HAWK'S CAY / Sunday thru-Thursday, February 7-11 (Days 17-21)

This week was pretty much a relax and catch up on housekeeping kind of day. The winds and seas have been pretty strong and are expected to stay that way unfortunately.  Barbara took the Island Shuttle to the Ft. Lauderdale airport this morning to go back to snowy Kentucky. Mike and Joe took a taxi to Marathon to rent a car.  I vacuumed and did laundry. Mike, Joe and I watched the Super Bowl, (we really did not have a favorite, Peyton is a good guy and Cam went to Auburn). We had bar-b-que sandwiches which we had brought from home and I made baked beans and cole slaw.

Monday, Joe and Mike drove up to Ft. Myers in the rental car so Joe could get his car to drive home to Kentucky after his meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. So I had 8 hours to spoil myself! I went for a nice brisk walk, had a glorious massage and caught up on my blog. When the guys got home we went to Island Cafe and Tiki Bar on Marathon. We all had fried shrimp and shared a fried Key Lime Pie. It was just OK, we all agreed it had too much batter. 

Tuesday we all three took a walk to the Tiki Hut bar on the resort. Whoa, glad we only did that once, 5 drinks were pricey! But that's what happens on a resort. Then we ran some errands; Publix, NAPA, and UPS so I could mail the kids their Valentine's Cards. That night we fixed a pretty good stew and watched the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fellow Loopers

Mike & Joe getting some pointers.

Wednesday the guys got massages and I went to the gym. Then just hung out until we joined the Cosgroves for "Docktails" at their marina; Faro Blanco on Marathon. Mel and Ann Cosgrove are the Looper couple we met at the October Rendezvous and they also stayed at our house in November. They introduced us to a bunch of other boaters, many who where Loopers. I made sure to take plenty of "Boat Cards" (these usually have a picture of your boat, a photo of ourselves and our contact information) to exchange. Because you never know when and where you may meet up with them again. We then went to dinner at the Sunset Grill, on the Gulf side of the Island. We were hoping to see a nice sunset, but it was too cloudy!

Sunset Grill

I got the She-Crab soup which was delicious and stone crab. Mike and Joe checked out the weather forecast for the next couple of days to see if we could go fishing and when we might have a window to head back north.

We were getting tired of doing nothing because the weather stunk! Even the locals said this wind and extended cool temps were very unusual. 



Thursday looked a little better than it had been, so we scheduled a fishing trip on the "War Eagle". We figured it must be an omen.

The owner is an Auburn Alum and lives outside of Atlanta and has a captain that charters the boat when he is out of town. We left at 7:30 for a half day charter. The sun peeked through a few times, it was still quite windy, but the waves were not too bad. Joe caught the most, with six yellow tails. I'm not sure Mike caught a keeper at all. I caught one keeper yellow tail and a black grouper and mutton snapper that were not big enough to keep.

Burdine's for lunch

We met Ann and Mel again for lunch at Burdine's. Our captain and the Cosgrove's told us it was a great place for lunch. Ann ordered us the hushpuppy appetizer. They were so light compared to most hushpuppies I've had, and were served with a Jalapeño Pepper Jelly which was very good, not hot at all. We also had their famous fresh cut fries with seasoning salt.

Fried Key Lime Pie!

Ann insisted we get their fried Key Lime Pie. We were not convinced since the last one was just so-so. But WOW, this one was so much better! We bid them safe travels and hope to catch up with them again in the Bahama's, but we will see them for sure at the Spring Redezvous in Norfolk the first of May. Once we got back to the boat, Joe and I did more laundry because we think the next couple of stops may not have any facilities. Mike did his engine room check so we would be ready to leave early in the morning as long as the weather held. We had leftovers for dinner, thank goodness,  because the refrigerator was overflowing!

Joe did not like his, Haha

MIAMI BEACH to DUCK KEY (Hawks Cay Resort) / Saturday, February 6 (Day 16)

Admiral's Log:     7:15am, Sat. 2/6/16
                           Temp:  60
                           Winds:  6 mph
                           Speed:  8.2 knots

Long day on the water! Almost 10 hours, waaaayyy more than we try to do. But the forecast was terrible for the next several days and we would not be able to get to Hawks Cay for our reservations if we did not head out. Of course if things got real bad we could have stopped at Key Largo. But we forged ahead.

