Hangin' Loose at Old Port Cove/Feb.25-March 15

Looks like we will be here a week or more waiting for another opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream. We waited 10 days the last time we went to the Abacos so I guess it's just part of the process. Hell.... if it was easy then everybody would do it.

Soooo...we decided to take advantage of the great facilities here at Old Port Cove and have lunch at the Sandpiper. WOW, what a super lunch.

Christine had a "North Palm Beach Salad" and I had my favorite "Fish and Chips".......

Both were absolutely delicious and plenty of it.

This is for sure the finest marina we have ever had the pleasure to visit. Everything you could need is right here.

Beautiful floating docks, friendly service, great restaurant, free bottle of wine at check in,  fast Wifi,  Cable TV, free coffee and fountain drinks all day at the Express Cafe, etc, etc.....and Susie at the front desk is a Hoot.


Tuesday, Feb. 27

After Annie and I met this friendly lady during our morning walk I wandered over to the fuel dock and met her husband "a.k.a. The Captain".

Bruno and Beatrice are from California and love to cruise the waters of the Bahamas.
They intend to spend a week at one of our favorite places, Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands. We will be there too but it won't be in time to meet up with these fine folks.

What do you do while you're waiting. You walk Annie and meet new friends. That's just what we did this morning.

Annie and I met the owner (The Admiral) of this beautiful 76 foot Nordhavn Yacht. They are fueling and heading to the Bahamas today.

 They are headed to the Eleutheras for a few weeks as well as the Berry Islands.

"Trixie" is absolutely gorgeous and the perfect Ocean going vessel.

We may meet up with Trixie on our adventures if we make it down to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera.

She said they were looking forward to meeting some other Nordy friends of ours.....Rick and Michelle of "Ghost Rider II"
They are at our marina and have become good friends.

We also hope to meet up with "Ghost Rider II" in the Abacos in March. They are heading out of Ft. Myers around the 10th or 15th of March.

Who knows, if we sit here long enough we might just cross with them too.

All in all, it's interesting to hang around a Marina for a few days.
It's like a box of chocolates, "you never know what you're gonna get"

Another interesting "shot of the day"

Our dock neighbor loading up his little Vespa scooter..getting all the toys on board can sometimes be a challenge. Not of this guy......his "Kady-Krogen" trawler has all the right stuff.

They load the dingy, the scooter, and two kayaks on top....with a boom style davit. All remote controlled of course.


March 4, 2018

By now everyone knows about the massive "NorEaster" that is hitting the East Coast.
The model here shows the winds associated with that "Bomb Cyclone", as it is being called.

The waves being produced from these wind effects are massive and have shut down any chance of us making a crossing any time soon.
The red and purple areas are 50-70 mph winds.

This model shows where we need to be but the seas are too rough to cross the Gulf Stream.

The Florida Coast has 8-9 foot seas and will continue for another week as another Low Pressure is forecast to build after this one, causing another Nor-Easter to hit New England area.

Not unusual but certainly not welcomed.......

So, in the meantime we enjoy the comforts of being at this beautiful marina on the East Coast of Florida.

We might even walk down to Mar-A-Lago and play a round of golf with Tiger and President Trump.....LOL

It cooled off a bit today after the cold front passed but still beautiful weather....On Land.

Annie got to meet "Duke" today.. Another Cavachon that looks like he could be her brother.

Duke is a little bit smaller than Annie but colored just like her.

This couple is from New Jersey and live in the condos next door to the Marina.

They walk the marina most everyday, usually after a beach walk at Jupiter Beach.....but today they said the waves were covering the entire beach area.

We can hear the waves crashing on the shore from our boat. We are only 1/4 mile from the beach.

And while Annie and I walk my "I.T. department" is busy trying to transfer files from one computer to another.


Quite a process....




Tuesday, March 6

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day for a dingy ride so Annie and I loaded up the Admiral and off we went to Singer Island..Here we are cruising by Sailfish Marina on our way to Peanut Island Park. Dave and Michelle from "Just Us"are also with us in their dingy.

