Wednesday, March 30 - We hoped to leave today to begin cruising north to Ft. Pierce where our new boat is waiting for us, but the weather did not cooperate. The life of a Looper - continually changing plans! We will close the purchase of the new boat at the end of April. Still working on a name, but it looks like Tug LeeLoo may be in the running. That way we get to keep a little bit of our first LeeLoo with us!
Pictures Of Our New 37 ft. Nordic Tug!
When we arrived at Marina Bay Marina earlier this month, our trip on the New River was quite an experience. Twists and turns and more turns on a very narrow river. Just before we arrived at the marina, we had to go under the I-95 Bridge and a railroad bridge. As we approached the bridges, it was difficult to see where to go. We took a dinghy ride on the river a few days ago so we could get a up close and personal experience with the bridges. This way when we leave tomorrow we will know exactly where to go.
Approaching the I-95 Bridge on the New River
Under The I-95 Bridge - The Railroad Bridge Is Just Ahead
The Railroad Bridge - When Trains Run, The Bridge Comes Down And Boats Have To Wait For It To Be Raised.
Almost Under The Railroad Bridge - In The Up Position
We have enjoyed our stay at Marina Bay Marina. The facilities are great - clean bathrooms, a beautifully landscaped pool and hot tub and a restaurant on site. The foliage here is also beautiful and very well cared for. But, it is time to move on to more adventures (and our new boat)!
Beautiful!
Wednesday, March 23 - We have had a busy two weeks! We rented a car and drove back to Illinois to catch up on doctor and dentist visits. We stayed with our son Paul and his family. While we were there, we had dinner with several friends from Reefpoint Marina. It was good seeing everybody again. Our hope was to get in and out of Illinois with no snow and we were successful!
Carey and Thor (Paul and Kristina's Family Pet)
On the way back to Florida, we spent the night in suburban Atlanta with Carey's sister and father. It was a quick visit, but a good one.
Instead of driving all the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, we spent the night in Ft. Pierce in order to see several boats in Ft. Pierce and in nearby Stuart the following day. The boat we really wanted to see was a 2005 37 ft. Nordic Tug (this is pretty much a scaled up version of LeeLoo, which is a 32 ft. Nordic Tug). To reality check the style of boat, we also looked at a couple of ocean-capable boats, a Selene 43 and a Krogan 39. These boats were more expensive than and, in some ways, not in as good of condition as the 37 ft. Nordic Tug.
So . . . after a few minutes of soul searching, we decided to make an offer on the 37 ft. Nordic Tug! The boat is in really good shape and has everything we would want in a boat, including a stern thruster in addition to a bow thruster. After two rounds of offers and counter offers, we were shocked (and pleased) when our offer was accepted! The survey and sea trial are scheduled for April 4 and closing is scheduled for April 28. We plan to move LeeLoo to Ft. Pierce next week and we will stay there until closing. Ft. Pierce is about 100 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale, a 2 day cruise. Ultimately, we will move LeeLoo to New Bern, North Carolina which is where our yacht broker (United Yacht Sales) is located. We will continue on the Loop on our new 37!
Our New 37 ft. Nordic Tug - Any Suggestions For A Name?
After closing we will own 2 boats! If anyone would like to buy a 32 ft. Nordic Tug in great condition, let us know! We will make you a deal you can't refuse! By the way, Nancy says this is our last new boat!
Sunset Over LeeLoo In Marina Bay Resort
Wednesday, March 2 - Our destination today was Marina Bay Resort, which is about 5 miles up the New River. The New River departs the ICW adjacent to downtown Ft Lauderdale. It travels through downtown Ft Lauderdale (there is a nice river walk) and then it goes off to the south towards the airport. We said our goodbyes to Ralph and Linda on Mazel Tug as they departed about 9:00 a.m.
Because today's trip was short (only 20 miles) and because we wanted to wait for slack water (no current) on the New River, we did not leave until 12:30 p.m. The New River is very narrow and there are monstrously large yachts tied up on both sides of the river. There is little maneuvering room to be had should you find yourself bow to bow with a yacht coming down river. Anticipating these challenges, we lowered all of our antennas and also the bimini to reduce our air draft as much as possible. This way we could pass under all of the bridges and not have to wait for the brides to open. It was also beneficial to be traveling on a weekday as there were fewer boats on the river. Even with this advance planning, we were forced to dodge a large tour boat coming down the river. It is funny (not!), they think they own the river!
