The anchorage in St. Augustine was so pleasant that we stayed until Monday, giving us the chance to take in the pirate raid reenactment of an actual raid many years ago that took place in the city square.  The British hired privateers to attack the Spanish territories, with the caveat they pay a portion of what they looted to the crown.  If the were successful it was a way to get rich.

The enactment was interesting and we had a front row spot from which to view the action.  The guns didn't always fire, and when they fired the cannons with gizmos that looked like fancy candle lighters, there was flame, smoke and a big bang.  There was sword play between the sides with a lot of saber rattling. The costumes were authentic, made of linsey woolsey which looked warm given the tropical conditions.  One man was the town doctor in a very spiffy costume who talked a bit about conditions at the time of the raid.



We also toured an old house made of coquina, a shell material that was "mined" along the coast.  The walls were very thick which provided insulation from the heat and the cold.  It was run as a boarding house by women who took in folks from inland or up north who frequently stayed for weeks at a time.  The area was thought to be good for respiratory ailments and many visitors who suffered from TB came here for a "cure". Many visitors came via an overland route from the St. John's River after traveling south on the river which looked to be an arduous and dangerous journey at the time.  Much of the food they served was grown on the premises and they also took advantage of the available seafood from the river and shore.  They were known for the food they served and the menus were quite sumptuous.

On Sunday we walked to the park on the barrier island between our anchorage and the ocean.  We saw the quarry where the coquina material had been dug for the houses. Harvesting it had to have been brutal work with the intense heat, bugs and humidity,  which was done mostly by slave labor.  We also walked on the beach. We saw a new variation of kite boarding using a skate board with a kite, running on the packed sand.  When his girl friend tried the it, she was picked up off her feet by the kite when the wind gusted.  It looked like it could be tricky to learn how much wind to dump from the kite to keep moving with your feet on the ground.


Early Monday morning we headed back out to sea for Ponce de Leon inlet.  With favorable winds we made good time under sail.  We spent the night south of New Smyrna Beach where we had anchored on our first trip north, working our way over the shoal into deeper water of an interesting creek used by local fisherman. At sunset, just like last time, flocks of egrets, herons and ibis flew past us heading west.

Making use of the fresh northerly breeze, we sailed down the Mosquito Lagoon having to resort to motoring when we passed through the Haulover Canal which links the Mosquito Lagoon to the Indian River.  We haven't stopped at the town of Cocoa since 1978, so we decided to see if the free dock described in the Skipper Bob guide had an spot open.  It was wide open, but posted with no mooring signs, so we dropped anchor in the anchorage area, launched the dinghy and went ashore.

We checked out the big hardware store that is written up in the books. It is big, but the marine section was tiny and didn't have any zinc's to replace the one we'd installed in Fernandina Beach.  The rest downtown area was mostly antique shops or places to eat and rolled the sidewalk up at 5 PM.  We finally agreed on which place to eat, an interesting pizza and sandwich shop that used a wood fired grill.  They also had home made ice cream and freshly baked treats.

By Wednesday morning our nice northerly breeze petered out so the day was spent with more motoring than sailing.  We checked into the city marina at Vero Beach  topping off the fuel tank before picking up our mooring.


By Thursday morning the wind had gone to the south and blew hard all day.  Our fresh water pump had begun to make strange sounds when we switched water tanks, and upon inspection it appeared the rubber bladder in pressure tank had given up the ghost.  Given the conditions, we took our time doing chores and caught the bus to the local West Marine shop to find a replacement pressure tank and pick up a Bahamian flag to use on our trip to the islands.  We walked to the beach, but the wind was blowing too hard to make walking along the beach fun.  On our way back to the boat we noticed signs for the 55th Annual Under the Oaks Art Show and saw the booths being set up for next day.

In the morning Leonard agreed to spend another day on the mooring.  The wind wasn't as strong as before, but it would still have been a wet, sloppy slog to windward in the ICW and even worse if we went offshore at Ft. Pierce.  After doing the last of provisioning and checking out a book store in the morning, we spent most of the afternoon at the art show.  It was quite large, some 250 booths with paintings, glassware, photography, jewelry and hand crafted objects.  By the time we'd seen it all, we were too "arted out" to visit the museum which had an impressionist show I'd like to have seen.

