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April 19-20, 2010

By on April 20, 2010 in Grateful

Ft. Pierce to Melbourne to Titusville, FLJust a quick note to say that we have had two beautiful days to cruise. Monday morning we left the Ft. Pierce area – an easy passage to the Atlantic Ocean and a port of entry. Many cruisers use this port to re…

April 19-20, 2010

By on April 20, 2010 in Grateful
Ft. Pierce to Melbourne to Titusville, FL

Just a quick note to say that we have had two beautiful days to cruise. Monday morning we left the Ft.Pierce area – an easy passage to the Atlantic Ocean and a port of entry. Many cruisers use this port to return to USA and to clear customs.

We are still in the Indian River ICW. The river is wide and dotted with islands – very beautiful, but shallow outside the channel. (We didn’t know it, but yesterday we passed very close to Tiger Woods’ and Greg Norman’s estates on JupiterIsland. In fact, after looking at their places on Google Earth, I am pretty sure I remember both – no pictures, though.)

Florida is starting to bloom and we were close enough to some homes to enjoy the beauty.

We had many dolphin sightings along this stretch of the ICW. And you’re not going to believe this…. Both Mark and I saw some sort of ray jumping out of the water. These guys were little and they sure didn’t “launch” themselves at a passing dinghy. I guess now, at least, we know what we are looking at.

In the river area local boaters set their traps for something. We heard today that they catch “river shrimp” (like small lobsters). Whatever, he is going for, he has an audience waiting for handouts.

We were in the MelbourneHarbor by 2:00 and enjoyed the rest of the day. Shortly after landing I went out to the front of Grateful to read and enjoy the view when I saw a Manatee. I ran back to get my camera, but didn’t see any others, however, a dolphin came into the harbor for dinner as the sun was setting.

Our trip to Titusville was equally terrific. We were still in the Indian River, but it was wide and open. We were so excited because the shuttle, Discovery, was landing this morning. We had been told that we would hear the sonic boom (possibly two) as Discovery flew in over Orlando @ 600 mph and slowed to 200 mph to land at the airstrip on Cape Canaveral. This was supposed to happen at 7:30 am. I was up and ready with Porter out for a walk in hopes that I would not only hear it, but possibly see it. Mark elected to let the sonic boom be his alarm clock. We were both disappointed as we heard nothing. So a little after 8:00 we started our trek to Titusville.

Titusville is the closest town to the KennedySpaceCenter and many cruisers will watch shuttle launches and landings from there. As we progressed north we began to hear radio chatter that Discovery had not landed earlier. It was about 9:30 and every boater was looking to the sky and listening. I was out on the bow straining both eyes and ears and of course, had the camera. After a few minutes Mark called out that Discovery was already on the ground. NOTHING! But we weren’t the only ones – by the chatter on the radio in our area no one heard or saw anything. I guess we were still a little too far south – “missed it by that much”. Later as we neared Titusville we were able to see the KennedySpaceCenter and the launch tower.

On the west shore of the Indian River, was the Titusville power plant – liked the “candy-striped” chimneys.

Bridges weren’t an issue these last two days. Today we squeaked under one and then our last one of the day was the Titusville Hwy Swingbridge. This bridge will soon be replaced by a 65 foot fixed bridge.


April 19, 2010

By on April 19, 2010 in Grateful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MONICADear Monica,Make your special the best – it’s all about you!We absolutely treasured the our time with you in the Bahamas!Love Always,Dad & Carol

April 19, 2010

By on April 19, 2010 in Grateful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MONICADear Monica,Make your special the best – it’s all about you!We absolutely treasured the our time with you in the Bahamas!Love Always,Dad & Carol

April 18, 2010

By on April 18, 2010 in Grateful

Lake Park to Ft. Pierce, FLToday was an easy cruising day and we simply enjoyed. We cruised by North Palm Beach,Jupiter, Hobe Sound,St. Lucie Inlet, and north on the Indian River to Ft. Pierce – approximately 50 miles. We started at 8:00 and got to t…

