Last Lake Sylvia sunset as we head south

Tomorrow Sea Fever and Compass Rose plan to weigh anchor about 9 a.m. and continue our way toward the Keys. Given the number of bridges (8) and the heavy boat traffic as we approach Miami, we plan to stop at Bakers haulover, about 18 miles from here, tomorrow. From there we will look for a new anchorage or 2 to try before we get to the Dinner Key- Coconut Grove area next weekend.

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Lake Sylvia "neighbors"

These are a couple of the large homes that surround Lake Sylvia. There does not seem to be any concern from the home owners about all the visiting boats.

Unlike our visits here last year, when weekends turned into wild rides on the wakes of numerous ski boats and wake boards, this weekend brought families out for time together on the water- swimming and bouncing on inflatable tow platforms.  A much more peaceful time!

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The excitement never ends

This beautiful black sloop has been anchored just behind Compass Rose since Friday. A few minutes ago the elderly couple decided to lift anchor and head out. While the guy revved the engine the wife struggled to get the anchor up quickly. Well there must have been a miscommunication because as he increased speed aiming between Compass Rose and  French boat the anchor was still holding. After fending off both boats the Cap'n spun around went back where he came from and then leisurely went forward to finish hoisting himself.  Then...off they go..nothing out of the ordinary!

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Easter dinghy parade in Lake Sylvia

Sitting reading in the cockpit about 9:45 I started hearing "good morning, happy Easter, come join our parade." Looked up and there were 4 dinghies decked out with Easter eggs and Easter bonnets  in pairs weaving around all the boats in the anchorage.  Seems the Hillsboro Sailing Club does this every year.  Looks like they have picked up a couple of more dinghies worth of entrants to the Easter egg hunt they were advertising.

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Easter sunrise, Lake Sylvia

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Well the count now is 34..mostly sail...but...

The large trawler near the center of the pix with about 15 people on board just suddenly went into reverse, dragging the anchor with the chain popping in and out of the 10' water. It backed a out 80' right between  40' sloop and a 45' catamaran.  Guess they are embarrassed because they just snuck quietly away.  Ah... a sunny Saturday in Lake Sylvia.

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Saturday Lake Sylvia sunrise!

Quiet- for now!

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Some of the early morning Lake Sylvia fleet

This morning the count is 21 sailboats at anchor and about 8-10 power boats (some pretty large) at the personal docks at the houses surrounding the lake.

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Lake Sylvia sunset..Friday night

Made another shore excursion today..it is so nice to have a reliable outboard on my dinghy after all the grief my "new one" gave me last year!

Had a nice dinner on Compass Rose tonight.

Counted 18 sailboats in here today and one trawler which seems to have left with the sun.

Tomorrow we will see if Lake Sylvia becomes the "weekend place to be"!

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Another Lake Sylvia sunrise

Watched one of the boats hoist anchor and head out this morning. At this point the only boats in the lake are o es with masts. However, based on our experience here last year, we expect that will change over the weekend as this seems to be a local favorite for weekend water skiing and swimming.

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Thursday's sunset fro. Bahia Cabana

Last night the crews of Sea Fever and Compass Rose made the short dinghy trip from our anchorage to a local open air restaurant and bar. After a cocktail we decided to stay for dinner and to watch the sun set.

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Updated Spot Adventure track

I have updated my spot track - from St Augustine to Ft Lauderdale. If you want to see all the "pings" I sent during this portion of the cruise, go to the spot adventure link:

https://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=320841

Sunrise over Fort Lauderdale beach

Sun is up over the palm trees here in Lake Sylvia.

We arrived here yesterday about 2, after stopping at the Las Olas city marina for water and a pumpout. Then we dinghied over to to raw bar at the far end of the canal on the opposite side of the ICW where we could leave, the dinghy and get a few things done ashore.

We plan to stay here a few days.

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One of the many mega yachts we share the ICW with yesterday (Tues)

Well, we are in South Florida...mega yachts. blue green water. water side mansions and warmer temps...well 3 out of 4  is not bad...About 55 now but warming to 70s later.  (Wed 7:30)

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The sun is up, it is just blocked by the beachfront condos in Boca Raton

Wednesday morning..a bit chilly here today..48 when I went out in the cockpit at 7, and predicted to only get into the upper 60s today.

We will see how the 3rd day of bridges goes. Plan to lift anchor at 8:30 to make the first one for its 9am opening...wish us luck! Hopefully we won't have to "hurry up and wait"..and circle... as much today as yesterday!

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Not a great shot...but

late sunset over the condos west of Lake Boca Raton.

