North of Fort Lauderdale to Titusville, FL
Monday, March 11. We arrived at an anchorage that Karla & Paul (Current Plan) were at- Lake Boca Raton after 42 miles going through Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It was nice to see them so soon after parting from the Keys. The anchorage was easy, quiet and we settled in for a good night sleep.
Gizmo (Current Plan) is such a great cat. He lets both of us pet him—we are honored.
Tuesday, March 12. This was a shorter cruise day to an anchorage near Singer Island just beyond West Palm Beach. We followed Karla and Paul on NEBO as we intended to anchor a couple of days as we worked our way north. They recommended a restaurant on the beach ‘Two Drunken Goats’. Well that needed to be seen!
We are not professional selfie photographers—for the record there was only one beer each. : )
Back to the anchorage. There were alot of boats that were not occupied. After we said hello to Karla & Paul we found one of the boats had drifted way to close to our boat. After resetting our anchor, a man popped out of what looked like a long term resident in a non-moveable sailboat, and yelled at us saying we were too close. Not wanting to be bad neighbors, we reset the anchor again. This time we were close to the park that locals fish at 2:40am and talk quite loudly. I was glad when it was light enough to leave in the morning.
Wednesday, March 13. We pulled anchor at 7:30am and cruised to Stuart, FL a couple miles off of the ICW on St. Lucie River.
On our way to Stuart, FL. These fishing boats are very popular in this area. Wakes are 5’ when they pass. Some slow down—nicely—-some don’t.
Osprey.
Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL has a wonderful laundry room and coffee shop, we also enjoyed being in their quiet mooring field.
Best mocha so far while on the great loop at Sunset Bay—Gilbert’s Coffee shop.
Karla & Paul joined us at Sunset Bay the following day. We all sat out on our boats to watch a scheduled launch from Cape Canaveral. It was canceled, but we enjoyed the beautiful sunset and another quiet night.
Current Plan at sunset.
Friday, March 15. We left our mooring ball at 8:00am only to wait almost 45 minutes for a nearby bridge to open. Oh well. Destination was Fort Pierce Municipal Marina for two nights. Fort Pierce is known for their Saturday market which made this a must stop.
Darth and I walked to downtown and came across a few interesting sculptures along the way.
Back at the boat we heard the cancelled Space X launch from Thursday was scheduled this evening. Luckily this one was not canceled—we were suprised how easy it was to see —92 miles south of Cape Canaveral.
This would never get old to watch!
Saturday, March 16. The Saturday market did not dissappoint! It was however a big celebration for St. Patrick’s Day—very crowded with folks having fun. We decided to ride our bikes to the National Navy Seals Museum.
The museum put us both in awe. The dedication of the men who served was shown through interactive exhibits while honoring the fallen at the Seal Memorial. The commitment to country and fellow Seals is what stood out and left us extremely in awe of these men and also all who serve in the military.
We spent the evening with Karla, Paul, Rick & Laureen from No Rush. We didn’t take a photo of us but this was the sunset from K&P’s boat. We boated with Rick & Laureen back in November on the Tennessee River, it was nice to catch up with them. They completed their loop and are selling their boat —a Camano Trawler. Ironically, they are moving to Port Ludlow, WA —very small world. We hope to connect again when we return home.
Sunday, March 17. We left after fueling and a pumpout from Fort Pierce. Destination was the Vero Beach Mooring Field. On the way we saw this huge racing sailboat. The UltimEmotion2—apparently it was damaged in 20-25 knot winds. Fortunately, none of the sailboat’s racing crew were injured. Not sure why it is anchored between Fort Pierce and Vero Beach though.
Vero Beach mooring field. We did not realize we would be rafting to another boat. The boat’s captian Robert had looped many years before and was very nice and helpful when we rafted to his boat.
It was very hot at Vero Beach so we dinghy’d in and had a meal at Riverside Restaurant a short walk away. Along the way we spotted this Doggie Library. The top is reserved for Clifford (the sign is hard to see). : )
Our sunset at Vero Beach.
Monday, March 18. Next destination was Eau Gallie Yacht Basin up the Eau Gallie River. Oh this was such a nice, small marina. However, it also had fixed docks. When we saw the spot available to us, we really questioned if it was wide enough. Darth can back a 45’ van on a dime AND dock with literally inches to spare.
Notice the poles. We squeezed in.
Front view—the dock goes just halfway to the salon.
Tuesday, March 19. We chatted and walked to the Eau Gallie Ace Hardware store and were greeted with the most helpful owner/staff. We bought several items—some we didn’t even know we needed.
Wednesday, March 20. We left early for Titusville. A gentleman walked up wearing a robe and probably headed for the showers. He offered to help and I just said oh no—we got this. Oh he decided to help anyway—-he also was smoking so I really was worried when he let go of his robe belt and “helped”. Nothing was seen—I couldn’t look and we pulled away easily. Correction, Darth pulled away as easily as he docked.
On to Titusville. When we arrived, the Titusville dockmaster told us we needed to try the smash burger. We intended to pick up a rental car for the next day, so we walked through town and grabbed a delicious smash burger on the way.
Highly recommend the onion smash burger.
We also walked to the the American Space Museum & Walk of Fame. The volunteer in the museum offered to take us through which we enjoyed and appreciated his stories. The museum is filled with memoribilia donated from individuals, astronauts, space workers, NASA and contractors. I especially enjoyed the Women of Space Gallery dedicated to the many women who have worked in the space program, including those who have flown in space.
Thursday, March 21. We drove to Kissimmee to visit a dear friend of my moms, Barbara Garner. Barbara worked for the FAA and I have had the pleasure of knowing her at work as well. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Barbara, seeing where she lived and just great conversation. Barbara is a celebrity at this community, it was fun to see everyone light up when she walked in the room.
Such a treasure Barbara is—mom would love that we visited.
Back to the marina we found out another launch was to take place at 4:55.
The arrow shows the rocket. Squint!!
When we returned the car, Greg & Lisa from Beach Breeze stopped by. It was fun to see them again—we visited until almost Looper midnight (8:40pm). Nest stop will be St. Augustine as we continue northbound.