NautiNell

NautiNell
NautiNell in all her glory

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Our Trip from Brunswick GA to Marathon FL - November 2015

Our first Florida beach we had seen in a very long time!
Irish Band at McK's - pretty good!
Haulover Canal - several manatees!
These guys came buzzing by us - not sure who they
were -  unmarked but looked important!
Boca Chita - one of our favorite stops
A rainbow to remind us how
lucky we are!
Beautiful sunset at Lorelei (Islamorada)
Rick and Terese there to welcome us "home" and help us in!
 
Wild horses on Cumberland Island
Bald Eagle?  I think so.
Another picture of the beach at Marineland.
Another beautiful shot at Boca Chita
One of our stops in Daytona
Orange Alley - no oranges but it was rather interesting
The sign said so - but we're weren't sure where "here' was!
Deer on the balconies?
Not much of a garden either?  Confused yet?
Nice museum
Part of the walkway in Daytona
Nautinell tucked away in the Yacht Club
Very friendly place
Jackie Robinson Ballpark just a short walk from marina
Memorial to Jackie Robinson
Beautiful Biscayne Bay
Little Gingerbread House along the way
Must be getting close to Ft Laurderdale/Miami area
Yachts everywhere
These are just a few of what you see along this stretch
Really?
Hard to imagine what these are like inside
Yep, knew we were close!
They get bigger and bigger!
And the homes too!
Look how little the people look in the "garage"!
This one was beautiful!
And then there are the container ships
This was a remote controlled dinghy
The guys on the other one are controlling it.
Check out the third story balcony - antlers!
Remember this area well!  Hollywood Beach!
Home of the 20 ounce hamburgers!
Go Fast Boat - this one was prettier than it looks here
Now this guy was pushing some water!
Love this place!
The Boca Chita National Park
Beautiful area
We had it all to ourselves tonight. 
Beautiful sunset over Biscayne Bay
Sunset from Lorelei on anchorage
Sky just kept getting prettier!
Say goodnight.....
Just a little shallow - each bird has his own perch!
Back in our winter home - Boot Key Harbor - Marathon
 Well, we made our trip south to the Keys where we’ll be spending the winter months.  It took us twelve days to go a little over 500 miles.  We don’t travel fast but we are like the tortoise – we just keep moving on…..  It has been said by an infamous boater – Captain Ron – “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there!”  No truer words have been spoken.  Now we love our times at the docks – meeting new people and enjoying old friendships.  But the true “adventure” begins when you cast your lines free.  This was one of those “adventures”.  Don’t get me wrong – nothing “serious” happened, we might have had a few near misses  - but all is well.  And we have now landed in our slip in Marathon where we will enjoy ourselves for the next few months.  The adventure has now turned into a party!  It’s all good!

Below are my so called “journal entries” of the last twelve days.  I hope you enjoy the reading and get an insight into our lives on NautiNell!
November 10, Tuesday  -   After three months (we had only planned to stay a couple of weeks) we left the Brunswick Landing Marina.  It was after 2:00 p.m. by the time we loaded the scooters, filled the fuel tanks and several other duties which included tightening a belt on the starboard engine.  The good thing was that diesel was only $1.95/gallon!  That is the cheapest we have seen it ever!

