A few pics of our Florida activities in March/April!

Mid March, Captain Guy and I, rented a car and drove to Clermont Florida to visit Guy's sister Karin, her husband Keith.

 

Here Guy ponders whether or not we should go for a one hour flight in this beautifully restored and maintained De Havillane Beaver seaplane. The seaplane responsible for opening up the North in Canada. Guy flew many times in these on his many canoe trips up in Canada. It brought back many fond memories of times with our son Erik, canoeing many lakes and rivers in Quebec and Ontario. The pilot spends his winters in Florida chartering flights and then heads North for the summers. He had just rebuild the engines and it was a real beauty!

We were treated to an afternoon in the Dora Canal by our hosts K & K. Below are some of the birds I was able to capture with my camera. This Bald Eagle was on a nest with several young ones. The nest was about 6 ft across.

With a sharp eye and that long neck he was concentrating on any water movement.

With beautiful big blue eyes and that head of feathers it reminded us of Rod Stewart!

This place was captivating....the Cypress trees were thousands of years old , yes thousands...many 6 feet around at the base. This swamp was on the Dora Canal near Mount Dora. Fantastic natural habitat that is preserved as it has always been.

The sun shone through and lite up the water to display such magnificent shades of amber and gold and greens

We were treated on this trip by Guy's sister and her husband. We were in a slow moving pontoon boat with a guide. It was truly magical.

How could we be in Florida all winter and not see alligators? These were females...taking care of their young. Not sure where the dads are! ? LOL!

Looks like a teenager and a baby sister!They were tough to spot on the logs as they blend right in to the logs and brush.

This mama seems happy to carry her baby on her back! The mothers are very protective since the males have been known to eat the young if given a chance.

Same mean mama as above...just a closeup of the threatening teeth! How prehistoric are those scales and teeth?

Random turtle milling around the alligators!

Karin , Keith (our hosts) with their daughter's Kerry and Kellie, husbands Dave, and Christopher. Grandchildren, Madeline and Drew.  Pat, (a cousin) and his wife Jane, and us.  Thanks Karin and Keith for a terrific fun filled quality time! I think Guy has spent too much time in the sun. ....he's pretty dark!

After a few days of fun in Central Florida, we continued on to the Gulf coast to Fort Myers!

The Birthday Party!  (Drew's)  We stayed with Drew & Janet 's at their place for a few days along with Peter and Libby . A little shopping, good food , great wine and lots of laughs made it all memorable! Thanks so much for everything D & J.

 

 

 

 

Once we got back to our boat, we were anxious to get further south to visit my uncle and his wife in Fort Lauderdale.

So we set out to sail on the outside (Atlantic ocean a opposed to the intercoastal). We left the Fort Pierce Inlet and set off to re-enter in the West palm inlet, an 8 hour sail in 5 to10 kts from the east, 3 miles offshore. It was a great day on the water. The closer we got to West Palm the slower we went SOG(speed over ground). It was the influence from the Gulf Stream. It is only 10 miles off the coast and it slowed us down enough to notice.

Some pics of what we saw along the way! This Tug was puling 3 barges behind it. It followed us for a long way until it turned back into shore.

Our approach to West Palm Beach! The wind was about 12 knots on our aft quarter. With the wind and waves behind us it made for a comfortable sail. The next day the wind piped up to 25 knots from the South with huge waves at the inlet. It made it too uncomfortable to sail further South without waiting for a weather window.

Since the wind was not in our favor to continue further south to Fort Lauderdale in the next few days,  my uncle picked us up from the Riverside Marina, in West Palm  (an hour drive ) and took us back to their place for super fun and comfortable stay at their winter home.

He even treated us to some ice cream! Thank you so much Andre and Elise for everything. We will see you next winter! Guy will buy the ice cream next time.....I hope to take my little grand daughter Sloane to this place some day! She will love it!

My aunt Elise was having fun trying on different sunglasses! I think they look good on her!

We left west Palm, and are now headed back North to Fort Pierce for a few days then we will make our way to Vero Beach and wait there for George (of S/V Heritage). He and Jackie are the couple we left Sarnia with last August! We had to go our separate ways when we committed to  re-powering in Annapolis last October.

Traveling on the intercoastal on a Sunday is both scenic and annoying. The wakes from inconsiderate big yachts are a hazard!

A few pics of "jaw dropping" beautiful Florida homes!

This one could have been right out of the Godfather Movie!`

This one had a corner lot and WOW what a mansion!!

