See Florida, Sea Florida MTOA Rendezvous

Friday April 8th-  Rose early in the morning to time our departure with slack tide around 8am. It's always an interesting event untying from the Riverwalk wall. Sometimes the current plays with the boats like toys in a bathtub. The MTOA ( Marine Trawlers Owners Association) is having a National Rendezvous in Stuart Florida beginning on Monday and we were very much looking forward to seeing our cruising friends. It was going to take us 2 days to reach Stuart so our first night we anchored in Lake Worth. It's a very nice protected anchorage. As we were putting our anchor down we heard ahoy Summer Wind, there was Bob and Helen our MTOA friends aboard Allez. That evening shortly around dinner time we heard another ahoy Summer Wind. It was Jerry and Linda aboard Monk's Vineyard and Michael and Jana aboard Second Star returning from their winter trip in the Bahamas and heading to the rendezvous. This was going to be a great gathering!

Bob & Helen aboard Allez

Saturday morning we raised anchor and headed for the Marriott Resort and Marina on Hutchinson Island where the event would be taking place. We spent six wonderful days at the rendezvous. There were many wonderful gatherings and reunions with our friends. The MTOA is one of the largest cruising communities.

Dick and I took a CPR & AED course where we earned our certificates. Each day the group gathers at 'cocktail' hour and we enjoy catching up with one another's adventures.One highlight of the rendezvous, Dick and I were "Secret Hug Look Out Spys for Hug Day! If we spotted a hug in action we gave out a raffle ticket. Wow we saw a lot of hugs and we received many!! Another highlight of this rendezvous was we earned our first Ruby Turtle Pin by chairing a committee. We organized the 'flea market' and for 2 mornings we were up by 6:30 am setting up to greet the happy flea shoppers. There was a fantastic See Florida - Sea Florida' Tshirt competition which we entered but didn't win, but there was great fun in seeing every one's creation. Dick entered the blind man dinghy competition with George from Jubilee and they tied for 3rd place! Way to go!! On our last day at the rendezvous we were treated with a visit from Tom Gilbert who owns Summer Wind 1 and is good friends with Summer Wind ll , what a very nice treat!

Enjoying that first morning coffee

George, Jane, Dick, George Kay, Roger

Our Ode to Sea/See Florida

Bob & Helen's Collage

More See Florida Creations!

CPR Class learning how to respond to choking

Cocktail hour with friends

Dick and George doing the Dinghy race

Dick and Tom aboard "Summer Wind II" according to Tom

It was hard to say good-bye to our friends, we had so much fun! However, another exciting adventure was going to begin for the crew of the Summer Wind!

Heading North for Fort Lauderdale

Sunday March 27th - 8:00am at Plantation Marina, Islamorada, we untied the lines at slack high tide. In order to get out of the marina Dick turns the boat 180* degrees,  there's not much room for drifting because the shallow area is very close. We are a single screw (engine) so thank goodness for a bow thruster (motorized propeller at the bow of the boat that pushes the water opposite what direction we'd like to turn. Our decision was made to try to get back to Fort Lauderdale in 2 days, so our first stop was going to be Boca Chita State Park. It's a small Island with several spaces to tie up on a wall for the night. We should have known better it was a gorgeous Sunday and every local boater was out. The wall was full and boats were rafting up ,, ok onto plan 2. No Name Harbor was only an hour away and we knew we could drop a hook for the night. Upon arriving to No Name Harbor we looked towards Key Biscayne and noticed hundreds of boats anchored out,,, oh oh this didn't look promising. There was a major Tennis Championship match going on  and every boat in Miami seemed to be vieing for a spot near the Island. When we entered No Name Harbor we were absolutely shocked, there was no room to be had anywhere. Dozens of  local boats were rafted up along the wall  in the small harbor. What made it very tricky for manuevering were the dozens of swimmers in the water around their boat. No there are no pictures, while the captain was on the wheel, I  (first mate)was on the bow as a Scout for stray swimmers,,, YIKES!! So we decided to anchor outside in the Bay for a few short hours until the 'locals' went home. Sure enough around 6 pm it was like a parade of boats exiting the harbor. We would have stayed put for the night but the winds were supposed to pick up so we decided to anchor back inside the harbor for more protection.

Hundreds of boats anchored for Tennis

Another Great Sunset

Monday morning we weighed anchor and slowly we made our way out of the harbor and into the bay. There were wind and waves, and we were glad that we made the decision to relocate because it would have been a very rocky night. From a distance we could see the storms approaching,, better make tracks as they say. Sure enough the storm front was moving faster then we were and it caught up to us as we were waiting for a bridge opening. Our destination today was Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale where we'll be able to plan our arrival at the River Walk for slack tide the next day. Early afternoon we dropped the hook and relaxed the rest of the day. Just before dinner time the skies opened up again into a ferocious wind and rainstorm. The downpour was so heavy we couldn't see the boats nearby until we noticed a person on a sailboat valiantly trying to re-anchor.

