Feb. 10-15th Weathered in at Lake Sylvia

The first 2-3 days anchored in Lake Sylvia were fun.  Two canals joined the lake with street levels bridges. It was an easy dingy ride down the canal, across the ICW then down another short canal to a Raw Bar.  The bar allowed you to tie your dingy up to their dock only asking that you eat or drink at their bar in return.  From the Raw Bar it was a nice walk to a local outside mall area. They had the biggest wine/liquor store I had ever been in!  I swear it was the size of a Kroger or Stracks. Great prices too so we stocked up one more time before leaving the states.  One evening we enjoyed dinner with the daughter of a good friend who lives about 45 minutes from our boat. Another evening we enjoyed the company of a couple we had met at the AGLCA  conference in October.  By Sunday the 12th we were beginning to get antsy. It sounded like the next weather window for crossing to the Bahamas would be Wednesday, the 15th but we still had not met anyone who was crossing. We had said all along we would not attempt the crossing alone but now had to reevaluate that decision.  I had even posted a note on the AGLCA blog in hopes of boosting our chances. New boats arrived  throughout the day on Monday, most of them sail. We would routinely take our dingy around, meet the new arrivals and ask their destination. No luck finding a boating buddy but we did meet a very nice couple from Manchester England who winter in Florida and spend their summers sailing in Turkey. Nice huh?! We had a lovely time talking with them and they told us to look them up when we come over to England in September.  Back to the boat, we again sat on the aft deck reviewed weather, charts and talked about what to do.  This time when we looked up to watch another boat come in and anchor we realized we knew them.It was Little Mick.  Excited, Tom hailed them on the radio. Yes, they were crossing with two other boats, yes they were leaving on Wednesday! Whew Hoo! Only one slight problem, they were going to West End. We were going to Port Lucaya. We checked out our charts and confirmed that our paths would be similar for a while so we would at least have visual company for a pretty good distance.  Port Lucaya is about 20 miles further than West End so we were happy to hear that they wanted to leave at 4:30 am. That would assure our arriving in Port Lucaya in the daylight. Little did I know that the calm that I finally felt about the crossing would be short lived.  On Tuesday we had a four way planning conversation via the VHF firm up plans. Little Mick and his friends had decided to wait until 6:30 am to leave! That would put us in Port Lucaya in the dark. So much for company. Now Tom and I had a decision to make. We either change our plans and travel to West End, wait for a few days in hopes of meeting another boat or go on our own to Port Lucaya. Tom was adameant. He did not want to pay the $100.00 dock fee to stay the night at West End and we did not want to wait for the next weather window. sooooooo we were again on our own.  I put the waypoints in the GPS, double checked them and Tom did the engine checks. We set our alarm for 4am. The decision was made!

