Bahamas Bound – Year 2

We are waiting patiently for appropriate weather to head to the Bahamas, but the weather gods have other ideas sending us strong persistent easterly winds- a bad idea if you are trying to head east in a sail boat.  Thus, the activities at Marathon continue to occupy our time.  We enjoy more seminars, meals out, and evenings of music.  One afternoon I take a class in jewelry making.  Someone on the morning net remembers having Wednesday evening “meet and greets” in previous years, so Burt and I agree to host the first one of the season.  Name tags seem like a good idea, but finding them in Marathon proves to be a challenge. Ten miles of biking later, we return with the name tags, and the evening proves to be a success.

Just befor sunset under the Tiki Hut

We take a cab with friends to the Dolphin Research Center about ten miles away.  Upon entering, it becomes immediately apparent that we are not at Sea World.  This is a much smaller venue with an emphasis on research and husbanding healthy pods of captive dolphins.  We are able to get close to the pens and watch the trainers and caretakers at their daily tasks. Yes, there is an entertainment aspect as this is what funds the center, but its purpose extends much further.  The trainers take time to talk personally with us, explaining what they and others are doing.  We watch their veterinarian take ultrasounds of the dolphins, something that is done on a monthly basis, and while we are there, they discover two of the females are pregnant.  And speaking of pregnancy, since there is concern about maintaining a strong gene pool among captive dolphins, we watch a sperm collection that will be used for artificial insemination. Obviously, nothing is done behind the scenes! We get close to some of the dolphins who especially enjoy human contact, talking and making gestures to them – they seem to respond back to us in kind.  There is a quasi show with some of the larger dolphins showing off their jumping skills, 

One of the big boys struts his stuff

but we also see less structured play time with water showers, balls, toss toys, and chasing trainers along the perimeter of the pool. Dolphins need the relaxation and creative stimulus of play.  

The dolphins play just like a small child would

How do dolphins sleep? Since they are conscious breathers (they need to think about breathing), only one side of their brain and body can sleep at a time.  Close up we observe a dolphin with one eye open and one eye closed, rolling side to side to keep an eye on what is happening above and below him  - that’s how dolphins sleep. We are told that during hurricanes, the dolphins are released to the open, deeper waters as this is their natural preference.  When the storms pass, they return to their pens by choice as they seem to realize they really do not have the learned skills to survive in the wild over long periods of time. And finally, we see a very interesting research project where several dolphins are displaying their ability to discern less from more.  Two panels are presented with an array of different sizes and quantities of dots.  The dolphins study the panels and then pick the one with the fewer dots. No one knows exactly how they accomplish this, but it implies that they have some level of number sense – fascinating. I could have spent hours watching these beautiful and interesting creatures, but sadly, closing time comes all too soon.

Finally we get the weather forecast that we want for the long trip east. Super Bowl Sunday is our last day in Marathon, and we are invited to friends’ trawler for dinner and the game. Life on a trawler is much more civilized than a sailboat.  We sit in actual living room furniture and watch the game on an actual TV with a satellite feed. We are in the lap of luxury and appreciate this fun farewell from these good friends we met over a year ago.

