A Little Loopy

Peck Lake off the ICW to Manatee Marina: 5.7 mph; 4.0 miles; 0:41 hours Stuart,FL Manatee Marina $2/ft plus $5/day/electric. Manatee Marina is the last marina in the basin. If you go a little farther, there is a free dock where I saw a sailboat. He would leave the dock when he needed to, come up to the dock outside the restaurant, Shrimper's , and hook onto power for the day - then return to the free dock.You won’t find a shower or laundry at Manatee Marina and still it has been one of my favorite marinas. The transient dock for our size vessel is on the Shrimpers Restaurant’s , dock. There are great nautical shops and restaurants all around us. Enterprise, with the AGLCA discount, was about $50/day. IMPORTANT TO MENTION: You need to call the county for a pump out - anyone will give you the number and service is next day. You won't receive a call back but they will come to your boat for the pump out - sounds crazy but it works. Call Ms Poop at 772-260-8326 and schedule your poo...

OK, this section is a little long and I have tried to organize it the best I could. It is wild Marathon to Lignumvitae Key: 8.1 mph; 35.2 miles; 4:21 hours Lignumvitae Key to Tarpon Basin: 7.5 mph; 25.3 miles; 3:22 hours (felt like more) Tarpon Basin to No Name Harbor: 8.1 mph; 45.4 miles; 5:37 hours No Name Harbor to North Miami (Bridge): 6.6 mph; 16.2 miles; 2:27 hours North Miami to Hollywood Marina, Lauderdale (short stop): 6.3 mph; 9.5 miles; 1:37 hours Hollywood Marina, Lauderdale to Santa Barbara/Lettuce Lake, Pompano Beach: 6.3 mph; 15.4 miles; 2:26 hours Santa Barbara/Lettuce Lake, Pompano Beach to Palm Beach:  Lettuce to Atlantic Blvd Bridge: 4.0 mph; 1166 yards; 0:09 hours Atlantic Blvd Bridge to Camino Royal Bridge (Boca Raton): 5.7 mph; 7.8 miles; 1:21 hours Camino Royal Bridge to 806 Bridge in Delray Beach: 6.3 mph; 8.5 miles; 1:20 hours Delray to West Palm Beach: 7.4 mph; 17.4 miles; 2:28 hours West Palm Beach to Peck Lake off the ICW: 6.8 mph; 30.7 miles; 4:31 hour...

Key West to Marathon: 8.4 mph; 42.3 miles; 5:00 hours Leaving Key West was bitter sweet; we really had a fun time but it’s time to move on and see new sights. Safe Harbor Marathon: $3/ft; electric/bathroom/great showers; salt water pool; captain’s lounge; not sure about laundry. We needed to extend our stay here because the 20-30 mph winds and 40mph gusts decided not to settle down. Marathon is more of a fishing village. Lots of charter boats coming and going from this Key. While we were in Key West, at Irish Kevin’s , we met a group of lively gentlemen heading to Marathon for a fishing trip which was going to be filmed for television. While in Marathon, we ran into them again. There was a slight recognition and smiles but I have no idea how their trip went. Because of their great mood, I will can assume they had a good day of fishin’ AND catchin’. We caught up with Looper friends, Side Piece, and hung out in the heated pool. Later, we met up at the bar to watch the game. The next day...

December 14 (day early) Jewfish Basin to Stock Island Marina: 8.9mph; 29.1 miles; 3:16 hours We made a our reservation in March of 2021 for Stock Island: December 15 - January 15. I knew the marina had bought the hotel which is better than the reverse. You gotta know how to run a marina. The Perry Hotel has two heated pools with attached bars, a restaurant, and a free daily shuttle to the A&B Marina in downtown Key West.  From the shuttle's drop off spot, it's a quick walk over to Duval Street. The marina provides clean old school style showers/bathrooms, four sets of washer/dryers, a book exchange, captain’s lounge with excellent internet connection, and a weekly pump out.  We were fortunate to have a lot of friends visiting in Key West during the same time period; The Zielinskis, Rick, Troy, the Zorichs, new friends Jody & Jim, and the occasional Looper folk were all accounted for. There is always something to do and someone to do it with in Key West. JZ lent us his ...

Christmas in the Keys is nice but not the same at all. I love my wintery Christmas holidays in Virginia with hot chocolate and a wood burning stove - add a snowstorm and I’m in heaven. I like to decorate my trees, put up lights, see Cathy’s tree, and have mom come for the week. The kids, however, had zero reservations about island holidays and quickly planned out their flights.  Christmas Eve, we took everyone to the deserted islands of Marquesas Keys. Wow, that was something to see. The keys are in the shape of a doughnut caused by a meteorite. The middle is a perfect lagoon. While exploring the island, we saw a sea snail and starfish. Jim was wading just off the shoreline when he saw a nurse shark just a few feet away in the shallows. There were plenty of sounds coming from the mangroves; probably iguana. Did you know they can swim for up to 40 miles between islands? Christmas Eve dinner was casual at the White Tarpon on the wharf. We shared Christmas dinner at Bel Mare , ...

December 11, 2021 Marco Island to Jewfish Basin Anchorage: 15.2 mph; 95.2 miles; 6:14 hours. The wind models showed heavy winds on the Gulf beginning the 13th and not settling down until around the 17th. We made the decision to cross earlier, anchor hard, and see if we could get into the marina early. The alternative choices were to remain in Marco Island and we had seen all we needed to see there. The Crossing: Not bad at all; the starboard engine warmed up a bit; otherwise, it was an uneventful crossing. Probably the impeller. There was no way to change it while in the Gulf or at anchor; he’ll have to wait until we dock. The Anchorage: Jewfish Basin is so quiet and beautiful.  I feel like I need a thesaurus for the word beautiful when describing some of the places I’ve seen. Beautiful just fits.  The minimum depth is 5 feet (not) and the entrance from the Gulf is surrounded by shoal water. It's important to plan on going with an incoming tide. We had to be very careful. Look...

Mooring is not as hard as you think but can be a challenge if the moorings are put together correctly - that is seldom the case but it cam happen. You will need a few things: gloves, boat hook, and a snubber line or other long line you won’t mind using. We approached the mooring on the starboard side; so that is how I am explaining it .   First, you need to wear gloves because the mooring lines are slimy, gross, and usually have barnacles on them You also need to set up the snubber line, or long line, you will use for mooring ahead of time. If you are coming up on starboard, have your line ready by tying one end of the line to the front port cleat. Make certain the line is outside the railing and under the anchor. Hook the loose end of the line over the starboard cleat. Now it’s show time. The captain will approach the mooring ball very gently. The captain isn’t able to see what you see so you need to use clear communication or nice hand gestures. Not all mooring balls are made the...