The Voyage Home

I woke up at 5 AM to the sound of amplified guitar music and what sounded like folk singing on the waterfront by TIKA.......whaaaaaaat was going on?   Sunrise wasn't until just after 7AM.  We planned on departing St. Augustine at sunrise, so I started to get up to investigate.  Turns out, it was EASTER MORNING and there was a crowd of people at the old Spanish Fortress on the waterfront for an Easter morning sunrise service. The sun rose over the St. Augustine inlet as we departed for Jacksonville.  The morning was gorgeous with calm seas and light winds.  The voyage home was starting perfectly.  We rode the rising tide up the ICW and up the St. Johns River cutting off an hour or more from the all day trip.

As we arrived in downtown Jacksonville we started to feel we were close to home.

The Jacksonville Landings signaled we were only minutes away from our own marina.

 

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Final Nautical Term: HOME PORT

After more than 3 months on TIKA, travelling more than 1000 miles, seeing some of the most amazing ports of call in the US......there is no place like home.

 

 

Admiral Marlene and Captain Kevin hope the Chronicle of our Voyages of TIKA left you enlightened and entertained.  Now that we have the experience of our first extended voyage, we will be planning our next exciting adventure on TIKA

 

 

Museums, Pirates, and Goodbyes

We decided to spend 2 days in St. Augustine with the intention of renting a car and sneaking home which was only 15 miles away at this point.  We thought we could run one of our cars up to the Marina in Jacksonville, so we would have a car when we arrived.  Lets just say those plans fell through, so we decided to make a day of it in St. Augustine.  We visited the Lightner Museum. which was one of 3 grand hotels built by Flagler, who brought the railroad to Florida.

 If you have ever spent much time in Florida, you wonder why Florida isn't named Flagler.  He made Florida accessible to the rest of the US by building the railroad which provided transportation all the way to Key West, before the Overseas Highway was built.  The 2nd Hotel is now Flagler College and the 3rd hotel is still in operation, the CASA MONICA.  It is the most luxurious hotel in St. Augustine and brings back the feel of times past.  The Lightner Museum is not only interesting for the exhibits donated by the Lightner Family, it is a step into the past to view this grand hotel.  After some shopping in the old city, we headed back to the boat for some afternoon margaritas on the upper deck of TIKA.  Within minutes, two Pirate ships conducted a pirate battle next to our boat.  We basically had front row seats. 

We capped off the day with dinner with Jim, Kathy, Ed and Lynn who had arrived in St. Augustine at the same time as us.  The next day we would head off to Jacksonville on the ICW and they would take Skydusky and Charm on the outside for a two day sail north.

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Nautical Term of the Day: SALON

 

On a boat, it's not where you get your hair done.......it is where you do most of your living.

 

TIKA's salon has a table and L shaped sofa that converts into a second berth (bonus nautical term....another word for bedroom) when you lower the table and add cushions.  TIKA has a helm (second bonus nautical term....where you drive the boat) in the salon. 

Back in St. Augustine

The Waterfront of St. Augustine.

 

Well, we are one stop away from home.  We arrived mid afternoon after a pleasant cruise up from Daytona Beach.  We plan on spending 2 nights, then head up to Jacksonville on Easter morning.

Marlene at the St. Augustine Marina next to the Bridge of Lions

 

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Cool Nautical Term for the Day

LAZARETTE

You may think of it as a Trunk on a Car, but it is where you store a lot of junk.

We actually have 2 bicycles stored in our LAZARETTE.  Our Lazarette is located in our COCKPIT.  So, you get a bonus nautical term.  The area between the swim platform and interior is called the COCKPIT,

 

 

 

 

Departing Vero Beach for Titusville and Daytona Beach

While the fair weather crew of TIKA sat out the  high winds in Vero Beach, friends that we ran into in Key Largo's Tarpon Bay were working their way north and caught up with us on our last day in Vero Beach.  Jim and Kathy on Charm and Ed and Lynn on Skydusky rafted up next to us in Vero Beach and we all met on Charm for happy hour, then we took our dinghies to the restaurant under the bridge.  We all departed together heading north the next morning.  The ICW was forecast to be choppy, but the 25 plus mph winds with gusts to 40 backed off to a more manageable 10-15mph.  The north wind direction did provide us some salt water spray over the bow to contend with. We made a 70 mile, 11 hour run to Titusville on Wednesday, followed by a more manageable 50 mile cruise to Daytona Beach on Thursday.  Charm and Skydusky weren't far behind also arriving in Daytona Beach on Thursday evening.  We are all  headed for St. Augustine on Friday morning.

 Sailing Vessel Skydusky rafted to Charm

Sailing Vessel Charm 

TIKA following one of many cruisers heading north.  We only passed a few intelligent cruisers heading south. 

 

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This winter's cruise is coming to a close, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you one of the unique joys of being a cruiser......a unique vocabulary.  So in the last few posts of this cruise I will introduce you to some of the nautical terms we use.

 

PROVISION

 

Normal people call it stocking up on food or going to the grocery store, but cruisers call it provisioning.

 

Kevin's definition: WELL PROVISIONED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



How to recognize a cruiser

If your are curious about people who cruise on boats for months at a time, here are some dead give-a-ways to identifying one.

• Keys, I-phones hanging around a person's neck are designed to float
• They always carry a bag or backpack, filled with laundry, clean clothes for a shower, beer, groceries, boat parts, etc.  A sack with the words WEST MARINE is also a good clue.
• Beard.....cruisers drink lots of Rum which kills brain cells.  This can result in loss of memory.  An early sign is forgetting to shave.
• Wrinkled shorts and shirts.  There are no irons in the world of cruising.
• Hat.....you just don't want to see that unruly hair.
• Flip-Flops....while cruisers are excellent at tying knots, shoes don't have cleats, posts or rails. Cruisers use lines, not shoestrings.  Also, flip flops can be worn in marina showers. 

There you go, you are now an expert at identifying a cruiser.  They are really harmless and generally friendly. Your best chance of running into a cruiser is a bar with a happy hour within 4 blocks of a marina or has a dinghy dock.

Lake Worth to Vero Beach

 TIKA in the mooring field in Vero Beach, Fl

 Our view of the bridge into the city across the ICW

 View of the ICW heading north from the center of the Bridge

 View of the beautiful architecture of the bridge from the built-in fishing pier below the spans

 Bearded stranger we met walking across the bridge

Bearded stranger went to lunch with us.  Looks kind of like "The most interesting man in the world" in the Dos Equis commercial.    When he drinks beer...he prefers Dos Equis.    Actually, word has it he will drink just about anything.

Leaving the Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach was traumatic...cable TV, power, hot water, floating dock, on site restaurant...etc.....but "home" is calling and staying in a full service marina can drain your pocket book if you get too attached.  We made out way up the ICW, past Jupiter inlet, past St. Lucie inlet and set our sites on one of our favorite and "economical" places to stay....the Vero Beach mooring field.  While we have had great travelling weather, the forecast for the weekend was for storms, so the safety of a commercially placed permanently anchored "mooring  ball" puts a smile on Admiral Marlene's face.  We have stayed in Vero Beach before, so I won't elaborate, but short of the fact I fell into the water exiting the dinghy on our way south, Vero Beach is a fantastic place to spend a few days.  Shopping and the beach are all within walking distance and they have a shuttle system that comes right to the marina to take you just about anywhere you need to go.  There are multiple restaurants on the water you can dinghy to.   Hey, I am elaborating...so lets just say we both like it here and it is well within budget ($15 day) for an extended stay, if weather requires.

Lake Sylvia to Lake Worth

Lake Sylvia at dusk.  This lake is an anchorage off downtown Ft. Lauderdale Beach.  This is one of the most peaceful anchorages on our cruise

 

The Palm Beach Boat Show Site.  Mega Yacht Heaven

TIKA gets a bath

 

 

We departed Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale in the morning for a 50+ mile cruise on the ICW to North Palm Beach. This is a cruise through high end homes, condos and mega yachts only South Florida seems to be able to manage in such an opulent way. We passed through cities like Boca Raton, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach to name a few.  Because the waterway is lined with concrete walls, passing boats create forever echoing wakes, so it is uncomfortable to travel on busy days.  Luckily, today wasn't too busy.  We took down all of our bimini tops and antenna  lowering TIKA to just under 14' height and we only had to wait for 2 nine foot bridges.  We were able to pass under 3 fifteen foot bridges and 1 fourteen foot bridge without waiting.

 

 Marlene continues to suffer from a severe case of the flu, so we have decided to head to Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach for a couple nights.  We love this marina.  We stayed here on our way down.  There is a CVS and a Publix within walking distance and the marina is well equipped with its own restaurant and convenience store. A cold front moved through dropping the temps to the 60's.  I realized that we have been totally independent of power, staying on anchor and mooring balls for 3 months, with the exception of 2 nights spent at this marina on the way down to the Keys.  It was great to hook up to power, with all the conveniences, including cable TV.  I spent our first morning giving TIKA a bath. Getting the salt grime off the boat made TIKA sparkle again and after some hot showers we all felt a lot better. Tomorrow we plan to continue to make our journey north.

Coconut Grove, South Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale

Approaching Miami 

Passing Cruise Ship Row at the Port of  Miami 

The Hotels along South Beach 

Back in the ICW Channel North Of Miami

We made the 6 hour trip up from Key Largo to just south of Miami stopping at Coconut Grove on Biscayne Bay. After securing a mooring ball at Dinner Key Marina, we made our way to Johnny Rockets in Coconut Grove for the worlds best chocolate malt and some great burgers. The next morning we made our way though Miami heading out to South Beach to anchor and meet our new friends Mike and Polli who had arrived the day before.  We ate lunch at an Argentine Bistro walked the amazing streets of South Beach to the Ocean and returned to TIKA for an early evening.  The night started out peaceful, but west winds and rain kicked up by morning leaving our anchoring spot exposed to wind and waves, so we pulled our anchor up just before 8:00AM and headed for Lake Sylvia in the heart of Ft. Lauderdale.  Marlene suddenly came down with the flu so we made it an easy, early day anchoring in Lake Sylvia around noon.