We made it here about 3:15 Tuesday and were joined in this very small anchorage by 3 more sailboats and a trawler shortly before sunset.

Tomorrow...10 more bridges for our 17 mile trip to Lake Sylvia!

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To my son and Grandson!

Passed this Waterfront restaurant as we went thru one of today's bridges.

Thought of my son and grandson- Georges 2 and 3!

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Another day of bridges...Tuesday...10!

Monday we had 7 bridges to pass, Tuesday there were 10...make that 9 and a half...This one, Lantana, apparently is being replaced, though the other bridge tenders can't tell you that..

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remnants of the Palm Beach boat show

We left the anchorage early today trying to make the 8:15 opening of the Flagler Memorial bridge...we misjudged how close we were and had to circle for about 15 min for the opening. While we circled I got a look at where the boat show just ended. Sea Fever was dwarfed by all the mega yachts in this area!

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Good night from Palm Beach

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Some of the other boats in our anchorage tonight

We planned to stop just south of Lake Worth but made good enough time that we  made it to south of the Port of Palm Beach and are tucked in on the east side of the ICW just off the Palm Beach Country Club.

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The first of 6 or 7 bridges that raised for us today

We made most of them with very little waiting

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Ah...this is more like it

Under sail as soon as we weighed anchor!

NW breeze pushing us south!

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Monday sunrise over a calm Indian River at Jensen Beach

Well, Sea Fever and Compass Rose survived another day of storms and winds and are ready to move on. We should be lifting anchor shortly, headed to Lake Worth or south of there depending on our luck during this "day of bridges" -6 within about 9 miles of each other.

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Strong winds all day and now an approaching thunderstorm

Winds have been heavy all day mostly from the SW up to about 30 mph so far. Now there is a large storm approaching from the west. Skies are getting

really black with threatening clouds and the winds have started howling again. Wind now from NW. I thought this my slide just north of us..guess I will know in  few minutes, as the thunder comes into range!

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Good decision!

10 a.m. with winds already at 18 knots, seas here on the Indian River increasing to a foot or more...and the wind is still increasing!

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Sunrise at Jensen Beach, Sunday 3/24

Woke up to  partly cloudy sky with S-SW winds about 10. Problem was the forecast was for 25-35 knot winds starting around 10 a.m. Our preferred next anchorage is Lake Worth, about 35 miles south, with limited options with good protection or holding between.  As planned, at 7:30 Compass Rose called to discuss whether we were better off staying where we had good holding or gambling on wind, weather, and tide.  Unanimous...stay in Jensen Beach. The wind :s supposed to be with us- from the NW- tomorrow anyway!

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Fort Pierce North Bridge opening Saturday morning

Sea Fever and Compass Rose left Vero Beach about 9 on Sat. headed to Jensen Beach. Only 1 bridge opening to wait for ..but that will soon change. We are approaching the section of east FL where we will be rushing to or waiting for bridge after bridge each day.

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The marina "parking lot" at Vero Beach

These are just a few of the dinghies the fill the floating docks by the marina here.  We came ashore a couple of times today...got a bit more shopping done and loaded more water into our spare jugs.  Tomorrow we plan the drop the mooring lines about 9 a.m. and continue on to Jensen beach, about 30 miles south.

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Vero Beach sunset

Today we took care of most of our "land needs", taking the free bus to Walmart and Publix for supplies. We also got in the laundry and joined the group of cruisers currently moored i  Vero Beach's mooring field for the every Thursday evening pot luck happy hour...snacks and BYOB.  Met fellow cruisers from all over the country.  Most were already headed north after winter in the Exumas, the Berrys, and the Keys.

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Rafted in Vero Beach mooring field

We arrived in Vero Beach about 2:30 on Wed. and after waiting our turns at the fuel dock were assigned a mooring ball...yes 'a'  ball.  Seems the field is full and we need to raft up. They had us join another boat already on the ball so there were 3 of us together.  The other boat is leaving today leaving just Sea Fever and Compass Rose. We plan to stay here another day or more.

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Today northbound boats get the favorable air!

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Indian River north of Sebastian Inlet

Like Mosquito Lagoon, large parts of the Indian River are very broad, shallow waters with a relatively narrow marked channel for the ICW..

We should be at the Vero Beach mooring field by 2:30 or so today.

