Sorry, no photos for this leg! Hope you enjoy anyway!

Heading North on the East Coast of Florida

We have had lots of challenges this trip and I believe we met each one with strength and courage. Notice I didn’t say dignity, because these episodes usually revert both of us to screaming 4-year-olds after the danger has passed. Danny, my ex-firefighter captain, responds to danger by barking orders. I, on the other hand, don’t handle this barking so well... I respond in kind. You can see where I am going with this. Our last incident happened on the way into Lake Worth Inlet from the Bahamas. Just as we got to the outside buoy, the engine stopped. Danny scurried to put up a jib sail as we entered a maze of jet skis, hobie cats, fishing boats, and mega yachts. In the midst of all this chaos was a small boat anchored just off the marker and right in our way. I tried to calmly yell to them that we had no power. They looked at me like I was an alien. If Danny hadn’t put up the main sail, we would have had five new fishing poles and five brown-eyed boys onboard with us.

We were able to sail straight into the inlet and, once inside, we found boater’s mania. Vessels, celebrating Cinco de Mayo, were coming from every direction and anchored everywhere along the way. Danny dropped the jib and immediately dropped the anchor while we were moving. The anchor grabbed and OPA stopped just over the anchor of a 20 foot Wellcraft. They had no idea we were in distress and their eyes were as big as saucers as we gently came to a stop! It was just like a scene out of the movie “Captain Ron”. If you haven’t seen this hilarious movie with Kurt Russell and Martin Short, I really suggest you rent it…better yet, purchase it. It is the funniest movie ever and way too close to our reality.

Since we had to wait until Monday to clear customs and were not supposed to leave the boat, we anchored in the intercoastal waterway, just off of Peanut Island (party central). We were entertained by a parade of boats that came just a few feet from our bow and as we looked down the channel, we were reminded of U.S. 19 during rush hour.  As the tide dropped around the island, shoals started to develop, and I stared in disbelief as people intentionally put their boats on the ground, jumped in the water and partied until high tide. What a great place!  As it got closer to sunset, the tide started to slowly float the boats and everyone gathered up their kids, dogs, Frisbees, and floats and headed home. 

We watched in amazement as the sheriff side-towed a 22 ft boat with about the same number of people aboard. I guess they exceeded the maximum weight requirement for that vessel.  Needless to say, not even a nook to store even one life jacket.

Danny got to watch his first Nascar race in a year. Papa was happy, but once he got that remote in his hand, I knew I had lost him. The icing on the cake was the fireworks that we enjoyed courtesy of Palm Beach SunFest. They were spectacular and a welcome reward for our successful, albeit exciting, crossing.

We motored up the Atlantic and re-entered the intercoastal waterway at Fort Pierce Inlet. As we were approaching the inlet, the fog started rolling in. Danny and I just looked at each other in amazement, both of us thinking, what next? Fortunately, we had three mile visibility and were able to get safely anchored.

Last night Danny and I came to the conclusion that we could not comfortably make it to southern Maryland in time for my nephew’s graduation, the main reason for the trip. We would be forced to travel about 12 hours almost everyday to make the 700 miles that we still have to travel. An eight hour day nets us only 50 miles. Since we are going to be in the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area, we hitched a ride with my Uncle Paul. I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with this very, dear  man.  This was actually the answer to three people’s prayers; my cousin Joanne, my very good friend Debbie, and my own. Joanne and her husband Don can now enjoy their Harley trip to Washington D.C. knowing that her dad will be in good hands.  My friend Debbie no longer has to worry about who will take care of her 2 dogs, 1 horse, 3 cats, 2 birds, 1 goldfish and 1 turtle while she experiences Europe with her to 2 daughters, and I asked God to get me to southern Maryland, I didn’t specify how it had to happen. My heart was just a tiny bit heavy, as I was really looking forward to the journey aboard OPA. It is the right decision, and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.  We have always said that you can’t have deadlines when cruising. It causes mistakes and bad decisions. As it turned out, because we waited, we were able to experience the most awesome people and places along the way.

We are on the inside today, a welcome respite from the Atlantic. The inter-coastal waterway has no bridges that require opening for the next seventy nine miles which is quite a bonus. It can really add a lot of hours on to a trip if you have to wait for scheduled bridge openings. Navigation has taken on a whole new meaning since we entered this eastern seaboard wateway, where instead of waypoints and courses, we now have red and green markers. With waypoints, there is margin for error; this is not so with the channel markers. It is so regimented, like coloring between the lines, and you really have to stay focused. That’s kind of hard for me, as I suffer from ADHD, just kidding! We were rewarded with plenty of dolphin sightings and I even witnessed an Osprey feeding her baby in a nest that she made on a lighted channel marker.  Where is the camera when you need it?  We passed some phenomenal houses in the most perfect settings.

We dropped anchor at the mouth of Banana River in the Melbourne area. There must have been a lot of fish there, because the dolphins were constantly feeding in our anchorage. It was such a relaxing setting that we decided to spend an extra day and explore. We explored the river by dinghy in the morning and then we walked about 2 miles to a Walmart to get a saltwater fishing license.  My provisioning was limited as we had to haul it in backpacks to the dinghy. We devoured a couple of Wendy’s bacon cheeseburgers, the first beef we have had in a long time, and they were delightful.

The space coast loomed ahead of us and we passed NASA before dropping the anchor in Titusville. I was hoping for a space launch, but we weren’t that fortunate. There is so much natural beauty in this area. We’re off to Daytona Beach tomorrow where we will be spending time with our brother Chris and my friend Debbie. Really looking forward to it.