Our Stats

January 17, 2013 Thursday

Our arrival to Marathon Key was anti-climatic.  We compiled some travel statistics to help us realize what we had accomplished.

Cumulative nautical miles                              2960
Intracoastal waterway statue miles                 1195
Great Lakes transited                                          4
Travel Days                                                        88
Days Underway                                                199
Hurricanes                                                           1
Nor-easter storms                                                4
Run aground                                                       0
Repairs                                                         *1 impeller
                                                                     *1 raw water pump
                                                                     *1 galley water hose leak                          
Sunrises and sunsets                                      too many to count

Since we arrived Terry has had trouble turning off "cruiser mode"  He wakes every morning thinking he has to plan for the next leg.  He is already reading, planning, and charting for future travels.  Fellow cruisers here at our dock are helping Terry acclimate to his winter "at the the dock" lifestyle.  We may still go to Key West, Marquesas Key, and Dry Tortugas this year.  A Bahamas trip is planned for spring 2014.
Many of the cruisers at our marina have been coming here for many years.  They have been very welcoming to us.  There is a marina happy hour every day.  Sunday the happy hour includes a potluck.
It is said that people who visit the Florida Keys either love them or hate them.  The Keys are laid back and very eclectic.  There is a quirky sense of humor prevalent about the islands (see photos).  Hippies and other colorful types are alive and well in the Keys.

New friends, Anne and Harv Gross, from Wisconsin
and have been cruising on their boat for 17 years.

Sunset over Boot Key Harbor entrance, from Burdine Marina Tiki Bar 

Sunday marina happy hour and potluck

This is real, posted at the golf course across from our marina.
 Note NOT alligators, there are salt -water crocodiles here

First Week In Marathon

January 11, 2013 Friday

Getting around Marathon pleasantly requires a bicycle.  We bought two collapsible bikes before we left Muskegon, Michigan and we never needed to use them this entire trip.  Terry had complained repeatedly about them taking up so much room in our aft cabin "garage".  By bike we can get to everything and go anywhere, shopping, restaurants, the beach.  Bike paths are plentiful.  We can travel great distances on paths along Highway 1.  Terry is not complaining about the bikes anymore!
The Sombrero Beach is small, natural and beautiful.  We will spend many days there.  The weather is very warm, temperatures in the 80's by day and 70's by night.  A little too warm for sleeping.  These are unseasonably warm temperatures, as they have been across the nation,  but we are not complaining. We will be shopping for air conditioning this week.
Boot Key Harbor has close to 300 moorings and they are all occupied.  The  City of Marathon manages this mooring field and takes very good care of their cruisers with great facilities and activities.  There is a real community here.  The "Cruisers Net" broadcasts on VHF channel 68 every morning at 9:00 a.m. with introduction of new cruisers in the harbor, announcements of all kind, help session where cruisers ask for help and cruisers offer help, exchange and selling of equipment, other comments and ends with "Stump the Harbor" trivia challenges.  The broadcast is quite entertaining and informative.
We have another pet on our dock we have named "IGGY" (see photo).  These iguanas can be troublesome, they have no fear and will board your boat, precautions are necessary.
The day after we arrived, our good friend Gale Laine from Grand Rapids, Michigan, flew down to join us.  Gale has been with us this entire trip (vicariously).  He just had to be here for our arrival.  We owed Gale a surf and turf dinner for his help in selling our last beloved sailboat "Shoalmate"  We enjoyed dinner at Lazy Days restaurant overlooking the Atlantic.

Sombrero Beach

Our transportation

"Iggy"

If you look closely you will see 3 Large dogs on this kayak

Gale and Terry

Torn and faded, looks like it's time to replace our ensign, she served us well!

WE DID IT!!!!!