As we step off the dock we are welcomed by the big sign...
Christine and Annie are bewildered that the sign doesn't say "NO DOGS".....
They not only welcome dogs but have poop bags available all around the island.
Dave and I walked completely around the Island but the girls just chilled on the Beach side.

As we look out toward the "Lake Worth Inlet"...Christine yells "look at that wave crashing out there".
Enlarge the picture in you can't see it but that is the 8-9 foot waves that are currently in the Gulf Stream. Now you know why we are waiting for better weather.....Damn a bunch of Nor'Easters.....

One of the lagoons within the Island. Peanut Island has was formed from the spoils that were removed to make the Inlet deep enough for large vessels.

President Kennedy had a bunker built here for obvious reasons. It was a critical time in history during the Cuba confrontation.


Google...Peanut Island Florida.

And after our visit on Peanut Island we motored over to Sailfish Marina for some of the best Fish Tacos you ever sunk a tooth into.

The marina had several boats flying the Trump Flag and American Flag.

One Big Sportfish boat even had a flag that said "We're Deplorable"..MAGA...
We must be in the heart of
Trump Territory.



Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the beautiful day turned out to be Not so Beautiful.  The winds picked up to about 20 knots, gusting to 25 by the time we got back to the marina.....Needless to say the  3-4 footers on Lake Worth got us good and soaked. But just another good day of boating........

Thursday March 8

Just another pretty day to cruise the canals around the Palm Beach area.

Not a lot to do while we wait for a good weather window but it makes for some casual time on the water.

Annie thinks it's just for her...

Don't know what's causing this white background'''😩

Some of the canals are inter-connected for water flow thru the neighborhoods.

Makes for some interesting scenery from the dingy.

Streets are overhead.....better have a low boat.

We cleared by about a foot....

March 12, 2018

Well......How about this...
Two haul outs in one trip.

Seems our little 30 HP Evinrude outboard motor has a faulty water pump.

Learned that this model suffered from some impeller issues right out of the box. Evinrude has had  problems with the impellers on this particular motor and we were lucky enough to get one.

But it couldn't have worked out better. The folks at New Port Cove Marine Center in Riviera  Beach got us hauled out and on a maintenance rack first thing this morning. The Evinrude Dealer in Jupiter drove up with the necessary parts and replaced the faulty parts under warranty. Everyone involved did a super job. Hats off to both of these facilities.

Sometimes it's just best to slow down and let things happen as they do.
We would have certainly had big problems if we had been in a hurry to leave West Palm. The weather has not been favorable for a Gulf Stream crossing and in the meantime we were just cruising with the dingy.
She started overheating and the engine would go in fail-safe mode....a call to the dealer led him to come to our location and check out the motor....although I keep a spare impeller for all our engines it was still nice to have it fixed under warranty......Not possible in the Bahamas.

And just so you know, even the rich and famous have problems.

Here at our Marina is a Bertrum Sportfish owned by the France family of Nascar fame.
(So we were told).

Enlarge the picture and check out the name....




March 13, 2018

The Admiral and her Sidekick..

We took advantage of this beautiful day to walk down to West Marine and just happened to stop buy the local ice cream shop for a treat.

Looks like Friday will be a good day to cross the Gulf Stream and finally be in the Bahama's.
Stay tuned...

Busy day on the ICW/Feb. 24

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018

Christine and Annie are making themselves at home while we wait for parts to repair the Bow Thruster.  I Washed Mystic Lady, soaked a few lines in softener, did some Route Planning, etc. while her and Annie cooked up some great meals. Not a bad place to sit awhile. The staff at ACY is friendly and helpful also a Great view of the St. Lucie river. Also have the best fuel prices.

It's finally Friday and the Coupler came in so Kyle is down in the bow access hole (better him than me). I had everything disconnected and ready to lift the motor out but it's a big rascal and I wasn't sure my back would take it. About 45 minutes later we had the thruster working great. 

We will top off the tanks and make our way South tomorrow morning. Not going to hit the St. Lucie intersection at high tide but we will hold our breath and hope the Coast Guard has the bouys freshly located. This area shoals over bad and changes constantly. Not my favorite Florida area.

Well, here's a good example of what I have said before......There are two kinds of boaters in South Florida....."Those that have went aground" and "Those that will go aground".....

