Key Largo to Stuart

1/29/2024 

We headed to Key Largo to anchor near where Sol Maria had been for a few days and claimed it was a very quite calm area. This turned out to be true!!

 

Dave and Nancy picked us up in their dinghy and we headed down the canals to catch the Happy Hour at The Skippers Dockside. We met up Gavin, Lica and their friend Pete from England. 

 

A meeting of the minds !!

A few old dinghy motors

Skipper's Dockside offers guests a comfortable portal to a time when life was simpler. Visitors enjoy a peek into the past. The exterior features an old-fashioned Ice House followed by a 1940's original filling station to assist in one's time travel journey.

1/30/2024

Woke to beautiful morning in Key Largo. Gavin needed Matt's help with some boat issues and Lica asked if I could help with sewing a new cover on the bed. Matt and I spent the early afternoon on their boat. Nancy came over but Dave decided to head into town. We decided to head out to Molasses Reef to do some snorkeling - finally a day that we could. I was  able to try out my DJ4 underwater camera and it worked great. There were so many fish nearby - for some reason two of them tried to bite my knee and toe !!

A shell with an almost perfect heart cut out

There was also a Bloody Pirate ship near us.

Matt and Gavin discussing how smoothly the Sol Maria motors compared to our boat.

We spent the evening on the boat since we would be heading out early.

1/31/2024

We left Key Largo and headed to John Pennekamp State Park. Before we got to the slip we were going to snorkel and check out the Christ of the Abyss. The water proved to choppy for snorkeling so we decided not to try but Gavin (an expert free diver decided to try it)

This "Christ of the Abyss" an underwater statue of Christ blesses the Key Largo Dry Docks Sanctuary Preservation Area of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. In addition to attracting numerous invertebrates that have attached to its surface, giving it a colorful living texture, this nine foot bronze statue is also a popular destination for snorkelers and divers.

We docked  and decided to walk around the grounds (Matt likes to stern in where as Dave tends to bow in).

2/1/2024

Nancy, Dave and I decided to ride our bikes around the area and stop at the grocery store.

This shop had so much underwater artifacts.

We stopped a cigar store for Dave. The guy said he could never put his larger Indian statue outside because it would surely be stolen overnight !!

We stopped at a donut truck which made the topping of your choice (about 20 flavors)

In the late afternoon Dave took Nancy and I on a dinghy ride through the mangrove trees. You could motor part of the way but mainly had to row as not to damage the underwater growth. We saw two stingrays glide past us.

Amazing how the Mangrove trees form new root systems.

During our stay here the guys decided that it was not feasible to travel to the Bahamas. There was not really a good weather window to cross and once we got there the weather was not favorable. It looks like we may try and do the St Johns River system.

 2/2/2024

Spent most of the day around the park and catching up on the laundry !!

2/3/2024

We left early in the morning so as to make it make it under a bridge while the tide was low. This bridge would allow us to stay on the Atlantic intercoastal waterway (ICW) rather than oceanside - much more calmer waters but very slow going since most of the way consists of no wake areas. 

Dave talked to Sol Maria and they mentioned a great snorkel spot with a wreck in Mandalay Bay. The water was crystal clear for at least 20 - 30 feet that we passed before getting to the wreck ( https://www.nps.gov/bisc/learn/historyculture/mandalay.htm ). This time I used my camera I was able to also get some video.

My new full face mask

Matt cleaning the boat.
 

I still need to practice working with the camera but the pictures and videos are really good quality. Below is the wreck with Dave and Nancy. Matt is cleaning the boat.

If you look at the right hand corner of the wreck you can see some fish hiding. This is where Gavin saw an Octopus - we did not !!

This was a moray eel swimming out in the open which does not occur to often.

This was a huge sailboat that was now abandoned and sinking.

We headed to No Name Harbor ( a great anchoring bay) located in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.

We rafted together for the night in a very crowded bay.

We dinghy-ed over to the docks and captured some pictures of the sunset.

We ate at the Boaters Grill within the bay. Would not recommend - the food was cold and tasteless. It was very busy since its one of the few local restaurants in the area.

