December 28, 2015 Old Port Cove marina facilities

Originally, this was our departure date for the Bahamas.  We now know what they are talking about when they say “Christmas winds”.  There hasn’t been a good weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  And it keeps changing daily.

Today, I loaded up laundry and the computer and went to shore to use the Old Port Cove facilities as guests of Bob and Olivia.  They had a nice laundry, business center, lounge, and restrooms with showers.  While doing laundry, I was able to get GREAT wifi reception and get caught up on a lot of things online and just storing things in the computer with unlimited power.  AS land lovers, we really took our power for granted.

business area

TV lounge

While I was away, Dave brought our new pillow top mattress pad and our mattress out into the saloon area.  He laid them on the table and cut the pad to fit our mattress.  Now we’ll have more leg room.  The rectangular mattress pad was curled up at the bow (the V of our bed) where we put our feet. 

He also checked our smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.  That’s one of those things they say to do on New Year’s day.  But we hope to be in the Bahamas by then and wanted to know now if they needed replacing.  Everything was fine. 

Dave gave himself a haircut just cutting the same length all over.  I had been planning to do that for him for over a week.  Now I can add the finishing touches. 

I visited with Bob and Olivia for a little while (long enough for 2 beers) before going back to the boat.  Bob had recently had a dental exam, cleaning and full mouth x-rays.  He had the x-rays on his computer and the estimate in writing.  So I gave him a second opinion.  I agreed with the treatment plan.  And I thought the fees were fair.  We also discussed spending $9,000 on his teeth vs getting implant dentures down the road.  I tried to convince him to keep his teeth.  Implant dentures are not cheap and it is a miserable process to go through IF you have the bone you need.  But I also thought he could wait 3 months until he was home in Michigan with his family dentist as long as he wasn’t in any pain.  We have felt like we owed Bob and Olivia something for all the things they have done for us.  Now Bob feels like he owes me.  And there is my dental infomercial for the day. 

Bob and Olivia's boat is the closest to the shore on the left.  We are the sailboat in front of those anchored

Bob and Olivia's boat and our dinghy

We ran the water maker again tonight.  And we found salty water in the bilge again.  Not a lot, but it keeps showing up after using the water maker.  Once the water is desalinated, that water goes overboard.  So Dave is going to check out that pump and the hoses tomorrow. 

Running the water maker means showers!  Yeah.  I love complaining about the heat and humidity to all my northern family and friends.  We have an awesome breeze coming in over our heads at night and only need to use a sheet.  That’s what we expect for the rest of the winter.  

most of these boats are waiting for good weather

December 27, 2015 Church and groceries

This morning, I took the dinghy over to Old Port Cove marina.  Bob gave me a ride to a Catholic church about 2 miles from them.  It was just across the lake from their marina and our boat.  But that shore is all private property, so there isn’t a place to land the dinghy.  After church, I walked a mile back to the Publix grocery store.  You always think you are done provisioning and only need milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables.  But somehow I end up with a cart full of groceries. 

Christmas decorations in the neighborhood of the church

Here’s something I thought of in advance.  I bought a birthday card for my Aunt Dorothy who will be 100 in February.  I wrote on it and sent it to her son with a note to give it to her on her birthday.  I don’t think I would send one from the Bahamas.  She is in a nursing home, has some dementia, but is actually pretty healthy. 

Bob came to pick me up.  Then we loaded everything in the dinghy, and I headed back to the boat.  There Dave helped unload.  Then I have more work ahead of me.  We have to bag a lot of the foods, label the cans, then tuck things away. 

Dave cleaned our fuel today with our fuel polisher.  It takes a couple hours to run the fuel through it.  He cleaned some muck out of the fuel filter.  He checked the generator to see if there was any water leaking, as it did last spring.  Everything was fine.  He also checked the generator fuel filter.  He spent some time working on our fuel gauge.  It hasn’t been reliable.  After checking several things, the next test was to be done when you have an empty tank.  Well, we never have an empty tank.  So we will have to go by how many hours we run the engine. 

Dave also put away our fenders and dock lines today.  We don’t plan to be at a dock for the next 6 months.  He also ran our jack lines today.  He runs two lines from the cockpit to the bow, one on port and one starboard.  If you go forward on the boat when we are out to sea, you hook your life vest into this line to keep you from getting tossed overboard. 

