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 

 

 

From boots to shorts!

 "Georgia is no longer on our mind" We are happy to have this state behind us!  The tides and currents are challenging.
On our 2nd day traveling in  the Georgia ICW, we decided to go to Kilkenny Creek Marina for the night.....about a 1/2 mile off our route.
As we arrived, Guy was careful docking the boat while heading into a 3-4 knot current. This place had small shabby docks with a handful of boats on them. Other docks seemed better but they were privately owned. Guy went up to the office to pay a ridiculous fee of $1.75 per foot or $70.00. He returned to the boat with 3 bags of what turned out to be stale peanuts as we watched another boat come in nearly sliding into the trawler in front of us due to the fast moving current. Guy quickly jumped out and helped them dock without too much scraping!.
Below is what happened to our dinghy the next morning as we tried to get off the dock to continue onto our journey South.
Even though we had pushed the boat backwards away from the trawler in front of us, we  still had a near collision with it as our speed forward could not compensate for the strong current. As I fearfully watched our bow come inches from the stern of the boat ahead of us, Guy put our vessel in full force reverse. The consequence was a holed dinghy (it swung from the davits and hit some square posts on the dock) and scrapes along the starboard side of Miss Ellie!
You can imagine how distraught Guy was! And me? 
I was in need a stiff drink! LOL!  
We came up with another plan and successfully got off the dock and carried on with our frayed nerves!

The damage to our dinghy! 
Those are Guy's 3 fingers sticking out of the hole!

This damage was caused by the side of the dinghy slamming against the chain plate on our canoe stern! We had our regular stern fender for protection but it also was flying around!

Once we got to Jacksonville Florida, Guy got out all that he needed to repair the damage.Guy asked for a spot down at the end of the long dock where we wouldn't be in anybodies way. We figured it would take a fair bit of the dock space.

We lifted the dinghy onto the cement dock. 
Repair in progress!    Guy did a great job..

The hull also scraped along the dock! Guy can barely look at this pic!  LOL!

Plus.......his baby is getting dirty!!!
(As I write this blog, a week after the incident and all of this is fixed and cleaned) 

This was a dull day on the ICW...at low tide! Challenging with a 6 foot draft!

Another low tide pic

This is a 100 year old wood, shrimp boat at Jekyll Island, Georgia.

This horse is used to pull carriages around historic Jekyll Island

The marina we stayed in at Jekyll Island had complimentary bikes we could use to tour the Island! It seems that as soon as we crossed the Georgia/Florida state line, we went from wearing our boots and jackets to wearing sandals and T-shirts!

We biked by the sea and then through the historic "Millionaire's" town!

One of the Millionaire's "cottage".......

History: Dating back to the late 1800s, the national historic landmark district on Jekyll Island is a sight to behold. It includes the former holiday cottages and recreation facilities of individuals such as J. P. Morgan, William Rockefeller and Joseph Pulitzer, as well as other notable families of the day, including the Vanderbilts, Goulds and Astors.

We parked our bikes at the bike rack and went to "The Jekyll Wharf" for lunch at Latitude 31. Not the greatest lunch but the beer was cold!

As you can see it was "low tide"
Tides are 8 to 9 feet high or low!

Our shadows at low tide looking at an oyster bed from a small bridge.

This is the Atlantic ocean shore at low tide at Jekyll Island. A huge beach backed by dunes and typical dune grasses. Playground to the rich and famous of the day. Jekyll Island was purchased by the Million club for a scant $125,000. The whole Island! It is 10 miles long and 3 miles wide. It used to be a huge cotton plantation before the Civil
War. Home to Alligators, Deer, Sea Turtles and Large flocks of migrating Sea birds.

After leaving Jekyll Island, we passed Cumberland Island where "wild horses" run. We were lucky enough to see one as we motored by. Would have loved to stop and dinghy in to see the herds of wide horses but at this point the dinghy still needed fixing!

On our way to Jacksonville, we passed by these two huge buildings.....

Some type of structure being built! Not sure what it will house!

Egrates, lines up on the shore of a swampy area as we pass by!

Sunset in Jacksonville Florida! Finally!

Found this "Miss Ellie" in Jacksonville! Yikes!

We knew we were in Florida when we saw this go by!

On our way to St Augustine...Monday Jan 14th

A shrimp boat is coming into the St Augustine ocean inlet!

A lift bridge lets us get though to the mooring fields of St Augustine

We took a mooring ball in St Augustine and plan to stay a week.

This town is filled with history....we will tour it, catch up on some boat chores, and just enjoy being on the boat without traveling. As of today, Friday, Jan 18th, we have done just that. At present it is blowing 20 - 30 kts from the NE. We are happy to be latched onto a mooring ball and not worrying about an anchor dragging. This weather front will diminish by tomorrow morning (I hope). Till today, we have enjoyed 75 -80 degree weather......the rest of the week will be high 60's .....we will keep moving south at the beginning of the week.....