This unfortunate Captain is only a few feet on the wrong side of the Red Marker and he has run aground. A few minutes later we met the Sea Tow boat on his way to pull him off. I was too busy trying to stay in deep enough water to get a close up of this mishap, try enlarging the pic.

This is at Red Marker #30 on the St. Lucie River just before Sunset Marina in Stuart, Fl. Hug the Greens, Hug the Greens......

The trip down the ICW should not be done on Saturday. As you can see from the video it was a very busy day from Stuart to West Palm. The traffic was unreal. Christine was a nervous wreck by the time we arrived at Old Port Cove. These boaters seem to drive their boats the same way they drive their cars. Too fast and with a phone in their hand. Oh well, keeps the adrenaline flowing.

I hope the video turned out ok, I "speeded her up" so you wouldn't get bored. If video is blurred..click to enlarge screen and click on gear at bottom to set quality at 720 if it's available....a Wifi thing.

First video is clipped version...shortest

Second video is unclipped version.....full video

Another video of the Jupiter Inlet area and the massive traffic jams from all the Saturday Snowbirds.

Speeded up of course to allow more footage in less time. Enjoy......

TRIP DISTANCE TO THIS POINT===159.0 NM

Now stay tuned for more pics and stories while we wait for another good weather Crossing Window.

Hunkered down at American Custom Yachts/Feb. 18-23

Well, It could be worse...

As previously noted, we lost our Bow Thruster on the way across the state.

The crew at ACY was able to haul us out on Monday and check it out.
They first thought we had a gear box problem but it turned out it was just the rubber coupler between the motor and gearbox.

It could have been fixed in the water but we are sure glad we hauled Mystic Lady out.

Details below...

When I mentioned we had noticed a vibration on the river they checked the running gear and found that both prop shaft zincs had come loose.

Our divers in Ft. Myers had just replace both of these in December.
The starboard side zinc was completely gone and the Port side zinc had slid down the shaft and was resting on the cutlass bearing....Not Good.

As seen here he also tested the props for any damage or looseness.

Starboard side gone but you can see where it too had slid down the shaft before being slung off.

I felt the vibration go away completely while coming up the river. Apparently that is when the zinc fell off.

The Port side has also slid down the shaft and rested on the cutlass bearing but was still attached. This was taken just after the mechanic had pulled it up the shaft to inspect the bearing.

The cutlass bearing relies on water to keep it lubricated and with the zinc blocking the flow it could easily damage the bearing.

Both bearings were good....we caught it in time

.And that's not all folks.....

The service manager noticed some looseness in the port prop while doing his inspection. Not related to the zinc issue but also needed attention..
This young tech was certainly knowledgeable and a cool ex-marine. Reminds me of my son Jimmy.
Here he is polishing the shaft after doing a Magna-flux test on the shaft to see if there were any cracks.
None noted, so the prop was put back on and properly tightened.

The tech and his helper are wrapping up this project in record time to get us back in the water where we can wait on the part to fix the bow thruster.
They had all seven zincs replaced, the prop removed/magna fluxed the shaft/and checked the bow thruster issue before lunch.

This is our second visit to ACY and we are quite satisfied with their service.

Now lets put her back in the water and hope we have no more issues while heading over to the Islands.
Planned Gulf Stream Crossing is Monday or Tuesday...Weather permitting of course.


Never a dull moment when you go "Adventure Hunting" with the Chafton's....

Lake 'O' to Stuart/Feb. 17

Feb. 17, 2018

Entering the Moore Haven Lock around 7:30 a.m. on a beautiful morning. First narrow obstacle is the  old Railroad Swing Bridge a few hundred yards from the Lock. This video has been shortened to 1.5 minutes.
Annie is a lot of help on the foredeck. She keeps the Admiral calm during stressful times.

This next video is full length and about 4 minutes long....But wait for the final few seconds, it's worth the view. We learned that this video is not viewable without going to YouTube to see it. Don't know why yet.....work in progress.

                                          Did you see the Angel in that video?  Annie did...