Early Monday morning we raise the dinghy onto the foredeck and deploy our jacklines.  Although the forecast is for calm motoring the entire 220 nautical miles to Nassau, we prepare the boat as if we might see some serious weather.  The motor east in Hawk Channel is uneventful, but lovely with the multihued turquoise water. Uneventful except that early on, we run over a crab pot float, something that ordinarily would cause the line to wrap around the prop and kill the engine. But, it is our lucky day as all we see in our wake is some shredded styrofoam.  Forty miles east of Marathon, we cross over the barrier reef and head towards the Gulf Stream.  Chris Parker, our weather forecasting guru, says that three hours after winds drop and change direction at the Fowley Rocks weather buoy, the Gulf Stream would lay down.  It is now five hours after that change, and we find Chris’s typically accurate predictions aren’t spot on this time.  We have no wind but the short period waves are coming from all directions.  It is really unpleasant, and Burt and I take seasickness meds for the first time in our memory.  Somehow we get through the night and enter the Great Bahama Banks at dawn.  Only then does the motoring become comfortable.  We have a sixty mile transit across this plateau of water, no deeper than 15 feet, that rises from ocean waters thousands of meters deep.  We see no land and no other vessels. At sunset we enter the Tongue of the Ocean, a trench of extremely deep water on the east side of the banks.  We drop anchor at the southeast corner of the Berry Islands, on the north side of the Tongue, to catch a little sleep.  The stars are amazing, packing every square inch of the dark night sky – there is no ambient light in this area of the world.  The next morning we make the final hop to Nassau with sails unfurled as there is enough wind to finally do some motor sailing. 

Entering Nassau is a bit intimidating - you must get permission from Harbor Control and then encounter some preeeety big ships

Nassau is not a very appealing destination; it is a place where you arrive, take care of necessary business, and leave as soon as possible.  Crime is rampant, so most of the city is off limits, and no one goes out of the guarded marina at night.  After none months away from the Bahamas, we realize we have lost our ability to decipher the Bahamian dialect and are constantly saying “Pardon me” when talking with the locals, making us feel and perhaps look a bit foolish. We clear into customs, asking for a 120 day permit and receive a 150 day permit – go figure as usually you get less than the number of days requested.  We do a few quick errands and visit BTC (Bahamas Telephone Company) several times to get our phone and data plan changed over. It is a frustrating process, and we still do not have it totally operational. Since we crossed to the Bahamas in an unusually good window, we are joined at the marina by many other boats that crossed in the same time frame. The boaters organize a happy hour along side the pool, and we see all the faces that correspond with the voices we have been hearing over the radio the past days.

The good weather holds, and we head further east to Highbourne Cay and the north end of the Exuma chain.  There is no tarrying, though, as a front is forecasted to come through. The next day we have a great sail down to Warderick Wells and the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a Bahamian National Park.  The mooring ball field there is well protected and a great place to ride out a blow.  We are just in time for the weekly happy hour organized by the park.  Gathering under the beach front tiki hut, we visit with old and new friends while gazing over the spectacular scenery. 

Sunset on the beach in the Exuma Land and Sea National Park

We have been away from the Bahamas almost nine months and have forgotten how beautiful the water and beaches can be.  Come dusk, we are joined on the beach by some of the resident hutias, a rare nocturnal rodent similar to guinea pigs.  They seem oblivious to the humans and focus in on the snacks that have found their way to the ground. 

The nocturnal guests at Happy Hour

Due to the weather, we will be in Warderick Wells for several days, and we spend our time enjoying this special setting.  

The protected mooring field at Warderick Wells

 Hiking trails take us along ridges overlooking the crashing waves of Exuma Sound and across beaches where the sand is powdery soft.  

Spectacular hiking along the Exuma Sound coast at Warderick Wells

 Everywhere we come across the plentiful curly tailed lizards that peek out at us with curiosity. 

Tame Curly Tailed Lizards are on all the hiking trails

We snorkel off the back of our boat as we are moored right next to one of the most popular snorkeling sites.  Amongst the corals are tropical fish of all varieties. We see a large spotted eagle ray gracefully swim by. And, when we return to the boat, we find a three foot sharksucker attached to our keel.  Apparently, we are growing some very tasty algae down there.

Moderating winds entice us to head further south.  We have a fantastic beat to windward down to the small settlement of Staniel Cay and its anchorage at Big Majors Spot.  We spent quite a bit of time here last year, so we skip some of the common attractions such as the swimming pigs, and instead spent the rest of our afternoon snorkeling the grotto where the James Bond film Thunderball was partially filmed.  We feed bread crumbs to the school of sergeant majors and find ourselves in the midst of a huge feeding frenzy with the fish bumping into our masks.  The corals here are spectacular; many are virtually neon colored in tones of green, yellow, red, and lavender. We spend the next morning taking the dinghy to the rocky shore of Exuma Sound and hiking the jagged cliffs. 