We had a light dinner of appetizers while listening to the Packers lose their game-so sad.  We didn’t even listen to the end.  We thought we may as well save our power.  Final score 38-8 :(

December 26, 2015 shopping in North Palm Beach, FL

Today we had a “shopping day” with Bob and Olivia.  They have a car here at this marina.  Dave wanted to return an impeller for our outboard motor.  We bought one here in March and they said we could return it anytime, even thought they knew we were leaving for the Bahamas.  We drove to Boat Owners World.  They didn’t have anything for the galley, so Olivia and I waited in the car. 

While we were there, another couple that we knew from Brunswick Landing Marina were there, Ed and Pam.  It was fun to visit with them again.  They are leaving for the Bahamas after Jan 1. 

We also stopped at a Walgreen's for Dave to find a non scented hand soap.  Most are too smelly and bother his sinuses.  We also refilled a propane tank.  Then Bob and Olivia wanted to show us a couple of specialty markets.  First we stopped at Carmine’s Italian market.  It was amazing.  It had a HUGE deli with all kinds of prepared foods, 9 home made soups, pastas, pizza, meats, fish, seafood, you name it.  They also had Italian products on the shelves and a restaurant.  It reminded me of an upscale Cossetta's in St Paul, MN.  I bought a hard salami and a hard Parmesan cheese.  Maybe we’ll make it back here before we leave.  Second we stopped at the Cod and Caper’s Seafood market and restaurant.  It was so cool to see all kinds of fish laid out in a meat counter.  This one is walking distance from their marina, so we’ll see if we make it there.  We hope to be catching our own fish soon.

After all of our shopping, we went to their favorite neighborhood sports bar for a late lunch/early dinner.  We spent a couple hours at Duffy’s and had some great burgers, wings, salad for me, etc.  I actually miss having salads.  Greens just don’t keep well on our boat. 

We went back to their boat and visited and played “chase the ace”.  It is a betting card game.  Olivia ended up with the $4-big winner.  It was fun spending the day with them and being off of the boat for a day.

Dave and Bob on their "veranda"

the game really wasn't that serious

the big winner of $4

fun night Mary and Olivia

Dave patiently waiting in the dinghy while we're taking photos

December 25, 2015 Merry Christmas from North Palm Beach, FL

Merry Christmas!
We have been listening to Jimmy Buffett’s Christmas CD for many years.  The line from a song really hit home today “a sailor spends his Christmas in a harbor on a hook”.  The last two Christmases on the boat have been in a marina.  This year we are at anchor or on a hook. 

We spent the day on the boat.  Dave started a beef roast this morning that we put in our Wonderbag.  So about 3:00 we had a beautiful roast beef dinner.  We even had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. 

This evening, I convinced Dave to play a few games with me.  He was a good sport, but he really doesn’t enjoy playing games anymore.  I guess I’ll make the most of meeting friends in marinas, anchorages or with guests. 

We had a very relaxing day at anchor and feel blessed that we have this opportunity to live aboard our sailboat.  Merry Christmas everyone!

looks like we were a little tipsy

December 24, 2015 Christmas Eve in North Palm Beach, FL

After a lazy morning, we put the dinghy in the water and ran the motor for the first time in 6 months.  We hopped in and went for a spin around the anchorage.  We found a spot on the north end that I had read about on Active Captain.  There was a sandy shore near a bridge where people land their dinghies and walk to the Publix grocery store. 

Then we motored over to Bob and Olivia’s motor yacht/condo on the water.  Their boat is close to our length, 43 feet, but it was one of the littlest in the marina.  There was some BIG MONEY parked here.  There wasn’t a dinghy dock for people to tie up to, only renters of slips are allowed.  So Bob got special permission for us to enter the marina and tie up to their boat.  They spent about 7 months here last year while Olivia recuperated with a broken arm.  She broke it tripping on the dock in this marina.  Things can happen so fast.  Bob had all kinds of trivia about the boats in the area.  Tiger Woods usually docks his boat here, which is about 170 feet long, but it is in the Bahamas at this time.  Another 4 million dollar boat was a high school graduation present to someone. 

We were checking out the ease of tying up to their boat so I could go to church for Christmas.  I had gone to a church on the other side of the lake with a rental car last year and assumed I would go there on Christmas morning to avoid going to shore by dinghy in the dark.  Olivia told me about another church walking distance from the marina.  On the internet is came up as Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center, A Passionist Ministry.  It appeared to be a retreat center and part of the Catholic church.  Olivia called them and they did have a mass Christmas Eve at 7:00.  And according to the lady on the phone “it will be special and shouldn’t be missed”.

