April 8, Stuart, FL

Today we headed north again on the ICW and passed through the north end of Lake Worth and then entered the 'ditch' at Old Port Cove and passed by some high end residential areas.

Rick Neumann handles the helm duties with skill. Lots of dodging those floats marking the fisherman's traps. We had to cut a line off the propellers once in Marathon. Wonder where we picked that up.

We passed through Jupiter and looked right out the Jupiter Inlet.

Jupiter Lighthouse

Then we turned north again at the picturesque Jupiter Lighthouse. As we cruised north we passed Burt Reynolds home and then had a big time trying to see where Greg Norman and Tiger Woods homes might be on Jupiter Island.

Gregg Norman home and boats. He is flying an American and an Australian flag to help us locate the house.

Must be tourists sitting in the sun on a sandbar in the channel.
Looks like fun!

Then past Peck's Lake anchorage and home to Stuart after a trip of approximately 25 miles..

Rick and Kathy after three weeks aboard.
Still smiling.

Wind was blowing 20 mph and the tide was running in at about 3 knots and the docking at our home dock was a little tricky. Took a couple of tries. But we made it with no bouncing and breathed a sigh of relief. 'High fives' all around.

Home after 22 days and about 600 miles. Great trip!

April 7, Palm Beach, FL

As we cruised north from Ft Lauderdale, we approach Pompano and turn west into Lake Santa Barbara to see our old home on the water. Great memories growing up here.

2480 SE 7th Drive, Pompano Beach. Now yellow and has a pool.
Otherwise, looks the same.

We cruised north on the Intercoastal Waterway and went through several bridges that had to open for our 22' air height.

We caught up with, and passed, two 'loopers' that we had met in Ft Lauderdale who were heading north, SALES & NAILS II (Jim and Mary) and BIDDI AND THE BEAST (Dan and Biddi Langford).

Ended at the day after traveling 30 miles at the Palm Harbor Marina, a new marina located in the heart of West Palm Beach. There are several large yachts here (over 100') but not many smaller boats. Marina had three quarters of it's slips empty. Very nice facilities and friendly staff.


Our marina is located almost at the foot of Clamatis Street. We took the free trolly from Clamatis Street to City Place and walked around the shopping area, then returned on the trolly to Bradfords Restaurant for dinner at the end of the day.

We finished the day with a tour of a new 74' catamaran (built in France) berthed next to us at the marina. Very nice with a price of $3,500,000

April 6, Ft Lauderdale, Fl

We left Coral Bay Marina in Islamarada and motored northeast through the Florida Bay using the inside passage known as the 'Intercoastal Waterway' (ICW). After about one hour underway we were boarded by the Coast Guard for a 'routine safety inspection'. One young man and one young lady in uniform with sidearms. They checked all our safety equipment, black water discharge system and took all our identifying info. Everything was 'ship shape'. Whole inspection took about 15 minutes. Two more armed officers remained in their boat standing about 30 yards away.



The ICW route here is relatively protected and includes Florida Bay, Card Sound, Barnes Sound and then heading north, Biscayne Bay. After about 60 miles of easy travel we traveled under the Rickenbacker Causeway (bridge to Key Biscayne) where we entered the Miami River and cruised right next to the large high rise buildings that make the downtown Miami skyline. No cruise ships in port today.




Container ship in Miami.

Ship designed to carry yachts to distant ports,

We continued north through the Intercoastal Waterway, past Baker's Haulover inlet and through Hollywood and Dania (lots of highrises, neat cruising) to Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale. Lots of mega yachts here! Then through the Ft Lauderdale Beach waterway (lots of mega yachts here, too) to the Las Olas Marina which is part of the City of Ft Lauderdale Marina program. Here we are just under the Las Olas Bridge on the north side and a short walk to the beach. Total run today was 80 miles.

After docking we found 'PERFECT REMEDY' with Fred and Sharon Clarkson already here along with several other 'loopers'. We met the Clarkson's on our loop last year in Panama City and then saw them several more times along the way. Clarkson's have come from Clearwater and are making the trip around south Florida in reverse of the trip we are making. They're heading south from here to Miami and then the Keys and then home. Sorry we missed hosting them in Stuart as they passed through. Good to see old friends on the waterway.

