2017-03-24 – Marathon – Palm Beach–Stuart FL

Our friends Ted & Sally (Amici) were still in Marathon so a visit back was definitely in order. In addition we had the unexpected bonus of meeting up with Pat & Becky (Taurus).

2017_03_06_21_01_15_AWB-014

Seven Mile Bridge is one of the few places along the length of the Florida Keys that we can cut through without going all the west past the Dry Tortugas

20170309_082639

20170309_082701

In addition the stop allowed us to stop and see some of our favorite musicians, Ty & Cory.

2017_03_10_20_45_29_AWB-003

We also stopped into the Seafood Festival where Annette got to catch up with Carolyn and Dave (Boat Galley).

2017_03_11_16_15_03_AWB-007

Departing out of Marathon we great winds off the starboard quarter and drove us up the Hawk Channel towards Rodriquez Key

2017_03_12_11_24_14_AWB-008

Pat & Becky (Taurus) underway

2017_03_12_12_06_59_AWB-034

Magnolia underway (Thank you Pat & Becky)

DSCF1089

Anneette & Becky aboard Magnolia

20170312_193314

Departing Rodriquez Key Pat & Becky were headed to Miami but with a weather front about 18 hours away we really wanted to make Palm Beach/Lakeworth. We decided to head offshore and catch a real lift from the Gulf Stream…meaning an extra 3-4 knots per hour!

2017_03_13_15_17_42_AWB-006

Perhaps a little background. As I was dropping the sail on the Marathon to Rodriquez Key leg I thought I saw a small tear in the sail. When we got anchored  I raised the sail back up to find the spot and put some stitches in it to get us up the coast. I could not find the tear anywhere…perhaps I imagined? Oh well little I could do. We knew we would arrive after dark into Palm Beach but were confident we could navigate the inlet in the dark. The one thing we had not previously done was set the anchor after a passage like this in the dark. We like to push ourselves a little and the conditions were safe…so just as we are approaching the inlet and think it time to drop the main sail…we hear the worlds largest Velcro strip separate. I looked at Annette and said I think we found the tear. We brought the sail down and anchored as planned[.

2017_03_13_23_52_21_AWB-001

We know the sail is at least 10 years and maybe 26 years old!!! It was time no matter..after a nights sleep we raised the main and could see the sail did not tear but a seam did let go. Thats why I could not find it…when I raised the sail it stretched out and closed at the seam…oh well.

20170314_105558

20170314_105429

Why we were in Lake Worth we wanted to meet up with fellow Pentagon Sailing Club Members Bruce & Rhonda (The Norm) who are the only other couple from the club cruising full time. It was a brief but fun visit!!!

20170314_173630

We moved the 9 miles up to North Lake Worth to visit our friend Mims. She recently relocated from Charleston to Palm Beach so had to stop and see her new diggs!

image

Mims and the ever handsome Tommy.

20170317_192240

This Snapper and I had a real face-off, he lost though when I ate him…he was good.

20170316_180316

Going back to the sail…it happens one of the largest sail lofts on the east coast is in Stuart, FL. A mere 20 miles up the ICW. We made arrangements to have our current sail repaired and commissioned a new sail constructed which will be shipped to meet us in Maryland in about 8 weeks. As you can see we had to move around a little to have the sail removed and then bent back on. All in all a painless experience.

image

Now the completely unexpected portion of the trip was meeting up once again with Al Watson (Kindred Spirit). Al is helping a friend Colin bring Colin’s boat from Stuart to Savannah. So we will have a couple days on the ICW with and Al and Colin (Tortuga)!

20170325_131746

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.