Instead, we walked to the beach and headed downwind until we reached a park.  Walking through the park we found sail boats tied up to docks in a creek which we followed back toward the marina.  Before returning to the boat, we took the dinghy up the creek to check out the fancy homes from the water.  We joked about buying a waterfront lot so we could dock our boat there, but with the prices of waterfront being what they are, we'd have to sell everything we have just to purchase the lot.

We'd seen a sign at the art show that said "Know the rules so you can break them", so we broke our rule about traveling on weekends in the ICW in Florida and headed out shortly after sunrise in Saturday.  It was wonderful.  There was no wind, the water was flat and the only fishermen we saw were actually fishing as opposed to "getting to the fishing spot".  We even saw a man  fishing from a paddle boat.  With just a light breeze in the making when we reached Ft. Pierce, we decided to go off shore in spite the forecast from the night before, which predicted a fairly strong S wind.

It's easy to grumble when the weatherman is wrong, but sometimes I hate it more when they're right.  It didn't take long for the wind to pipe up as predicted, and that, combined with the swell from the last two windy days made going to windward a chore.  We'd picked up a new chart book of inlets last fall that had charts and courses, along with a write up and picture of a number of inlets that had been done in 2005.  St. Lucie Inlet looked straight forward.  Find the channel and head straight in, being sure to avoid the shoaling along either side the channel.

We found the channel and were looking forward to getting out of the sloppy seas when a fishing boat approached from the stern and Leonard moved over to the starboard side of the channel for him to pass us.  As the fishing boat went past, he motioned very graphically for us to head to port.  We no more than translated the message into an action when we touched bottom and slithered almost to a stop.  The next incoming wave picked us up and we slithered free, only to touch and to slow down again.  After the third wave we were finally back in the channel and on our way.  Looking at the channel markers we had been in the channel as marked, but apparently Wilma and moved a few sand banks around.

After taking a deep breath and noting we probably had neither barnacles or bottom paint left on the bottom of our wing keel, we headed south in the ICW.  We've never done this segment, having always been offshore in the past.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and the fishermen were out like clouds of mosquitos!  Trying to work our way around a boat trolling in mid channel, we promptly ran aground again.  We were able to get free using the engine, noting channel depths in the area aren't the charted 12 feet.

There are a few places where there is enough water off the channel to drop an anchor, and these places were packed with boaters enjoying the day.  One place we passed a couple fishing from the shore and as we went past the woman made a big cast without looking where she was putting her lure.  I saw her hand go to her mouth in surprise, and noticed that all she had was limp line when she pulled on her rod.  A moment later we heard something drop on deck and noticed 2 sinkers some line and a hook with a little shrimp on it.  Apparently she'd hooked our rigging.  Luckily she didn't damage the wind generator or the solar panel.  This was turning into a record day for strange happenings.

Jupiter and Hobe Sounds are nice.  Hobe Sound is probably the only area where we didn't see any for sale signs on property.  This year there seem to be more signs than ever, either people are cashing in their real estate chips, or are sick and tired of hurricanes.  There was evidence of storm damage all along this portion of the coast.

Bridges were another problem.  Our cruising guides are slightly outdated and the schedules for the bridges had been changed.  Even bridges with no restrictions previously now had them.  Supposedly they are timed, but not for sail boats, so we frequently had to wait when we reached a bridge.  The waits were made less pleasant by the number of speeding power boats that fit under the bridges.  We were both glad to finally reach the north end of Lake Worth and drop the hook for the night. There was a large fleet at anchor already, probably waiting for a break in the strong SE winds to head for the Bahamas.

Leonard had contacted Dick Bruce, one of his Silver Spokes biking friends who has a house on a canal in Boca Raton.  Their dock was our Sunday evening destination.  Leonard had searched the Coast Guard web site trying to find a current bridge schedule.  If it's on there he didn't find it.  I think we did 10 bridges that day.  (There's a reason we've always gone offshore for this part of Florida.) We tried using the VHF to call ahead to get the schedule for the next bridge, but still spent time idling and circling at bridges with all sorts of power boats zooming up and down the ICW.

The homes, if you can call them that, along this portion of the ICW are something else. It appears to be mass conspicuous consumerism with everyone trying to out do their neighbor.  It is a real treat to spy a little Florida house among the mansions.  One interesting thing we saw was an America's Cup contender that had been gracefully canted ashore with no visible means of support save her keel, which to any sailor's eye is impossible.


