Since our last posting in mid-July, the Docker’s Inn has been living up to her name, remaining securely tied up to the dock at Loggerhead Club and Marina - Vero Beach, providing us with a very comfy residence on the water in Florida. That does not mean, however, that we have stayed put that entire time. Since we have our car here with us, we have made a few road trips.
First, in mid-August we drove down to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea (next to Fort Lauderdale). Taking advantage of off season rates, we stayed at an oceanfront lodging called Little Inn by the Sea. What a treat to be able to walk right onto the beach and go for a swim in 80 something degree ocean water.
Then in late September, following another trip to our condo in Columbia, SC, we decided to drive up to the mountains of North Carolina to celebrate the arrival of fall. At an elevation of over 5,000 ft., Beech Mountain, NC is the highest town east of the Rockies. Located in the northwestern corner of North Carolina in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the long range views of peak after peak into neighboring Tennessee and Virginia are just breathtaking.
As we had hoped, the fall colors were already beginning to appear, especially on the slopes surrounding Buckeye Lake, one of the prettiest parts of Beech Mountain.
This is a great place for hiking enthusiasts, with several easily accessible and well maintained trails available. We decided to check out the Falls Trail near Buckeye Lake and were rewarded for our efforts with plenty of natural beauty to enjoy along the way.
Just a short walk from our lodging at the Pinnacle Inn, we discovered the new Bark Park, which is sure to please the doggy lovers among us.
Of course, a trip to Beech Mountain would not be complete without having lunch at Fred’s General Mercantile, whose motto is, “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!”
As mentioned in an earlier blog entry, one cruise destination on our bucket list is the St. Johns River right here in Florida. Since various ports and attractions along the river are also accessible by car, we opted for a road trip now and a cruise later on at some point.
Unlike most rivers, the St. Johns runs from south to north, beginning somewhere in the swamps west of Vero Beach and running all the way up through Jacksonville and beyond, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. Our first stop by car was the town of Sanford, located on the southern shore of Lake Monroe. First we had a tasty lunch at Gators Riverside Grill on the eastern side of town where the St. Johns enters Lake Monroe.
Next, we checked out the Monroe Harbour Marina, which will probably end up being our southernmost destination when we cruise the St. Johns.
Its location in the heart of Sanford’s revitalized historic district provides cruisers with easy access not only to a popular waterfront park, but a multitude of shops, restaurants, and sidewalk cafes as well.
By the way, we can highly recommend the German Restaurant on 1st St., which was in full Oktoberfest mode, including live music and wonderful food and drink.
Heading north from Sanford the following day, we stopped to explore Blue Spring State Park along the eastern shore of the St. Johns River at Orange City. Referred to as a first-magnitude spring, Blue Spring pours over one hundred million gallons of fresh water a day into the St. Johns. With a constant water temperature of 72 degrees year round, this popular wintering spot for manatees attracts many visitors each year who can stroll along a one-third mile boardwalk following the flowing Blue Spring run through a shady native hardwood hammock.
Visitors can also swim, tube, snorkel, SCUBA dive, or canoe in the spring waters.
This early in the season, we were fortunate to see at least five manatees up close and personal, including a pair of adults with a young calf in tow. What gentle looking creatures!
Continuing north on Rt. 17 through small towns and marshland, our next destination was the riverfront town of Welaka, a few miles west of Crescent city on CR 309. According to one of our cruising guides of Florida, this tiny burgh is home to the Welaka Maritime Museum, offering “an artisan glimpse of the river’s history with its collection of antique wooden boats in various stages of restoration.” Doing my homework ahead of time, via Google I had located a blog (http://www.favorsgreatloopblog.com/our-new-loop-adventure/welaka-maritime-museum/.) with great photos of this museum, but unfortunately it has apparently closed, so we didn’t get to see it.
So back we went to RT. 17 north, which eventually turned west across the St. Johns River to Palatka, where we intended to check out a couple of possible marinas and spend the night of our second day. We ended up staying at the Quality Inn - Riverfront (listed as Riverfront Inn in our cruising guide), which has an interesting policy that if you rent a room (which also includes breakfast), your boat can stay free at their dock.
After a late lunch/early dinner at the adjoining riverfront Beef O’Brady’s Restaurant (including 2 for 1 pints of draft beer), we decided to leave further exploration of the downtown historic district for another day. The following morning, however, with news of a developing tropical storm heading north toward Florida and the wind already picking up along the St. Johns River route, we opted to cut our road trip short and head back toward Vero Beach to prepare the Docker for the impending onslaught.
