The Indian River

Reminded of the wide diversity presented by the waters of eastern Florida, cruisers are faced with the broad and impressive body of water known as the Indian River.

We travel through wide open spaces with small spoil islands and sparkling waters making it a true cruiser's paradise.

Traveling the ICW between Vero Beach and Titusville we found an impressive variety of stately mansions with matching docks which only add to the Indian River's charm.

We had a long run today of 61.2 nautical miles and as you can see, Samy has given up plugging into shore power.

But alas, we pull into Cocoa Marina Village for a two night stay to rest the generator and plug in that reassuring power cord once again.

Palm Beach to Fort Pierce

The run from Lake Worth to St. Lucie Inlet is an enjoyable cruise as long as you're not in a hurry. Most of the route is sheltered with a delightful contrast as undeveloped subtropical banks alternate with the sumptuous homes of Hobe Sound.

We knew that we were at Jupiter inlet as we pass the red brick lighthouse.

Captain Bob did his job today as he steered us between passing rainstorms and kept us on course for seven hours.

A stiff 16-20 knot breeze stuck with us through mostly protected waters today, so looking for maximum shelter, we anchored in a protected cove surrounded with houses called "Faber Cove" within the city of Fort Pierce.

With good protection in a region that is not exactly blooming with anchorages, we will share the cove tonight with our anchored neighbor.

We are settled in for the night, another day's push towards our goal and the satellite dish is in prime position for another wonderful night of basketball. After all, it's "March Madness".

Pompano Beach to Palm Beach

As we pulled out this morning into the ICW in Pompano Beach, the waterway passes through a mostly man-made canal running between an almost continuous line of concrete seawalls.

Between offical no-wake zones and a host of low-level bridges we can only sit back and enjoy many beautiful homes and lavish residences with their own swimming pools and private docks.

This is the Boca Raton Club Tower on Lake Boca Raton built in 1925 by the Mizner brothers, inspired by the art of Spain and Italy.

Traveling north we passed the Flagler Memorial Musuem. In 1874, Henry Flagler built and opened the great Poiciana Hotel "the country's most fashionable winter gathering place" for the nation's rich.

Palm Beach is the gathering place for the rich, famous, and BIG Boats.

The ICW started getting crowded as these big boys passed us going into the Palm Beach Boat Show which starts on March 22nd through the 25th.

So as we enter North Lake Worth Anchorage, we are amazed at how easy a boat vacation can be. It just took a year of planning.

Lake Santa Barbara Anchorage

Good morning fellow travelers! On our first day's passage from Miami to Pompano Beach, a cool 14 kt. breeze and a bright blue sky followed us up the ICW. There were two possible anchorages available to cruising boats so we chose the larger of the two, Lake Santa Barbara. The protection was sufficient with dept around eight feet. The surrounding shores are a collection of private homes, a perfect spot to anchor and relax with dinner and a glass of wine and exhale, realizing that we are offically a cruising boat.

Follow Us

A Miami sunset to bid us farewell. We are leaving tomorrow March 13, 2012. After years of memories at Dinner Key Marina we are giving up our slip and saying our good-byes to friends and family to go on our personal dream vacation. So many of you have said this is a "trip of a lifetime" and we say to you, we all deserve to follow our dreams, so stop putting them off and follow in our footsteps and start making all of you dreams come true.    
                                                               Sincerely, Ivy and Bob 

Getting Ready

The thing about getting ready for a one year cruise is that you develop this "Columbus syndrome" thinking that as soon as you leave the dock you might just fall off the edge of the earth. So it's hard to prepare. Our friends and neighbors smile politely and give us that glassy-eyed stare saying have a great time you're coming back, right? So prepared we are not, but stocked with wine and kitty litter we are, and I (the mate) will attempt to keep in touch with those of you who are interested in following us on our continuous water adventure.

PS: Captain Bob's log: taking on 200 gallons of diesel fuel @ $4.00 a gallon.
      (I can see blow boaters smiling already).