By 6:00 the next morning we were already up, evaluating weather conditions as well as NOAA’s forecast for the day when we noticed the two sailboats pulling up anchor and preparing to head out. As we listened to their conversation on the VHF radio, we heard them lamenting their decision the previous evening to drop anchor in the river’s main channel exposed to conflicting wind and current rather than the protected cove where “that power boat” anchored.
Having plotted a course across Florida Bay along the so called “Yacht Channel” in relatively shallow water closer to shore than the more exposed direct route toward Marathon, and armed with the knowledge that we could always turn back if necessary, we decided to just go for it. Other than the frustration of spending five and a half hours once again squinting through the sun’s glare reflected off the water in front of us, straining to see and avoid thousands of crab traps, our trip across Florida Bay was rather uneventful.
As we approached the Keys around noon time, we selected what looked like an appropriate spot to anchor in the lee of Fiesta Key (about 20 miles north of Marathon) which offered protection from the easterly winds, which were forecast to increase in velocity later in the day.
It turned out to be a bit tricky to find a spot free of crab traps and with good holding, but after dragging anchor twice, our third effort was successful. What better reward than to kick back and relax, martini in hand, to celebrate our safe arrival in the Florida Keys.
The following morning, taking advantage of the clear water at our anchorage, Ken donned his snorkel and fins, jumped off the swim platform, and checked out our props to see if there was any apparent damage from that running aground incident after leaving Everglades City a couple of days previously.
Finding the running gear under the boat looking normal, we set about the task of planning our next move. From our current location there were two routes south toward Marathon and then beyond to Key West: 1) crossing over to the Hawk Channel route on the eastern (Atlantic Ocean) side of the Keys via Channel Five (passing under a 65 ft. bridge), or 2) continuing south along the west (Gulf of Mexico) side of the Keys via the Intracoastal Waterway. With small craft warnings in effect for the Hawk Channel, we decided to stay on the ICW side, at least until the easterly winds calmed down a bit.
Unfortunately, the only marina available on the west side of Marathon turned out to be full, so that was not an option. Just heading south and hoping to find an appropriate anchorage didn’t make sense either because in a couple of days the wind was predicted to change to westerly, which would leave us too exposed. After a few more phone calls, we located a marina in Tavernier, about 20 miles north of our present location, which could accommodate us for as long as we needed to sit out the unfavorable weather heading our way.
So off we went, cruising north rather than south, through wide sounds and narrow passes, taking care to stay within the well-marked channel of the ICW to avoid the ever present shoal areas on either side.
Although boat traffic was light, we did share the channel with a few others from time to time.
Shortly after noon, we arrived at Mangrove Marina, located in a well protected but rather shallow harbor at Statute Mile 1150 on the ICW. Luckily, the “Docker’s Inn” does not draw more than 4 ft. or we wouldn’t have been able to make it through their entrance channel without running aground. Maybe that’s why they still had room for us at their docks, while other marinas we contacted were totally full.
Determined to get to Key West one way or another, we decided to leave the “Docker” safely tied up at Mangrove Marina while we drove the rest of the way south in a rental car, staying for a couple of days at the Pier House Resort, adjacent to Mallory Square (where the action is) on one side and Key West Bight (the boat harbor where we had wanted to bring the “Docker”) on the other side.
With only a day or two left before a nasty front was expected to move through the area, we gratefully soaked up the beauty of a warm, sunny, but breezy Key West afternoon. While gazing out at impressive looking schooners traversing the junction between Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, we wondered how the rich people were spending their day.
Then it was time to stroll over to Mallory Square to watch some street performers do their thing prior to the daily sunset celebration. The varied talents on display included a black cat trained to leap through a flaming hoop, as well as this young man doing his balancing act while pleading for contributions to his college fund.
Of course, snacks and beverages were readily available, whether it be ice cream cones, freshly squeezed juices, or beer served from this antique truck.
As the sun dropped lower and shadows grew longer, more people arrived on the scene, positioning themselves in favorable spots along the waterfront to view the sunset that was yet to come.
Suddenly the magic began, captured second after precious second by countless cameras, smart phones, and tablets, until the sun finally disappeared beneath the sea‘s horizon, and the crowd demonstrated its appreciation with generous applause.
We awoke the next morning to find that the predicted cold front had already arrived, earlier than expected, bringing rain in the morning, with much cooler, blustery weather remaining throughout the day. As soon as the rain stopped, we bundled up a bit and went exploring. Taking advantage of the fact that we had a car at our disposal, we drove all the way down Duval Street through the heart of Old Town to check out South Beach on the Atlantic Ocean side of town. Although not temped to take a dip in the ocean, at least we can say that we have seen the southernmost beach in the Continental United States.
Next we ventured out on foot to explore the Historic Seaport Harbor Walk area at Key West Bight just a few steps away from our hotel. Lined with marinas and restaurants, this is a popular spot for tourists and mariners alike, not to mention the ever present tarpon and pelicans competing for free handouts from local fishermen.
Of the many available lunch venues, we chose the warm and cozy atmosphere of The Commodore’s Boat House Bar and Grill.
