Winter Cruising---It's a Tough Life

The last time that we posted we were in Vero Beach, FL. Well, we are here again, this time to start our travels north. We have had an absolutely fabulous winter this year. The weather has been in the high 70’s or low to mid 80’s most of the time. That’s the reason we’re here……great weather.

When we left Vero Beach in January, we were headed farther south. We stopped in Stuart for a couple of days and then we were off to Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale. Lauderdale is a town that is built for one thing…boating. You’ll see 200-foot mega yachts, too many to count. They say that Ft. Lauderdale has more mega yachts visiting than any other port in the world, and by all appearances you can believe it.

We stayed there for a few days and rented a car in order to drive down through the Keys. We drove straight to Key West, scoped out the town, and then turned around and worked our way back. We were updating the Waterway Guide so we needed to stop a lot and check-out some of the marinas and also the restaurants, markets and other services that boaters need or want (even tiki bars). While in Key West, we did find a great little Cuban restaurant that sort of reminded us of our favorite Mexican restaurant in Seal Beach.



It's Cuban and great!!

  Once we got back to the boat in Ft. Lauderdale, we hung out for a couple more days and then decided that we would head north again and cut across the Okeechobee Waterway to the west coast of Florida. First we stopped to visit some really wonderful friends, Rick and Candice, and then we headed up to Tampa and did more Waterway Guide updates along the way. The weather continued to be nice until we got to Pelican Bay across Charlotte Harbor (on Cayo Costa Island). We anchored in this beautiful spot and the forecast was for rain and a lot of wind for the next day. So we said, “Hey, we’re in no hurry, we’ll just stay here.” Four days later we left after a bunch of rain and 20 to 25 knots of wind every day. We made stops in Venice, Sarasota and Bradenton. Each town was really nice and was everything that people have been telling us about. We went as far as Tampa, rented a car and scoured the area including St. Petersburg. The wind continued to blow every day. We got used to it being 20-plus from the north. We had to hold up periodically because it’s no fun to travel in 20-plus knots of wind every day. It’s one thing to be caught in it, but not smart if you go out in it knowing that it’s going to be nasty. We’re not in any particular hurry so we just waited it out.

The road across Caya Costa Island

The beach on the Gulf side of the island

Stareing at nothingness

It's really beautiful

There has been so little rain this winter here in Florida that one of the things we were concerned about was getting back across Lake Okeechobee while there was enough water. The Lake is extremely shallow to begin with, but with this year’s drought it’s even worse. Unfortunately, we had to bypass Punta Gorda which meant that we couldn’t see our great friends, Frank and Ellen, who live there. We made it to the Lake with enough water (6 feet in some places) to get through. It was interesting to wonder if you’re going to have enough water or not. We checked with the Army Corps. of Engineers before we went, and they told us we should be okay. We’re glad that’s behind us!

We made some stops in Indiantown and Stuart again and spent a few days. While we were in Stuart, we got together with some friends (the Belsons) from the Seal Beach Yacht Club in Long Beach, CA. They were in Florida visiting with some mutual friends from the club (the Landakers) who have a winter home here. We had lunch and did a lot of catching up with them. It was great fun!

The Landakers and Belsons from Seal Beach

We also stopped in Ft. Pierce and visited some cruising friends (Jim and Paula) that were there and had fun bringing each other up-to-date with our travels.

Jim and Paula on Sea Eagle

Now while we’re here in Vero Beach again, we are seeing a bunch of cruisers that we have met over the last 5 years plus catching up with some chores. Today it’s supposed to rain again, but Friday April 1st looks good for traveling. So we will be off, heading for northern waters. This year we are going to take a side trip and travel the full length of the St. John’s River. It’s located almost at the top of Florida and is supposed to be a really great side trip. We’ll let you know.

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Hope all is well with everyone!