So while Dave and Bob shared a couple beers (Bob always offers you a beer), Olivia and I drove their car over to check out Our Lady of Florida.  We saw on the door that there was a 7:00 pm mass and daily mass at 7:30 am Mon-Fri.  Since everything was locked up, we walked around the grounds.  They had 26 beautifully manicured acres right on the lake.  There were a couple wings of what appeared to be motel rooms.  We found out that there are 75 rooms for those on retreats. 

view of the grounds from a brochure

When we returned to the parking lot, there was someone getting into a car out front.  We caught him and asked him about the mass that night-like was it the usual Catholic mass with communion and all.  We asked about seeing the chapel and he took us to the door, put in his code, and directed us to the chapel and more information about the spiritual center.  We thanked him and asked his name.  He was Father Damien.  You wouldn’t have guessed since he was wearing shorts.  Not sure I’ve ever seen a priest in shorts before. 

We found our way in, picked up some literature, and enjoyed the beautiful chapel decorated for Christmas.  There was a whole wall of stained glass windows, which wouldn’t be as beautiful in the dark.  So I was glad we checked it out. 

chapel

It was now close to 4:00.  We returned to our boat, started the water maker, ate leftovers, showered and returned to their boat in the marina by 6:30.  Dave had agreed to go to church with me, which was a treat.   Bob wanted to give us a ride to church and said he would pick us up.  We decided to go early, otherwise Bob would have wanted us to have another beer with him before church. 

The mass was lovely.  It was nothing out of the ordinary, no choir, just an organist that led the singing.  Maybe the attraction was the small size of the church and not as crowded as the other big Catholic churches in the area that were sure to be very crowded.  We sat about mid way in the church.  Those in front of us looked like they all came from big money dressed in dresses and suits.  I was in capris and Dave in shorts.  We looked a little under dressed, but still welcome and comfortable.  During communion, we realized that the back half of the church was full of families with kids.  It was a nice community.  Not sure if these people were regulars or just visiting the area with families.  A 7 year old brought the baby Jesus up and laid him in the manger at the beginning of mass.  The priest introduced him and said he was from North Carolina. 

We decided to walk back to the marina after church.  It was a beautiful warm evening and there was a full moon.  The last full moon on Christmas was 38 years ago in 1977.  That was one week after our wedding.  We were with family in Miller, SD.  We began our 2 year honey moon in Germany on Dec 26, 1977, compliments of the United States Air Force. 

Bob cast us off from his boat and wished us Merry Christmas.  We returned to the boat in the dark.  Thankfully, it was a calm night and the full moon helped light the way. 

December 23, 2015 ICW bridges to Lake Workth, FL

We only had about 25 miles to go today but this is where the bridges only open on a set schedule.  And if you miss that opening, you are waiting for a half hour in a narrow channel with other boats, trying to stay out of each others way.  So we wanted to be well rested and didn't leave until about 10:00.  We passed a lot of beautiful homes on the water.  They just get bigger as you go south from here. 

The traffic really picks up when you get to Jupiter.  They had the light house decorated with bows.  We have great memories of being in this area last year in November by car and again in March by boat.  South of Jupiter, just as we approached the Donald Ross bridge for it’s 1:00 opening, they announced that there had been an auto accident which backed up traffic on the bridge.  So the bridge would remain closed until further notice!  Well, we had been in a parade with about 6 boats going from bridge to bridge.  So now we all had to do the Shriner parade dance with all of them in the narrow channel.  They only dredge the center of the canal, so it’s pretty shallow right outside of the channel.  There is typically about 100 ft between the channel markers.

Jupiter Lighthouse with Christmas bows

I went below and made toffee for the first time.  It is one of Dave’s favorites and we had an easy recipe to try.  Of course, I had to move a lot of things to dig out a container of rarely used utensils to find our candy thermometer.  Not sure how that made the cut to keep on the boat.  In case you were wondering, the other utensils were a back up can opener, a couple unique graters, oyster shucking knives, crab utensils and gloves for cleaning crab. 

BUTTER AND SUGAR

The bridge was closed for an hour and 15 minutes.  This bridge usually opens on the hour and the half hour, but they were given special permission to open and let our parade through at 2:15.  The PGA Bridge also opened on the hour and half hour, so we were too late for the 2:30 and waited with the others again for the 3:00 opening.  Then the last bridge before Lake Worth is close and opens 15 minutes and 45 minutes past the hour.  So we all paraded through at 3:15. 

our parade of boats heading through the draw bridge

another view of our parade before the Parker bridge-last one today

I have been following the posts on Facebook of others sailors we met this summer in Brunswick, GA as they move south.  One was complaining about the bridge openings.  She was even considering naming her next boat “F… You”, so she could say that when the bridge tender asked for your boat name.  Another came back with surprise that there were so many negative comments out there.  This lady had been living aboard her sailboat for about 20 years and had spent many years outside of the US.  She reminded everyone that this is the sailing life, kick back and enjoy the ride.  I am always going to think of Gloria when we are in a hurry for some reason.  She was a grand lady and I always enjoyed hearing her stories.  I hope our paths cross again. 

Santa having some fun on the ICW before the big day

We turned off to the right as soon as we passed under the bridge to get fuel at North Palm Beach Marina.  They remembered us from last March when we spent about a week there with Dave’s mom and preparing to cross to the Bahamas.  We asked them if they would have a slip available Christmas Eve.  If the weather turned for the worst, it would be nice to be able to get to church from a dock instead of by dinghy.  They said all their slips were full, but they could but on the fuel dock and to call by noon on Christmas Eve.  It felt good to come across previous connections. 

After fueling, we went to the north end of Lake Worth to anchor for a few days.  It was now after 4:00.   Whew!  We’re one step closer to leaving for the Bahamas. 

our view from  our anchorage on Lake Worth

We had friends that we met in Brunswick, GA this summer that were staying at the Old Port Cove marina.  So we anchored near that marina with plans to connect with them tomorrow.  We contacted Bob and Olivia, and Olivia and I went outside on our decks and waved to each other.  We’ll connect tomorrow. 

December 22, 2015 Hobe Sound, FL

80 degrees this morning !! Hello Florida!
We woke up to no-see-ums biting us this morning.  Time to break out the no-see-um nets instead of the regular bug screens.  Hello Florida!

With the way the weather was looking, we didn’t have to hurry to get positioned to cross to the Bahamas.  So we had a relaxed evening and planned to only go part way to Lake Worth in North Palm Beach (which is where we will cross from).

This morning, we noticed another sailboat at our anchorage, but closer to the ICW canal.  We were looking at it’s broad side, but it looked like it was leaning.  As we left our anchorage, we could see that it was stuck and heeling.  That meant they spent the night at that angle, which makes for interesting sleeping arrangements.  We saw that Tow Boat US arrived to help them.  Our navigational information said not to enter the anchorage from that approach.  I guess they know what they are talking about on Active Captain.

We only spent 4 hours on the ICW today.  We passed through Port St Lucie.  This is where the cut off across Florida begins and enters Lake Okeechobee and comes out at Ft Myers on the Gulf side.  So there is always heavy traffic here.  Lots of sport fishermen. 

When Dave didn’t need me outside to watch boat traffic, I decorated the boat with our Dollar Store decorations.  With out room for storing, they get thrown after the holiday.  I chose to get strings of beads this year instead of garland.  We end up with pieces of the garland in the boat.  But I had this fear that the string of beads would break and there would be beads EVERYWHERE.  So it may be back to garland in the future. 

decorating for Christmas

final touch

We anchored early, about 2:00, near Hobe Sound in Peck Lake.  There were a couple boats of teens or college kids in power boats tied to a platform that they were jumping off of.  Lots of screams from the girls in bikinis and macho tricks from the guys.  The life guard in me was just waiting for an accident to happen.  And Dave was frustrated because we weren’t close enough to get a good view of the bikinis.  And he didn’t want to look like a pervert and bring out the binoculars.  But he did notice a boat closer to them with a guy out on his deck doing some work.  He had the right idea. 

I spent some time cleaning about 20 globes of garlic.  We haven’t been happy with any of the prepared garlic we have found.  So I am going to store these in olive oil and some in balsamic vinegar.  I tried it on a smaller scale this summer and liked it.  So we’ll see how long these last us.  My only problem was containing the "paper wrapping" with a breeze coming through the window above me.

cleaning garlic

olive oil vs balsamic vinigar