Rocky shoreline of Staniel Cay

Crashing waves of Exuma sound

View from the cliffs

And, in the distance we see the approaching island freighter, the Captain C. 

Unloading the precious cargo from Capt. C, a typical inter-island freighteer

 That means only one thing – in a couple of hours Isles General Store will have fresh vegetables and fruit.  We plan the remainder of the day around replenishing our supplies as fresh food is so hard to come by in the Out Islands.

Our latest email forecast from Chris Parker gets our attention.  When Chris puts phrases in all caps, we take things pretty seriously.  A strong cold front, a result of the severe weather being experienced in the States, will pass through the Bahamas with potentially gale force winds from several directions, requiring an anchorage with all around protection. Due to our deep draft of almost seven feet, our possibilities are limited.  We make the decision to head to Georgetown at the southern end of the Exuma chain.  We are skipping many enjoyable destinations in our rush to get protection, but we hope to head back this way when the long term weather patterns seem more settled.

We have a beautiful motor / motorsail / sail for 60 miles down the Exuma chain in sapphire colored waters. Coming into Georgetown is a bit like coming home.  We know many of the boats that spend the entire winter here and are amazed at how many new boats also occupy the harbor.  With over 250 boats anchored along a several mile stretch of Stocking Island, this shouldn’t be a surprise.  We arrive late afternoon on Valentine’s Day and have just enough time to get showers, eat a quick dinner, and head over to Chat and Chill, the local beach bar, for the Valentines dance.  The place is hopping and the dance floor is packed with “Rocking Ron” and “Kool Karen”, friends from Vero Beach, playing disc jockey. The next day we head into Georgetown proper to do laundry, consult about our internet problems, and visit Exuma Market, a fairly adequate grocery store.  With the coming heavy weather, we will be unable to get to town for a number of days. That evening we attend our first meeting of ARGggg (Alcohol Research Group), otherwise known as Happy Hour at Hamburger Beach. Powdery soft sand rimming turquoise water and a beautiful sunset make this an ideal setting.

The foul weather is due to arrive the next afternoon.  Boats reposition, anchors are checked, deck gear is tied down, already wind shredded flags lowered, and we wait.  One boat goes aground off the beach during a pre-frontal gust, but several dinghies manage to push it off the soft sand so it can reset further out. At sunset the winds pick up to the mid-20’s accompanied by some higher gusts from a direction where we will have about five miles of open fetch.  It’s a bit bouncy, but the fresh breeze and bobbing of the boat make for some pretty good sleeping conditions.  Having a huge anchor and lots of heavy chain also makes sleeping a bit easier. Once the wind swings more easterly, dinghy access to the beach and all it’s activities will be much easier, and then, life in Georgetown will get back to normal.

The Nostalgia Tour

We are settling into daily life in Marathon.  Boot Key Harbor has over 200 boats on mooring balls and many more at surrounding marinas or at anchor in the shallows.  The harbor is protected from all directions, and, although we are as far away from the community dinghy dock and facilities as one could be, due to our deep draft, it is still a relatively short ride in to the lounge, laundry, bike racks, and showers. Within a mile are a number of restaurants, some accessible by dinghy, West Marine, and a great grocery store. In Marathon, life is easy.

Morning coffee in the hammock chair

In Marathon, life is also busy, and the days fly by.  We get our new bikes via UPS and have them serviced at a local bike shop, so now we have wheels again.  A favorite ride is heading west along a busy US Route 1 on a bike trail to the beginning of the famed Seven Mile Bridge. 