Goodbye to Marathon - Hello Key Largo and a surprise

Sadly, we finally had to say farewell to Marathon and begin our journey home.  We were up before sunrise and were underway before 8:00AM.  Since this was the first morning with winds below 15mph, there were about 20 boats departing for the Bahamas, the Florida West Coast, or like us, up the east coast of Florida.  We followed 5 boats travelling together out of Marathon and on the "inside" route up the Keys.  The inside route is more protected than the ocean if the winds are from the east or south, but much of the Intracoastal waterway is around 5 to 8 feet deep.  Sailboats with typical drafts of 5 feet or more normally travel what is called Hawks Channel or the "outside" ICW which is deep, but you are on the ocean side and exposed to greater waves with higher wind speeds.  While we were travelling the inside route, our friends Mike and Polli on Sailing Vessel Chinook were taking the outside route. 

 This is the "office" as we travel.  Charts, Waterway guides, Skipper Bobs anchorage guide along with all the chartpotters, autopilots, depth finders, etc to keep us on course and off the hard bottom.

 

 That's not TIKA...another Camano, Sea Knight stopped by to check us out in Tarpon
Bay.  Turns out that he was from St. Augustine. Kind of cool that someone with a same boat would go out of his way to say hi.

Leaving the last bridge to the mainland in the Keys before Miami,  It' s mostly the open waters of Biscayne Bay from here to Miami.

 Our "non electronic" navigation tools are always spread out and constantly referred to as we travel

TIKA proudly flying the burgee of our home port of the Marina at Ortega Landing.  While we love this trip, we know we have an outstanding Marina to go home to.

 

While we were travelling, we kept in touch by cell phone with Mike and Polli.  We found out from Polli that other friends we had met in Stuart, Jim and Kathy were planning to stay in Tarpon Bay outside Key Largo.  They were taking their sailboat, Charm, down the inside route along with some friends they know from St. Augustine.  We had already planned to stay in Tarpon Bay, so we would be an unexpected surprise.  When we arrived in Tarpon Bay, we anchored between their sailboat and their friends' boat.  Both of the sailboats' dinghies were gone, so we figured they were in Key Largo exploring. While we were waiting, dolphins began leaping out of the water near our boat.  I mean leaping like you see at Sea World.....6 to 8 feel out of the water.  I called to Marlene, the resident dolphin fanatic, and she caught the dolphins as they finished a couple more leaps.  Marlene decided the dolphins were a good omen and this was a good spot to stay the night on anchor.
As Jim and Kathy returned on the mile journey back from Key Largo they could see that even though they had anchored in a remote spot of the bay, some boat had parked between their sailboats.  As they got closer, they recognized TIKA.  We were both excited that we had been able to connect up as they made their way south and we made our way north in the Keys.   Soon we were all on board TIKA, including Murphy, their Irish Terrier, for a little happy hour celebration which included Jim's famous Rum Punch......as you know sailors love their rum!

Extended Stay

                       The City Marina Mooring Field in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon on Vaca Key

Well, one of the first things you learn about cruising is you do not do things on a schedule.  The weather has been beautiful, but the winds have been 15+ MPH during the day and we have a lot of open water to cover to get back to Miami, so we are staying put until winds calm down.  As a result of our delay, we went to the Marathon Seafood Festival on Saturday, ate great seafood, browsed the exhibitors, bought some of the hottest sauce we have ever tasted and listened to live music. 

                                              The Music Stage at the Seafood Festival

The Coast Guard Auxiliary Booth at the Festival

Marlene enjoying the best Reggae band in South Florida

So, we are toughing out another week in paradise before beginning our journey home to reality.

Luckily, we are fully equipped to manage an extended stay

 

Sailing into the Blue

Marlene having a great time !! 

                                                         Dianne and Dwight sailing

                                                 Dianne and Dwight enjoying the sail

                                           2 jet contrails contrast the sail and the blue sky

                                                         Sailing out to Sombrero Reef

                                              Dwight at the helm with Dianne and Mike

                                           Marlene at the helm with Mike having a chuckle.
                                           Check out the blue water as we sail into deep water.

Marlene with God knows who?

 

Mike and Polli invited us to join their friends Dwight and Dianne for some sailing on S/V Chinook.  It was a perfect blue sky day with winds around 15 knots and seas about 3 feet....(6 feet, according to Marlene).  Everyone got their turn at the helm and everyone had a great time.  We sailed south of Marathon past Sombrero reef, where we had snorkeled earlier.  We sailed past the typical 15 foot depths into the deeper water where the water was deep blue in color.  After returning, Dwight invited all of us to a fish fry where  he prepared Yellow Tail that he had caught earlier.  The fish was absolutely fantastic.  This was definitely our best day in Marathon so far.