Down the Keys

We were happy to leave Dinner Key. It was not the same place we loved a dozen years ago, but few places are. The exception is Marathon. 

We are on a buoy in Boot Key and it is the same it always was. Our big decision now is between wings at the Hurricane Bar or a lobster ruben sandwich at the Fisheries. 

 We do have some problems with the house batteries, but the generator helps hide the problem. Tomorrow I will check a couple marine vendors for a pair of new 4D batteries - preferably vendor installed. I would rather spend money than to start hoisting 90 lbs batteries into and out of a dinghy. 

 In the mean time..... enjoying the 80 degree days and 70 degree nights.

Dinner Key

 We made it to Dinner Key mooring field Monday afternoon and will stay three days with a Thanksgiving Day departure scheduled. The marina is still being repaired from Irma almost three years ago.

Empty slips still being reconstructed:

Our trip down the ICW was uneventful with the major exception of a large cargo ship entering Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale. We were in a line of other boats that all turned left to go out to sea leaving us alone crossing the ship channel. Looking left we saw a cargo ship bow on about a mile away. That may not seem close to landlubbers; but trust sailors when they tell you that is way too close! I put the wheel over hard and gunned it like a sissy. We did lazy circles for half an hour then continued down the ICW past the port terminals. 

We passed the same cargo ship docking with the help of a tug. The tug pushed as we went by and the surge of water was huge. The boat surfed sideways and the crew nearly experienced loose bowel syndrome. Once again - pedal to the metal escape.

Monday happy hour was a special treat!

Port of Palm Beach

The marina where we are weather-trapped is next door to the Port of Palm Beach. Big cargo ships load and unload day and night. We can, once in a while, hear the trains leaving and if a pleasure boat gets too close to a cargo ship the harbor pilot boat or Coast Guard will blow a combo horn and siren so loud you can almost feel it. I watched a large catamaran pirouette in mid channel and beat a hasty retreat with a heavy steel pilot boat bearing down on it. The pilot boats are berthed in our marina so we have advance notice of a cargo ship coming in when the pilot boat goes out.

There is a constant on both coasts of Florida. Derelict boats are everywhere. Property owners complain to their city, then laws are passed that hurt liveaboards. The boat bums leave the boat abandoned and it sinks creating a very expensive mess for the local government. The State government passed a law that boats could anchor at least 48 hours with some local restrictions allowed. Just north of our marina is a small anchorage with 2 boats blown ashore and 2 sunk boats just barely showing. In the picture below a bum boat is tied to a sunk boat - very convenient!

The wind is relentless and it now looks like we will remain hunkered down 2 or 3 more days enjoying the delights of marina life.

Hanging out with the big boys

We are spending the night at Riviera Beach city marina just north of Palm Beach. The marina is full of large, expensive yachts.

The big boys in the sunset:

The only slight mis-adventure of the day was when a boat with four 400hp outboards passed us throwing a 5 foot wake. In the insuing rocking and rolling I must have hit the refrigerator switch with my foot. A few hours later we discovered our ice was on the slushy side. Three dollars and a trip to the gas dock and now we have 10 lbs of this vital commodity.

Tomorrow we fight our way through the boating capital of the world.

Update: Tuesday morning - upon weather review the crew saw upcoming winds in south FL of 30 to 40 mph and decided to wait it out in this nice marina opting for comfort in lieu of intrepid seamanship.

Fair weather

 Two weeks of strong to gale force winds grew tiresome. It is now gentle breezes and sunshine. We could move on, but do not want to subject ourselves to one of the busiest waterways in America on the weekend. Monday morning seems soon enough.

Last night during happy hour(s) De Anne pointed up and yelled “what is that?”. It took a moment, but then we realized it was a rocket taking off from Cape Canaveral. I was so enthralled watching the magnificent sight that I never got out the camera. Oh well, another launch Sunday at 7:27 pm is scheduled.

Our location is called Sunset Bay and here is why:

TS Eta

The outer bands of Eta are whipping around us today. Our dinghy, like several others in the buoy field, is in the davits. We added chaff guards to our mooring lines and watched as others added additional lines.

The steady winds are in the twenties with frequent gusts above fourty:

It looks like tomorrow will be more of the same.

My last picture of the schooner Lilly was into the sun. Here is a better picture of her under sail two days ago:

Holding in place

We had plans to leave yesterday for points south; however, a weather check Tuesday night on the storm Eta gave us pause to rethink traveling to south Florida this week. Another week in Stuart seems prudent. 

There are moments of crisis in the buoy field. Lilly, a prow, gaff-rigged schooner started to sink. SeaTow arrived with big pumps and after a couple hours saved the ship. They moved to a dock and did the repairs. 

Lilly going by us - all well again:

Tuesday afternoon we spotted a large ketch trying to pick up a mooring ball in a 12 knot breeze. The multiple attempts were fun to watch for a few minutes, but their technique was very poor and became painful to watch. 

De Anne and I began to debate rendering assistance (she - pro, me - con). 10 minutes later we were in our dinghy with a stout mooring line. 

It was an older couple in a very large, heavy boat. We attached our mooring line and held it out for their next pass. De Anne passed him the line while I attempted to stay close without being rammed. Their boat looked much bigger from the front approching too fast with the husband yelling "Stop" to the wife at the helm. He cleated the line and all was well.

Gale

 A gale is blowing today. Yesterday we raised the dingy and stowed the kayak in preparation. The water is foam streaked, but wave action is minimal because of the protection of land and the marina to the north and east. It is a stay aboard day.

Two days ago SeaTow brought a sailboat in to the buoy two down from us. 4 little girls plus Mom and Dad. They abandoned ship last night. I would not like to ride a gale on a small sailboat with 6 people either.

Rising moon from the buoy field: