Adventures Dec 8- 10th

Did I mention our desire/need to add solar panels (and ALL related equipment) and a watermaker, before heading across the Gulfstream? Russ is a fantastic DIYer and precious few boat projects ever involve outside help. These two additions would be no exception. Right before leaving Vero Beach he ordered a Spectra Watermaker Ventura 200-T (for Tropical) with a three-week lead time. He installed the same one on Ms Ortolan in 2011. Many hours involved in that decision, but mostly the thoughts were, “get it” or “not get it”. Plenty of $$ and while you’d never spend that much paying for all your Bahamian fresh RO water, the convenience it affords is appealing to us in our old (er) age. Plus, we could cruise with less water in our tank and that’s good when your waterline is as low as ours all loaded with living aboard things, plus the added weight of solar and the watermaker itself.

We are on the left. Sitting so much lower in the water than Vign Eau on the right.

The decision process for the Solar Project was the opposite; no question about wanting it, but more hours than I could count got spent on learning how it all works, what brand to buy and who to buy it from. The choices range from inexpensive panels at Home Depot to ultra-pricey marine-grade ones from possibly West Marine. Russ picked brains at the PDQ gathering and checked out a few boats with solar. The most common placement is on the T-top, but if you don’t have a T-top the panels could go atop the davits. We considered the side railings and even places more forward, but quickly discarded them due to looks and wiring difficulty.

T-top before the panels

Finally the long –awaited moment arrived and eMarine Systems in southern Ft Lauderdale was the lucky winner. Our plan was to anchor in Hollywood’s North Lake or with luck get a slip at the municipal marina right there, use Uber to get to the Uhaul place where we’d rent a van to pick up the panels (68”x26”), stainless steel ribs, controllers, wiring and various do-dads required to attach things to each other. The company is mostly mail order or you pick it up; they don’t have a means (yet) to deliver and they don’t usually get involved with the custom stainless work each installation project needs.

However, Russ made a convincing case for our situation and eMarine worked with a fabrication guy who used our drawings and measurements to create perfect SS ribs for the two panels to clamp on to. … but first we needed to get ourselves down toward Ft Liquor- I mean Lauderdale.

Underway from Peck Lake to Boca Raton

Much of the trip from Stuart to Hollywood would be new scenery and a gazillion opening bridges; I’m not kidding. As the bridges became closer together and more attractive, so did the homes that lined both sides of the (often) cement-sided canal-ish waterway.

Looks like a painting

Most bridges we could slip under with the antenna down, but many had too little vertical clearance and opened on a schedule, often on the hour and half-hour.

Not many fit under this one

We resorted to listing the bridges, the distance between each and speed needed to make the next opening. This isn’t as easy as you might think thanks to numerous SLOW SPEED Manatee zone areas, SLOW SPEED Boat Safety zone areas and NO WAKE you might damage lawn zones. 🙂  Yes, enforcement lies in wait.

Try reading these every mile or two; sometimes they are so far off to the side you blink you miss them

Wednesday night found us anchored in Lake Boca Raton- oh and doesn’t that sound special? But like many teeny lakes in these parts it’s just a small anchorage east of the ICW.

turn left before G67

I was eager to experience Ft Lauderdale “from inside” and happy that today wasn’t a weekend.

More boats, yachts, vessels of all shapes and sizes than you can count

Russ pointed out how all the bascule bridges looked clean and shiny underneath

This one looks perfect; what more could you need? The mansion, the yacht……

Viewing stands along the ICW for the HUGE boat parade Dec 12

We enjoy a preview

Uh oh, what is hiding behind the treeline?

Looks like she is headed our way-but no, the bridge will stop her!

Port Everglades inlet laid flat calm and needless to say was busy, busy.  The trip would have been awful if not for the SLOW zones because the wakes just bounce back and forth between the concrete walls, and bounce and bounce. Ugh

The Hollywood Municipal Marina only had one slip available, not quite wide enough for us, so we anchored. We’d be very close to a public launching ramp with room to tie the dinghy so getting ashore was do-able.

Looking at the North Lake anchorage from GG’s

Walked across the bridge to GGs for a delicious dinner and a view that looked west over the ICW and the boats anchored. The wide smoke-stack like clouds made for a gorgeous sunset and boy the thunderstorms that came from offshore at 3am, I never heard thunder crackle and roar quite like it did. Russ reported 34mph wind – after I saw 30 I didn’t want to look again.