Well,  all went well thru the first three locks but as we entered the Port Mayaka Lock on the other side of the lake our Bow Thruster quit working. Think it sheared a pin, probably something in the water inside the chamber...Still..."No Hill for a Climber" but it sure makes things easier when it is working.

Feb. 18, 2018

We pulled into American Custom Yachts in Stuart for the weekend to see if they can check out the Bow Thruster next week.
We probably have a week to wait on the weather anyway and we know this place is good.
So we unloaded the Dingy and cruised down to Stuart for a check ride and some sightseeing today.

Returning to ACY after our cruise down the St. Lucie River with Mystic Lady patiently waiting on somebody to fix our "Easy Button".

Sure hope they can get to it soon, we sure have a lot of groceries to keep frozen. Two freezers and two fridges full.

Hoping to meet up with "Just Us" in a few days.

Stay tuned, more to come..........

Ft. Myers to Lake O/Feb.16

Up early to depart on our next Journey...

God has blessed us with this perfect day to begin our next Adventure...What a beautiful day to make our way up the Caloosahatchie.

Cotton puff clouds, flat water, and almost no wind.

This stretch of desolate territory is inland through farmland and citrus groves.

Seen an alligator, manatees, dolphins (near the marina), Lots of birds and an occasional cow.

As we pass by our old "Stomping Grounds" we are met at the dock by some of our best friends...Connie, Paula, and Molly B. They were ready to wave at us as we passed. Annie had a fit when she saw Molly B, she ran from the bow to the stern several times barking at Molly B.

We miss the good people at "RiverBend Motorcoach Resort".

Our buddies Mike and Pat were preoccupied today so we missed them both.

Kind of a Lazy Day up the river with the locks and bridges taking a little longer than usual.

But, Hey...who's in a hurry.

Arrived here at Moore Haven, Florida ( a sleepy little town on the banks of Lake Okeechobee) around 2:30 this afternoon.

Both of us are pretty tired, last 2-3 days have been WFO....trying to get everything done to leave while the weather is good. And boy, is it good. 85 degrees in February.....Wow.

Bahama's Adventure Number 3

Mystic Lady returning to her home port Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft. Myers.
After a couple nights on the hook to make sure all systems are good and putting over 10 hours on her engines and transmissions to make sure they still know what to do we came to the conclusion we can now start provisioning for the Bahama's again.
Only issue found during this sea trail was a GPS that was operating verrrry slow so the Captain replaced it with a new one and all else seems good.


It seems as though it has been forever since our last trip to the Bahamas but actually it has only been two years.  Last year we had Mystic Lady all prepped and ready but our Doctor's had other plans. The Admiral had some issues that needed attention and the Doctors dragged it out all season. But Me, Her and the Dog are feeling good so let the provisioning begin.

Well let's start with the important stuff and get the groceries later.

Everyone on the dock keeps asking......Hey, Jerry...how long you guys gonna stay over there. My smart ass answer is....Until the Whiskey runs out.
 From the looks of this cart load it may be several months.

Four of these bottles were gifts from dock neighbors for working on their boats. Guess being a half-ass mechanic ain't all bad.

The Admiral with load One of Six.

Can you imagine planning over 60 dinners, then figuring out what it takes to cook those dinners, then prepare a grocery list for those dinners, then go shopping for all the ingredients, then load and unload all those groceries.
WOW....what a woman. This gal has busted ass for weeks to get Mystic Lady provisioned.
And that don't count all the lunches and breakfast for the Captain.

Even the dock neighbors felt sorry for her and lended a hand unloading load number Four.

Rich and Diane are good friends and say they are going to miss us.....I think they will miss Annie more than us. They love Annie as much as we do.

Oops...make that Seven loads if you count Annie's dog food.

Then a load or two for our friends on "Just Us". We are taking some items to them when we meet up in West Palm for the crossing.

One last party before we depart these great friends at Legacy Marina. The gals hung balloons and hearts for the pot luck on Valentine's Day.
Always a lot going on here at the marina. We look forward to returning next season and doing it all over again.

In the meantime we will cruise  the  Islands of the Bahamas for a few months.
Follow along as we log our adventures on the blog and a few posts on Facebook.

The last sunset at our Marina until next season.

Heading out tomorrow and won't be back until November....