photos of Boca Chita and Key Largo, maybe

Lets try this again.

Boca Chita and Key Largo

Well, I'm back in Nashville as I write this--shivering in 50 degree weather! The last week of this trip was nothing but fabulous! Lou and I headed south from Miami and spent our first night out at a state park on the south end of Key Biscayne. We met an interesting couple--Michael and Madeline, who were cruising on an Ericson 25, and had come down all the way from Brooklyn, NY! Makes me think twice when I want to call Harvey a "small" boat. We shared drinks with them in our cockpit and swapped stories for a while. They were waiting for delivery of a new dinghy as theirs had been stolen!

We then sailed down Biscayne Bay to Boca Chita key--a beautiful spot with a lighthouse built by Mr. Honeywell, of the Honeywell Corp. A very pretty spot, but kind of buggy. The next day we went through Angelfish Creek into Hawk Channel and down to Lou's home on Key Largo--Harvey's new home, for the time being. This was the prettiest sail of the trip, cutting gracefully through the turquoise water. We even caught a couple of fish that we threw back. Frank and Krista Pate flew down from Nashville that night and joined Lou, Chase, and myself for a day of Snorkeling on the most beautiful reefs I believe I've ever seen! It was a great trip, full of good times and good friends. See photos on a separate post (I still bat about .500 on this internet stuff).

In the Keys!

Finally made it to the keys! Lou and I are anchored on Key Biscayne as I wrtite this, in 80 degree weather and bright sunshine, and crystal-clear water! It's been a wonderful week, with a stop in Ft. Lauderdale to see the Vatican art exhibit, then a trip to the Miami boat show, which was huge--I couldn't believe the size and scope of the thing. Today we had a delightful sail down to Key Biscayne and we're now in a state part on its southern tip. Tomorrow, on to Boca Chita Key, about 15 miles south of here.

Attached is a photo of a 13th century mosaic, and photos of me and Lou at the boat show, and under way. I was also trying to p0st photos from our climb up the lighthouse here on Key Biscayne, but they disappeared into the aether.

Boca Raton

Today we motored mostly South, going through Boca Raton, which is some of the priciest real estate in the country. We saw some fabulous homes, as well as some fabulous boats! Tomorrow the plan is to go to the Ft. Lauderdale Art Museum to see an exhibit of things from the Vatican Museum, and to get Water Taxi tickets that enable you to go all around the area, via water.

I'm attaching some photos of today--one of my friend, Lou, at dinner on board the Harvey, and some shots of homes, boats, and birds.

Southbound to Ft. Lauderdale

Hi, Folks! I have been anchored out the past 2 or 3 nights without internet access, so I've covered quite a bit of ground since I last made a post. I left Vero Beach and headed south, and anchored in a little place called Manatee Pocket, near Stuart, FL. It is litterally a little pocket, about a mile long and 200 yards wide and every inch of its perimeter is developed, holding either a marina, an ostentatious home, a night club, or a yacht club. It was like being anchored in the middle of Disneyland! The next morning I went out St. Lucy entrance and went down the open ocean for about 25 miles. It becomes attractive to do that in this part of Florida because there are so many bridges on the Intracoastal. I came back in Lake Worth inlet and anchored in Palm Beach--full of hi-rise condos and huge yachts, but there were plenty of little boats like Harvey in the anchorage. We keep good company these days.

Lou Howell joins me tomorrow-it'll be good to have company for the last week of this leg.

I've tried twice to upload some photos, but its not working today, for some reason. I'll try again later. Cheers!

Down the Ditch

Hi, folks! I haven't posted anything in the past few days for a couple of reasons. One, I was anchored out for a couple of nights, and two, not much remarkable has happened. The most amazing part of this trip is what you see all day, every day--that is the wildlife that surrounds you. In Titusville there was a family of Manatees living in the marina that would only show themselves when I didn't have my camera. You constantly see Ospreys, gulls, Pellicans, Porpoises, you name it. I'm embarrassed to say that the "Oh, Wow!" factor starts to wear off, but the sightings are no less remarkable because of that.

