Florida Anchoring Strategies

We thought some of you may be wondering how we decide where to put into port and where to anchor.  Since we are committed to attending church services on Sundays, we look online to see where local congregations are located, then find a nearby marina in our guidebook. We usually go into the marina on Saturday so we can fuel up, go grocery shopping, do laundry and see a little of the town.  It works out nicely that we can find the telephone number online for the local Bishop and the nearby congregation.  Thankfully we have been able to find rides to church every Sunday or we walk, if it is not too far. We love being able to meet new people and we are so appreciative they are gracious enough to give us a rides.  Currently, we are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida still waiting for a decent weather window so we can cross to the Bahamas.

"Little Lara" at anchor in Fort Lauderdale

With respect to anchoring, which we do most of the time, where and how we anchor depends a lot on the weather.  After listening to the weather forecast on the marine radio or viewing it over the

Online Weather Report

internet, we consult our marine charts to find an appropriate anchorage that provides adequate protection from both winds and the waves.  We want to ensure we do not end up on a "lee shore", which means that the wind would blow “Little Lara” towards the shore rather than away from it.  So we keep a very close watch on the weather forecast which includes wind direction and speed, as well as wave height, direction and period (how close together the waves are together).  Another thing we check the charts for is the sea floor: sand, mud, rock, coral, grass, etc. Our anchor holds very well in sand and mud, but not as well in other types of bottoms.  Once we decide where to anchor, we must decide which anchor to use, whether to use an anchor bridle, and whether to use one or two anchors. Typically, we use the "Delta"  anchor.  It is our primary anchor and has served us well in all types of weather, and in sand and mud.  When the weather becomes more severe we use an anchor bridle which is two anchor lines attached to one anchor.  This setup keeps "Little Lara" from swinging from side to side.  We have yet to set two anchors, but "Little Lara" is equipped to do so if the need ever arises.  We would use this setup if there was extremely strong winds or currents.

Delta Anchor

The reason anchoring is on our mind is because recently  we have been in some very unsettled weather.  We anchored in what should have been some great locations only to have the wind clocked around to come from a new direction. This past week we were up most of one dark and stormy night making sure the anchor did not drag, like our neighbors to windward, who dragged and had to reset their anchor twice!  Fortunately, we have on board a GPS with an anchor alarm that alerts us if  “Little Lara” moves beyond a predetermine number of feet from where we originally set the anchor.

Ugh, gotta love those quiet, secluded Fort Lauderdale beaches!

We are disappointed the weather has not been more settled to allow us to cross over to the Bahamas.  With cold fronts coming through every couple of days, the wind and the waves have stirred up the gulf stream to what has been described as a “rip current 30 miles wide”.  So it's nothing we want to mess with … so we may not be leaving for now.  “Plan B” is to head slowly south towards the Florida Keys, and if a suitable weather window opens up we will head offshore and ride the gulf stream north to the islands mon! Otherwise, we will enjoy southern Florida and the Keys.  Looking for fair winds and gentle seas.

Waitin' On Weather

Life in Palm Beach

We were excited to finally reached the eastern side of Florida and promptly were greeted with a cold front. Don't laugh … we actually had temperatures in the mid-60s and rain showers too! We tied up at Riverwatch Marina in Stuart, the closest marina to an LDS chapel.   It was pretty skinny water coming into the marina as it serves primarily power boats. Thus, we had to time our arrival and departure so we were not at low tide. While there, we were able to pick up some groceries and fill our water tanks ... always a good thing. 

We ended up walking about two miles to church on Sunday because we missed our ride, but it was a

"Owl House" In Stuart, Florida

nice walk.  At church we met Ron and Carol who live on their sailboat on a mooring at Sunset Bay Marina. They gave us a ride back to our boat and later had us over for dinner on their boat.  It was great fun trading stories and we enjoyed getting to know them.  We eventually moved “Little Lara”, anchoring near their boat, “Dragon Dance”. Over the next few days they introduced us to other cruisers in the marina who were here getting their boats ready for their next adventure.  The anchorage was near Shepard Park with bathrooms and a place to tie our dinghy, so we could go ashore, and spent our time there exploring the area.  While in Stuart we stocked up for our Bahama trip (what? Another grocery store!),  went to the local museum and browsed the fun shops in the old town. We also got our hair cut short to conserve water in the Bahamas. That's partly the reason … for my part I hate having wet hair when its cold, and short hair dries much faster.