At the end of the Old Seven Mile Bridge with our friend Sally - breakfast at the Stuffed Pig was to follow

Here traffic flies by on the new bridge while a two mile section of the old bridge remains available to walkers and bikers.  We pedal along enjoying vistas in all directions of the milky green waters of the Keys with a multitude of mangrove islands dotting the northern exposures.  If you stop and patiently look into the clear waters below, one can see much aquatic life.  We find tarpon, turtles, nurse sharks, a bonnet head shark (a small relative of the hammerhead shark), and needle fish. The old bridge stops at Pigeon Key, now an historical landmark.  At one time it was a headquarters for Henry Flagler’s construction company which built the original railroad through the Keys.

We take dinghy excursions through Old Woman’s Creek, exploring the canal front neighborhoods and heading out to the ocean side of Marathon and Sombrero Beach, a city public park.  Sitting under a palm tree with our toes in sand is a delightful way to spend an afternoon.

We tour the nearby Turtle Hospital. After a talk on the endangered species of turtles that inhabit these waters, we visit behind the scenes of the hospital.  The operating suites are first class, and we see one turtle in the recovery room.  Medical issues effecting turtles include ensnarement in fishing nets and lines, unfortunate encounters with props and speeding boat hulls, and a peculiar type of tumor. This is one of the few facilities in North American licensed to do surgery on endangered turtles. Outside, at this one time bayside motel is a large salt water swimming pool, now a holding tank for recovering turtles and those turtles that will never be able to be released to the wild. Visitors can feed the turtles, attracting them to the side where we observe the sizable green and loggerhead turtles. Nearby are smaller tanks with turtles isolated and healing from surgery, diseases, or injuries.

This Loggerhead Turtle seemed especially attracted to the visitors

We visit Crane Point Nature Center, a secluded tract of bayside land, right in the middle of Marathon. 

View over Florida Bay from Crane Point

We walk through dense tropical hammock, enjoy vista over Florida Bay, and see the restored home of Bahamian immigrant George Adderley, the oldest home in the Keys outside of Key West. 

Over 100 years old, the Adderley house is similar to ones we still see in the Bahamas

Also in the property is a wild bird rescue center where injured birds are rehabilitated. On display are osprey, hawks, cormorants, and a hoard of pelicans.  We get to pet a pelican and touch its gullet, the thin baggy skin along its neck. 

Pelicans aren't too bright, so there are plenty that get themselves in trouble and need a helping hand.

As a non-profit, Crane Point is struggling financially, and its directors have recently decided to install a zip line through the hammock to generate revenue, causing considerable controversy in Marathon.  

We head out in the boat to Sombrero Reef, about three miles south of Boot Key Harbor. It is an unusually calm day, but we still have a swell coming over the reef which rocks the boat after we tie to one of the sanctuary mooring balls.  Here at the reef we discover two other boats we know that happen to be docked at a nearby marina.  We have a pleasant snorkel on the reef although the clarity of the water does not come close to what we had seen in the Bahamas. With wet suits on, we are sufficiently comfortable to spend almost a half an hour just floating in the water and visiting with our friends.

And, we spend time socializing. Happy hours include rendezvousing with friends we have made along the way and making new friends with a number of mooring neighbors. We venture to the marina Tiki Hut for evening jam sessions with local musicians, and head over to a nearby restaurant for weekly luncheons with the Seven Seas Cruising Association group. 

A portion of the accurate depiction of Ocean Blvd. in Miami Beach made completely from Legos - a quirky feature at the restaurant hosting the SSCA lunch

Some of the more experienced cruisers and local marine service contractors present seminars on technical issues including alternative energy, battery usage, and ham radio, along with several other talks on cruising destinations.  

Over 75 people attending this excellent seminar on cruising the Exumas

It is safe to assume, no one is bored here.

But, in keeping with our title of “The Nostalgia Tour”, we take a week and sail further west to Key West. In protected Hawk’s Channel, the water is a spectacular assortment of greens, with the tones modulated from above by clouds and sunshine, and below by the either sand or sea grass bottom. 

