghy hanging on the davits adds another 4'.  Some marinas want to include the dinghy davits, while others don't.  At only one marina did the harbor master step off the length of our boat, so we have settled on a compromise, and now refer to our boat as a 38 footer.

Bridge of Lions

The St Augustine City Marina we had to open the Bridge of Lions, a double bascule.  It opens on the hour and half hour between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on at 8 a.m. noon, and 5 p.m.  I can understand the restriction at 8 and 5, but the one at noon seems a little strange.  We were able to time our arrival so as to have only about a 10 minute wait.

Former Hotel Ponce de Leon

Built in 1888 as Henry Flagler's flagship hotel, the Ponce de Leon is now Flagler College, a four year liberal arts college.  We also toured the Memorial Presbyterian Church that Flagler built in memory of his daughter, that includes the family mausoleum.  Both structures are made of poured in place concrete and exemplifies architecture when money and craftsmanship are not a restraint.

Much of the town was toured on our bikes that did not seem to bother these guys.

   

Escaped Jacksonville - Almost

Jacksonville Skyline

After a week and a day, we departed Jacksonville and went down the St. Johns River to the point it intercepted the ICW.  We delayed our departure until 10:30 AM to take advantage of the current and to depart on high tide (gets a little skinny in the Ortega River).  Worked well, except when we rejoined the ICW we were going against a 1.5 knot current until we got to the Atlantic Highway Bridge.  Serenity's chart plotter program includes a tides and charts program.  We can superimpose the currents on the chart.  It gives us red arrows with the size of the arrow indicating the strength of the current.  When we got to the Atlantic Highway Bridge, there was the biggest arrow we have ever seen - 5.6 knots!  Evidently, the construction of the bridge funnels the water under the bridge creating quite a strong and swirly current under the bridge.  After a white-knuckle ride under the bridge and fighting the current, we stopped in Jacksonville Beach at the Beach Marina.  Initially we had planned to anchor out, but decided that with the record low temperatures for Northern Florida, we would like to run a space heater tonight.

Neighbor installing WiFi antenna on a Manta 42

During our week in Jacksonville, we were able to get some maintenance done and fly out to Alabama to visit the oldest son.  Unfortunately the Rosa Parks Museum was closed for filming, but we did get to see the State Capitol, and the Southern White House for the Confederate States of America.  Jefferson Davis spent the spring of 1861 there, then decided it was going to get hot, so he moved to Richmond, VA.  Also, Pollie got to see her first Pro Bass Shop.  She was impressed, even bought camoflauge wrapping paper.
We actually missed the boat while in Alabama.  Serenity is definatelly looking "lived in," and Pollie only ocasionally grumbles about our "glorified camping."

Pollie's Corner

Mo's Corner