Scenes Along The New River
A 120+ Ft. Yacht Being Towed Down The New River. The Larger Yachts Cannot Make The Turns On Their Own. Not Visible Is A Towboat Behind This Yacht. The Back Towboat Controls The Stern Of The Yacht.
We arrived at the Marina Bay Resort around 3:30 p.m. and were tied up shortly thereafter. One interesting fact about the marina is that it is very deep (over 30 feet). Apparently, this marina was once a rock quarry where the rock was used to build the runways at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. There is a pool, hot tub, club house (and yes, internet!). We chose this marina because this is where we will leave LeeLoo while we make a trip back to Illinois for a couple of weeks.
Pool At Marina Bay Resort
Lots Of Small Lizards Live Here!
The weather has been great! High 70's-low 80's since we've arrived. Even the humidity is low today. This is a nice place to be. We did hear that the weather in Illinois will be in the 50's while we are there, so we are hoping to get in and out before it gets cold and snows again!
Monday, February 29 - We left Faro Blanco Resort marina on our way to Miami. It was a two day trip covering just over 100 miles. We were traveling with Ralph, Linda and Chewy (the boat dog) on Mazel Tug. It was nice following Mazel Tug because they had been through these waters before.
We decided to take the inside route across Florida Bay rather than Hawk Channel (the outside route); the inside route is more direct although, as we were to find out, the water can be very shallow in places. For about a 5 mile stretch, the depth of the water averaged 5 feet and in a couple of places the depth sounder showed 3.6 feet! Fortunately, we realized that we did not program a transducer offset into our depth sounder so the water was actually 1.5 feet deeper than it was reading. Still, that is shallow water, especially when LeeLoo's draft is 3.5 feet.
Birds Standing On Sticks In 3.5 Feet Water!
Our destination this day was Key Largo. Mazel Tug stayed at Gilbert's Marina and we anchored nearby. After we set the anchor, we took the dinghy to the marina and had dinner with Ralph and Linda at the marina restaurant. It was dark when we headed back to LeeLoo and Carey was heading in the wrong direction (naturally) until Nancy set him straight! It's hard to find a boat in the dark, even with the anchor light on! Fearing that this would be the case, we added a flashing light to LeeLoo's bow to help us find her. We spent a peaceful night at anchor.
Sunset From The Restaurant At Gilbert's Marina. That Is LeeLoo In the Distance.
Tuesday, March 1 - We left Key Largo for Miami, a distance of about 50 miles. Fortunately, the water was deeper in Blackwater and Barnes Sounds and in Biscayne Bay, one less thing to worry about. We passed downtown Miami and the Miami Cruise Ship Terminal on our way north. Since this was a Tuesday, there were no cruise ships in port, but there were a lot of other "smaller" vessels out and about. Our destination was an anchorage north of Miami called Aleto State Park. It was a pretty bay off of the main ICW Channel and there was plenty of water in which to anchor. An adjacent bay is next to Florida International University, so there were lots of students in kayaks and on stand up paddle boards in the bay.
It was an easy day on the water.
Crab Boat On The Bay
Passing Through A Creek Connecting Barnes Sound and Biscayne Bay
Miami In The Distance
Passing Under 2 Bridges On The ICW In Miami
An Ocean Going Tugboat On The ICW - Now That's A Boat!
Saturday, February 27 - We took the Lower Keys Shuttle Bus to Key West for the day. One benefit of being a "senior citizen" is that the bus trip was only $1.50 per person each way. It was only a 45 mile trip but it took over an hour and a half to get there because of all the stops it made. Although it was windy that day, the weather was sunny and warm.
Since we have been to Key West before, we spent our visit walking around our favorite areas and people watching. There were a couple of cruise ships in port, so Key West was very crowded! And, of course, we spent a fair amount of time at the marinas looking at big boats!