It continues to be unseasonably cold. I'm holed up in Vero Beach, plugged into shore power and staying close to my heater--no where near as cold as at home, I realize, but this is Florida--its supposed to be toasty down here, not 30's at night! Oh, well, its supposed to warm up a bit tomorrow and I'll be under way in the morning. Attached are some photos of birds, and the mooring field here in Vero Beach.

Titusville

Today was great! I rented a car and Hans (from KnottyCat) and I went to the Warbirds museum and the Space Center. We got an up close and personal look at some neat aircraft, the prettiest of which was an immaculate C-47. Brought back memories of the airlines I worked for and the Drop Zones I jumped at--although none of them had an aircraft this pretty! The space center was pretty cool, although overpriced. The Space Shuttle is actually a lot larger than I thought, with a payload volume about the equivalent of 3 or 4 semi trucks. The static displays of the Saturn rocket, mercury capsule, etc. gave you a good idea of how much has been accomplished in the past 50 years.

I took advantage of the rental car to go to the grocery and re-stock Harvey--tomorrow we head south to Cocoa Beach!

St. Augustine to Titusville

I left St. Augustine Saturday morning, and had a delightful motorsail down to an anchorage in a cut that had been chiseled out of the shoreline to give access to a cement plant, now closed. It was a secure, very well protected place, with a little turning/swinging basin at the end. My new friends Hans and Laura, with their dog, Wilbur, joined me. We had a pleasant evening on their Island Packet Catamaran, Knotty Cat.

The next night I paid the (relatively) big bucks to stay in the downtown Daytona marina. I went to a sports bar to watch the Super Bowl, ate some bad bar food and went back to Harvey at the half. Still don't know who won, but I bet it aint Pittsburg! Daytona is a disturbingly depressed place, with every 3rd. storefront vacant, and many signs proclaiming bank foreclosure sales.
FYI, the hot tip for a marina in Daytona is the 7 Seas, far from town, but only 2 blocks to the beach.

Today I got an early start and had 6 very pleasant hours of motorsailing in progressively warmer temps, then a cold front came in and things got ugly. Howling winds, I guess 25+, dead on the nose, rain, and rapidly falling temperature. I made it into Titusville, but it took me 2 hours to make the last 5 miles.

I'm going to spend a few days here--they have an aircraft museum and a space exploration museum I want to go to, plus I need to change Harvey's oil, clean up, etc. I'll try to attach some photos of Harvey at St. Augustine, Knotty Cat, and an O'Day 20 I met while waiting for a bridge opening, with a young couple and a big dog living aboard--from New York.

Flagler College and Lightner Museum

I took the tour of Flagler College today--built as the Ponce De Leon Hotel in the 1880's. One of the grandest buildings I've ever seen. Flagler was the guy who built the railroads in Florida, and essentially created the tourist business there. When it opened, rooms were let by the "season" only, which meant that you had to rent one for a minimum of 3 months. Their least expensive room was $6 per day, when the average wage was $1.50! Truly they were going for a wealthy clientelle. I'm going to try to attach photos, showing the Tiffany pieces in the place (largest collection of Tiffany glass in the world) and the interior design was by Louis Tiffany, himself.

St. Augustine

Finally made it to St. Augustine--the oldest city in North America, they say. It is very nice--I took a short walk around town this afternoon and toured the old Spanish Fort here, which was never taken militarily, but changed hands many times by treaty in the 16th, 17th, and 18 centuries. Tomorrow I'm going to take a tour of Flagler College, which occupies the old Flagler Hotel which is a magnificent place--you can almost imaging Al Capone hanging out there.

I've met several new folks here already--4 couples all heading south like me, and also like me, taking their time.

I'm going to make another attempt to attach photos--wish me luck!

Greg