Miami Skyline

Fast Moving Front

Tuesday March 29th- Thursday April 7th  Slack tide was around noon so we enjoyed a relaxing morning. OK why are we back in Fort Lauderdale, well, we had discovered a few problems with the Summer Wind and our mechanic was scheduled to come and check it out. We discovered our holding tank had a leak, yes our one year new tank was leaking,, YUCK!!!! As most of you know the new tank had been placed under the generator , so you can't really see what's going on underneath, but there is one way to tell  and that's when something just doesn't smell right, EWWW. Very frustrating because the captain ordered a much more solid tank thinking about strength and permability, unfortunately it wasn't flexible enough with the movement of the boat and cracked at the seams.The second new tank was ordered and it is a little smaller to allow for room more movement and  then installed using a rubberized foam insulation  with braces. Keep your fingers crossed this one lasts longer then a year! We had our rudder stuffing box tightened and the 'burned wire that the first mate discovered turned out to be a gooey pliable tape,, who knew?

Big toys for big boats,, Helicopter on the Sundeck



Mango Tree

Flowering Bloom on the Mango Tree

Monkeying around on Las Olas

Monkey See Monkey Do?

A lot of Monkey Business

While we were waiting in Fort Lauderdale we enjoyed the Turkish festival and many walks on Las Olas Blvd.

Can you imagine having to wash this boat?

Florida Keys / Islamorada

March 23rd -  We enjoyed a relaxed morning breakfast before heading for our next destination. It's not surprising sometimes when raising the anchor to find that we've picked something up from the bottom. This morning we nabbed an old fishing line that was wrapped around the hook. To release the line, sometimes involves using a hook or  sometimes involves reaching through the bowsprit and trying to untangle it and bring it aboard for disposal. This can be tricky if the anchorage is rocky and rolly, No Name Harbor is one of the better spots 'if your going to pick something up'. Sometimes we've picked up a few 'icky' things (jelly fish that we may have speared with the hook)  and this is where the hose comes in real handy.
Our trip today took us down through Biscayne Bay. The draft on our boat is 4' which allows us to travel through the inside passage. After saying this, there were times when the depth sounder would show 1 foot under our keel in some narrow channels, a little too close for our comfort. With the clarity of the water we were able to see the plant life below.
 Our stop took us to an anchorage near a private isand called Pumpkin Key , just off Key Largo. There were no trespassing signs all over the small island, not very welcoming.
The weather was perfect, no winds or waves to worry about, otherwise we would have felt a little out in the open.  In the afternoon we relaxed on the bridge with a vey good book. We're currently reading, "A Pearl in the Storm" written by Tori Murden McClure. Tori wrote about her adventure, solo rowing a 23' rowboat named the 'American Pearl' across the Atlantic Ocean. Can you imagine rowing  alone across an ocean, what was she thinking? We're shuttering at the thought! An excellent story and we highly reccomend.
The evening sunset was amazing, as we journey further south for some reason the sun seems to be huge.At night we could hardly tell that the Summer Wind was at anchor. The seas were so calm and the night sky was clear. Unfortunately the tiny island where we were anchored next to was lit up like a nighttime football game.

The bottom seems to be getting closer!

A Relaxing Afternoon

Gorgeous Sunset off Key Largo

March 24th- Just before travelling Dick will check the engine room, and make sure that everything is as it should be. Lately he's been teaching me how to check the engine room, which I do find interesting. On my inspections I found a few things which I brought to his attention but more on that later.

We had heard so much about the Keys and decided to check out Plantation Key Marina. Our trip today was only about 29 miles . There are approximately 4500 islands considered to be the Keys of Southern Florida and they vary in sizes and habitation. Todays passage took us through several narrow canals with mangroves lining the shores. However there are some areas deep enough for dolphins. Check out the video below.

Dolphins in our Wake

The entrance to  Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina has a maximum depth of 5', so again our depth sounders were screaming. We were expecting the low water and just slowed down to make sure that the Summer Wind entered fine. Plantation Yacht Harbor is a small city run marina but they are located in Founders Park and offer many ammenities such as a beach area, pool, tennis courts, exercise paths and there are stations along the path that have bars to do stretch exercises.

Our plan was to spend a few days at the marina to scope out the area for next year. We rented a car for a day and drove down to Marathon. In one marina we came across a few MTOA members and they invited us to join them for their cocktail hour and had a lovely time.

The second day there was going to be a "Pops Concert" at the park. Well at 4:00 we found a nice shady spot to listen. After the concert we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Lazy Days restaurant where we walked away absolutely stuffed.

We had a great time at Plantation marina and if we end up going around the tip of Southern Florida we felt this would be an excellent place to spend a few days.

Shallow Canal

Mangrove lined Canals

Summer Wind in Plantation Harbor Marina

Fossils in the Rock

Fossilized Coral Rock