We weren’t alone on our trek.  Gary and Diane (Moonshine) left our dock right behind us.  Our plan was to stay on anchor off Cumberland Island.  They stopped off earlier.  We would have easily made that distance but darkness was quickly approaching.  These short days make for short journeys.  So we stopped and dropped a hook just north of Kings Bay (Crooked River – 703 mm) where nuclear submarines and other Navy ships are at port.  Anchored down by 5:30 – then cocktails and taco soup (crockpot ready) for dinner.  Perfect!  Very nice anchorage - we didn’t move all night!
November 11, Wednesday – Very foggy this morning.  We didn’t leave until around 9:30.  We were only going about 35 miles to a free dock in Jacksonville so we didn’t have to hurry too much.  Jim King Park 739 mm – nice dock – no electric but there was water.  And it was FREE!  Moonshine traveled with us today.  We got the last two spots available at the dock.  Lucky!  We’re now in warm and sunny Florida!  We plan to go to St Augustine tomorrow.  We should see Richard and Kathy (Rambler) there.  We had a nice happy hour with Moonshine.  We then cooked burgers on the grill.  A nice evening all around.
November 12, Thursday -  There is a change of plans.  We left about 8:30 to go on to Marineland.  It’s only about 55 miles so we shouldn’t have any problems.  We’ve never stopped there before so we decided to bypass St Augustine and travel a few more miles.  That will make a shorter day for tomorrow when we travel to Daytona.  It was a nice day – definitely warmer!  While we were traveling our broker called and wanted to show the boat!  That wasn’t expected!  But since we were going to be in a marina that night, it was pretty good timing.  We made it to Marineland about 3:00.  The dockhand there was very helpful and friendly.  Moonshine came in with us.  We rested a bit then walked over to the beach.  It was so beautiful!  We hadn’t had a chance to enjoy a beach in a very long time! Now tomorrow at 10:00 they are showing the boat!  We picked it up some but they’re going to see what it’s like when you’re traveling!  Sheeh!
November 13, Friday -  We were up early but not to leave – we were cleaning up the boat a bit more so we could show it at 10:00.  We’ll be on our way as soon as that’s done!  We’re going to Daytona only about 35 miles away.  We had planned on trying to get a space on another free dock but our buddies – Ron and Julie (Diversion II) got us into the Halifax River Yacht Club!  Always wondered what it’s like in a real “Yacht Club”.  Haha!  Anyway we left the dock about 11:15 after a quick showing while we walked the beach.  It was another nice day.  Moonshine decided to hang out at Marineland for the weekend.  We got to Daytona by 2:45 and tied up in the Yacht Club (mm 830.7).  It turns out we get to stay there for free for two nights!  We only had to pay for the electric!  Very cool!  It’s nice to have friends!  A big thank-you to Ron and Julie!  We owe you big time! 
We walked to McK’s Irish Pub only a couple of blocks away.  After all, it’s Friday night and we’re in Daytona!  It was Happy Hour - $2.00 wells!  The special was corned beef and cabbage.  It was wonderful but way too much!  We brought home enough to make sandwiches for the next week!  We met a nice couple from Minnesota there.  They were fun to talk to and to listen to!  I love their accent!  We also saw a couple of other bars we want to check out tomorrow.
November 14, Saturday -  How nice it was to sleep in a bit this morning.  Not traveling today!  We walked over to the One Horse Saloon and did a little sightseeing.  We would have loved to have had the scooters down for some transportation but it just wasn’t worth the effort for only one day.  So we ended up back at McK’s again.  This time no corned beef though just appetizers.  Still had $2.00 well drinks though!  This is a really nice place.  We’ll be leaving in the morning though for Titusville.
November 15, Sunday -  We were up early and ready to leave but no Dockmaster to help us out.  It was tricky getting in here and now the wind had started so we really wanted to wait until we had a little help.  Finally about 9:30 he showed and helped us out with no problem.  We had 47 miles to go today to the City Marina in Titusville.  We figured since we had just stayed free for a couple of days we could splurge again for a marina.  It turned out to be a nice day.  We thought that it was going to be too windy but once we got moving on the ICW all was good.  There was typical traffic for a weekend but eventually they all passed us.  J    We made it and tied up by 3:30.  It was really getting windy now.  We tied up to the T dock after having to turn completely around.  That was a little hairy!  But all was good.  We could even pick up one TV station – CBS!  So I got to watch The Good Wife!
November 16, Monday -  We left the marina about 9:00 headed to Dragon Point near Melbourne where we’ve anchored before several times.  Only 37 miles.  However we changed our minds when we got there because it was a really nice day.  First mistake – changing horses in midstream!  Should have known better!  Beware!  We had another 25 miles to go to 3 different anchorages that were listed in the Guide.  That was giving us several options.  However, NONE of them proved to be suitable!  So we had no other choice but to go on to Vero Beach Marina to pick up a mooring ball.  That was 12 more miles.  It would be getting dark but we figured we could handle it.  The problem was when we got to the marina there were no mooring balls available!  Some were even rafted off two or three boats at a time!  We went all the way back in in hopes we’d find something.  We decided we’d just have to drop a hook back there somewhere.  The problem was – it was dark, it was windy, it was raining, and there was not enough water to anchor!  Plus we were ending up way way too close to another boat!  I think we scared them a bit!!  They had some choice words for us.  But we really didn’t know what we could do.  We couldn’t go back out in the dark!  Finally after several attempts and several words we decided to see if the fuel dock was open.  By the grace of God, it was!  We tied up there for the evening and settled up with the marina the next morning.  Total mileage today was 75 miles.  We did manage to apologize to the people in the boat we upset.  All is good!  They apologized to us also saying they should have offered to raft up rather than just yelling at us!  Oh well, we have some new friends now.  However, the next time we decide to deviate from our plans, we will remember this episode!  Boating has its moments!!
