Thursday Cove to Coconut Grove

Wow! What a calm night and day. The water was so smooth today it looked like you could walk on it. We made it to Dinner Key Marina by 4 P.M. this afternoon. Time to do some laundry, take showers, add water to the boat, go to the grocery, and get dinner. It looks like the weather will be about perfect for a crossing to Bimini in the morning! Finally!

I am not sure what to expect on Internet connections on Bimini. I will post as soon as I'm able.

Here are some photos taken today.

This photo shows how calm the water was

One if several races we saw as we approached the marina

Fish that hitched his last ride. We found this guy on our steps when we docked

Miami from the dock at the marina

Little Island behind the dock.

Islamorada to Thursday Cove

The wind did not let up all night Sunday at our anchorage by Islamorada. With winds to 25 knots, Bob was concerned that the anchor would not hold. There are many boats nearby, so Bob decided to sleep on the settee in the pilot house. If you have seen the boat and you've seen Bob, you know that could not have been comfortable. He left the radio on and the periodic coast guard messages woke him so he could then check the boat. I got up around 7 and switched with him and we both dosed in till 9. I can attest that the settee is not comfortable. I wish I had thought to take a picture of him. Our anchor did hold, though we rocked and rolled all night.

By noon, the winds died down and we took the dinghy over to waterside restaurant called Lorelei and had our lunch by the water. We are certainly enjoying all the fresh fish. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny, and almost cloudless. Bob had forgotten his wallet, so took the dinghy back to get it and we headed to the Post Office. The P.O. was a good long walk. We had thought to call and make sure it would be there before we started - it was there! Thanks Martha.

On the way to the Post Office, Bob informed me that he had trouble with the dinghy motor again and that it needed a new water pump impeller. He stopped and made arrangements for it to be serviced today. They have the impeller in stock, but not the repair kit. Luckily we did not need it. Otherwise, it would have been be two more days to get it.

So Bob then had to row the boat out to our anchorage - no small feat since we were anchored the farthest out of any of the boats in tha harbor. We then moved the boat as close in as we could safely get it so that he wouldn't have to row as far this morning. He's had his share of exercise lately.

Last night we were treated to fireworks very near the boat during the State of the Union Address. Not sure what they were for, but it was nice.

The dinghy was completed at noon today and we headed out to an anchorage about halfway to where we need to go to leave for the Bahamas. We are the only boat in a lovely place called "Thursday Cove" with very calm water. We enjoyed the sunset and are settling in for the night.

Nice waterside Tiki Bar

This was a bridge being constructed by one that was draw bridge. Normally, all the bridge tenders are the most courteous folks you talk with. Well, not this guy. I think he was not happy that his job wwould soon go away after the bridge is finished!

Bob anxiously awaiting sunset

It was worth the wait

Little Shark River and Islamorada

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Gulf. Hardly a clould in the sky most of the way and very calm water. It was so nice that Bob put a chair on top the pilot house and steered the boat with his mote. I should have taken a picture of that! We noticed on interesting phenomenon. There were small fish that seemed to get spooked by the boat and jumped up out of the water and short of used their tails to scoot along for 30 or so feet out of the water.
We made it to Little Shark River, where we had stayed on the way North before Christmas again. Not much to say, it was a fairly quiet night.
This morning we got up early because we had a ways to go. The ride was pretty bumpy today and cloudy most of the day. We arrived at Islamorada in the Keys this afternoon by 3. We discovered that there is a huge Bass Pro Shop here that has a sister ship to one owned by Ernest Hemmingway in the middle of it. Here is a link to this shop - http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=94&storeID=21 Quite a shop. We had dinner at an outside restaurant on the property and then took the dinghy back to the boat. The wind had shifted and we had a devil of a time getting back. I wouldn't call it an E Ticket ride, but it was close! We have a package of mail our neighbor forwarded to us to pick up here before moving on. Looks like that won't be till Wednesday due to the weather forcast now. I'll see about taking some photos of Islamorado tomorrow.

Marco Island

We made our way South yesterday to Marco Island. This is about the last real civilization where we could get some work done on the dingy motor - so we stopped here for service. We anchored off a marina and Bob rowed the dingy over to the dock where he had arranged for a company to come pick him and the motor up. It turns out we had bad fuel and so the carburetor needed to be cleaned out and new fuel obtained. They were not able to complete the work till this morning. By the time Bob got back, it was noon, too late to leave today to get to an anchorage in the Little Shark River - so we will stay here tonight. As it turns out, there is a lot of fog today anyway. Although visibility is OK now, it might be worse later in the day.

