Updated on October 29, 2021
Northbound to Vero Beach (Feb 26-Mar 7)
On February 26th, we departed Key West on a gentle southwest wind and pleasant temperatures. The navigation was simple as we re-traced our steps back up the Keys, stopping at Marathon and Key Largo. On February 28th, we were back in the Miami, anchored off of Key Biscayne, just off of Nixon’s Beach, so named because Nixon had a waterfront “Winter White House” here, although the house is no longer standing, replaced by a large mansion.
On March 1st, we departed Key Biscayne for the open waters of the Atlantic on a gentle southeasterly breeze for the 20 mile run to Fort Lauderdale. Swells had been up to 9 feet due to the February northeasters that many experienced along the eastern seaboard. Despite a mild wind, there was still 5 foot swells making for a bumpy ride.
We entered in Port Everglades inlet at about 3pm. While waiting for the first of many bridges to open, a traffic jam of large yachts lined up in front of the bridge. We stayed clear in the large commercial ship turning basin, but was soon unceremoniously chased back into the traffic jam, by the local sheriff’s marine patrol due to “security concerns” around the cruise ships. At last the bridge opened, and we made our way to our marina for this evening.
We are in the land of superyachts and very expensive marinas. This is the most that we have spent for a night ($200). In addition, it was noisy with boat going up and down the ICW all night. Somewhere around 2am, some guy “bumped” us. Near as I could tell, he was fishing near the docks and just wasn’t paying attention. At any rate, I was happy to escape Fort Lauderdale the next morning.
We were going inside due to weather and you have to pay your dues going through Fort Lauderdale. The “dues” are nineteen bascule (i.e. draw) bridges. Most of them open on a schedule and the distance between them was such that, as we went through one bridge, we could not quite make the opening to the next. As a result, we often creeped along at 2 knots so we would make the opening on time and not have to wait in front of the bridge. This made for a very long day. We finally anchored after dark just south of Palm Beach (and Mar a Lago).
On the morning of March 3rd, we transited the first of three more bridges. This one was guarded by the machine gunned armed Coast Guard boats due to Trump being at Mar-a-Lago (your tax dollars at work).
Late in the afternoon, we pulled into Loggerhead Marina, north of Palm Beach where we stayed for two days, taking advantage of the time to stock up on groceries, fix some faucets that were blocked by calcium deposits, and to fill the fuel tanks.
On March 6th, we were on our last leg to Vero Beach, anchoring for the evening off of Jensen Beach.
On Wednesday, March 7th, we arrived at Vero Beach, welcomed by our friend John, as we tied up to our mooring ball and settled in for a few weeks. This is as far north as we can go for a while until the weather warms up. No need to be cold unnecessarily.
I just read your blog about Sophia. You mentioned sailing alone for a week. Is there an “ideal” crew size for a boat this size?
Safe journeys.
Marty,
For a leg of three of more days without stopping, a crew of four is ideal. For Elena and I, we get tired after 24 hours. One more watchstander would be very helpful.
For living on board and the kind of cruising we have been doing, seldom going more than 24 hours, often anchoring or going into a marina at night, we are maxed out at two given we are living in 480 square feet. A third person over a long period of time might get a little crowded, although there have been a few folks that we would have been OK with.
There are lots of solo sailors out here, I can count at least six here in this marina. Most other boats are couples. I bought the boat before Elena and it was specifically because it was the largest boat that I could handle alone. But that was over eight years ago, and some things are not working as well as they should (back, eyes). We shall see.