January 2nd – 4th. Lake Worth, FL

After a fantastic breakfast at the Paris In Town French cafe we moved Catalpa about 5 miles south down Lake Worth toward West Palm Beach.

We passed the Port of West Palm Beach. It’s a busy spot where cruise and container ships come in from the ocean.

They exit through the Lake Worth Inlet. Near the inlet are many sail boats waiting to cross the Atlantic to the Bahamas. It’s only 55nm between West Palm and the Bahamas. I’ve been told that it has been a while since there was a decent weather window for the crossing. The Gulf Stream runs between Florida and the Bahamas. If the wind and current are wrong the ocean can produce big waves out there.

We decided to go out the inlet and bounce around in the Atlantic for a while.

Wait a minute! I don’t even have charts for the Bahamas! We turned around and went back in the inlet. The current was strong.

Our main reason for moving was the Palm Beach Sailing Club. For a fee, they allow visiting sailors to use their dinghy dock and facilities. We were also getting very low on water. We filled up. The anchorage area is a bit open to the wind but it is convenient to have a safe place for the dinghy and hot showers.

Ollie and I explored some of the surrounding neighborhood. There are a number of small parks along the waterfront. One had a dog park.

Scenes from the Palm Beach Sailing Club.

Club house.

Catalpa is in the background (somewhere).

Dinghy dock.

Catalpa anchored in Lake Worth (West Palm Beach).

This next picture was taken by my brother-in-law on Hobe Sound. It may be the only picture with all three of us on the boat.

December 31st- Hobe Sound to Lake Worth (North Palm Beach, FL)

We inched a little further down the ICW today. Being New Years Eve, it was quite busy with small boat traffic.

Jupiter Light

Jonathan’s Landing

Giant Banyan

This portion of the waterway is populated mostly with mansions and condos. From Jupiter to Miami there are 35 draw bridges we have to negotiate. Today we had 6.

• 707
• Jupiter Federal
• Indiantown Road
• Donald Ross
• PGA
• Parker

Many of the bridges have specific times that they open. We find ourselves either pushing Catalpa to make the next bridge or going very slow so we don’t have to wait at the bridge for too long. I think I’ve been over every one of these bridges when visiting Jupiter and Palm Beach (in a car).

Our anchorage for the evening was North Lake Worth. We had lots of distant fire works but otherwise it was a quiet evening. Steak on the grill. Fresh Ravioli. Salad. Eclair for desert and Champagne. A perfect New Years Eve.

January 1st, 2020 New Years Day- Lake Worth, FL

Happy New Year from the Captain and Crew of Catalpa.

So far we have no plans for today. We need both ice and water so maybe that’s the plan.

December 28th- Jensen Beach, FL

Not much to report on. The wind was still up with periodic rain squalls. The park is a little crazy so we didn’t really feel comfortable leaving the dinghy tied to the pier for long periods, unattended. The stop is not ideal but it does provide adequate protection from the wind.

December 29th- Jensen Beach to Hobe Sound, FL

Today the weather was more of the same. Wind and Rain. I felt the wind had moderated a little so it was time to go. From Jensen Beach to the St. Lucie inlet we had to contend with an adverse tidal current, a head wind, large boats, and rain about every 15 minutes. After the inlet we pulled into a narrow cut along Jupiter Island and everything calmed down. The wind was absorbed by the mangroves. It’s a “no wake, manatee habitat”, so the traffic quieted down. It was still raining but with the temperature at 75 degrees, who cares?

We went through the Hobe Sound Bridge. It’s the first of about a million draw bridges we have to pass under between here and Miami. Hobe Sound is bordered by a nature reserve on one side and Jupiter Island on the other. Jupiter Island is home to the rich and famous (Tiger Woods is on the list). We anchored on the nature side and were richly rewarded. I saw one manatee in Vero but we have both seen several while in Hobe Sound. When they surface, they exhale from their nostrils. They then begin their slow dive, exiting the scene with a lazy push from their big horizontal tail fin. They seem almost prehistoric.

We have our own private beach off of the back porch.

December 30th- Hobe Sound, FL

We were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to stay another day. Today we had visitors! Some friends and family rented a power boat and tied up with us for the afternoon. Lynne served up some hors d’oeuvres. A fun time was had by all. The rain even stopped (mostly).

Ollie has been a swimming beach bum at this stop. Catalpa is a salty, sandy mess (as is Ollie).

More late day showers brought on the inevitable rainbow.