April 18, 2010

By on April 18, 2010 in Grateful
Lake Park to Ft. Pierce, FL
Today was an easy cruising day and we simply enjoyed. We cruised by North Palm Beach,

Jupiter,

Hobe Sound,
St. Lucie Inlet,

and north on the Indian River to Ft. Pierce – approximately 50 miles. We started at 8:00 and got to the Ft. Pierce City Marina at 2:00. We fueled up and pumped out and were to our slip and settled by 3:00. We needed 378 gallons – that’s the most yet and the lowest we have let our tanks get. This is another friendly marina with helpful staff and nice facilities – and they give a great discount to Boat US members. Ft.PierceCityMarina also has an adjacent attractive waterfront and park – a good walk for Porter.

We still enjoyed many beautiful homes and yachts, but also long areas of natural waterways lined with homes and/or wildlife refuges.

We saw many homes being built or renovated. One for sale – maybe if we all chip in…..


We did wait for the first bridge to open, but were able to slip under all others.

Best of all – we were joined by two dolphins in the JensenBeach area that swam with us for over three miles. Porter even heard them and watched with ears up and head cocked.


Dolphins really do smile.


April 18, 2010

By on April 18, 2010 in Grateful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRYAN!Dear Bryan,We hope you have more fun on your special day than you did on this “almost birthday suit” day. More fun could only mean one thing! (Mark wants Jackie to know that he only gave Bryan one beer…..)Love you lots and are s…

April 18, 2010

By on April 18, 2010 in Grateful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRYAN!Dear Bryan,We hope you have more fun on your special day than you did on this “almost birthday suit” day. More fun could only mean one thing! (Mark wants Jackie to know that he only gave Bryan one beer…..)Love you lots and are s…

April 16-17, 2010

By on April 17, 2010 in Grateful
Lake Park, FL

WE DID IT!!!! What you may ask??? Well, on Friday, we cruised from Ft.Lauderdale to Lake Park, FL – just north of Palm Beach. What we did was travel through 21 bridges, and only four were tall enough for us to go under without waiting or requesting an opening. Most bridges in this area are restricted so open on a schedule like on the hour and half hour or a quarter and three quarter past the hour. I did some studying and put together a possible schedule and Mark programmed the GPS to navigate to the next bridge. He adjusted our speed to get to the next bridge on time.

It was going pretty slick until the fifth bridge when the bridge tender said the bridge was undergoing some minor repairs – no kidding! There was a man hanging under the bridge, a welding machine and crane on the bridge as well as lots of orange cones and workmen. It took 45 minutes to repair with probably a total of 8 boats waiting. We were allowed through as soon as it was fixed, but it was at the same time as the next bridge’s scheduled opening resulting in all of us waiting another half hour in the narrow canal. All in all it was a minor glitch.

We liked traveling on the ICW and not having to deal with BIG waves. The scenery was magnificent as we traveled through Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth which includes Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and LakePark. Just take a look.

At the Lake Worth Inlet there is another port. Just after the port is the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. Lots of mega yachts – one in the lift – and a mega sailboat.

The Lake Park Harbor Marina is quite nice. The staff is helpful, bathrooms are clean and big, and the laundry room is cheap! There is a small park next to the marina and a larger one farther up the waterfront.

There is that town boat launch ramp near our slip – watching the activity reminded us of our early boating days.

We have to time our walks with Porter to be around low tide – we can step off the boat. At high tide we have to find a more creative way to get off the boat. We stayed an extra day – I got some laundry done and Mark and I walked to Winn Dixie to get a few things. We like it here.


April 16-17, 2010

By on April 17, 2010 in Grateful

Lake Park, FL WE DID IT!!!! What you may ask??? Well, on Friday, we cruised from Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Park, FL – just north of Palm Beach. What we did was travel through 21 bridges, and only four were tall enough for us to go under without wai…