Burt enjoys the sail down to Key West

Tour boats greet us at the entrance to the Key West Channel

Again, this is a destination we have visited many times in the past.  We take a mooring ball in the distant mooring field after transiting a narrow and shallow channel. The dinghy ride into the dinghy dock takes about 15 minutes, but the weather is mild and we stay relatively dry. Once in town, our bicycles prove invaluable. There is a wide concrete bike trail that runs along the entire circumference of the coast, and we enjoy several rides beside the sparkling waters, sandy beaches, and mangrove estuaries. 

Egrets and one of the infamous roosters beg for treats along the beachside bike trail

We spend a day at the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, lounging under the Australians pines that rim the waterfront. 

The beach at Fort Zachery Taylor State Park

One afternoon we take a tour of the Truman White House, the restored home on what was once a naval base, that President Truman used during his administration for retreats, vacations, and visits with foreign dignitaries. 

Exterior of the Truman White House - we weren't allowed to take pictures inside

Several evenings, we venture into Mallory Square to watch the chaos.  Large crowds of tourists watch the assorted street performers and musicians against a backdrop of various schooners and the setting sun. Sunset is indeed a full scale production here. 

Just another Key West sunset

Juggler/unicycle rider at Mallory Square

Defying description, the Crazy Cat man is one of the biggest attractions - suffice it to say an article on him in the Wall Street Journal mentioned that he put his four children through Ivy League schools on the tips.

Jugglers, unicycle riders, and the crazy cat man draw most of the attention, but we gravitate to a quieter end and enjoy the reggae/ Caribbean guitar music of Mustafa. 

Mustafa give a concert on Mallory Square - he was ranked by PBS's All Things Considered at the top street musician in the country.

And, naturally, we spend some time at the haunts on Duval Street. People watching used to be sport here, but these days the population is more conventional, especially as huge cruise ships discharge their passengers on an almost daily basis.  The music is still good, though, and we enjoy several wonderful meals out at some of our favorite restaurants.

Finally, we happen to arrive in Key West just prior to Key West Race Week, one of the premier race series in North America. High tech racing boats arrive daily, and we visit the area and converse with some of the crews assembling these boats. We’re not talking low budget efforts – the Melges 32’s arrive with impressive chase boats and sizable trailers for supplies while the TP 52’s have one or two air conditioned regulation sized containers apiece full of sails, rigging, and repair shops.  

One of the TP52's sitting along the quay

These boat hail from all over the world, but we are pleased to see two from Lake Erie and enjoy chatting with one crew out of Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland.

We leave Key West on a day with mild south winds, something that is unusual during winter when strong easterly are generally a given.  We arrive back in Marathon after a pleasant motor sail of almost 50 miles and pick up our mooring in the protected harbor – a good thing as later that night a strong cold front comes through leaving us with brisk north winds and temperatures in the 60’s, something we haven’t seen in several months. It’s good to be back in Marathon as the mooring field at Key West is exposed to the north and would be fairly uncomfortable.  We spend the following days as before, but are also now preparing to head to the Bahamas.  We await one last mail delivery, finish stocking the boat, make final repairs while supplies are available, and wait for an appropriate weather window to head either to Bimini or straight to Nassau if possible. Our time in the Keys has been easy and relaxing, and we now feel up to the challenge of a Gulf Stream crossing and travels through foreign waters. If only the weather gods will give us the weather we will need for the crossing….

Christmas in Miami

As promised, on Tuesday our solar panels arrive in Stuart, albeit, a few hours later than expected.  At 10:30 am they are at the boat, and by noon they are fastened on the framework and we are casting off docklines.  We are off to an anchorage at the mouth of the Lake Worth Inlet, a mere 35 miles away.  The ICW passes through picturesque Hobe Sound with many lovely homes situated between the waterway and the coastal beaches.  