December 27th- Vero Beach, FL to Jensen Beach, FL

Goodbye Vero Beach. We enjoyed our stay but this is an adventure we’re on. It’s time to move on. In all honesty, we probably should have stayed a few more days. The current weather pattern is not ideal for traveling. 15 to 20 knots SE winds, interspersed with rain squalls. I think we were in Vero for so long we forgot about adverse conditions and small craft advisories.

Goodbye Vero, we’ll be back.

We made some friends during our stay. We hope to run into some of them during our journey. Others stay in Vero for the winter so maybe we’ll see them on our way back North in the spring. We’ve gotten to know the town well, so it will make a good provisioning stop. Catalpa is loaded up right now. The bottom is clean. The diesel tanks are full.

This evening we are anchored in the lee of a big bridge and causeway. There is a park under the bridge for Ollie’s late day commando raid. Originally we planned on dropping the hook in Manatee Pocket or further up the St Lucie river in Stuart. We opted to end the day in Jensen Beach. Captain and crew were tired. The Indian River was kicking up a lot of spray today. We’ll access the weather conditions in the morning and make a decision about tomorrow’s itinerary then.

December 25th- Vero Beach, FL

Merry Christmas from the Vero Beach boat gypsies. Today’s weather was a mixture of sun and rain. More importantly, it was 80 degrees. We don’t miss the cold weather.

Xmas morning. A brief shower then sun and a rainbow.

This week we rented a car for a few days. Today we drove to Jupiter for Christmas dinner with family. Driving the car felt like piloting a jet. I’ve only driven once in the past 3 months.

We’re getting ready to move on. I’ve gotten a number of boat projects completed over the past few weeks. Tomorrow, more projects and packing gear. We’ve used the rental car to restock Catalpa. We’ve also contracted a local diver to clean the hull and check the zincs. The plan is to leave Friday.

Vero Beach is living up to its reputation (velcro). We’ve been here over a week and it looks like we are staying for Christmas.

Out on the town with family.

Lynne and another cruiser found a Christmas tree at a thrift shop. They set it up in the lounge. They got together the next day to make ornaments with some of the children that are living at the marina. So far we have paper snowflakes, ornaments made from wine corks, mini boats made from walnut shells, etc.

A creative group of tree decorators.

We are enjoying the convienences of marina life. We needed a few pieces of equipment for Catalpa. I was able to order everything and have it shipped here. We’re also having our mail boxed up and sent over. We haven’t had mail in months. The town has a free public transportation system. This makes it easy to get groceries or pick up gear at West Marine. We’re also looking at getting a rental car for a few days.

Vero Beach City Marina.

Nice neighborhood surrounding the marina.

Banyan trees!

Dog park fun. It’s about two blocks from the marina.

The large dog area is 4 acres.

Tonight the admiral and I are going out for birthday dinner at Mr. Manatees. It’s accessible by dinghy, up a canal. I hope we find our way back to Catalpa later.

Catalpa moored at Vero Beach City Marina.

December 10th- Titusville to Melbourne, FL

We thought about staying in Titusville another day but decided to push on. The weather looks like it’s going to be questionable later in the week. I’d like to come back here someday and see the Kennedy Space Center. I’ve always admired the folks at NASA. Growing up, I had a space shuttle model (probably Columbia) along with my Star Ship Enterprise. Space geek.

Calm morning.

I believe this is the NASA shuttle hanger.

Later in the day the wind picked up out of the south. Catalpa is a sloop, meaning it has two sails. We have a big genoa (jib) up front. It is on a roller furling mechanism which rolls up the sail similar to a window shade. Aft of the boom is the mainsail (mains’l). It is raised and lowered with a halyard and is flaked on the boom when it’s lowered. We then cover it so it’s not degraded by the sun. When we are motor-sailing I just unroll the genoa. It’s easier to roll up. The main stays covered on the boom. The other day I was trying to remember the last time I hoisted the mains’l up. The Chesapeake Bay? Would the sail be growing mildew? Could some swamp critter be living in there? Ollie standby for attack!

We finally had the wind far enough off of the bow for a real sail. The course was straight for a few hours, so no problem there. Hoist the main! Real sailing. No mildew. No critters.

The end of the day had us anchored in the lee of the Melbourne bridge.

December 11th and 12th- Melbourne to Vero Beach, FL

Fog. This is the first time we’ve had fog on this trip. We New Englanders are used to fog. Pea soup thick fog. We stayed in the cabin until I could see the bridge. Once it was clear enough, I ran Ollie over to the shore. Eventually it lifted enough that we could get under way.

The fog banks came and went during the day.

