February 22, 2019

I watched a stingray swim by the boat as we got our paddleboards ready for today’s adventure. We paddled past our friends on Parallax, and landed on an island north of our anchorage for a nice walk among the mangroves. I made it a decent distance before the rocks became too much for my tender bare feet.

We cruised to Stuart, and anchored just off shore of a friend’s sister’s home.

 

February 23, 2019

Today we met up with friends, and they had us put our dinghy up on their boat lift. It was quite the hilarious sight.

I forgot my shoes on SV Wild, but thankfully our friends had a pair of flip flops my size.  On land we explored the art exhibit in Stuart, enjoyed burgers and good company. Then we stopped by a grocery store and loaded up a cart full of food, to start provisioning for our eventual trip to the Bahamas.

My friend dug up some herbs and shared some Thai basil clippings so I could start an herb garden on my boat!

We loaded up the dinghy, and off we went!

 

February 24, 2019

Continuing south, we took an afternoon cruise to Peck Lake. It was a very crowded anchorage, and it took three tries before we were comfortable dropping the hook – we must have looked like a dog turning around in circles before laying down in a bed.

Soon after we anchored, we dropped a paddle board and tandem-paddled to shore against a strong wind. Definitely earned a few stares with that spectacle.

We visited the ocean beach, dreaming about the Bahamas. I couldn’t ignore the beach debris and picked up a lot of trash, but we weren’t sure where to “throw it away”. We found piles from other travelers also faced with the same dilemma, tucked on the edge of the dunes.

In a concerted effort to slow down after our frenzy at the boat yard, we spent three nights at Peck Lake. We kept returning to the beach, and every morning we’d find more trash washed ashore along that same stretch of beach. We marched down that beach with our found buckets full of trash, unable to stop of ourselves from bending down one more time and shoving a piece of plastic in an already crammed space. A truly Sisyphean task.

So much plastic. Whole bottles, caps, and a rainbow of shards – pieces already beginning to disintegrate, but never to disappear. A flip flop, a shoe, utensils, abandoned beach toys, and tubs labeled as cooking liquids I can only assume was dumped off the side of a very large vessel.

The most heart breaking piece of trash I found was a Valentine’s mylar balloon.

We kept walking down the beach, and kept bending over to pick up just one more. I carried two large buckets overflowing with trash, and I continued to cram more pieces into it.

At the natural area parking three miles from our anchorage, People applauded us from their beach chairs as we searched for a dumpster.

I merely nodded, but I wanted to shout, “Stop what you are doing. Don’t applaud me, help me. Pick up trash with me.”

And maybe, we should think about how we can stop making so much trash in the first place.

 

February 27, 2019

Today Eric had to fix the port engine while we cruised when he realized that the gear shift had fallen off. This proved to be a challenging endeavor to do hanging upside down into the motor chamber while the boat bobbed underway. He looked a little green in the gills after that.

We made it to North Palm Beach, aka Lake Worth. There we provisioned over the next couple of days taking the dinghy to shore, landing under an overpass bridge. Other than the sketchy shore access, shops and groceries were within easy striking distance. At an Italian grocery store I picked up some Italian basil and cilantro to add to my herb garden.

Eric continues to start the port engine with a screwdriver arcing across the start battery to the starter engine.

 

March 1, 2019

We completed an overnight sail to Miami from Lake Worth, fighting the gulf stream the whole way. I was impressed by the water so blue!

Port Everglades was pretty active in the wee hours of the morning as I watched cargo ships leaving and entering. Thankfully none seemed to get too close as we crossed the shipping channels.

The night’s water was not as calm as I would have liked, but we got through it.

We grabbed a mooring ball at Dinner Key Marina and explored the town!