Cutting southeast across the state toward the Atlantic coast, we stopped briefly in Cocoa (near Cape Canaveral) to check in with cruising friends who are wintering at Cocoa Village Marina before beginning their own Great Loop Cruise next spring. Although this marina does provide some protection from unfavorable weather, their 50 ft. live-aboard vessel was still moving around quite a bit as the wind speed continued to increase.
With only a relatively short distance to go, we drove the rest of the way south along scenic coastal Rt. A1A, arriving back “home” at Loggerhead Club and Marina - Vero Beach by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, October 23rd. Now, having stocked up on food and supplies and doubled up on the lines securing us to the dock, we are experiencing tropical storm conditions (with lots of rockin’ and rollin’) caused by Hurricane Sandy, currently crossing the northern Bahamas just east of us.
By mid-April we were back at our marina in Stuart with our boat’s bottom freshly painted and beginning to plan our migration north for the upcoming hurricane season. The terms of our boat insurance required us to be north of Florida by June 1st, so we figured we would spend the month of May slowly working our way up Florida‘s east coast, stopping off at places we had not visited before, with a possible side trip up the St. John’s River along the way.
We decided to spend the last week of April at the Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach, some 40 miles away up the Atlantic Intra-coastal Waterway. This would give us the opportunity to drive back to Stewart to retrieve our car, which would be left at Ken’s brother’s house in nearby Sebastian during our long voyage north. But as our intended departure date from Stewart approached, the weather turned rather gloomy.
When the weather cleared and we prepared to head out, we paused to take one last look up the dock which had been our home for the last five months, and there was Wahoo’s Riverfront Grill, freshly painted and apparently almost ready to re-open.
Down the St. Lucie River we cruised, paying close attention to all channel markers as we approached the “Crossroads” where we would carefully turn north up the ICW, hopefully avoiding the infamous shoals at that junction. Cruising conditions couldn’t have been better, with plenty of sunshine, calm winds, and just the slightest bit of chop on the water’s surface. All of the bridges along our route were at least high enough for us to pass under without having to request an opening.
Boat traffic was light on this 25th day of May, but we did slow down to allow this beauty to pass us, mostly so we could have a good look at her classic lines.
Shortly after mid-day, we passed by the municipal marina at Vero Beach, which prompted us to keep a sharp lookout for the entrance to the Loggerhead Marina, our destination, just a short distance further. Located in a very protected harbor within the gated golf course community of Grand Harbor, one must be alert so as not to miss the marked entrance channel, which opens up into a beautiful and spacious harbor not visible from the ICW.
Following instructions provided by the harbormaster, we headed for our assigned slip at the foot of “A” Dock, eased our way in, and secured the lines.
We were already familiar with this marina, having spent the month of December 2010 here before beginning our Great Loop cruise. However, this time around we were much better situated very close to the facilities, including a beautiful heated swimming pool.
Unlike the busy commercial areas surrounding the Loggerhead Marina in Stuart, where we had spent the winter, here we were in the heart of a quiet, beautifully landscaped residential community, just perfect for long bicycle rides.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that we wanted to spend more time here than we had planned, so we quickly decided to extend our stay well into May. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that the only reason we were heading north out of Florida this spring was because our insurance required it. After investigating what it would cost to change to a policy that would allow us to stay here year round (including during hurricane season), we discovered that the additional cost was actually less than we would have to pay for diesel fuel to take the Docker north for the summer and then back to Florida next winter! So, with thousands of watery miles under our keel during the last year, we decided to stay put right here until we feel like moving on for another adventure.
With that settled, we joined a local gym, Planet Fitness, so that we could exercise in air-conditioned splendor during the hot and humid months of a Florida summer.
Having retrieved our car from Stuart, in mid-June we took a road trip to Columbia, SC to check on our condo and were relieved to find nothing amiss. In fact, we felt right at home and took great comfort in the fact that, when we are “done cruising,” we will still have this comfy womb to return to.
Before driving back to Florida, we made a side trip to Otto, NC for a surprise visit with “Mr. Gene” (Sharon’s 95-year-old dad) on Father’s Day. What a treat it was to spend some quality time with him.
And then it was back to Florida and the live-aboard life we are currently enjoying, our moveable home snuggly tied up at Loggerhead Club & Marina - Vero Beach.
Upon arrival back in Stuart, FL, after eight and a half months on the go, we were bombarded with a whole host of varying emotions. First of all we were excited about having completed the Great Loop Cruise, and we wanted to celebrate that enormous accomplishment. So, we looked up and down the docks for other cruisers to share in our joy, but none of our fellow “Loopers” appeared to be here. No problem. We would just head up to Wahoo’s, our favorite watering hole at the foot of our dock. But we quickly discovered that Wahoo’s had gone bankrupt in our absence and was now closed. OK. How about moving our celebration to Splash, the marina’s poolside café? That turned out to be impossible as well, because they had just changed management and were closed during the transition. We finally ended up walking over to a place called Frank ‘n Steins on the other side of Dixie Highway for a couple of hotdogs and beers. Whoopee!