                               A company making a commercial for jet pack tourist attraction

                                               An interesting bar along the ICW

                                              A mansion and their matching Megayacht

                                             Two megayachts we passed on our dingys each day at Lake Sylvia

Back at Last - Let's catch up from No Name Harbor to Lake Sylvia

I deeply apologize for the long lapse in posts.  We have had a lack of Internet service, poor Internet service, a week when I flew home etc.  I know, excuses, excuses.  We spent one night in No-Name Harbor. Our next destination and our jumping off point for the Bahamas would be Sylvia Lake.  The weather was still ugly, overcast sky's and very windy. It rained off and on all morning.  The sight of the Miami skyline was another one of those "wows" for us even in the bad weather. We are really traveling down the ICW through Miami Florida on our own boat!  Have you heard the phrase, "size is relative"?  Well when your 42 foot boat is first in line patiently waiting for a bridge to open and two mega yachts approach and pass you just as the bridge opens I guess they figure size does matter!  We found the yachts and boats in general to be a little rude today. They pull out in front of you, pass you at full throttle, and take as much space out of the middle as they choose. I found myself playing a couple games of chicken down the ICW.  The bridges are very close together and only open on the hour and half hour.  We were able to pass under all but two of them.  As we approached one of the last bridges before our destination we knew we had about a foot clearance.  Only inches away from the bridge a bicyclist on the bridge starts yelling NO! NO! stop don't do it!  From his viewpoint he was sure we were going to hit the bridge.  I took a deep breath,( maybe to make us shorter), and under we went. On the other side I waved at the bridge tender and looked for the bicyclist. But he was nowhere to be seen.  Once through the downtown areas of Fort Lauderdale the industrial area was in view. Port Everglades was an extremely busy port and the water was choppy from all of the activity of the cruise ships and freighters.  Just before we reached the point where the ships exit to the Atlantic all traffic was stopped by the water police to allow a large freighter to leave its dock and head out to sea.  Some of us obeyed, others had to be yelled at by the police.  There was a large Carnival Cruise ship docked and we had to pass very close to it.  I stood on the aft deck and waved to the passengers and took some photos but not a sole waved back.  The next day I read in the paper that the ship had to return to port because 300+ passengers and crew became ill on the cruise.  Could be why they didn't smile and wave.  We arrived at Lake Sylvia about 2pm.  It is more like a bay than a lake.  I was a little worried that it would be full of boats waiting to cross but to my surprise there were only about five other boats anchored.  We found a spot with a view of a huge mansion from our aft deck and settled in.

                                                        A view of our apporach to Miami

               

                                                              Miami

                                                          On the ICW through Miami

                 A canal that we went down in Lauderdale to fuel up. Very quaint area

Tarpin Basin to No Name Harbor

Another gloomy rainy day.  No sign of the sun.  As we crossed a very choppy Biscayne Bay we could barely see Miami in the distance because of the haze. That was a little disapointing but maybe it would clear later. We were excited about getting to No Name Harbor as it is one of the jumping off points to the Bahamas. We were hoping to meet at least one other boat to buddy up with for the crossing.  When we arrived there were two other boats anchored, both sail. We found a spot, anchored then took a very excited dog to shore. It had been two days since Peanut had her paws on land and she could not wait to get there. She and I took a long walk through the state park to the light house and beach a walk we both benefited from.  By early evening the harbor was full of boats. We talked with a few of them but no one was going to the Bahamas.  We decided to dink over to the next little harbor that is also a staging area for the crossing. The entrance to Hurricane Harbor was shallow so we were glad we had not tried to get in there.  Hurricane harbor had one occupant, a sailboat that was going South.  Back on the boat we talked and decided to head further North to Port Everglades in the morning. It was a better jumping off point for our needs and hopefully we would meet someone there.  We did make one more trip to shore after dark in hopes of seeing the city of Miami all lit up. You can guess our disapointment when we found we could not see the city from the edge of the park.

                                            lighthouse at No Name Harbor also nice beach

                                              Miami when the haze improved in the evening
 

Marathon to Tarpon Basin

It's midnight and I should be asleep resting for a long day on the waterway tomorrow  but I find myself sitting on the bow pads enjoying the silence of the night. The water is like glass tonight, the wind nonexistent. A welcome break from the past several days. The night is filled with the twinkle of white anchor lights on the water. An occasional ripple changes the shape of the lights, stretching them like fingers reaching out to beckon a passerby. The red lights of four nearby towers flash adding color to this beautiful painting on the water.

Up and at um early. What a stark difference from the prior evening. Overcast, windy and gloomy.  Storm clouds and rain could be seen out on the Atlantic as we left the harbor. That made me a little nervous. We wanted to run the the Atlantic side up to Penni camp State Park but because of the weather the ICW would be a better route.  The storms seemed to follow us the entire day but luckily never really caught us.  We had showers now and then and wind but no storms. I was thankful for that.  We arrived at Tarpon Basin our anchorage destination about 3:30. I was bringing us in. The charts, chart plotter and depth finder all seemed to agree on the depth. I kept a close eye on the chart plotter while maneuvering but failed to monitor the depth finder. Big mistake. The chart plotter indicated five foot of water when the alarm went off indicating we were in TWO feet of water. We need almost four.  So much for those silent little thoughts that occasionally crept into my head "I won"t touch bottom because I pay very close attention to what I am doing" I was furious with myself and the chart plotter. While we waited to float into deeper water I checked the charts against the chart plotter. Both indicated five to seven feet of water in this area. Ugh!  So much for my clean record. Once back in seven foot of water we anchored and threw a line in before dinner. Tonight a New moon appeared through the clouds. Pretty

