April 18, 2010

By on April 18, 2010 in Grateful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRYAN!Dear Bryan,We hope you have more fun on your special day than you did on this “almost birthday suit” day. More fun could only mean one thing! (Mark wants Jackie to know that he only gave Bryan one beer…..)Love you lots and are s…

Making good progress

By on April 18, 2010 in Lone Wolf

The generator stopped again on Friday. We were a bit panicked, although as we had the hydraulic alternator online, we were ok, although the batteries did appear to be getting depleted for some reason. Anyhow, we were on the phone a good deal to the gur…

April 16-17, 2010

By on April 17, 2010 in Grateful
Lake Park, FL

WE DID IT!!!! What you may ask??? Well, on Friday, we cruised from Ft.Lauderdale to Lake Park, FL – just north of Palm Beach. What we did was travel through 21 bridges, and only four were tall enough for us to go under without waiting or requesting an opening. Most bridges in this area are restricted so open on a schedule like on the hour and half hour or a quarter and three quarter past the hour. I did some studying and put together a possible schedule and Mark programmed the GPS to navigate to the next bridge. He adjusted our speed to get to the next bridge on time.

It was going pretty slick until the fifth bridge when the bridge tender said the bridge was undergoing some minor repairs – no kidding! There was a man hanging under the bridge, a welding machine and crane on the bridge as well as lots of orange cones and workmen. It took 45 minutes to repair with probably a total of 8 boats waiting. We were allowed through as soon as it was fixed, but it was at the same time as the next bridge’s scheduled opening resulting in all of us waiting another half hour in the narrow canal. All in all it was a minor glitch.

We liked traveling on the ICW and not having to deal with BIG waves. The scenery was magnificent as we traveled through Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth which includes Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and LakePark. Just take a look.

At the Lake Worth Inlet there is another port. Just after the port is the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. Lots of mega yachts – one in the lift – and a mega sailboat.

The Lake Park Harbor Marina is quite nice. The staff is helpful, bathrooms are clean and big, and the laundry room is cheap! There is a small park next to the marina and a larger one farther up the waterfront.

There is that town boat launch ramp near our slip – watching the activity reminded us of our early boating days.

We have to time our walks with Porter to be around low tide – we can step off the boat. At high tide we have to find a more creative way to get off the boat. We stayed an extra day – I got some laundry done and Mark and I walked to Winn Dixie to get a few things. We like it here.


April 16-17, 2010

By on April 17, 2010 in Grateful

Lake Park, FL WE DID IT!!!! What you may ask??? Well, on Friday, we cruised from Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Park, FL – just north of Palm Beach. What we did was travel through 21 bridges, and only four were tall enough for us to go under without wai…

Bahia Mar Marina

By on April 17, 2010 in M/V Gumbo

The marina’s forklift raising a boat, about 28′ long, from the waterThe storage building the boats are stored on racks, three high, inside. Just like bottles in a wine rack.Sunset over the bayou Chico bridge, from our slip.I walked to a food store in t…

Unusual Puget Sound Anchorages: Lynwood Center, Rich Passage

By on April 17, 2010 in M/V Dirona

Lynwood
Center, tucked into the corner at the west end of Rich Passage, has become
one of our close-to-home favorites. It's nearn…

April 17, 2010 – Isla Coronado

By on April 17, 2010 in Serenity

We headed north to San Juanico, a beautiful anchorage that we had visited before. On the way we did see occasional whales off in the distance and a small group of porpoises close up. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for in their jumping, flip…

Pensacola Beach to Bayou Chico

By on April 16, 2010 in M/V Gumbo

Leaving Little Sabine Bay for the IntracoastalEntering Bayou Chico, Marinas on the right.We left Little Sabine Bay at 8:45 this morning, it was a short trip along the ICW and Santa Rosa Island then across Pensacola Bay. Around 10:00 AM we turned into…

No Worries – We’re still moving and Fine

By on April 16, 2010 in Emily Grace

We are almost half way into the passage and still moving steadily west.The connection to the Panama HAM radio station that I use has been harder and harder to connect with. We are almost 1900 miles from there so I guess that is not surprising. What t…

All is well

By on April 16, 2010 in Lone Wolf

We are now 300 miles out to sea, and heading in the general direction of Tahiti.  It’s a little rougher than before, but things are good. Flying fish and squid jump out of the sea onto the deck.  The sea is becoming bluer. The internet is ver…