Thanks to our computer mapping program we found the right canal to take us to the Bruce's house.  Their place is a stone's throw from the ICW, but is in a canal off the main one, so we could tie up without worrying about the boat being pitched against the dock by passing wakes.  We had a warm welcome, and the swimming pool, although hot by lake standards, was refreshing.  Barb's dinner was tasty and we enjoyed a tour of the area and a chance to see the ICW from ashore and drive over some of those pesky bridges.

We also planned to hook up with the Chupacks who would hop over from the west coast of Florida on Alligator Alley (Interstate 75).  We finally decided that Ft. Lauderdale would be the most convenient spot to meet and Leonard was able to find a slip at one of the municipal marinas up the New River in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Luckily the Chupacks don't mind short notice, and said they'd join us on Wednesday.

There were 16 bridges between Boca Raton and the marina in Fort Lauderdale.  At least it was Monday and the weekend warriors were back to work which makes travel for us much easier.  Coming into this area for the first time on the ICW is impressive.  Ft. Lauderdale doesn't just have oversized houses, it also has a huge fleet of oversized yachts.  One difference I've noted on the boats is that big sail boats leave you guessing as to their length for the most part.  No so the motor yachts which frequently list their size in some conspicuous spot as if to make a statement.

We turned off the ICW and headed inland on the New River, a twisty turning ribbon of water that flows through the town and hosts some big boat yards for servicing the megayachts upstream.  We were headed for Cooley's Landing Marina and the first part of the New River is through a residential area.  At Tarpon Bend, a tight kink, we were met by a paddle wheeler tour boat heading downstream.  After we eased past them, the banks started to fill with big boats tied up on both sides and the shores were lined with high rise buildings.  After we called the first bridge, the others upstream seemed to open magically as we approached. This was more like it!  The railway bridge was even open too, with only one last bridge to clear before the marina.

We managed to back into our slip with no problems.  It's in an unique location, being at the very end of the river walk, and very tranquil with trees providing shade and a public park by the marina.  The first eye opener was one of the 115 foot megayachts being towed upstream with a tow boat tied to either end to ease it around the turns and traffic.  Then there was the fuel barge making regular passes up and down stream, the water taxis and water busses, the mobile fix-it boat, the tour boats and an endless stream of boats going both directions.  We just sat and watched the parade, not going exploring until after dinner.

The next day, after washing the boat and polishing on the bow pulpit and stantions (stainless steel is a misnomer), we checked out the River walk and Las Olas, the main shopping street with lots of interesting boutiques and restaurants.  We passed an interesting bakery which I had to check out.  They had wonderful treats of which we sampled two - a cherry almond tart and a small lemon bread, both of which were delicious.


Jeanette and Steve arrived the next morning, and after a walk on the river front drove us to get propane (our one tank ran out sooner than we anticipated) and to the local Costco for one more shopping spree before we headed to the Bahamas.  We did more exploring in the afternoon before going out to dinner.  It was fun to spend time with them again, they had been wonderful hosts last year when we cruised Florida's west coast.


In the morning, after breakfast, we walked over to the art museum with a Tukummon exhibit, but the crowds were huge, and we needed to start south again if we were to catch a possible weather window for the hop to the Bahamas, and the check out time at the marina was noon. 

Note: It is at this point the camera stopped working.  It now refuses to turn on and we have no more pictures for the rest of this trip.

It was just before noon when we got underway.  The bridge by the marina magically opened as we approached, but the rail road bridge was closed!  We made a quick fuel stop at the dock just before the bridge while we waited for the train.  Once all the backed up boat traffic cleared, we got in line, but the next bridge closed before we got there.  It was about a five minute wait until he cleared the road traffic and let us through.

This year we didn't do battle with the cruise ships after dark.  We left Port Everglades in the daylight and set sail for Miami.  We considered heading directly for Bimini, but Leonard decided the timing wasn't quite right, opting to anchor off Miami until the wee hours of the morning to take advantage of the light winds that were forecast for crossing the Gulf Stream.

We had a great sail south which sometimes made it difficult to write this while trying to brace myself against the heeling of the boat.  We arrived  at Government Cut, the Miami inlet, about 1740 and after noticing a sail boat anchored south of Singer's Island just past the entrance, decided to check out that area instead of anchoring along the Rickenbacker Causeway which is further inland.  It saved us time both that night and in the morning.  After a quick dinner and making final phone calls and weather checks, we slept a few hours before heading out about 3 AM for a mid day arrival in Bimini.