Notice the trellis on the chimney of this house - very attractive

Another beautiful house along the ICW

It seems leisurely until we realize that the bridges that must open for our passage are all timed which causes us to wait for openings at several points.  Sunset threatens as our pace slows down. After all, this is December 18, and our days are painfully short. We have never been through this area before, and it is ill advised to ply the ICW after dark.  It is 6 pm and the last glow of sunset faintly illuminates us as we drop anchor at our planned destination. On shore are the huge mansions of Palm Beach, many spectacularly decorated with Christmas lights. 

The alarm goes off at 2 am. We pull anchor and head out the well buoyed inlet to the Atlantic Ocean.   

What's the attraction of  blue water sailing - how about this sunrise?

We are timing our arrival in Miami to coincide with a favorable tidal current and in this case, our calculations are right on.  

Entering the Port of Miami

 We come into the harbor, make the turn to go through some very shallow water at high tide, and drop anchor in a lagoon between man-made residential islands.  Looking east we can see the buildings of South Beach and to the west is the skyline of Miami proper.  To the south over a causeway are the many huge cruise ships that come and go into the Port of Miami. We have been told there is much to do and see here.  We take the dinghy into a canal that almost bisects Miami Beach.  What we see are graffiti decorated bridges, floating trash, and, to our surprise, three iguanas in a tree overhanging the canal.  

Check out the three iguanas - we thought they were plastic at first and then  one blinked

It leaves us with mixed feelings.  The next day we take our bikes into South Beach to have a better look around.  Traffic is insane, and twice I am almost hit by cars. Latino machismo is decidedly on display. The famous Lincoln Rd., a pedestrian thoroughfare, is packed with people gawking at the exclusive shops and chic sidewalk cafes.  It seems almost everyone is on a cell phone and unaware of other walkers or bicyclers in the congestion.  We hear a variety of foreign languages. It looks like it could be a very interesting place for people watching from an open air restaurant, but something is a little unsettling about the populace, and I keep my purse well protected. There is a lovely bike trail through the dunes that form the Atlantic coast. On one side is a beautiful beach crammed with rows of rental umbrellas and chaises.  On the other side are swank hotels with lush landscaped pool areas. The southern most tip consists of park land (again with visible graffiti) backed by huge high rise condos. 

The view north from the southern tip of South Beach

It is indeed a dramatic contrast of wealth and poverty, tourists and shady looking characters.  

The next day we decide to head back to South Beach and take an audio tour of the Art Deco district.  South Beach is famous for its collection of Art Deco hotels and other buildings.  Since Miami is a relatively young city, much of its growth occurred between the late 20’s and World War II. Architects chose to use different varieties of Art Deco design as it reflected the era’s interest in burgeoning technology and was also an inexpensive way to construct buildings that had a distinctively artistic flavor. 

A private home in the Spanish Art Deco style

A hotel facade that suggests rocket ships of the1930's vintage

An Ocean Blvd. hotel sporting colors popular in the Art Deco era

The interesting and informative tour takes us almost two hours, and when we return to the starting point, the Art Deco Information Center, we find our bikes, which were secured with a sturdy lock in a very open area, are gone.  We rush into the Center, and the receptionist is quite shocked and sends us to the nearby police station.  Within a block we come upon a policeman on bicycle and tell him what has happened.  He puts out an immediate APB and points us in the direction of the station.  When we report the theft, the officer is sympathetic, but his body language tells us it is hopeless – our bikes are gone for good. His parting words are “Stay safe out there”, repeated three times.  We beat a hasty retreat to the safety of our boat.

As much as I want to get out of Miami, we decide to stay through Christmas.  We host a happy hour on our boat for the two other nearby anchored boats, a catamaran with a British couple and a trimaran from Michigan whose owners know some of our past friends from the multihull community.  On Christmas Day friends we sailed with last winter and spring in the Bahamas come over from another anchorage for a full fledged Christmas dinner. This year they will only cruise in southern Florida as they just purchased a home in Vero and will be settling there after seven years as full time liveaboards, selling their beloved boat.  It is a bittersweet moment for them.