January 6, 2013 Sunday 

It is hard to know where to begin.....for starters, WE DID IT!!!!  We tied up to our winter dock at Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, Sombrero Beach Resort and Marina at 1530 hrs, Sunday.  It was bit of a rough anchorage in Rodriquez Key (just South of Key Largo) with no protection from the wind out of the East, but it was the perfect stage for a beautiful sail Sunday morning.  "Chasseur" was in her glory with full sails from the minute we pulled up anchor at  0645 hrs as we headed for Marathon.  It was a sail every sailor dreams of - we were smiling ear to ear.  The air and water were so wonderfully warm, we were in our bathing suits on our departure.  We cruised at 6 - 8+ kts the entire day. We moved so powerfully, that even the barnacle that had frozen our knot meter could not hold on!!  It was such a treat not to hear our engine that had been our constant companion through the ICW.  Our arrival time at the inlet to Boot Key Harbor was at high tide, which we needed to get to our slip.  We called "Tow Boat US" to have them talk us through the markers.  They warned us that we would probably bump, but would be happy to tow us off any shoal that we "find".  It was slow going, but patient Terry got us through without touching bottom.  It should be noted that the Captain has not run aground the entire 2960 nautical miles, luck or skill, probably a little of each!
We were too tired to truly celebrate what we have accomplished.  We cannot believe we made it to the finish line, the safe harbor of our Dream!
There will be much more to write later...........

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.  They went out and happened to things."

Leonardo da Vinci

Morning departure from Rodriquez Key, Atlantic Ocean

Sails Up!!!

Glorious sail

7 Mile Bridge connecting the Keys, Highway 1

Boot Key Harbor

Looks like we have to share our dock post, meet our new pet, "Pete"

Blue dot, right upper corner, our slip

Almost, Almost There.....Rodriquez Key

January 5, 2013 Saturday

It was a real challenge getting out the Cape Florida Channel.  Cape Florida is the southern most tip of Key Biscayne.  We left at low tide with no markers in the Cape's channel and many shoals noted on the chart plotter.  We literally inched our way out.  There were markers in the distance for both the Biscayne Channel and our eventual destination the Hawk Channel.  The sun was rising bright in our eyes, making marker identification difficult, but we did it!  The Hawk Channel is a natural channel of depths between 10 and 15 feet that runs along the Atlantic Ocean from the Biscayne National Park to Key West.  There is a chain of barrier reefs that separates and protects this Channel from the Atlantic Ocean.  It is critical to keep to your course! "Sail the markers!"  (Hitting Coral Heads with your keel would be a huge Bummer!)
This was a great day for "Chasseur", it was the first time in more than a thousand miles she had both sails up for the entire day.  We were out in the Atlantic again, this time however, it was uneventful.
The water color is a beautiful turquoise color now and clear. We can see bottom all throughout this beautiful area.  We have seen flying fish and sting rays jumping out of the water.
We dropped anchor in Rodriquez Key, an oval shaped island just south of Key Largo.  The wind picked up and there was no protection from the east wind.  This was not the worst anchorage in our travels - open water anchoring on Lake Huron with 20+ kt winds and 3-4 foot seas tops this!
The wind prediction for Sunday is Southeast 15 kts decreasing to 10 kts, 2-3 foot waves decreasing to 1-2 feet.  We should move along nicely to Marathon, Boot Key Harbor, again under full sails.  We are so looking forward to a 3 month rest with swimming, bicycling, walking and snorkeling.

Cape Florida Lighthouse, southern most tip of Key Biscayne

Water color

Rodriquez Key sunset

Almost There.....