Hover Craft races! 

Leaving Miami Beach is cool, because you have seen the skyline hundreds of times on TV shows and movies. I took a few photos as well.

Once we got closer to the Keys the ICW became real shallow! We nudged the ground and stirred up mud on several occasions. Mike and Joe looked for a spot where we could go on the outside of the ICW, meaning the Atlantic Ocean. We had to travel very slow for a few more miles until we found a bridge tall enough and deep enough. Once we got under the bridge we doubled our speed to get to Hawks Cay sooner, because we saw a rain cell up ahead and it would have taken an hour longer. That's one of the reasons we bought this boat; it could go faster if we had an emergency or needed to out run storms.

We made it just in time! Just as we docked it started to rain. We cleaned up and ate at Alma, one of the resort restaurants. Mike and Barb had chorizo crusted cobia, Joe had paella and I had a crab salad that was one of the best crab salads I've ever had!

We are glad to be in one spot for a while. We are leaving here the 14th, not sure where we are going next. But that is the beauty of this trip, we can worry about that later. We do plan to go to Marathon a time or two this week and meet up with Mel and Ann the Looper couple that stayed at our house in November. They have been down here for two months! They have met several other Looper couples and want us to meet them for "Docktails" and swap stories. 

DELRAY MARINA to MIAMI BEACH MARINA / Thursday to Friday, February 4-5 (Day 14-15)

Admiral's Log:     7:35am, Thrs. 2/4/16
                           Temp:  73
                           Winds:  8mph
                           Speed:  8.3 knots

Both of these days were a little longer than we wanted to travel each day. But we had reservations at Hawk's Cay on Duck Key, outside Marathon and need to be there on the 6th. Our plan is to travel an average of 50 miles a day which is usually between 4 to 6 hours. That way if we are staying at a marina we can usually get help docking. 

There are a lot of bridges on this route which slows us down quite a bit. Some we can go under, some we have to wait for an opening. As we pass under a couple of these bridges, we saw giant Iguanas sunning themselves. 

Mike was impressed we saw the Rybrovick Ship Building facility. 

Iguanas everywhere. Loved this one's coloring.

Now I know where some of the 1% live! Oh my goodness! The houses and boats or yachts, would be a better name were HUGE and gorgeous! 
Just a sampling:

Barely see the A1A sign

We forgot the Miami Boat Show was coming up soon, so we could not find a marina! We would have to go to at least Homestead, and that was still a couple more hours away and we were getting tired and the winds were picking up. So we heard Frieda B on the radio say that they were going to Miami Beach Marina. We called and they had room. Not the cheapest marina, being in Miami Beach, but we really had no choice. Apparently it takes 2 weeks to prepare for the boat show. People are asked to move their boats to other marina's to make room for the new boats. We even saw a container ship off loading some of those new boats.

Flagler Memorial Park, looked like a mini Washington Monument.

Docking at Miami Beach Marina was scary! The winds were really howling now and Mike had to back in to the slip with a heavy current as well. Thankfully the dockhands helped us get in safely. We showered at the marina facilities and had dinner at the famous Joe's Stone Crab on South Beach. We had stone crab of course, house salad, roasted tomatoes that were the best I've ever had, grilled asparagus and hash browns.  The service there is impeccable! 

Must wear the bib if you are eating crab!

Upon waking Friday morning, we discovered the winds had gotten worse! Not leaving today, that's for sure! Unfortunately we are at the mercy of the weather on this trip. Luckily they had room for us to stay another night, one condition tho. We had to move to make room for a boat show boat. Mike was furious! The winds were quite strong and we had a hard enough time getting docked in the first place. But had no choice. He did fine and the marina had two guys help, but it was still stressful.

 Barb and I did a little laundry, while Mike and Joe walked to Publix and Best Buy. Joe brought the movie "Martian", but the boat had an old DVD player, so they bought a new Blue Ray player. We had fun watching the movie  (which was pretty good by the way) and eating popcorn. After a yummy dinner of scallops, salad and bread, (scallops provided by Bonnee Jones, thank you Bon Bon!) we went to bed hoping for a better weather window in the morning.