Friday would find us in various vehicles, picking up our Solar Project components then finding the best and safest method available to get the stuff on board.   You may notice that this post only covers the “On Solar” part and not even “on” as in installation, but with Christmas approaching the title seemed appropriate. Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

Docked from right to left: Vign Eau, Twin Sisters, Abbotsford III, Miss My Money, Cat Daddy

How about that title uh? Am sure it’s B minus at best but I think you get the drift; although I am not suggesting anything French about it. We did however; enjoy the company of Nicole and Serge of m/v Vign Eau docked behind us. The annual PDQ Winter Rendezvous, usually held in January, was moved to Dec 5 this year; perfect timing for us. Sponsored by Rhumb Line Yacht Sales, the event takes place at Stuart Yachts where many PDQs go for service before or afterwards.

About six of us owners arrived by boat and the other two dozen or so drove in. Five boats (4 34s and 1 41’) are for sale through Rhumb Line and one other broker and we got to poke around on those. I am especially curious about various window treatments, both interior and exterior.

Most PDQ34 owners are former sailors, although some have slowed down from express cruisers! A really friendly group of people and no matter who we spoke with we found something in common almost immediately; where they lived, cruised, who they knew, etc. The one day event contained 6 educational sessions; during the 2nd and 3rd sessions the ladies got to gather (jammed in like sardines is more like it!) on one of the brokerage boats while the guys got to enjoy engine-related stuff. We didn’t talk about girlie stuff thank you very much; we talked about interior maintenance and cleaning recommendations, and storage tips and ideas. Got my list made right way.

Stuart sits west of the ICW on the way to Lake Okeechobee; new scenery for us. Rain had settled in; not a steady thing but enough to keep you on your “quick close all the windows” toes.

We left Peck Lake in favor of a shorter trip to Stuart Yachts on Friday, our scheduled day to arrive. Anchored in a spot near shore with North and NW protection. A sailing cat sat anchored close by. Was dark when we heard a knock; uh oh. The cat’s owner and no, he wasn’t saying we were too close, rather he had a request. Just yesterday his mooring malfunctioned causing the boat to go walkabout! We commiserated on that; knowing the exact feeling. Now the boat was anchored and could we call if we noticed that she might be dragging. Even asked if we needed anything.

Train tracks run north & south along much of Florida’s east coast, often close to Rte 1 and the ICW; sound carries well over water let me just say. This same set of tracks will also be used for Florida’s All Aboard, adding many more trains and way more frequent bridge openings. Don’t think that will affect most ICW cruisers, but I wouldn’t want to live or boat around affected areas.

Roosevelt fixed bridge, RR bridge with train and the Old Roosevelt bascule bridge. We wait our turn

The RR bridge and bascule are so close that you can’t see one for the other

We clear RR bridge with its narrow opening span, said to be only 30 feet. Imagine Ortolan at 23 ft!

We make it a practice to use our phones or iPad and check ActiveCaptain for hazard markers that may affect us; with Twins not many do :-).  Checking when traveling in an unfamiliar area is smart and in our excitement over getting into Stuart Yachts a day early we didn’t look. Let’s leave it at that and now like your new car with the first scratch over and done with, we’ve had our first soft grounding. Ooh did I say that? Visions of SeaTow danced in my head, fading quickly as we backed up and all was well.
Stuart Yachts sits on the South Fork of the St Lucie River/Okeechobee Waterway; a very narrow, windy branch for sure.

Into the South Fork

Approx one mile before Stuart Yachts

We are docked.  Watching brokerage boats arrive Friday afternoon.

An avid boater friend who we met while hauled out in RI one summer, lives (as of 12/15 make that lived) part-time in Port St Lucie. We’ve kept in touch and he was ready, willing and able to offer car services while we were in Stuart. As much as I’d like to be living part-time in a small bungalow near the shore, this friendship and camaraderie aspect of our nomadic cruising life is the #1 thing that puts a smile on my face and happiness in my heart for the odd life we live. Makes the Captain happy too.

Mark’s 14′ Peep Hen, s/v Peep Show. Heading for RI a week after I took this photo

A few PDQ owners had a car and a couple of times we got together for dinner. Below is our farewell meal at Shrimpers in Manatee Pocket. I chose Shrimp Caprese- delicious and a creative twist on traditional Caprese and on the Port T-Loin Caprese I love to prepare.

Russ, Lori, Rafe, Charlotte and Doug at Shrimpers

Many boat cards changed hands, cruising plans discussed, invites to come by when “in town”, and of course PDQ boat talk of systems, stuff and more stuff.  I’m sure our paths will cross again and when they do, reconnecting will be fun. We expect to see s/v Gypsy out there too!