This is a 1903 original Dutch 'Botter' boat. The owner had restored to 'bristol' condition. These boats have an easily stepped mast that can be dropped for canal clearance. They were work boats from the many canals in Holland and Europe . Notice the large leeboards on the sides. These are lowered for stability when sailing and raised for motoring. They have very shallow drafts and can go were many other sailboats with normal deeper keels can't. It was a real treat to see it. He must have repowered with a good sized engine because he wasn't lumbering along on the waterway. He was cruising at 6.5 knots.

Staying out of the way!

This was an odd looking boat. Since it was closely following a barge we figured it was a work boat that aided in dredge operations along the Intercoastal Waterway. Too much gear and strange side boats in davits.

We have seen many many Canadian Vessels. This one from Ottawa. We talked with these cruisers in Peck Lake were we anchored for a night. A heavy steel double ended staysail ketch. We will see them again as they are "Summering" in the same marina as we are. They too were heading North.

Another bridge!

Now on a mooring in Vero Beach, April 15th, Captain Guy is playing a tune! Great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

I'm drinking a gin and tonic! (glass half full of half empty?)  After a few of these everything was half full for me! LOL!

George arrived  in Vero Beach from the Bahamas Tuesday the 16th of April! Every Thursday, the Vero Beach cruisers at the Marina/Mooring facility have a get together for boaters. Everybody brings a snack and their own drinks. Here some of the boaters have brought their instruments to entertain the crowd. Donna played a banjo Eukelali and knew hundreds of tunes. She had a great voice also. John played the best Mandolin I have ever heard. He must have been a professional. He said he sits in with touring Bluegrass groups. I can believe it. He did a rendtion of Cinderella and her 'suggly stip sesters'that had us all laughing so hard we were crying! Fun times.

Lots of great talent....We were well entertained! Thanks to all the musicians!

Here Guy enjoys (or is about to) a meal out! and a night off cooking  for me!

Here, Friday April 19th, we are off the mooring ball in Vero Beach and are heading north to Green Cove Springs where we will be "summerizing" our vessel prior to leaving her for 7 months!

The winds crept up all day from the south.......started off at 5 kts and ended up seeing 30 + on our kt meter! We made great time since the wind was behind us. At one point we were sailing at 7 knots with only the jib.  It was fun until it came time to anchor! Stopped off and anchored right in front of the huge Nasa building and the shuttle take off station in 25 + kts of wind!!

The forecasted storm is on it's way! Yikes!!!

Looks like it's on it's way ! Double Yikes!!!

Still waiting!

This NASA building (which we are anchored in front of) is said to be so huge that clouds form inside of it!

The storm never developed! (so happy). The next day however, as we traveled to Rockhouse Creek in Smyrna, we were met with high winds from the north which slowed us down a considerable amount along with the current! The larger bodies of water we needed to cross were not so pleasant!

April 20th, in the haste of securing items on deck from the wind, Captain Guy has been injured! Kicked a stainless port on his way down the side decks. Thong sandals are comfortable but you pay the price of leaving those little toes open to damage. Looks like a small plum with a nail!! Poor thing....I will have to add "nurse" to my boat duties for the next few days! LOL! The next post will be of our last leg to Green Cove Spring and our preparations for Dry Storage. Gotta go for now...my patient is calling!

Sunny and warm Florida

      It's been 10 weeks since my last post ! Yikes! Where has the   time gone? what have we done? Where have we gone???????

During the last week of January, we left St-Augustine mile #777  of the ICW to make our way further south!
This was our longest stay anywhere since Annapolis!
We stayed there for a week!

After traveling 10 plus nautical miles , we started to see a large area of smoke in the sky ! After another 7 miles, this is what it looked like from our starboard side.

This is taken about 3 nautical miles from our destination...Still did not find out what it was....some say it was a purposely lit self contained fire! As you can see it's almost sunset. In order for us to get into Marineland Marina, we had to arrive at high tide or risk running aground in the entrance. High tide was at 6:00 pm.
We arrived at the marina just before dark....hitting bottom a few times and made it to the dock just before it got too dark for my comfort level!

We travelled less than 20 nautical miles to Marineland mile # 797 from St. Augustine .We stayed here  for 3 nights.  As you can see, we did the "tourist" thing!

One of the many Dolphins in captivity at Marineland.....

We went for a walk in a "Conservation forest" in Marinland City. Guy was hoping to see  turtles or other protected animals that inhabit this forest.....but it was not to be....me, I was ok with it! It was however interesting to read the identification signs of all the different trees and plants....
The next day we left...Marineland, making our way to Cocoa Beach  near  New Smyrna 

Here we pass the Nasa building...at Cape Canaveral it is huge, we saw it from miles away!