Several other looper boat are here and will be heading north from here for the summer. Boats doing the 'loop' this year will all be heading north soon.

We finished the day with a nice dinner near the beach.

April 5, Islamarada, FL

Today we moved back out into Hawks Channel and then under the large bridge spanning 'Channel Five' where we entered the protected waters of the Florida Bay. We followed the channel east past Lower Matacumbe to 'marker 84' where we took a heading of 150 degrees and went slowly through shallow water of Upper Matacumbe Key to the Coral Bay Marina. This whole area is known a Islamarada and is a favorite area for people from Stuart.

We had planned to stay at the Lorelei Resort, which is nearby, but they do not take reservations and there was no room for us today. Coral Bay Marina was nice and we had good power and internet at the dock. The docks were a bit old but the marina had a large travel lift and yard and many boats spend the winter here and haul out for the summer. Met the owner of a 44' Tollycraft who does exactly that. Good program.

We walked about 1/2 mile to the large Saltwater Sportsman store and had lunch at Zane Grey's Restaurant on the second floor balcony overlooking the boating activity to the north. We enjoy this store for all their fishing gear and clothing.

Dinner was on the beach with our feet in the sand, watching the sun go down. Not too shabby.

April 4, Duck Key, FL

We headed east from our marina in Marathon and motored through the large mooring field at Boot Key Harbor and then out the Sister Creek Channel back to Hawks Channel. Once there we moved less than 10 miles to Key Colony Beach Marina, which is part of the Key Colony Beach housing project which has many older canal waterfront homes.

Today is Easter Sunday and the Sparkys Landing Restaurant at Key Colony Marina is closed (marina did not know why) so we would have a half mile walk to the Key Colony Inn Restaurant. Marina seemed tired and the showers were in the dive shop, so we decided to move on.

We motored another 7 miles east to Duck Key and found the Hawks Cay Resort. And it is a beauty! As we came in the channel we passed many large and beautiful homes.

Saltwater swimming lagoon.

After about a mile we then came to a very pretty complex of resort facilities at Hawks Cay including pools, saltwater swimming lagoon, hotel complex, dolphin pens (swim with the dolphins) tennis courts, children and teen activity centers, several restaurants, marina and ship store.

Children's playground at Hawks Cay Resort.

The complex has many homes right at the marina available for rental by the day or week. We explored the resort and had a very nice day. Glad we moved and would recommend this place for families with children. Seemed to be lots for everyone to do.

April 3, Marathon, FL

We moved about 15 miles (parallel with the seven mile bridge) to Vaca Key (Marathon) and are staying at the Marathon Marina just inside the harbor at Marathon.

We walked the marina grounds and had a great breakfast on US #1 at the Seven Mile Restaurant. Very old Florida and very old Keys. Used the day to relax and had a nice dinner at the Causeway Restaurant at the marina.

April 2, Bahia Honda Key, FL

We moved east from Key West into Hawk Channel about 30 miles to Little Palm Island where we docked and had an very nice (and expensive) lunch. Little Palm is a self contained high end resort ($800/night for a thatched room) in an idyllic setting with wonderful facilities and service. This is where the movie 'PT 109' was made. Reminds one of a south Pacific paradise.

Little Palm Island

After lunch we moved on a few more miles to Bahia Honda Key and the Bahia Honda State Park where we found a small basin and tied up at their seawall dock for the night. No power or internet. No restaurant. However we had pretty beaches (rated the best in the Keys) and we were close to the old Flagler RR bridge at Bahia Honda where we could see the original RR bridge from 1912 with the auto bridge built in 1936 on top of the RR bridge, all replaced by a new auto bridge nearby. The State Park closed at 6 pm so we had the place to ourselves.

Manatees come to visit at Bahia Honda State Park basin.

Right behind our boat.
The rangers say they are here often in the spring.