January 2 - 4, 2013 Wednesday - Friday

Wednesday was a short transit to Boynton Beach, with 7 bridges to open, it was another warm and sunny day.  Suzanne took a photo of the weather forecast on the TV, and texted it to 2 sisters, which prompted some irritation, as their temperatures were only 9 degrees!!  We have gone from shorts and tee shirts to bathing suit weather.
Thursday we set out for Fort Lauderdale, not a terribly long run but we had to open 15 bridges.  This requires lots of patience and time, speed, distance calculations to get to the next bridge at their opening.  Thankfully Terry captains this ship because he has the patience and enjoys the challenge (most of the time).  There was a lot of boat traffic, this should not be done on a weekend if one is to keep their sanity.  Though  each of the transits we have completed recently have been short in distance, we find ourselves tired from the boat traffic, constant radio communications, and bridge openings.  We spent Thursday night grumpily trying to decide where we wanted to go from Fort Lauderdale.  When we are tired we have a difficult time making critical decisions.  After dinner we decided to plan a morning departure for Dinner Key, though we still were not sure if "Chasseur's" draft would make it through the Dinner Key channel.  A Tow Boat US captain thought we could get through the channel at high tide.  Friday morning we departed and started making calls to the Dinner Key Marina, and as we suspected we would have a difficult time in the channel and all their deep draft moorings were booked.  We chose to skip Miami as well,  though many people recommended we stop there.  Big cities just are not our preference for visiting.   We may stop in Miami when we travel north again.  Our 'Plan B'was No Name Harbor, across Biscayne Bay from Dinner Key.
Friday had us opening 8 bridges with less boat traffic than we have had the last 2 days.  We had one fixed bridge to go under, the Julia Tuttle bridge that has a clearance of 56 feet.  "Chasseur's" mast is 51 feet including her VHF radio antenna.  Depth perception is always deceiving when going under a bridge and looking up your mast.  We made it through without a nick, but it sure was scary!
We reached No Name Harbor by mid-afternoon, (a small harbor that is part of the Bill Baggs State Park.)  To our surprise, there was a restaurant on shore, that after a short dinghy ride, had cheeseburgers waiting for us! A Winn Dixie store and other shopping is just a mile away.  This is our staging harbor for our trip to Marathon, just 2 "travel" days to go!!

"Ocean Avenue Bridge" in Boynton Beach., looks like a castle on each side and ornate iron designs.

Irritating weather forecast

A little home in Lauderdale

Ships departing via the Lauderdale Inlet

Going under the Julia Tuttle Bridge

Still going.........

Last of the bridge, we cleared it

Miami behind us

No Name Harbor (Chasseur)

New Year 2013

December 27, 2012-January 1, 2013 Thursday - the following Friday 

It was time to leave Vero Beach, as we had been there for a week.  We stopped at Causeway Island for an overnight anchorage.  It was a beautiful day and a magical night. The next morning, we decided to try to push it (45nm) to North Palm Beach/North Lake Worth.  People in Vero Beach had warned us not to travel on the ICW on weekends as we got further south.  It was a Friday and we thought we might be up to what ever we would encounter.  We had to open several bridges, and boat traffic was outrageous.  Not only was the traffic high big, fast and powerful motor boats came right toward us and behind us at full speed!  Often times they would pass within just a couple of feet of "Chasseur" with water splashing into our cockpit!  It was a long and stressful run.  When we arrived at North Lake Worth we decided to take a slip and rest up.  We had no plan to depart on a holiday weekend!  The Old Port Cove Marina was brand spanking new, with "state of the art" docks and facilities.  The dock master had to put "Chasseur" on the mega yacht dock because of  her deep draft.  It was shocking....the yachts were so big that "Chasseur" looked like a peanut.  Suzanne felt like she was in the Land of the Giants walking the dock, expecting giant people to come out of the these gigantic boats.  We stayed here through New Year's Day.  "Chasseur" received a super cleaning inside and out, ready for her next leg.  We hope to be in Marathon Key within a week, weather cooperating.  It is so wonderful to have our hatches wide open and warm sea breezes lulling us to sleep these nights.

Friends following us into Causeway Island anchorage

Sunset in Causeway Island

Moon rise, Causeway Island

Causeway Island evening

Jupiter Island Lighthouse

Shiny anchor above Suzanne's head, Land of the Giants