2/4/2024

The weather forecast had predicted severe storms and possible tornado. Hygge decided to dock on the wall while we anchored to wait out the storm.

It did rain and the winds picked up slightly but not nearly as bad as predicted. Matt took me in the dinghy over to Hygge - I wanted to walk around and check out the area.

This colorful lead singer of the band Mama Fuma played at the bar for the afternoon - both English and Spanish songs.

These were the houses on stilts. Around 1982, Matt & I visited this area. I will have to find my pictures of all the homes back then (I had a great 35mm zoom lens)

A little guy kept posing for photos and didn't fly away from the crowds.

2/5/2024

We headed past Miami to Ft Lauderdale by way of the ICW. 

 Pictures along Miami

Miami has placed rocks along to protect the mangroves from the crashing of the waves. Even though this is supposed to be a no wake zone.

We continued on towards Ft Lauderdale. Several cruise line ships lined along the coastline.

 Another sunken vessel and lots of water Taxis on the waterway.

The plan was to meet up with Lica & Gavin for probably our last time since they have put their boat up for sale. They intend to buy a new boat in France as they continue their lives of living on a boat - most of the time.  We did a 2 mile dingy ride to get to the restaurant from where we were anchored.

This was a railroad bridge we encountered along the way which went down right before we got there - barely made it under by dinghy!! We ate at Pirate Republic.

We said our good byes to some great friends we have met on this trip. They truly were a pleasure to be with from Chicago to Alabama. Card games, rafting up, pot luck dinners on their boat, snorkeling and meeting some of their friends are only a few of the memories we will remember them by. Maybe we will meet again in our futures.

We took the dinghy ride back passing several millions of dollar homes along the waterway.

2/6/2024

We continued down the ICW in amazement at the size of the homes and many boats. The amount of construction - new builds & remodels is amazing.

Check out the man standing at the front of the boat to get an idea of the size !!

Competition of boat size at the docks

Why not own 3 boats - you never know which one you will need for the day LOL

Still lots of sinking and abandoned boats.

The pink line is the ICW we are taking. The Atlantic Ocean is the blue to the right.

Saw a nice boat with our old business name !!

2/7/2023

We stayed at this Marina in Old Port Cove it was definitely one of the nicer Marinas. Nancy and I walked to the grocery store but took an uber back with the groceries. Later,  Matt and I walked across the street to eat at one of the bar restaurants. It was Trivia night - we could of used Daves expert knowledge.

2/8/2024     

This reminded me of the Mississippi shoreline. In Florida we have not seen much sandy shorelines within the forestry. You see it on the sandy beaches.

Ft Lauderdale also places rocks to prevent damage to the Mangrove tree. 

2//8/2024

We headed to Stuart to anchor for two nights on a mooring ball and to meet Dave's cousin. 

 

Ever wonder how they repair things under the bridges

An almost sunk sailboat. A sailboat and motoring boat crashed together (looks fairly new because the sailboat does not look like scavengers have gotten on the boat - although this is illegal in Florida)

In order to get to the mooring field we had to coordinate thru a railroad bridge and auto bridge. Several boats behind us did not understand that we needed to sync both bridges because we were told you do not want to get stuck between them due to currents.

 

What are the odds we would get a mooring ball with the number 34 !! (Local 134 Matt's union)

We got the dinghy down and headed into port - to pay for the mooring ball use and walk around town. 

All these small towns have murals with different art work

Matt & I stopped at a small taco place for dinner

2/9/2024

Headed back to shore on the dinghy to have lunch with Dave's cousin

Saw a little lizard, it ran under the bushes from me, I waited and it came out a different color !!

 

There was a waterfall wall at the restaurant to block out the sound of the nearby trains passing

Nancy and I continued to walk around the small town (it is only about 3 blocks long). We got back to the restaurant where a gentleman Louis Imperato was singing for the lunch crowd and came off the stage for photo op !!

These signs are everywhere but we rarely see them in the water near us - which is a good thing as many boaters don't pay attention and injure them.