Down the Gold Coast

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Monday March 8, 2010 Day 1 Traveled 30 miles to Stuart, FL

We motored east on the St. Lucie cannel. We had to go thru 1 lock and wait for a rail road bridge to open. They gave an Amtrak train the right-of-way. We made it to a place called the Manatee Pocket near Stuart. We are anchored near the restaurant we ate in a couple of days ago. It was warm today when the sun was out, which it was most of the day. Grilled steaks for dinner and didn’t loose the grill in the water like we did back on the Tenn-Tom.

March 9 Day 2 Traveled 51 miles. To Delray, FL

We were up and at it by 7:00 AM. We entered the Inter-coastal Water-way (ICW) at 7:45. It was another day of motoring since what wind we had was from the south. At least the south wind brought warmer temperatures. It was in the 70s and we were enjoying every degree. There are many lift bridges over the ICW. Most bridges open on the half hour. The ICW is almost totally developed with very expensive homes. Nice homes and high rise condos and lots of big yachts. We anchored for the night in a very exclusive neighborhood. One of the residents came out and told us where to anchor so that we wouldn’t end up high and dry when the tide went out.

Critter count: At least ½ dozen manatees.

March 10 Day 3 Traveled 30miles to Hollywood, FL

We were again on our way by 7:00 AM. By 7:10 we were passing under the George Bush Blvd. bridge. Maybe we were anchored in George’s back yard last night. We again motored because of the narrow channel and south wind. We also had to stop and wait for many bridges to open. Most open on the ½ hour so there is never a long wait. Except in Pompano Beach where a bridge was stuck open. It took a while before they let any boats thru. All the bridges on the ICW are Bascules. This is what a Bascule Bridge looks like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bascule_bridge We were told that occasionally a slow retired New York pedestrian doesn’t get off the bridge before it opens. That is usually a fatal stroll.

It became very congested on the waterway at Ft. Lauderdale. Many large yachts, sail boats and tour boats and one very large container ship gave Rick a challenge navigating thru the mess. Me made it and ended up in Hollywood, that is Florida, for the evening. We were able to dock at Joes Bar and Grill and eat and relax a bit. We had a table 5 ft. from Amber Lee’s port side. We are now anchored in a bay tonight listening to the music at a nightclub across the water. Thanks to Ramada Inn I was able to tap into the internet and send this off.

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Photos

Rick
Enjoying the scenery

Our Neighborhood
A home in Delray Beach where we anchored.

Amber Lee at Joe's
Can't sail much closer to the bar than this. And that is not a sand bar.

Container Ship
In Ft.Lauderdale

Comments

[anonymous]

Wayne/Rick: Joan and I enjoyed visiting with you. Thanks for stopping. Noted that winds today will be fron WSW at 25-30. Should be great spinnaker run down the coast. Consider that you are much closer to Cuba than WI. In fact, you are closer to Cuba than us here in Titusville.....so don't get carried away and overshoot, and end up being accused of defecting.

[Larry Shepard]

one big boat
What about the beautiful sailboat in the back ground. it looks like a yal or a ketch(SP) the other thing is just a big thing. The trip had to be just fantastic thing to experience.

[Roger Richter]

Jealous
Hi Wayne, Enjoyed your pictures and trip description. Sure makes me want to think more seriously about trailering "Navy Too" to areas in Florida and the Carribean to enjoy like you did. Now if I can just figure out what to do with the dog and cats when we would travel like that. What did you do for keeping your batteries charged when you were on the water for so long? Did you run enough with the motor to do the job? How did you get your boat over to Florida? Cheers - Roger

[Dean Gagnon]

Walden Bay, Mendota Sailor
You can easily identify George Bush's back yard by the huge sand box.