Our initial excitement quickly changed to post-Loop depression. We thought we would be relieved that our long journey was finally over, but just the opposite seemed to be the case. All of a sudden we were no longer taking part in a great life adventure, sharing both triumphs and challenges with our fellow cruisers. That was all over now, and we were right back where we had started last March, almost as if we had never left. In fact, we were even in the same boat slip.
However, some things at the marina had changed in our absence, and not for the better, which only added to our malaise. No more Happy Hours and nightly entertainment at Wahoo’s was just our first disappointment. Rules at the “Club” had also changed, now denying slip holders at the marina access to the on site exercise room. Plus, although we could still use the swimming pool, we now had to walk around to the front of the Club building and sign in each time, rather than entering the pool area via the dockside gate, as we had done in the past. Although in reality this turned out to be only a minor inconvenience, some boaters were so upset that they decided to take their business elsewhere and left.
But once we decided that the positives about this place still vastly outweighed the negatives, our entire outlook began to change. So what if we had to walk a few extra steps to enjoy a swim in a beautiful heated pool. That’s good exercise, right? And most other marinas in the area don’t even have a pool!
Then we found out about a website called “Blog2Print” which could take the narrative and photos from our blog and create a book. Now, whenever we want to refresh our memories about the various segments of our Great Loop cruise adventure, we just pick up our new illustrated book which details the entire experience.
So, leaving our post-Loop blues behind, we began to perk up again as the Christmas holidays approached, spending quality time with friends and family, including a fun week at Hilton Head Island, SC, with friends Art and Pat Fagan, as well as visits with Ken’s brother and sister-in-law at their home in Sebastian, FL.
After the holidays, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were now settled in one place long enough to begin dealing with some maintenance issues which had been plaguing us for quite some time. First we wanted to find out what was wrong with our bow thruster, which had stopped functioning back in Venice on Florida’s west coast. So, after asking around for recommendations of good marine mechanics, we engaged the folks at Marine Max in Stuart, whose technicians quickly diagnosed the problem, replaced an ailing battery charger, and also took care of a few other nagging maintenance tasks which were beyond our own skill set.
Next on the agenda were our bicycles, which had finally succumbed to saltwater induced rust and corrosion after being strapped to our bow for the entire trip. So we took them to a local bike shop for a much needed tune-up, including two new bike chains and a new pedal. Then they were ready for action again.
Then we turned our attention to the Bimini top on our flying bridge, which was being held to the strataglass windows with safety pins because the stitching on the zippers had rotted away. Closer examination revealed that we really needed to have all of the seams re-stitched.
Luckily, there’s a boat canvas repair shop right next to our marina, so we took off the entire Bimini top, plus all of the side strataglass panels, and took them there for repair.
Unfortunately, after the first rain we discovered that the canvas guy had not waterproofed the seams after re-stitching them, which allowed raindrops to leak through the new stitching holes. So, he had to remove the top again, take it back to his shop, and apply liberal amounts of seam sealer before reinstalling it.
Before we knew it, December, January, and February had flown by, so with all pressing boat repairs now behind us, we decided to drive up to Columbia, SC, to check on our condo. Unlike the last time we were there back in October, this time nothing was amiss. In fact, our newly re-sided building looked pretty good.
So, after taking care of routine doctor/dentist check-ups, back to Stuart we went. Now it was mid-March, and our planned time “wintering in Florida” was almost at an end. Each time we visited Ken’s brother and sister-in-law, a cute arrangement of directional signposts just outside their front door seemed to challenge us with this question, “What next?”
Our original plan was to cruise to the Bahamas in April, hoping to visit Ken’s aunt and uncle at Great Harbor Cay in the Berry Islands. We also wanted to explore Florida’s St. Johns River (from Jacksonville to Sanford and back). And what about getting the bottom of the boat painted? It’s been almost three years since that was last done, and we needed to somehow fit that into our schedule.
As we mulled this over in our minds, our planned departure date drew closer and closer. Then Ken came down with a minor ailment, causing us to stay put a little longer. Next, we discovered that Ken’s aunt and uncle had gone home to St. Louis early this year and were not now in the Bahamas. Marine Max here in Stuart was also advertising a free haul out if we had them paint the bottom of our boat. So, guess what we decided to do?