The day after Christmas we make a short trip down to Biscayne Bay and No Name Harbor in Bill Beggs State Park, passing by the dramatic Miami skyline. The stylish buildings have a Latin twist making them more interesting than most in big cities.  

Interesting Miami building

Miami skyline looking up the Miami River

Our destination is a place where many people stage for crossing over to the Bahamas, and since this morning the window for making the crossing is ideal, the harbor is empty and we are able to anchor in its protection.  The dinghy is launched, and we spent a delightful and relaxing day on the Atlantic beach.  Something here just feels safer and more comfortable, and the views can’t be beat.

Leaving No Name Harbor we motor past Stiltsville and out of Biscayne Bay.  

Several of the remaining Stiltsville homes

Stiltsville is an historic area in the Bay where people built small homes above the protected waters of the bay.  Many have been torn down or destroyed by hurricanes, but a few remain and are occupied occasionally. There is much ongoing debate over the future preservation of the Stiltsville area. Thus, we begin our “nostalgia tour” into the Keys, anchoring off Rodriguiz Key near Key Largo

Sunset at the Rodriguez Key anchorage we shared with two other boats.

and then making the rest of the trip to Marathon the following day in beautiful sailing conditions. It is blowing 12-15 knots on our beam, the water is flat, and we give our recently re-cut sails a test.  The boat performs as desired, and we are making over seven knots of speed.  This is what Keys sailing is all about, skimming over translucent smooth water, and we have the best sail we have had since leaving the Bahamas. The downside to the Keys for our deep draft boat is the depth.  We arrive at Marathon right at low tide and anchor off the entrance to Boot Key Harbor until the tide begins to rise and other boats passing though the entrance report sufficient depth for us. We get a mooring ball in the deepest part of the harbor and settle down to stay at least until the new bikes we have ordered arrive, as this is a reasonable place to have mail and packages shipped.  And, we call this our “nostalgia tour” as we have spent many wonderful weeks down here over the years, windsurfing and later cruising our trimaran.  We feel like we have arrived at home.

Grinding to a Halt

Thanksgiving Day in Vero dawns with blue skies, mild temperatures, and a pleasant breeze.  This is the day we have been long anticipating.  A record number of cruisers and some land based retired cruisers gather at a first class park pavilion near the marina.  We come bearing an amazing array of potluck dishes to accompany the many donated turkeys and hams – it is going to be a memorable feast. We grab the last available table, joined by our Australian friends, Claire and Andrew, another couple we met at the Annapolis Gam in 2011 and see occasionally along the way, and a couple new to cruising.  

Site of our Thanksgiving dinner on the porch overlooking the water

It proves to be an amicable group as we enjoy the feast and chat about all our sailing experiences.  After dinner we are entertained by musicians on the deck and a raffle of items donated to the cruisers’ Thanksgiving by local merchants.  Claire and Andrew are the big winners, with Andrew receiving a gift certificate for a local seafood shop and Claire claiming a harmonica, complete with neck holder.  Now, Claire has never played a harmonica and perhaps never even seen one before.  We laugh to think of their fellow Australians’ reaction – so, American Thanksgiving includes the distribution of harmonicas?!?  But Claire is a diligent student and within a day she has almost mastered When the Saints Go Marching In. 

The happy winners - cover your ears!

At the conclusion of the day, I am “awarded” a plaque emblazoned with “Regulation Basket Weaving” by retiring cruiser and friend Sue Scheidt.  For years Sue has overseen the basketmaking group in Georgetown, Exumas, and she is now passing on that responsibility to me.  I have to question her judgment, though, as all the baskets I made last year resembled modern art since none were the least bit symmetrical. Woe be it to the poor souls I instruct this year, but I’ll give it my best shot. 

Sue, Prue, and the handover of the awesome responsibility

With Thanksgiving over, everyone is busy preparing to leave Vero.  I beg our musician friends, Bentley and Jim from Salty Paws, to play at one more happy hour at the marina on Friday evening.  Despite the last minute arrangements, we have a huge turnout and people stay well beyond dark.  