We did not stop off at "Nasa" this time but we would like to take a tour someday! 

The stretch between Marineland and Cocoa Beach was very scenic. A number of these islands had people camping by boat on them. They would set up tents and fishing campsites.

We anchored in about 10 ft of water just off the intercoastal in Cocoa Beach near the New Smyrna inlet to the ocean! One of my favorite anchorages so far!  We went for a dinghy ride to shore . 

Many fisherman fishing in the surf from shore. This guy had waiters. It was funny to see him try and stand in the surf. Very determined.

The lighthouse at the New Smyrna inlet

We watched fishermen on a rock pier reel in their catches....This pelican is waiting for dinner!

The coast of New Smyrna is filled with surfers as well as (I read on the internet) it's the # 1 shark attack beach in the world! Even though there was an annual shark migration along the coast it was full of surfers.

After a long walk along the beach, we walked along a boardwalk to get back to our dinghy

Here Guy looks over the railing so see some gopher/burrowing tortoises.

Gopher tortoises are one of the few species of tortoise that dig burrows. These burrows can be up to ten feet deep and 40 feet long, and are as wide as the length of the tortoise that made it. In addition to providing the tortoise a home, the burrows are also used by a range of other species including the indigo snake, Florida mouse, gopher frog and burrowing owl.

I was lucky enough to get these two pics of this tortoise coming out of it's burrow. They are about 2 ft long.

After our overnight stay in Cocoa Beach, Jan 27th, we traveled a very scenic 47 NM to Vero Beach arriving at 16:30.
We took our assigned mooring ball. For those who are unfamiliar, mooring balls are an alternative to dropping your own anchor.  A mooring ball is permanently installed in a harbor, generally consists of the anchor, a chain to a mooring ball that floats on the surface of the water,  and a pennant to which the boat gets attached.
We also noticed 4 other Valiants. (Same make of boat as ours). in the harbor.
Soon after turning our instruments off, putting our maps away etc, we were invited to a cocktail party of other Valiant owners at one of the Valiants. 
 

The ocean was a short walk away from Vero Beach Harbor. This guy was entertaining to watch  skim the beach and then fly off in the breezes along the coast. Looked like a ton of fun!

We enjoyed the many restaurants and bars along the coast.

As you can see it was Superbowl Weekend....

We enjoyed a visit from our niece Kellie and her husband Christopher on Superbowl weekend.

Cocktail hour !   Cheers!

Kellie and Christopher heading back to Miss Ellie after lunch onshore!

We stayed in Vero beach till Feb 4th....then headed to Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce Fl. a short distance away.

Arial view of Harbortown Marina at Intercoastal mile # 965. We took a slip for a month...great rate..approx 17.00 a day! The marina is super! It's close to supermarkets, has a new state of the art laundry room, new shower facilities, heated pool, exercise room, onsite restaurant with live entertainment on the weekends, etc. etc. etc. We have some "land trips" planned for Feb. and March! and feel this is a good place to keep Miss Ellie while we are away! It is at the mouth of Taylor Creek and is touted as the only fresh water marina on the east coast of Florida!

 

On Feb 11th, we rented a vehicle to get us from Fort Pierce to Daytona to catch our flight to Vancouver.

On our way to the airport, we stopped off in Titusville to check out some prices and facilities at a marina for summer storage.  We walked around the docks and this is what we saw!

There were quite a few manatees swimming between boats, weaving in and out of the docks. One of the boaters saw our interest in these mammals and showed us how they loved drinking from a hose! Every time one of the boaters sprays fresh water from the boat these manatee come over for a drink!

This little guy was walking around the park area of the marina!

We arrived in Daytona in plenty of time to board our flight to Vancouver.

We arrived in Vancouver Feb 12th after staying a night in Seattle. 
Below are pics of why we were so anxious to fly across the country !

On Valentine's day, Sloane Ivy Wilke ,our third grandchild was born.....

We also met our second grandchild Teagan Olivia Mathany , born Nov. 26th...2012 

Me with Bridget and Sloane

Since we started our cruise last August.......our family has grown! We spent 2 weeks in Vancouver .  
We returned Feb 26th. Since returning to our boat in Fort Pierce Florida, Guy have taken some time to add several more coats of varnish to the rub rail, the cap rail and the combings. The Florida summer sun is harsh..we hope that this will protect the teak! We have a list of boat projects as well as hobbies we want to work through along with a few more "land trips" in March, so we have decided to stay here in Fort Pierce for now!  
Till my next post....take care