Lost & Found!

What a coincidence that yesterday Dave received a text from our friend Scott, who had come across a photo of Dave's ice box/tool box that was totally lost in Hurricane Dorian and no where to be seen.

Amazingly an hour later a post was made on the Hope Town Sailing Club's Facebook page that the ice box was just found across the harbor and up Nigh Creek, which runs along the main road going in and out of the settlement. Of course nothing will be any good in it, but at least we now know where it ended up. "If only it could talk..."

South Fork Adventure

A few days ago we missed a turn onto Cove Rd. from Kanner Rd and had to do U-turn, and fate took over. As we passed over the narrow part of the south fork of the St. Lucie River, I happened to notice a sign for a park and an inviting launch ramp. We couldn't check it out that day, but today we went back to explore with the kayaks. 

What a gem of a kayak trail! We could either go left to the nature part of the river, or right to the more habited part. With the 10-15 knot north wind and incoming tide we opted to go right, into the wind and current (which actually wasn't much). That way it would be easier when we headed back. It may have been habited, but we love paddling through people's backyards, and seeing boats too of course. 

The water must be pretty deep because the boats kept getting larger and larger, including sailboats. 

Some looked like they had been sitting for quite some time...

As we got closer to the Okeechobee Waterway, we came across the Grand Banks Yacht Basin at Stuart Yacht Harbor. The quality and quantity of the boats here are amazing (not to mention cost too).

What a great place to keep the dinghy...

Close by was this boat on a lift with quad 400s...

That's a lot of propellers, although in this water they need that many with all the floating junk. If one prop gets fouled, they have plenty more to keep going. 😉

The types of house along the meandering river were diverse with new ones...

And some that had been around for a long time...

And just because we were paddling though communities doesn't mean that we didn't see our share of nature (now we know where robins migrate to during the winter, since we heard many of them). Waterbirds frequent the area including this lone immature ibis on a boat lift.

There were plenty of overhanging trees with Spanish moss lining the river banks .

Since it was a chilly morning we saw several turtles hanging out in the sun...

Last, but certainly not least, we were thrilled to see this alligator trying to get out into the sun right behind the turtles! 

He slithered into the water as we passed by, but we followed his bubbles as he descended into the depths of the murky water. Now we can't wait to go back to Hosford Park and follow the river the other way.

Lots Of EVERYTHING

The rain continued to fall yesterday, so we decided to do some inside treasure hunting up in Fort Pierce at the boat surplus warehouse. Marine Connection Liquidators was the most amazing store I had ever been in. You name it and if it is marine related, they have it and in massive quantities. There are two buildings filled with parts and supplies, plus outside too. Here is just a sampling...

Propellers, including some really big ones:

Outboard Engine Cowls:

Gauges:

Graphics:

Bimini Tops:

Plastic Water/Sewage/Fuel Tanks:

Cushions and Seats:

Stern Lights:

Hardware:

Dave was looking for a rogue piece of Sunbrella material to make a cover for the bowrider on the powerboat. 

When we finally made it outide, the weather had finally cleared and we got to see even more...

T-Tops and Center Consoles:

Aluminum Fuel Tanks:

Windshields:

Bow Rails in the trees:

And lots of miscellaneous items left over:

Almost everything was so organized throughout the facility and very helpful employees. Two guys even knelt on the floor to help Dave look for that piece of material. Prices were fair and most things looked new, but even if they weren't, if you needed something unusual, there is a darn good chance they have it (except the material we needed 😉). 

All's Well

We haven't done very much exciting this week, since we have been dealing with winter cold fronts. In fact a couple of nights ago the temperature got down to 40 degrees. The big news around the area was that when the temps get down below 50 degrees, the iguanas go immobile and fall from the trees! Once it warms up, they seem to recover. As do we 😉 and the weather warmed up nice enough today to return to our pool to swim laps. It did rain while we were in there though, but we kept on swimming and hung out in the hot tub until the rain eased up. We felt like kids again.

Hopefully we will back to new adventures soon!

Return to Peanut Island

Yesterday's weather forecast promised to have ideal conditions for kayaking from the Blue Heron Bridge out to Peanut Island, and it did not disappoint! Calm wind made for a fast and easy paddle to the island, unlike the last time we were there. The water was clear, warm, and blue on the incoming tide. Dave had his snorkeling gear with him and said it was fantastic. The visibility and fish rivaled Mermaid Reef in Abaco, although you have to be aware of the current.

The sky was gorgeous too...

With the lack of wind, we were able to kayak around the whole island this time, including the lagoon, stopping to visit the king (or queen) of the rocks and friends.

We even found a starfish in the shallows, which we placed back in the water after this photo opp.

The port was busy as usual, including freighters, a cruiseship, and the 320 ft. mega-yacht Aviva...

We also walked around the island again and got to watch a tanker back out of its slip in the port and get turned around to head out the inlet, with the help of two tugboats. The Port of Palm Beach's turning basin is pretty tight, especially since there is what looks like a dredge close by in the boat anchorage.

This sheriff's boat was docked in the marina. We had seen one with triple outboards, but this was a quad, so don't try to escape! 😉 The officers were there just in time to witness one boat that had just docked, get hit by another that was leaving and was apparently a bit too close. We heard the crunch and commotion as we walked by the boat basin. Good thing the sheriff's crew was there.

By afternoon the island was quite packed with people, both on land and water, so we headed back to the van at Phil Foster Park. You can tell the vacationers and the rest of the snowbirds have arrived, since there were few people here before Christmas. Now we know we need to go in the mornings like we did. We sure planned it right! Next time we will bring the powerboat down to explore further south in Palm Beach.