STUART to DELRAY / Wednesday February 3 (Day 13)

Admiral's Log:     7:05am, Wed. 2/3/16
                           Temp:   65
                           Winds:  8 mph
                           Speed:   8.3 knots

We left the St. Lucie River via the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) because the Atlantic was too rough.  A bit windy, but the sun was out and felt great! 

Barb and me enjoying
the view and sun.

We passed Tiger Wood's house on Jupiter Island. We could see his practice course and a wee bit of the house.

We saw a fellow Looper in a boat behind us.  The Frieda B was from upstate New York and had completed the Loop in 2012. They were wintering in Stuart and cruising to Ft. Lauderdale for a quilting workshop.

Notice the yellow Looper Flag on the bow.  

We arrived at DelRay Marina at 3:12.  Barb and I walked to Publix. Fixed steaks again for dinner...another yummy meal! 

STUART / Tuesday, February 2 (Day 12)

This is a laid back, catch up kind of day.  Barbara and I did laundry and went to the grocery.  Mike fixed the freezer drawer closure.  Another high school friend who lives in Stuart came  by the boat.  Tom Mathias is a representative for a fishing tackle comply.  (Sorry Tom I can't remember the name).  Anyway he had a lot of great advice on fishing in the area from Stuart to the Keys to the Bahamas.  So sorry I did not get a photo of Tom and I together.

That night we had dinner at Hogsnapper's, with another old friend from Kentucky. Mike worked with Dan Hiler when we lived in Lexington in the early 80's.  He now lives in Stuart.  I'm slaking on my blog duties here, I did not get a photo of Dan either!  This old brain just can't remember as well as she used to.

One last thing about today...This was our son's 28th Birthday, Happy Birthday Carson.  We love you!  

CROSSING THE DITCH-CLEWISTON Day 2/ Sunday, February 1

Admiral's Log:     7:45 am, Sun. 2/1/16
                           Temp:  55
                           Winds:  3mph
                           Speed:  10.5 knots

Leaving the Ortona lock we had eight bass boats again, where we were lowered by 2 feet. On our way to the next lock we could see why it is called the Ditch. Just a long snaky river through swamp land. We went through a hand crank swing bridge which was pretty cool. In the video you can see the bridge tender turning the bridge with a big rod.

  

                                       

Under the railroad bridge.

On the St. Lucie Canal, the train bridge was raised so we could go under.  Notice the Auburn (War Eagle!) and Looper Flags! At the St. Lucie Lock and Dam we were lowered 14 feet. The weather was a lot nicer this day, so we even put on shorts and sat in the sun on the bow while waiting for the lock to open.

After docking at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart at 4 pm, we had another Barbara dinner of crab cakes, roasted beets and rice. I'm going to miss her when she leaves. We have a good combo going; she cooks and I clean.

CROSSING LAKE OKEECHOBEE (The Ditch) / Sunday January 31 (Day 10)

Admiral's Log:    6:32am, Sat. 1/31/16
                          Temp:  55
                          Winds:  3mph
                          Speed : 8.3 knots

These next two days were so cool to me.  We had to go through 6 locks.  They were not hard but it was good practice for future locking when we get up north.
The Okeechobee Waterway is a man made waterway stretching across Florida from Ft. Myers on the west coast to Stuart on the east coast.  It runs through Lake Okeechobee from the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers to the St. Lucie Canal east of the Lake.  It was built in 1937 to provide a water route across Florida, allowing boats to pass east-west rather than traveling the long route around the southern tip of the state.

Screen shot of the Ditch from my phone

We arrived at Franklin Lock an Dam at 8:45 and rose 1 foot.
Lock number 2 was Moore Haven Lock and Dam where we rose 8 feet.
Lock number 3 was Ortona Lock and Dam where we rose 5 feet.
At the Ortona Lock we had six bass fishing boats lock with us.  Apparently they were practicing for a big tournament on Thursday.
After docking on the sea wall at 4:05, we spent the night at the famous or infamous depending on your experience; Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston.  
We had a drink and appetizer at the Tiki Hut Restaurant before grilling some delicious steaks Barb ordered especially for the trip.

       Water Level chart

Bass Boats with us in lock

See the difference in water levels

Gator Tail & Bang Bang Shrimp at the Tiki Hut