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Almost sunrise...Indiatlantic, FL

After a very calm and peaceful night at anchor with a few dolphins clearing their blowholes periodically, Sea Fever and Compass Rose have lifted anchor and are now on the way to Vero Beach Marina

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Well...I missed the main event..but you can see the contrail

We heard this afternoon thru USCG announcements of security closures off Cape Canaveral that there was to be an Atlas rocket launch sometime arou d 5 p.m.  We got to the anchorage a bit after 3 at Indiatlantic east of Melbourne, and got details on the local news...they were launching a Homeland Security satellite for the Pacific...at 5:21.......3..2...1...liftoff...Are we close enough..into the cockpit...Yes.. there it goes..too slow with the camera to get the rocket but it was blazing in easy view!

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Gennys at work north of Cocoa

We got our gennys out for a couple of hours this morning but the winds were too light to keep them very full

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Another Great blue heron

This one spotted on our way to the tiki bar on the ICW just south of the Titusville mooring field.

We wound up fighting both tide and wind just about all day today...took nearly 8 hours but we made it here in time to get a happy hour beer and a take out pizza, along with a real shower!

We plan to drop the mooring balls about 8 in the morning and try for an anchorage about half way to Vero so we can make it there on Wed.

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Mosquito Lagoon on the way to Titusville

A broad open and shallow lagoon about 10-12 miles long with a very narrow marked channel near the western side.  Open to the wind...but... today it is out of the south..dead into us!

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not where I would hope to drop anchor

Passed this nice boat laying just east of the ICW a few miles south of New Smyrna.  We had seen a number of boats anchored along that side of the ICW and thought it might be a good option on ohr wah home if we were having a long day.  If we do...sure hope we do a better job picking the RIGHT spot!

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Good morning from Rockhouse Creek

We are about to lift anchors and head to Titusville. Hopefully we will have the tide with us at least for the start of the day. Overcast and calm right now with temps in the upper 60s. 30% chance of rain.

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Rockhouse Creek on St Patrick's Day

The pix doesn't really show it but this nice little creek right at the Ponce Inlet gets crowded with a wide range of local  boats...small fishing boats, sedans,  up to 50' trawlers and cruisers.  There was traffic all day long but now Compass Rose, Sea Fever and a 38' hunter from Greenville, SC are all that remain for the overnight.

This afternoon we dinghied over to the beach just inside from the inlet and had a nice walk amongst the throngs of locals out for a Sunday boat ride to a secluded beach.

Tomorrow...Titusville!

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Ah...there is land and water out there!

Fog has pretty well cleared out so we should be able to make our planned 10 a.m. departure to Rockhouse Creek!

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and here they are a few minutes later...

Good thing Sea Fever and Compass Rose plan to lift anchor around 10 for the short run to Rockhouse Creek...and hopefully the fog will have lifted by then!

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these were the boats off my stern around sunrise...

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Sunrise...really...it is out there beyond the fog!

Came into the cockpit with my coffee this morning for the sunrise shot and as I waited the fog started moving in.

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Good night from Daytona

Just missed sunset tonight, over the sailing club.

we plan to head out about 10 tomorrow morning for a short 10-12 mile run to Rockhouse Creek, at the Ponce inlet, then on to Titusville on Monday. A straight run to Titusville would make for  a very long day and we found Rockhouse creek to be a nice place to anchor when we stopped there last May.

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Watch heron!

This very people friendly great blue heron was on the docks at Halifax Harbor Marina where we docked the dinghy for our shore excursion here in Daytona.

We will likely make one more stop at the Blue Grotto before returning to the boats.

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Yes, it is biker week in Daytona!

Came ashore for lunch and our usual West Marine run and wandered over to the Harley Davidson tent to see how boaters and bikers blend...very smoothly...it is all about wind it the hair after all...right?

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Another anchorage another sunrise!

Still a bit chilly for Florida but we should be in the upper 70s this afternoon and forecasts are for continuing warming over the next few days.

We are anchored just off the Daytona Sailing Assoc docks, in about the northernmost area of the anchorage. This means we have a really long dinghy run to get to Halifax Harbor where we can go ashore and have easy access to West Marine and all the other stores and restaurants.

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Daytona sunset

We made it to Daytona about 4 and stopped at Halifax harbor marina to top off the fuel tanks. Sea Fever took another 4.7 gallons of diesel...not bad for a few days of running. We left the fuel dock and anchored just south of the marina off the ICW.  After settling in I picked up Tom and Sara and we made it to the Blue Grotto in time for happy hour! Sure is nice having a reliable outboard for my dinghy.

We decided to stay here a second night...Tom may get to see more of the biker action since he missed out on bringing his here this week...Biker week in Daytona!

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Marineland to Daytona in a light breeze

We left Marineland about 9:30, a bit later than planned because the depths were a bit iffy until the tide came in further.

Now we have the gennys out in a light breeze making about 4.8 knots.

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