Peggy's New Hair Do

Soon, we were saying our goodbyes to all the friends we made in Stuart and we headed south to Lake

Worth, where there is an easy outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.  The weather forecast originally had a small weather window (a period of time when conditions crossing the gulf stream are less rough … notice I did not say smooth). The trip down the Intracoastal Waterway could have been done in one day except for the nine bridges we had to deal with, six of which were on a restricted opening schedule. Which means, they only open every half hour and one only opened every hour. So we spent a lot of travel time trying to hold the boat in position so as not to get pushed into the bridge by the current before they were ready to open. We anchored one night in a little cove in Hobe Sound, which was beautiful and quiet after all the fishing boats retired for the night. By the time we reached Lake

Shopping in West Palm Beach

Worth our small weather window had closed, so we went to “Plan B” and headed further down the waterway to West Palm Beach (to attend church) and anchored near the municipal day docks.  This worked out great because we could dinghy to the docks and leave the dinghy there while we explored the area.  We found a great farmers market that also had arts and crafts. So after sampling some of the local food, buying some great BBQ hot sauce from Andre, and spending time chatting with two local authors who were selling their books, we caught the local free trolley and checked out City Place.  This is a picturesque area with lots of shops and eateries. And we stumbled onto the movie theater so of course we went.  Later on our date we enjoyed Stromboli at an Italian cafe.  When we got back to the boat it was dark … we had spent the whole day away from “Little Lara” and were glad to see she was still anchored where we had left her.

"Little Lara" Anchored in West Palm Beach

The wind is supposed to veer back to the north next week due to another cold front.  All the weather forecasters say 'Don't cross the gulf stream (which flows from south to north) if there is any northerly wind because the waves get exponentially higher.  I am fine waiting here for another weather window. Jay however is getting antsy and wants to go to “Plan C” and head for the Florida Keys.

Hopefully our next blog will be from the Bahamas!  Pray that we have fair winds and calm seas.

"Hey Stop, There's a Grocery Store!"

Preparing to Leave Fort Myers

We left Fort Myers on December 29, 2015 for the east coast of Florida. Our destination, Lake Worth.  We had two options, we could sail down the west coast to Key West and then north up the east coast, or we could cut across the state sailing through the Okeechobee Waterway.  The difference between these two options is 356 miles versus 154 miles.  Thus, we chose the shorter of the two routes.

Okeechobee Waterway

The Okeechobee Waterway is similar to the Intracoastal Waterway.  It is a man-made waterway stretching across Florida from Fort Myers on the west coast to Stuart on the east coast of Florida. The waterway runs through Lake Okeechobee and consists of the Caloosahatchee River to the west of the lake and the St. Lucie Canal to the east of the lake.  The two rivers have always drained the lake and supported small boat passage, but after the diking of the lake in 1910 and the disastrous flooding in the late 1920s, this natural waterway system was overhauled by the Corps of Engineers and opened in 1937 as a first-rate commercial waterway. To do this the Corps built five locks to lift boats from sea level to lake level, which averages 12 feet, then back to sea level again. The locks are relatively new, well-managed, and quite easy to get through. Under “normal” conditions, they operate essentially on demand during daylight hours seven days a week, though a wait to allow several boats to go through together is not unusual. We had a short wait at all but one of the five locks. Each lock we passed through had lines suspended from the top rail, which we held on to as the Lock Master closed one gate and open the gate at the opposite end of the lock.

Our route along the lake's south rim
Note: The red arrow depicts "Little Lara"

Upon leaving Fort Myers we arrived at the Franklin Lock and passed through without difficulty – “a piece of cake.”  At, the next lock, the Ortona Lock, “Little Lara” was raised eight feet to lake level.  The currents passing through the lock were so strong we found it difficult to hold onto the lines while keeping “Little Lara” off the lock walls.  We did make it through without any scrapes, bangs or bruises.  The next two locks (Moore Haven and  Port Mayaca) proved to be easy in and out passages. When we arrived at the St Lucie Lock, the Lock Master informed us we would be dropping 14 feet to sea level.  We had visions of the current in the Ortona Lock, only worse.  The Lock Master was kind to us opening the gates slowly so we felt almost no current. Most of the time, as we passed through the locks we were the only boat locking through. It was almost overwhelming to find ourselves being slowly raised or lowered inside these huge caverns.

Exiting the Ortona Lock

Ariel View of Ortona Lock

Other than the locks, there was only one other obstacle along our route.  Before leaving Lake Okeechobee we had to pass under a railroad lift bridge at Port Mayaca with a maximum clearance of 49 feet at lake level — if the lake is higher, the clearance is less and vice versa.  “Little Lara's” mast height is 40 feet, so we were not too worried but honestly it looked as if we would hit the bridge.

Port Mayaca Railroad Lift Bridge

We spent New Years Eve on the south rim of Lake Okeechobee anchored in South Bay.  We were all alone.  It was just us, the moon, the stars, and the wildlife.  We celebrated with barbecue pork roast, baked potatoes, salad, cherry pie, and sparkling white grape juice.  We wish you could have been there with us.  It was awesome.

We will leave for the Bahamas as soon as there is a favorable weather window.  Peggy has already begun stocking up on provisions.  Every time we pass a grocery store we stop to see what they have.  All of “Little Lara's” lockers and cabinets are now full of canned fruit, vegetables and meats and yet we buy more.  I keep reminding Peggy that the Bahamians also eat!  We shall see.  Until next time, Happy New Year and Fair Winds.

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