The Golden Egg

What a way to spend early Easter Sunday! We kayaked over to the St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, walked the 3/4 mile boardwalk to the beach, and made the first footprints in the sand for the day. We decided to split up and Dave combed the beach to the north and inlet, while I headed south. What a surprise to find this Golden Easter Egg that had just washed up. It was empty, but that's okay, like my sister told me, it's a good representation of the empty tomb and what Easter stands for. 

When I met up with Dave again, he had his own treasures to show me, including another cowrie shell and a whole sand dollar, which is rare to find, since they usually break up in the surf. Sand dollars also have a religious meaning, so it was almost like we had our own private sunrise service.

Happy Easter!

Uninvited Guest

While we were at our favorite restaurant overlooking the Fort Pierce Inlet today, we had an uninvited guest sit next to us at our table. It remained there patiently awaiting a morsel for most of our lunch, until it started 'yelling' at us and I shooed it away. 

Obviously other diners have fed the birds, but no way were we going to, with its friends in the Palm trees, waiting to descend on us. We call them Florida birds because their loud screeching call is what we always hear as soon as we arrive in Florida, when we get out of the vehicle at a gas station or rest area. Officially they are called Boat-tailed Grackles. It's hard to believe that in about a month though, we will be listening for the Robins up north! 

😎

The Calm Before the Storm

In keeping with our early morning kayak adventures, we paddled from Fort Pierce's Jaycee Park on the Indian River, north to Faber Cove and back. The calm and quiet was amazing!

We are so glad we did this spur of the moment quick trip, because now the wind and rain has kicked in again. My lawn is loving it though, and it sure is better than the 8 - 12+" of snow predicted for up home and Ticonderoga. It's not time to migrate back north yet!

😎

Singer Island Backwaters

With a northeasterly wind, we decided to do some new kayak exploring. Dave came up with the brilliant idea of paddling the backwaters near Singer Island (North Palm Beach area) and go out to Munyon Island. This was another nostalgic tour for us since we had been there from Palm Beach with our Yamaha Waverunners about 35 years ago. Kayak launching was at John D. McArthur State Park, and amazingly, with all our history in the area throughout the years, we had never been there. They rent kayaks and paddle boards, but since we had our own, we found a small access spot. 

The park is large with trails, including a long walk over this bridge to the beach (we did notice there is a golf cart tram for those who want to ride). 

Munyon Island is part of the park along the Intracoastal Waterway, but the backwaters are very shallow.

On the west side of the island there are protected docks from ICW boat wakes. This is looking south towards the Blue Heron Bridge and Peanut Island:

Lunch on the beach:

We found a walkway that led to a couple of picnic pavilions. On the second picture the dark blob is a spider and web that I almost ran into. 

The walkway was blocked off after about a  quarter mile, so we turned around, but found out why when we started paddling again.

What a find washed up on the beach! It was a a scuba tank and it even still had air in it. Dave put it above the high tide line so nobody would hit it.

Our trips wouldn't be complete without finding a derelict vessel:

On the east side of the island we found several of these horseshoe crabs, which we normally only see on the west coast of Florida. Although this large one was dead, we also saw a couple of them mating in the water, which is a good sign. 

We found some shade in the mangroves and it was a such a different view looking out from this island, with all its nature, towards the condos of Singer Island.

Munyon Island has lots of history and actually had a resort on it in the early 1900s. All we found that was left of it was a seawall and entrance column on the south side of the island.

Here is a link to an interesting article about the history:

 https://palmbeach.floridaweekly.com/articles/a-souvenir-of-floridas-nearly-forgotten-past/

It certainly was another '10' kayak excursion and we are making up for lost time from earlier this winter. 

Serenity Now

Our third morning kayak trip was to Peck Lake in the Intracoastal Waterway. We beat the crowds to Jupiter Island and had the ocean beach all to ourselves. There were lots of boats in the lake itself (really just a wide spot in the ICW) but it sure was serene overlooking the cruising fleet. We imagined ourselves cruising again, but then all the boat wakes started and we laughed and were glad we sleep on land!

This schooner was a beauty though, but really rocked in the waves.

After"serenity now" comes "insanity later" (thanks Seinfeld 😉), which is what must have happened with high winds and this sailboat that dragged anchor back in the mangroves. 

We do seem to find all the derelict boats, don't we? That's the fun of kayaking and getting in all the places most people don't and can't go. 

😎

The Goddess

We have been taking advantage of the early morning calmness and kayaking for the past three days. By noon, the wind has been picking up, so our timing was perfect. Yesterday we paddled Manatee Pocket and we always see lots of impressive yachts like these:

However, I was amazed to see a wood commuter yacht we haven't seen since the early 1980s, docked at the Hinckley Boatyard. This is the gorgeous, 74 ft. 'Aphrodite':

Here is a link to an article about her history:

https://www.brooklinboatyard.com/aphrodite-2005

I can't believe it has been that long since we saw her cruising in Key Largo, but it sure brings back lots of memories.

Visitor

Look what walked into Dave's workshop...

Dave heard a hissing sound and looked down to see this gopher tortoise clunking it's way in on the concrete floor. He put on a pair of gloves, picked it up and placed it outside near a grassy retention pond and some bushes. 

Lots of Horsepower!

  Click on the photos, zoom in, and count 'em up. 😉

While kayaking the Fort Pierce Inlet, we also came across a derelict motor yacht beached on the spoil island. I don't think it had any horsepower though and it had been stripped of everything worth saving.

Dave couldn't resist paddling inside this boat of Promises, which its name is a bit ironic considering what has become of it. Cocktails on the aft deck anyone? 😆

It will take a lot more horsepower than Dave paddling to get it off the beach. Maybe they should just use all those boats with multiple engines to tow it away. That certainly would do the trick!