Busy Day At The Port

Today was our 43rd wedding anniversary, and we couldn't have chosen a better way to celebrate than to go back to Peanut Island by the Port of Palm Beach and Lake Worth Inlet. We have made a lot of memories here over the past oh so many years, especially during our cruising days. Today we launched the kayaks under the Blue Heron Bridge and paddled to the beach for a picnic.

Although the tide was still going out and not conducive for snorkeling (and there were more jellyfish than we have ever seen anywhere before), it was great for a hike around the island and seeing lots of iguanas, but very few people. The port was really busy and we were anxious to go paddling around all the ships and yachts.

We got really close to the yachts at Rybovich/Safe Harbor, one of which was being hauled out by the travel lift.

What a line up of Sportfish bows...

Then we came across the 137 ft. J-Class sailing yacht Ranger, the replica of the original one that was scrapped in 1941. It had no rig, but you can see it on the dock behind it. This steel yacht was built in 2003, has won numerous awards and races, and the mast is over 200 ft. long! It needs 15 ft. of water depth to float and is 21 ft. wide. 

Look at all the dorades...and the exotic catamaran behind it! 

Not to mention the megayacht at the dock too...

On our way around Peanut Island, we also saw two Sea Tow boats assisting a motor yacht, one on each end...

As we approached the inlet in our circumnavigation, there were two tugboats coming into the port with dredge pipes about half a mile long in between the two tugs. 

All this followed by another megayacht...you can tell it is Palm Beach!

This sure was the best day's activity for us two old married goats. It may not have been a new horizon but it certainly was memorable!

Bitsy At The Lock

In case you haven't seen the comment in the previous post, we have named our Mini-Cooper Bitsy, mainly for its size. Today was a good windy day to take her to the St. Lucie Lock on the Okeechobee Waterway and have a walk around. If we had been on the motorcycle, we would have been blown off the road with the gusts.

Unfortunately the gates to cross over the lock and go to the other side picnic area were closed and locked, but we still had a nice ride out to the park. No boats were locking through and very few people were out (except at the RV part of the park), so social distancing sure was easy!

New Wheels!

It was time. Although we enjoy riding around on the Silverwing motorcycle, sometimes we have really wanted a car to drive. The van is great for long trips or to tow boats, but around town it is rather cumbersome and we really wanted something small and sporty, since we don't have much room down here. We debated on going as small as a Smart Car but my heart wasn't into it. Perhaps shipping my PT Cruiser Convertible might work, but then we saw what used ones were going for and unfortunately it just wasn't worth it (and Florida sun is hard on a convertible top). Our neighbor has a Mini-Cooper and loves it, so we figured, why not get something different than what we already have up north? You know us and how we love being diverse. We looked at one but it was a bit ratty. Then our friend Scott sent us an ad for this 2008 blue Mini, right in Lake Park near West Palm Beach. I sent Jim and Dave down to check it out and voila, they REALLY liked it, so now it is ours! Next step is to name it, since they have a cult following and all have names. 

When the guys go sailing, I won't be left home alone, or if the conditions are right and I want to kayak while they sail, I can drive to the launch ramp, and if they stay out too long I am free to go on my merry way. It even holds quite a few groceries, which we tested tonight, and once I have my second vaccine shot, I can foresee more shopping trips to make up for lost time. 

Our fleet is growing...happy 43rd anniversary to us! 

Another Day, Another Beach

Actually this beach was on Jupiter Island, just like the last post, only we were a bit further north. We have been wanting to take the St. Lucie Inlet Preserve kayak trail, but it is advertised to take about 3 hours to complete. We didn't have that much time, so we just did an introductory paddle to the beach at the south end of the lagoon.

The entrance channel was fun with ibis and night herons hiding in the mangroves. Getting to the opening was challenging with south winds on our nose and an unpredicted rain squall hit us too. It was worth it though.

We came to a crossroads as the channel opened up to a large lagoon. Going left would have taken us to the rest of the trail, which is only accessible at high tide. We went right, and since we were protected from the wind, the reflections on the still water were mesmerizing.

The landing for the beach was small, but opened up to be able to store our yaks out of the water in a clearing.

The ocean beach was secluded and not a soul to be seen in any direction (lots of fishing boats in the distance though. A man did pass us in his Hobie peddling kayak on the Intracoastal, went up the creek, landed, pulled the yak on wheels to the beach and went fishing out in the ocean). We didn't stay long, because we didn't realize that this part of the island requires a $2 per kayak fee, and we had no money with us (however last time we were at the state park, we overpaid, so it evens out 😉).

Heading back through another 'tunnel of love' to our yaks... 

After walking the short path, what a surprise we had when we saw about a dozen other kayakers being led by two park rangers. Apparently we were there on the day they do tours. We did time it well though and paddled back, but this time we were able to fly downwind to the launching beach on the ICW. Now we are intrigued and ready to go the rest of the way on this interesting waterway, when tide and weather align.

Aqua Agua

Yesterday was a perfect day to show Jim one of our favorite kayaking destinations, the ocean beach at Peck Lake. After launching at Jimmy Graham Park, we found a new channel and some nice oxbows to explore along the way. We landed at the southern most Peck Lake access point and it looked like it was THE spot for kayakers to land that day.