One interesting feature of Key West is that there are wild roosters and chickens walking about. The roosters must not know what time it is because they were crowing continuously!
Key West Rooster And Chicken
Friday, February 26 - Our plan was to spend a week here at Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon. Early in the week, the weather was stellar, sunny and warm. We went to the pool a couple of times. By Wednesday, a cold front came through with the same strong northerly winds that we experienced in Venice. We originally planned to leave on Saturday, February 27, but Florida Bay is simply too rough. The waves are from the north and we would be traveling easterly in beam seas, not comfortable at all! The water is also very shallow and it would be hard to find and obey the day marks, in order to stay in the channel, with the boat rocking and rolling. To let the water settle some, we will now depart on Monday, February 29. The cardinal rule of Looping is to change your plans when the weather or water does not cooperate; Nancy is much better at this than Carey is!
Lighthouse At Faro Blanco Marina
LeeLoo In Slip At Faro Blanco Marina. Although The Docks Are Fixed, Notice The Long Finger Pier.
Picture Taken From The Dinghy On A Fair Weather Day
Today we went to The Turtle Hospital near the marina. It was a very interesting facility and totally funded by the admission fee. There are 68 sea turtles living there, approximately 58 will be returned to the sea once they are healthy enough. The other ten or so would not survive in the wild and thus are permanent residents. Many of the turtles were injured by being hit by power boats or by swallowing large fish hooks. Sometimes, as a result of injury, the turtle gets air trapped between its internal organs and the top of the shell. This causes the turtle to be positively buoyant and it is not longer able to dive down to the bottom to feed. This is known as "bubble butt syndrome. Once the turtle has been nursed back to health, the treatment for bubble butt syndrome is to epoxy lead weights to the top of the shell. Other turtles have a virus that causes tumorous growths on their legs and around their eyes. Ugh! Yet others were inured by predators (sharks, alligators etc.). The hospital staff does amazing work in rehabilitating these turtles. They have the same equipment that you would find in a regular hospital such as x-ray machines and a surgical suite.
X-Ray Machine At The Turtle Hospital
Operating Room At The Turtle Hospital (not a real turtle)
Green Turtle Up Close
Another Green Turtle
A Loggerhead Turtle (like the one we saw on the passage from Shark River to Marathon)
Tuesday, February 23 - On Saturday, February 20, we cruised from the anchorage at Little Shark River to Faro Blanco Resort and Marina in Marathon, a trip of about 45 miles. The weather was cloudy and the waves were on the port (left) stern which gave the boat a rather uncomfortable (but not dangerous) ride. The biggest challenge was dodging the hundreds (felt like thousands!) of crab pots. Not sooner than we would engage the auto pilot on our course to Marathon, we would have to go to standby to dodge a crab pot. This happened over and over again. A highlight of our cruise was that we saw a huge sea turtle that was bigger than a garbage can lid. At first we thought it was debris in the water, then as we got closer we saw it was a sea turtle. We only saw him closely for a few seconds before he took a breath of air and went back underwater. But, that is a sight we will never forget!
View of Bay of Florida From LeeLoo - Look At That Caribbean Blue-Green Water!
We arrived at Faro Blanco Resort at 2:30 p.m. and were happy to be back in a resort marina. For once it is very easy to get on and off our boat and the view is spectacular! We finally found the Caribbean blue water. Although this marina is a bit pricey, we are staying for a whole week and then will continue towards the Ft. Lauderdale area. One of the nice things about Faro Blanco is that we reconnected with many of our Looper friends. We do have internet at this marina if we go up to the pool and restaurant area. That is a plus!
Shortly after we arrived in Faro Blanco, we washed LeeLoo - a job that needs to be done after cruising in saltwater - especially when we have anchored out for 3 nights in a row. While we were washing LeeLoo, we were visited by 2 huge manatees. They were trying to drink our fresh water that was draining as we washed LeeLoo. This was our first manatee sighting so we were thrilled!
Manatee Swimming Between LeeLoo And The Boat Next To Us
Manatee Begging For Fresh Water
The next day, 1 manatee returned. Someone on the dock was feeding the manatee romaine lettuce which is evidentially what manatees enjoy.
Manatee Eating Romaine Lettuce