The day of our departure was once again bright and sunny, so we stopped at the beach for a final look on our way out of town.
Along the side of the road we spotted this fine specimen of Key West’s famous free-range chickens, reputed to be descendents of Cuban fighting cocks.
Driving north through the Lower Keys we caught a glimpse of the remnants of Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad, which operated from 1912-1935, opening up the Florida Keys to tourism.
Strong westerly winds greeted us when we arrived back at Mangrove Marina, justifying the precautions we had taken to seek shelter for the “Docker” until the weather was a bit more settled.
Then on February 5th with both weather and tide in our favor, we were once again underway, keeping to the channel of the Intracoastal Waterway through wide bodies of water with interesting names (Buttonwood Sound, Blackwater Sound) connected by narrow passages (Baker Cut, Dusenbury Creek) through the various small keys dotting the upper waters of Florida Bay.
Its long wooden wharf along the channel provided easy access to the fuel pumps so that we could fill up our tanks before easing forward a bit to tie up in front of their motel rooms.
Arriving so early in the day gave us plenty of time to enjoy the fun tropical setting of this little slice of paradise, complete with its own beach, plus Tiki Hut Dockside Bar and Grill where we feasted on delicious pepper steak with dipping sauce and barbequed baby back ribs.
As we basked in the serenity of our last Florida Keys sunset, we also began to prepare mentally for the hustle and bustle of the days to come when we would head north out of the Keys and into the more frenzied world of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.
By 7:40 the next morning we were underway, back on the ICW and heading toward the entrance to Jewfish Creek, which connects Blackwater Sound at its southern end with Barnes Sound to the north. As we approached the Jewfish Creek Bridge we passed by the Anchorage Resort and Yacht Club on the east side of the channel.
With Key Largo flanking us to the east and the swampy estuaries of the Everglades to the west, we cruised north through more broad bodies of water (Barnes Sound, Little Card Sound, Card Sound) connected by narrow well marked passages through unforgiving shoal areas.
When we reached Biscayne Bay, the channel markers were few and far between (with the exception of the narrow well marked channel through the Featherbed Bank), probably because the navigable area is so broad. But since we had plotted our course ahead of time on our Garmin electronic chart plotter, we easily managed to stay on course between markers which were at times several miles apart, and before we knew it, the famous Miami skyline was faintly visible on the horizon.
Although we were now back in familiar territory we had cruised through back in the winter of 2011 before beginning our Great Loop Cruise, our destination that day was a place we had not visited before, Miamarina at Bayside located in the heart of downtown Miami’s Bayside Park. But first we had to pass under the Powell/Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge which connects Miami with Key Biscayne.
North of this bridge Biscayne Bay narrows considerably, the Miami skyline dominates, and boat traffic begins to pick up.
Approaching the Port of Miami, we noticed a cruise ship tied up at Dodge Island off to the east of the ICW channel.
Then we passed the entrance to the Miami River which flows out of the Everglades and cuts a watery path right through the city.
At this point we saw the Dodge Island Bridge ahead of us and knew that we were approaching our marina. A quick call on the VHF radio confirmed our slip assignment, and we headed in for our overnight stay.
Taking advantage of this municipal marina’s downtown location with numerous shops and restaurants nearby, we had a wonderful lunch at Bubba Gump’s before exploring the waterfront environment at Bayside Park where tourists arrived by the busload and then boarded huge tour boats.
Back inside the gates of our marina, we shared the docks with boats of all shapes and sizes, including this one which caught our attention because of its four powerful engines totaling 600 horsepower. What a gas guzzler that must be!
Gazing at the super high-rise apartment/office buildings visible from our boat, it was difficult to reconcile the opposing lifestyles represented by each: life in the fast lane for them vs. life in the slow lane for us. But after the sun went down and the lights came on, our view of them contained artistic and colorful patterns which only added to our serenity.
From now on, we knew we would have to plan each cruising day according to the number of low bridges ahead of us, the distances between them, as well as their opening schedules. With that in mind, we left Miamarina at 8:20 a.m., arriving at the Venetian Causeway Bridge right on time for its scheduled 8:30 a.m. opening, only it didn’t open, probably because we didn’t radio ahead notifying the bridge tender of our pending arrival. So we had to just sit and wait until 9:00. Lesson learned. You can bet we didn’t make that mistake again!
Even with that minor annoyance, it was a beautiful morning to be cruising through upper Biscayne Bay. It was sunny and warm, with a very light breeze and little to no surface chop on the water. Boat traffic was light and the scenery was interesting.
Our destination, Loggerhead Club & Marina - Hollywood, was only about 17 miles up the Intracoastal Waterway from Miami, a mere three hours of cruising time (including our earlier delay).
Arriving on Thursday, February 7th, our plan was to sit out the weekend (to avoid heavy boat traffic) at this lovely spot before moving on the following Monday. Being one of our sister marinas in the Loggerhead group, we were granted free dockage, only paying a small fee each day for utilities (electric, water, pump-out).