So here we sit, rockin' on the hook!

Finally - We're Underway!

Home along the Naples Canal

We woke up this morning to clear skies and little wind - finally the weather Gods smiled upon us. We have anchored for the night off Little Marco Island. As anchorages go, it is a little narrow, but after dark, all boat traffic ended.

We left Ft. Myers this morning saying goodbye to Salty Sam's Marina where they took good care of us, heading South in the Gulf till we reached Naples. At that point we followed the inland passage to our anchorage.

When we came through the Naples Jetty, we were met by two porpoises - mother and calf, that followed us for about an hour. Here are a couple of the photos I got:

We were met by a third older porpoise who was a real showoff. This one stayed with us till we anchored and then some. I think he was in love with the boats hull. I could hear his squeal before he jumped out of the water.

Some real fancy fin work here!

We put the dinghy in for the first time, hoping to get some nature photos and a chance to make sure the engine worked - well guess what - it didn't. So we'll be stopping at Marco Island tomorrow to see if we can get it fixed. Bob spent a couple of hours on it till it got too dark to continue. At least it wasn't the generator again!

Blog Changes

Over Christmas I had my son make some coding changes to the Blogspot template. He added the photo of the boat in the banner, widdened the posting space so you won't have to scroll as much to read the site, and added the navigation bar on the right that will take you to any particular posting you want to go back to. The logo for his company is the Volo button on the right. He has gone in to business for himself now.

I also added the list of Guides/Books we are using on this trip for anyone that might want to plan a trip like this in the future.

The View Hasn't Changed

Hi Everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an exciting new year.

Our Christmas was spent at home. It was so nice getting to see the family and our great friends over the holidays. We enjoyed seeing all the grandchildren. I can't resist including a few photos.

Becky, Jake, and Amanda with their "new puppy" Bam Bam (he is now 106 pounds on his way to 200!)

Our traditional picture of Bob carving the bird

Our youngest grandchild - Annabella - not yet interested in Christmas

Brooke and her mother, Lisa

Bob and his brother Dave (two peas in a pod)

Bob's wonderful mother Evelyn

We had rented a car to drive home and returned to the boat on the 7th. We discovered that all the work had not been completed on the generator, so with three more trips, they finished today. We then discovered that the weather system on the Raymarine was not working and that had to be replaced (luckily under warranty) today. We had a diver clean the barnicules off the bottom on the hull. Then we discovered that the gray water drain pump had failed and the head in the master stateroom was not working and Bob fixed those today. So, with all these repairs and maintenance, we have been pretty much dock-bound since we got back. The longer we sit here the more I fear will break!

Well we were all set to leave tomorrow, and Bob tells me that the weather system says there will be 25 knot winds and 4 to 6 foot waves - so guess what - the view won't change tomorrow either.

Some fun things we have done since we returned were to spend some time with Barry and Diane (neighbors from Ophelia), and their friends Marty and Sandra. We went on a one day cruise and anchored off Sanibel Island. Sandra has been on our boat at the dock in Ophelia, but this was her first cruise.

Photo of a pirate cruise ship at a dock near us taken on trip to Sanibel

We drove up to visit our friends from DC, Bill and Linda, who have a condo in Bradenton for a day and shopped in St. Armand's Circle and had a wonderful dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. They make the absolute best Sangria. Bill and Linda then came last Sunday and we visited the summer homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. That was an interesting visit.

Bill and Linda with Thomas Edison in front of a huge Banyan Tree

Bill getting a close-up for his collection (surprise - he didn't know I took this)

On Monday, Pris and Paul, (Penny's sister and brother-in-law) came from St. Pete where they winter away from the cold weather in Rochester, New York. We celebrated our Christmas together. I had left our Christmas decorations up on the boat for the occasion.

Yesterday, we went to see "The Bucket List" a great movie and came to the conclusion that what we are doing is our "Bucket List"! Provided we ever leave this dock. Recommed you see this movie.

Every boat at the dock seems to have a "sentry."

Zephyr sleeping on the job
This guy means business


Our boat has "Polly"

Bob just informed me that we may be here through Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed for us. The plan is to leave here and head back South, anchoring each evening. We will get to "No Name Harbor" (really called that) in Key Biscayne, where we will meet up with other boaters wanting to go to the Bahamas and wait for good weather for the passage to Bimini.