Bentley, Jim, and friends provide music for happy hour

Tomorrow most will be heading further south, and it will be a long time before a group of cruisers this size will congregate again.

The next morning we grab Claire and Andrew and dinghy over to our favorite breakfast place on the shore.  We have a leisurely meal, take a walk along the boardwalk, and bid them farewell.   

Claire and Andrew on their way to breakfast in their Australian flagged dinghy

They will leave in the afternoon, heading to the Bahamas and then Cuba as soon as possible as their six month visa for the States is about to expire. After sailing with them off and on during the summer and fall, it is likely we will not see them again as their long range plans are to head across the Pacific to Australia.  That is the downside to cruising – the friendships can be wonderful and intense, but they often come to an abrupt end when boats permanently head in different directions.

So, a day later we head down to Stuart, an easy 30 mile motor on the ICW.   After a night on a mooring ball, we pull into a dock at a boatyard that Mack Sails uses for their rigging customers.  We are excited to get started, but they are a bit short handed, and all that is accomplished before we leave for Ohio is measuring the rig.  We hope to return to find the new rigging installed, but what could we have been thinking??  We’re dealing with the marine industry, and rule number one is to allow double the amount of time necessary to complete a project.  And, what else could we have been thinking? Just like Murphy, if anything can go wrong, it will.  Once we return to Stuart, all the rigging goes up easily except for the forestay and furler.  There is some galling between a cover and an interior piece of metal.  That portion of the furler is taken to a machine shop and repaired. When it comes time to reassemble the furler, it doesn’t go together properly.  Of course it is Friday evening and nothing more will be done until Monday morning.  We move from the expensive dock and anchor about a mile away.   

Rainbow while at anchor in Stuart - did I mention it rains at least a little everyday here?

Monday we return to the dock to find out if we had requested a monthly rate, it would have been much cheaper.  They take pity on us and refund us a goodly sum, and now we can stay at the dock for the rest of the month – fine if your plan is to be in Stuart for a month. Somehow Monday the gods are smiling on us and the furler miraculously goes together.  Loose ends are completed and the job with Mack Sails is done and is quite satisfactory. 

But, we’re not done.  Do refer back to rules number one and two. Burt orders a piece of bent stainless to support the solar panels from another source.  It takes over a week for someone to come out to the boat to take measurements.  Once that is complete we wait several more days for the material to arrive, a few more days for someone to get around to bending it, and an extra day before delivery as the owner (who, incidentally, had worked for many years with Micky Rupp of Mansfield renown) has decided to go duck hunting.  When it finally arrives it is three inches too short, so it goes back to the shop for welding and several days later it show up and is installed.  Now that we have a place to put the solar panels, we are ready to order them from a source in Fort Lauderdale.  It will take a day for them to ship to Stuart, we are told. Friday we anxiously wait the arrival of the panels but nothing shows up, and late in the day we give them a call to find out that their computer crashed and all the orders were lost.  Back to square one, and with a weekend intervening, it will take four more days to get the panels. 

Negotiating the monthly dockage plan now seems like a good idea as we will be in Stuart for almost a month. Now, Stuart is not a bad place.  We are at a nice dock with water and power, although it is a boatyard right next to a very active, noisy railroad line. There are no other amenities at the yard, and it is a bit lonely here as virtually all the other boats are uninhabited.  We can bike just about everywhere, including a huge mall area with all the standard stores, an excellent grocery store, a laundromat that is a bit far, and all the attractive shops and restaurants in the restored downtown portion of Stuart.  We long to get back underway, though, and look forward to spending Christmas in Miami if all goes well. We are decked out with solar powered LED lights around the cockpit and a small artificial Christmas tree (with LED lights, also, as power conservation on a sail boat is a big consideration) below decks. But, it just won’t seem like Christmas until we can rejoin our friends in the cruising community. Thus, we have ground to a halt.