As mentioned earlier, the weather was beautiful. In fact, the sky was so clear that first evening that we were able to watch the Space Station cross the NW sky at 6:59 p.m. What a treat! By Monday morning, however, the wind had picked up quite a bit, so much so that we decided to stay on for another day.
By the next morning the wind had calmed down to just a light breeze, so we were anxious to get underway before it picked up again later in the day. We had a long day ahead of us, running the gauntlet between Hollywood and Lantana with 19 bridges to pass under, 6 of which would have to open for us. But our first challenge was just a few miles up the ICW at Port Everglades. Approaching that area, we noticed a big container ship tied up at the wharf, well out of the channel with plenty of room for us to pass on by.
But straight ahead of us another one, which had just come in from the Atlantic via the Port Everglades Inlet, turned south into the ICW channel and headed straight for us. Quickly applying the “Law of Gross Tonnage” (might makes right), we moved over as far as we dared without risking running aground until this monster had passed.
Next we jockeyed for position to pass under the 17th St. Bridge, negotiating with the increasing boat traffic, some cutting across our path headed for the inlet, others heading straight south down the ICW.
On we went through the heart of Fort Lauderdale, past the entrance to the New River and past the Las Olas Marina where we had stayed two years ago.
The scenery along this stretch of the ICW is amazing, with so many mansions that one eventually tires of snapping pictures of them.
And of course, interspersed between them were the ever present bridges. Although we tried to time our arrival at the lower ones to coincide with opening schedules, we sometimes had to wait a while, having to deal with pesky currents and increasing wind velocity.
Some of them, however, were architecturally unique enough to add an interesting touch to the scenery.
By the time we arrived at our marina, Loggerhead - South Lantana, the wind had really picked up, pushing us right into our slip. The dock hand was late arriving to assist us in tying up, so Ken jumped off with a line in hand, but the wind kept pushing our starboard side away from the dock, prompting me to use the thrusters, plus shifting the transmissions into reverse to keep our bow from being pushed forward and smashing into that part of the dock. It’s great to have the tools you need to get the job done, no matter what. Anyway, once we were securely tied up, all was well again, and we could just relax here at another one of our sister marinas, this one with a heated swimming pool and hot tub conveniently located at the clubhouse right at the foot of our dock.
After staying an extra day due to high winds, we left at first light the following morning (Valentine’s Day), hoping to make it totally across Lake Worth before running into the rain showers predicted for later in the day.
Unfortunately, the rain began as we were approaching the Blue Heron Blvd. Bridge, right after passing Lake Worth Inlet and Peanut Island, but not before we managed to snap a picture of this unusual sight of a house sitting on a barge, headed who knows where.
Light rain accompanied us the rest of the way, but luckily we didn’t have far to go to our next destination, Loggerhead Club & Marina - Palm Beach Gardens, where we planned to spend the night tied up at the end of their fuel dock for an easy get-away the next morning. As we sat on our aft deck munching Snickers Bars in celebration of Valentine’s Day, we noticed two boats, apparently lashed together and struggling to enter the marina. We became a bit nervous as they headed straight for us, wondering if we would have to leap to action to try and fend them off.
Luckily, they made it safely past us without incident, heading for the inner harbor where marina staff were ready to assist them with docking.
It rained off and on the entire next day, so we just stayed put. But we left as early as possible the following morning, hoping to reach Stuart before the wind picked up as predicted. This worked out well. The ICW was calm, but the St. Lucie River was already getting a bit choppy by mid-morning as we headed up river toward the Loggerhead Marina in Stuart. Still, we had no trouble docking and were safely tied up by the time the wind really began to howl. But best of all, we could now check one more thing off our Bucket List; we had completed the South Florida Loop.
The weather turned very cold overnight, and once again we were happy to just stay in port until conditions improved. That turned out to be the following day, which just happened to be Presidents’ Day. So, off we went on this last leg of our five and a half week cruise, headed for our home port in Vero Beach, quite pleased with ourselves for having reached another goal.
All was well until shortly after we left the St. Lucie River and began cruising north on the ICW up the Indian River. All of a sudden we noticed dozens of small sailboats heading toward us from the western side of the river, with seemingly endless numbers continuing to launch from the shoreline to join the group already underway. Pretty soon we realized that they were all heading in our direction, intending to pass under the same bridge we were currently approaching. Normally a boat under power gives way to a boat under sail, but with a narrow channel for us to navigate, it was difficult to keep track of all 50 or so of them without colliding with one of them or running aground.
In fact, after making it safely under the bridge, we actually did run aground trying to avoid one of the boats which had rounded a buoy up ahead of us and was now racing back toward us again. Luckily, we were able to back off the shoal we had hit and continue on our way, hopefully unscathed.
After that bit of excitement, the rest of our cruise was quite pleasant, passing through the Ft. Pierce area without incident, and then on to Vero Beach. When we saw the Rt. 60 bridge ahead of us, we knew our journey was almost over.
Just a few minutes later we turned into the entrance channel for the Loggerhead Club & Marina - Vero Beach in the Grand Harbor community, our home sweet home.