                                                         New moon at Tarpon Basin

                                           Skies over seven mile bridge as we left Marathon

                                            The dark skies made the water look really greeen

                                                Not an inviting sky as a backdrop for boating

The Superbowl Pub Crawl by car & dinghy

Nate and his new bride Steph arrived on Superbowl Sunday for a 24 hour visit. Our plan to dink around the mooring field, then to the beach and out to the Atlantic was a bust as mother nature decided it was time to cool us off with clouds and rain. Oh what to do, what to do? How bout a pub crawl? Because Nate had a car we started at the Hurricane bar for lunch, then it was off to the Sunset grill. A Great place with a pool, Tiki hut, island music and a view of the Atlantic. No babes in the pool because of the weather.  From there we did a little sight seeing, driving across the seven mile bridge and back. Phase two of the crawl entailed going back to the boat to reprovision with warm clothes a few chairs and a cooler. Then on to Dockside by dingy for happy hour and some reggae music. All decked out in raincoats we set out across the mooring field to the end of the harbor to dockside bar and grill. the dinghy dock was full so Tom and Nate parked our dinghy behind a friends boat down the dock a bit. The Bob Marley imitater was pretty good and a 29 foot piece of cloth (with a few little holes) dropped down in front of the stage to show the Superbowl on. Our raincoats came in handy as the roof overhead was canvas and definitely not waterproof but it was all apart of the ambiance. The place was packed but no bad seats with a 29 ft screen. At half time we piled in the dinghy, trusty flashlight in hand, to guide us back to the City Marina to watch the second half in the boaters lounge, thus the cooler and chairs.  After the game the mooring field was a highway of Dinghy,s all heading back to our respective boats. A good time was had by all. Monday morning Nate and Steph headed back to Key Largo and we spent the day getting ready to leave in the morning.

                                           Sunset Grill with the 7 mile bridge in the background

                                                           29 foot screen at Dockside Grill

Provisioning the hard way

Three guys standing at a bus stop and a lady comes jogging by with her headset on pushing a grocery cart. The cart is absolutely packed to the top with grocery bags, the bottom failed with 12 packs of pop and beer. First guy remarks;  "is that a homeless lady fleeing the store with stolen goods", Second guy; "naw it's probably one of those work out fanatics, see the headphones and gym shoes", third guy speaks up; your both wrong it's one of those boat people, those crazy people walk 6 blocks to make sure they have a little food and a lotta beer on their boat. They even have those carts at the marina for them to push down here. Who was that lady? Me of course. I'll bet I was a sight to see,power walking and jogging along highway 1to rock and roll music on my IPOD pushing a full grocery cart. What the heck, no one knows me here so no worries.  I really didn't, mean to completely fill the cart but wasn't sure we would see another grocery store before crossing to the Bahamas and so I kept putting more in the cart. When I came out of the grocery dark clouds loomed overhead and it was near sunset. I did not want to drive the dinghy in the dark or have wet boxes so I decided to jog as much as I could back to the marina. Plus, I though it would be good exercise. All was going well until I crossed to first driveway, the cart veered off toward the busy highway inches from hitting a car head on. I let go, ran around to the front corner and used some muscle to stop the forward motion. OK then, that was a little embarrassing. The next driveway I was ahead of the game I ran to the front corner of the cart before the driveway and pushed it across from there. I did this for the next 4. How crazy is that! I now know how many driveways are along the route to Publix. I thought I was home clear when I arrived at the marina. Unfortunately the one last curb must have been the last straw for a 12 pack of pop as it fell off the cart spewing cans in the parking lot. Ah, but no casualties. Not a one broke open. I piled all my goods in the dinghy which left very little room for the driver but  should have been 5 pounds lighter from the jog so weight should not be a problem. All's well that ends well as all of the groceries made it on the boat. Nothing lost to the fish. Why go through all this for beer, pop and water among other things?  I was told certain items were difficult to find or expensive there. Water is expensive and we do not have a water maker. Beer we were told is $45-50.00 a case. Pop about $25.00 a case and wine also very expensive. Rum, my drink of choice, cheap. Yeah for me!