The love tunnel to the ocean beach...

Crowds, what crowds? Once you get to the beach, everyone spreads out so social distancing certainly isn't a problem.

I was first into the aqua water, but only up to my knees, since the waves were ready to knock me off my feet. It was much warmer than I expected though. However, those waves were ideal for the guys to body surf!

They had such a good time, until one big wave sent Jim head first into the sand. Battle wounds!

After this, we took a walk up the beach, noticing that the sand is harder here and easier to walk on, almost compared to Daytona. Dave found a piece of aqua seaglass to match the water color, and we also saw a couple of Portuguese Man-O-War jellyfish washed up. These tend to come in with the southeast wind.

Another rarity we found was this very tired juvenile blue eyed Gannet. These birds don't normally come to shore, so it was way off course. A passerby tried to approach it and it was quite alert, snapping at the person. We didn't have a phone with us to call to see if it should be rescued, so hopefully when the tide came back up, it floated back out to sea. 

This is such a nice paddle to a gorgeous desolate beach. The water in the Intracoastal Waterway may be brown, but this is well worth the effort to get away from crowds and see the "aqua agua" again.

Revisiting Our Past

What a beautiful day we had on Friday to go out in our powerboat Coqui. We launched at Burt Reynolds Park in Jupiter (no issues this time thanks to our Boat Boy Jim), and took a nostalgic trip down the Intracoastal Waterway to Lake Worth and Peanut Island. Jim had never been here, but this is our old stomping grounds from almost 40 years ago. Some things had changed, like most of the quaint little houses are now huge mansions taking up entire yards, with boats with four engines on lifts. Other things haven't changed, like derelict boats and other liveaboards anchored in every nook and cranny.

We even saw Captain Joe's water taxis. We worked with Captain Joe on the Empress of Palm Beach dinner cruise boat, oh so many years ago.

Luckily this time, conditions were perfect for the incoming tide to make the water very blue and clear at Peanut Island. 

There was even a manatee and calf that cruised through. They sure are easier to see in the clear water. Coming down the brown ICW, we had a close call when one surfaced just two feet away from the side of the boat.

Dave sent a photo to Sharon of Jim talking to her on the phone, so she could see where we were.

After our picnic lunch, the guys went snorkeling. The water, although chilly, was the clearest Dave had seen it here, so the gulfstream must be close offshore the inlet. The guys said that there were all sorts of fish and three different types of jellyfish that they had to maneuver around.

We even got to see a ship go out the inlet. When we used to anchor our sailboat here, that was one of the highlights of our day, with such a busy port.

Taking a jaunt through the Port of Palm Beach, we saw this mega yacht anchored out.

 

As we were getting ready to pass in front of this other mega yacht, it gave us a loud warning horn signal, because it was turning up a side channel.

The wind picked up and the sun was getting low, so unfortunately we couldn't explore any further south. Someday we will do this again and see more ships, yachts, and Palm Beach mansions. We proved that "you CAN go back again!"

Manatee Haven

With our cold weather recently, we knew that the manatees would be congregating in the creek where we launched our kayaks a few weeks ago. There is a bridge that goes over the creek that attracts onlookers, so we decided to see how many manatees were hanging out in the warmer water. We lost count after a dozen, because some were moving around. It would have been nice if the water was clear, but this is the next best thing to going all the way up to Blue Spring in Deland. Enjoy, and the white manatee that seemed to get in many of my photos, must have been brushing up against the bottom paint of a boat...

Brrrrrrr!

"Baby it's cold outside!" This morning I woke to see frost on the ground and 40 degrees. The past few days have been cold and very windy, but at least the sky is blue and sunny. After this morning it should warm up to more normal temperatures...I hope! To keep things upbeat, I am glad to say that I received my first dose of Covid vaccine with barely a side effect. My arm didn't even hurt. So, if you can, do it...get vaccinated or be put on a list to make your appointment and help get things more normal again. Maybe soon they will lower the age minimum so Dave can get his, but at the rate the inoculations are going he will be 65 before he is eligible (8 months) 😉. 

Last year's photo...my hair is much longer now!

Footnote: You get two posts in one day today, because when I went to write this, I saw that my post from last week had not published.

Carpe Diem...

Or in our case, "Carpe Carp"... seize the carp! A few days ago we launched our kayaks on Hillmoor Lake in Port St. Lucie. Beach Cruiser Barb and I have walked the Woodstork Trail in this pretty park and it looked so inviting to go explore the freshwater pond and its two 'arms', so Dave and I returned to go yakking (the buoys in the background are for remote control sailboat races). 

It is interesting that Google Earth still has our Christmas light tour on the overlay...

What fun to launch near the alligator sign, but even though we didn't see the big one that several people told us about, we did see some four footers. 

We saw all sorts of fish, which we think were large carp, and they were nesting in the sand. They may also have been tilapia, and I really think I saw a fresh water snook as we paddled along in the clear water. Water birds were all along the shoreline and we also saw a pair of sandhill cranes getting a drink and hunting in the high grasses.

On the way home, we witnessed a family of sandhill cranes crossing the road and the youngster was browner in color. They are such good parents! It was definitely another 10 day.