November 17, Tuesday -  Up early waiting for the marina office to open.  Still a bit shaken up thinking about what could have happened.  Oh well, what is done is done.  We paid for our dockage and were on our way about 8:30.  No problems. They charged us for a slip which was fair.  We had a 48 miles journey today.  Planning to anchor at Hobe Sound.  It was a very busy day with lots of traffic and windy but no rain.  We made it to Hobe Sound anchorage (1000 mm) by 3:00 p.m.  Still a little shaken up about last night we were happy to find a decent anchorage.  Of course it would have been nicer had it not been blowing 20 mph!  A sailboat anchored beside us.  We had passed him earlier.  He was French and spoke little English.  Interesting!  Imagine being in a sailboat, sailing around in a foreign country and doing it alone.  Anyway, the anchorage is good and we had a good rest.  By the way, Hobe Sound is quite an exclusive area.  Beautiful homes with well-manicured lawns and of course, huge boats outside their homes.  According to Google -  Tiger Woods, Celine Dion, and Burt Reynolds are among its residents.  I wonder if we anchored in one of their front yards!
November 18, Wednesday -  It was pretty windy last night but we held!   We left about 8:00.  It was a long day.  We only had about 63 miles to go but we had several bridges and several no-wake zones to contend with.  At one of the bridges we had a 45 minute wait because of construction.  About 3 others we had at least a 20 minute wait each!  With all the waiting on the openings it took us 9 1/2 hours to go 63 miles!  Finally we made it to the Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale about 5:30.  Of course the marina office was closed and it was raining.  Luckily, we had Katie and Bob (Floating Stone) and Richard (Rambler) there to help us into our slip.  Tomorrow we head to Boca Chita – a National Park just south of Miami on Biscayne Bay.  Now it’s time for a good night’s sleep!
November 19, Thursday -  After a nice night at the marina we left about 10:00 with Rambler leading the way.  He planned to stop at No Name Harbor.  Katie and Bob left earlier and were heading on to Key Largo.  They had been at Las Olas for almost a week waiting on the weather.  We only planned to go to Boca Chita which is about 45 miles.  We stopped at the Hollywood City Marina to get some fuel.  ($2.45/gal).  Still not bad compared to past years.  We didn’t have any problems and made it to one of our favorite spots about 4:30.  We had it all to ourselves.  Well, except for all the mosquitoes!  We’ve been there a few times before and never had problems with them before but they were thick tonight!  We still managed to kick back and enjoyed being “almost” to the Keys!  Tied up and safe!  We love this place!
November 20, Friday -  We left about 8:00.  We were headed to Lorelei’s Anchorage (Islamorada) – about 55 miles.  We were anxious to get out of the mosquitoes so Mike waited until we were out in to the open water before he entered our route into the chart plotter.  Well, guess what!  Here we are out in Biscayne Bay and the chart plotter froze up! We tried everything we could think of.  This meant no rhumb line to follow, no depth sounder, no compass!   Luckily we had a backup compass and a sounder and we pulled out the paper charts.  Just like to old days!  Following the charts and dead reckoning to the markers.  We did that for 55 miles!  And of course, avoiding the crab pots that were everywhere! We made it to our anchorage about 3:00.  It wasn’t forecasted to be but it was really windy!  We finally were at anchor so we could call Garmin Tech Support.  After a few phone calls, we were able to do an update.  It worked!  All is good!!
November 21, Saturday -  We had a great anchorage at Lorelei’s.  We hardly moved at all once the wind let up.  We weighed the anchor at 8:00 a.m.  We were anxious to get going the 38 miles to Marathon!  After 12 days of traveling, we’re ready to be in our winter home.  We decided that since the forecast was light winds we would go out and travel the Hawk Channel.  It would be a little closer and shouldn’t have as many crab pots.  So we went out at Channel Five Bridge.  Well that wasn’t such a great idea.  It was really pretty lumpy out there.  The waves were mostly on our beam.  That isn’t really much fun.  And there were still crab pots!  However, we still made it about 12:30.  It took us about 4 hours but it wasn’t all that bad.  (Maybe it was…..)  After all, we knew that at the end of today’s journey we’d be in Marathon finally! Oh, and of course, it was raining when we got there.  Our friends helped us in one more time – in the rain!  But it wasn’t dark!
Now this adventure is over for now.  It’s time to party and enjoy our friendships in Marathon.  We’ll be here probably through March.  And then again, if we haven’t yet sold NautiNell, we’ll be off again on another adventure!
Stay tuned!
Till next time!
Admiral “C”

 

 




 






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