A little island, shrouded in mystery.

Our next stop was Vero Beach. I did not misspell the name in the title. Other boat gypsies refer to it as Velcro Beach. Once you get there, you stay. We grabbed the last mooring ball in the harbor. It’s packed with snow birds. Boats are doubled and tripled on the moorings. We are the only boat on mooring #50 but that may change. The harbor has nice grounds. A nearby dog park. Clean showers. A lounge. There is even an hourly (free) shuttle bus to the grocery store and West Marine (chandlery). Someone called out to us, “You made it! Welcome.”

We’re “stuck” at Velcro for a while.

Today we had plans to explore but we have monsoon rains instead. The weather is warm. Tomorrow is another day.

View off the back porch.

Rainy day Ollie.

December 7th- Fort Matanzas, FL to Daytona, FL

Today’s run was to Daytona Beach. A friend and I drove down there for spring break (many years ago) from New England. It looks us about 24 hours. We just did it in 2 1/2 months on a boat.

Colorful dredge operation.

So far most of the Florida ICW has been long straight runs. Some parts run by houses others are bordered by mangroves. We’ve seen a lot of manatee signs but haven’t seen any manatees yet.

We did see some very festive looking boats today.

Eventually we approached the high rises of Daytona.

Our stop here was brief. I ran Ollie in to a park for a pit stop and some frisbee action. Being Daytona (and Saturday night), things got a little wild in the evening. There was a big procession of decorated boats. I’m not really a big fan of Christmas music ( The Kinks – Father Christmas was a good one). I hope I don’t hear Feliz Navidad for a long time. We were gone at dawn.

December 8th and 9th – Daytona, FL to Titusville, FL

We headed south to Titusville today. We were expecting some rain but it never materialized.

The lighthouse at Ponce de Leon inlet.

Eventually we made it down to Mosquito Lagoon. It is a large shallow bay with little tropical looking islands here and there. Easy to have your own private beach for a day. I suppose the mosquitoes might be a problem but the wind kept them at bay today. Off in the distance we could see the rocket launch towers of NASA and the large shuttle hanger.

We picked up a mooring at the Titusville Municipal Marina for two nights. We were low on everything so we stocked up on diesel, water, and ice. The grocery store isn’t great so we only grabbed a few food items. We’ll take care of that in Vero Beach.

Catalpa moored in the Indian River, Titusville.

December 6th- St Augustine to Fort Matanzas, FL

I had two choices for today. A long day to Daytona or a short day to Fort Matanzas state park. Easy choice. The day was warm and the water, glass.

The fort was closed due to storm damage from hurricane Dorian. We went over to the visitor center. We’ve met a few people from the National Park Service over the past few weeks. They’ve all been super nice and extremely well informed. I met a park ranger today that used to be a delivery skipper before working for the park. I learned a lot. I also learned Matanzas is Spanish for slaughter. The region has a bloody history. I guess it was the times. It is a big nature reserve now.

They gave me some intel on a good frisbee area where we wouldn’t be harassing the other patrons of the park.

Catalpa anchored at Fort Matanzas.

December 4th and 5th- Sisters Creek, FL to St. Augustine, FL

After leaving Sisters Creek We had to cross the St John’s river. It’s a major port for Jacksonville with some major current. We were with the current so we were moving fast. We flew by some sort of Naval drydock. The boat was moving so fast that I barely had time to figure out how to get back on the ICW.

Most of the day was spent going through some long, straight canals and some rivers.

A forest fire?

I wasn’t sure where we were going to put Catalpa at the end of the day. St Augustine has installed moorings in most of their anchorage area. I was told by another cruiser that you need to make reservations weeks in advance. We barely know where we are going to be from one day to the next, so no early reservations for us. We made a call to the marina on the way. They had a cancellation. We picked up a mooring for two days.

We ventured down to the big fort. We can see it from the boat.

Castillo de San Marcos.

After checking out the fort we were famished. We wandered around town. Lots of nice stores. Everything is decorated with a mixture of Pirates and Christmas. Odd combination. Eventually we made it to the St Augustine Seafood Company. We had Minorcan conch chowder and split a blackened shrimp po’ boy. Both were delicious. I hope I can find more of that chowder along the way.

Some scenes from St. Augustine

The whole waterfront is lit up for Christmas. We are very close to all the night time activity. It is a busy place. Ollie is exhausted from all the activity he’s had today. At one point he was surrounded by a bus load of kids at the fort. He handled it well.

It’s difficult to get a night picture from a moving boat.