Road trip

 2/14- Vero Beach to Homestead 

    Yes that’s right Homestead Florida. We are on a road trip as we rented a car and drove down here. This trip probably solidified the decision to turn around on our boat as the traffic was a nightmare. There are just too many people around here for me. We had bumper to bumper traffic at 70 mph for almost 2 hours. My nerves were shot by the time we got here. 

    We drove straight to the Everglades and that was a relief. We took a hike that was the closest I’ve seen to an actual forest. This walk was in what they called a jungle. There were big mahogany trees which are now rare and these cool trees called Gumbo Limbo. They have a very shiny reddish bark and were used to carve the horses of merry-go-rounds among other things. 

    The Everglades as a whole though were a little underwhelming. Maybe it was because we have been sailing through marshes and cypress swamps for months. The thing about it though is just the massiveness of the whole thing. We only saw one small section and there are two more parcels similar in size. After the walk we drove the 40 miles(!) through the park to the Flamingo welcome center at the southern most tip of mainland Florida. Just seeing the vastness of this undeveloped area was impressive. We did see a bunch of manatees hanging around the marina there as well as a big gator sunning himself  on the side of the road. The thing of it is we have seen gators and most of the birds in abundance already so it was hard to get too excited.

    It was a long tiring day and tonight is our first night off the boat in 6 months. We are actually going to sleep in a bed !! I don’t think this cottage will have the same creaks and groans the boat has so I’m hoping sleep will come eventually.

Happy Valentines Day to all you romantics out there. I once worked in the wholesale flower industry and Valentine’s Day and Mothers Day were always our big days. Never underestimate the power of flowers!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sailing

 5/20- Boby Owl Cove, Broad Creek, Choptank River    We finally got to go sailing today. We put up the main sail and cruised out of the Wye River where I ran out the stay sail. When we made the turn to head for the Eastern Bay the wind was on the nose. We short tacked a few times before putting the motor back on to bump us around the point. Once there all three sails were up and we romped down the bay until the wind collapsed.      We had a choice here, we could continue sailing slowly and go outside of Poplar Island or turn the motor on and take the short way. We chose the motor as the wind was dying. Poplar Island is being extended with spoils from dredging operations. This inside track is a bit winding but near the southern end it gets very shallow. You have to follow a winding cut that is unmarked.     After we squeaked through there it was just a long couple of hour haul to the anchorage. This is another sweet anchorage which is kind of ...
Read more

The adventure begins

 I am sitting here on my couch in Vermont trying to remember all the stuff I will need to do to get ready for this trip. We have about a week to go and I keep wandering around the house and seeing stuff I think might be handy. If I keep this up too long the boat will not float on her water line anymore. We are simply ready to go ( I hope).  If you are following along I hope I don't bore you too much and that you enjoy our tale. Talk to you soon.
Read more

Leaks

 5/14/2025- Rock Hall MD   Well it poured last night. It was the kind of rain that made me glad I was on a boat. It was a good way to test for leaks. Boats are always springing leaks usually right where you least want them.     Boat leaks are also notoriously hard to track down. I have a porthole that leaks and despite having sealed the outside with a whole tube of caulking it still leaks. Water will come from pretty far away to spill out in the worst places. It gets under the headliner and travels down the length of the boat. I swear it leaches uphill even. I have even gone so far as to dye the water to see if I could figure out where it was coming from.     Well this porthole of mine that has the notorious leak was in perfect form this morning. As the rain crashed down outside the leak magnified and dropped a deluge right on my face. It was almost like taking a quick morning shower. I decided to just get up when it filled my mouth up with water....
Read more