                            I forgot to take a photo of the grocery cart so here I am in the dinghy

Visit to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon

About a two blocks down from the Marina is the Marathon Turtle rescue and hospital.  I attended one of their educational tours.  They also speak at local schools and organizations, I would love to have something like this at home.  Presently the hospital has 23 turtles. Four to five of them are permanent residents because they will never be self sufficient enough to be released in the wild.  I learned that there are seven species of sea turtles in the world. Two of those seven can only be found off the coast of Australia and New Zealand.  The turtles that can be found in the Keys are; The Loggerhead who eats shrimp, lobster and conch can weigh up to 300 pounds. The Green eats mainly sea grasses and can weigh up to 500 pounds. He is named after the green fat in his body.  The Hawksbill eats mainly sponges and can weigh up to 150 pounds. The Leatherback feeds mainly on jellyfish and is the largest reptile alive weighing up to 2000 pounds!  Finally the Kemps Ridley eats mainly crabs and shrimp and can weigh up to 100 pounds.  All five of these turtles are ENDANGERED!  There are several threats to turtle survival in the Keys.  Fishing line, rope from lobster and crab traps, boat hits, oil spills, coastal development that destroys their nesting areas, intestinal impaction, and Fibropapilloma tumors. Because the Leatherback feeds mainly on jellyfish and plastic bags in the water resemble a floating jellyfish the result is impaction and death.  Because cigarette buts resemble the color of shrimp they are a hazard.  Those turtles that feed on sea grasses may also ingest pieces of garbage thrown into waters by man and caught in the grasses.  We must remember that much of what we throw in or allow to go into our sewers, and rivers eventually ends up in our oceans so we must all be more vigilant.  If you would like to learn more about the hospital and or support their efforts visit www.turtlehospitalstore.com

                                                                Examination and X-ray

Another view of the X-ray room

            Surgery room - They are hoping to purchase a heated table to reduce trauma to the turtle

Turtles do not breath automatically like humans because they only breathe when they surface. Oxygen must be hand pumped into the turtle while they are in surgery    
                   

 This little turtle had an impaction. Impaction's and trauma cause the turtle to become a floater, meaning they cannot dive for safety or feeding. She has actually learned to wrap her flipper around the toy to keep her down in the water. If not found and corrected they starve or are killed by predators. Impaction's are treated with Metamucil, beano for the gas and other intestine flushing medicines. If successful they will regain their ability to dive and be released in 3 months to a year depending on the severity of the impaction.

                      These are individual tanks for turtles that just come in or are very ill.  Green turtles are those that suffer from the tumors. The tumors will blind them and grow so large they cannot use their flippers. The tumors cause a sever drop in red blood cells. The red count must be increased before surgery can take place to remove the tumors.  Unfortunately they have found that the virus that causes the tumors is contagious and it looks like it is being caused by pollution.

 The netting over the small tanks keeps any animal such as a raccoon from getting to the iddy biddy turtles.

 This is a syndrome known as Bubble Butt - no kidding.  It is caused by a direct hit to the shell by boats causing deformities of the shell. Since the spine is connected to the shell this turtle is a permanent resident as he cannot dive without assistance. A weight has been glued to his back to help him get around a little better.

 This turtle is also a permanent resident. He is paralyzed from the back end, including back flippers from a boat hit.  You can see the weight glued to his back. This allows him to float straight rather than be head down all of the time.

                     A view of more of the tanks and the large pool area for the larger residents

                         This is a miracle turtle. He was found wrapped up in a lobster trap which caused him to loose one flipper. While tangled he was attacked by a shark that took off his other flipper and caused bite injuries. He is recovering and has learned to swim with two flippers.

             If you look closely you can see the tumors on the back of his head, and over his eyes.