Florida's More Exotic Wildlife

As we have traveled up and down Florida's coast we have been privileged to encounter some rather exotic wildlife.

Florida Manatees

The Florida manatee, Florida’s state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant. They are grayish brown in color and have thick, wrinkled skin on which there is often a growth of algae. Their front flippers help them steer, or sometimes crawl, through shallow water. They also have powerful, flat tails that help propel them through the water. Despite their small eyes and lack of outer ears, manatees are thought to see and hear quite well. Well known for their gentle, slow-moving nature, they normally rest and feed often.  They are herbivores, with a diet consisting mostly of sea grasses and freshwater vegetation. Manatees communicate by squealing under water to demonstrate fear, stress or excitement. Although there is no precise census of Florida manatees, today’s population is estimated at approximately 5,000 individuals.

Manatee near our dock in Key Largo

Various human activities threaten manatee populations. Fishing nets and lines can cause injuries to manatees that can lead to serious infections. Some manatee deaths are the result of collisions with boats and boat propellers. Additionally, coastal development affect manatee habitats, both positively and negatively. Manatees tend to gather in the warm water outflows of power plants and springs during cold weather.  In accordance with the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, an act of Congress designed to list endangered animal species and offer them limited protection, the manatee became one of 78 original species listed as being threatened with extinction. As such, it is a violation to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, capture, or collect these animals.

Due to Florida's prominence in the exotic pet trade, iguanas imported as pets have escaped or been released, and are now established in South Florida. South and Central Florida's subtropical climate allows these large herbivorous lizards to survive, reproduce, and become part of the Florida environment. 

Iguanas Basking in Trees

Three large members of the iguana family have become established here. These are the common green iguana, the Mexican spiny-tailed iguanas and black spiny-tailed iguana. Large male spiny-tailed iguanas are often misidentified as alligators by startled homeowners because of reduced dorsal spines and dark color. We often see iguanas basking in the sun along rocky shores, in trees, on docks and by bridges.

Iguana next to Sea Wall

Iguanas can cause damage by eating valuable landscape plants, shrubs, and trees, as well as orchids and many other flowers. They can also dig burrows next to seawalls and foundations, increasing the chance of erosion and eventual collapse. Special permits are unnecessary for trapping iguanas on private property in Florida, however, they must be trapped humanely. Only snares and live traps are legal. It is illegal to relocate iguanas, because, as a non-native species, they cannot be released into the wild.  Therefore, if captured, iguanas must be destroyed humanely. It is illegal to shoot iguanas in Florida,  

Oops, this is a 'Geico', not an Iguana!

We hope you don't have any encounters with 'dangerous' exotic animals wherever you are! Wishing you fair winds and gentle seas. Jay and Peggy

Surviving South Florida's Severe Weather

Anticipating severe weather, we moved "Little Lara" to Lake Sylvia February 15th.  This anchorage is surrounded on all sides by high-end homes. Access to the lake is gained through a narrow channel. A popular anchorage with locals, it has good holding and all-around protection.  When we arrived, fifteen other boats were already at anchor.  Once our anchor was set, we felt secure. The next morning as the sun was rising, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon with lighting flashing inside them. The radar showed a strong storm cell approaching the area.

Southern Florida Radar Image
 February 16, 2016

The storm hit suddenly with winds approaching 60 miles per hour. "Little Lara" was knocked down on her beam (side).  Though it felt like minutes, in reality it was probably seconds before she  righted. Sea water began backing up into the galley sink while we were heeled over so far. We hurriedly closed the sea cock.  The wind and rain were blowing so hard we were unable to see the bow of the boat much less what was happening to the other boats in the anchorage.  As the wind continued to blow, "Little Lara" began to yaw from side to side, tugging at her anchor rode. As the rain continued to fall, it began cascading down the companion way. It was raining sideways. 

Because the previous night had been cool, we had not yet opened any of the port holes, so all openings but the companion way were dogged down tight. We quickly secured the canvas over this opening. Looking out the companion way Peggy noticed "Little Lara" was being pushed dangerously close to the nearby docks.  Jumping out into the cockpit, I hit the engine's starter button and it fired-up immediately.  Throwing the transmission into gear, I steered "Little Lara" into deeper water, relieving the pressure on the anchor.  But, with so much heavy rain, it was impossible to see ahead or to either side -- it was difficult to breathe with so much water in the air. 

Within thirty minutes the storm passed.  As the wind died down and the rain ceased we noticed all types of debris in the water around us: leaves, branches, fuel cans, cushions, kayaks, dinghies, etc. Then we noticed a boat against the seawall, boats banging into each other with their anchor rodes tangled together, and two boats sunk.  Some of these boats had drifted past "Little Lara" during the worst of the storm and we had not seen them!  Remarkably, no one was injured. Of the boats sunk, one was a trawler, the other was a catamaran.  

Sunk Trawler

When the trawler was initially hit by the blast of wind, it heeled over and water rushed into its cabin swamping it.  The 37 foot catamaran, weighing 14,000 pounds, was flipped by the wind quickly turning turtle.

Flipped Catamaran

After the storm we went around the anchorage checking on the other boats, surveying the damage and searching for items lost overboard. Every boat we visited reported some kind of damage including torn sails, ripped biminies, lost solar panels, bent stanchions, destroyed wind generators, damaged gelcoat, lost dinghy motors, etc.

Below is a link to local TV station's coverage of the storm.  It includes helicopter film footage, interviews, and pictures.  They reported the storm as a tornado.  It probably was.  (Note: you may have to copy and past this link into the address line on your computer)

 http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Severe-Weather-Overturns-Boats-in-Fort-Lauderdale-368950021.html

Below are videos we took of the two sunk boats:

We felt very blessed as "Little Lara" suffered no damage and we incurred no injuries.  We were also very thankful none of our fellow sailors were hurt.  Our prayers go out to the owners of the two sunk boats.  Both boats were re-floated within 24 hours and were taken to nearby yards for repairs. Hopefully they will be sailing again soon. 

Catamaran Re-floated

Here in south Florida we continue to pray for fair winds and the same for you.

Some of our favorite things...

 In the past many of you have asked us to post more pictures.  Below are a few of our favorite ones that have never made it into the blog.  We hope you enjoy them.  Let us know which ones you like.

Fort Lauderdale LDS Temple

Sailing past downtown Miami, Florida

Sunset in Florida Keys

Manatee visiting "Little Lara"

Dinghy Dock Tarpon Basin, Florida

"Little Lara" and the Big Boys

Boca Chita Key, Florida

View from Boca Chita Key Lighthouse

Sunset Boca Chita Key, Florida (c)

Sunset Boca Chita, Florida (c)

And, finally, below is a video of us taking the dinghy through the mangroves in the Florida Keys.  Fair winds.

More on Anchoring

It is interesting that sailing and anchoring have so many parallels to life. For instance, if we don't pay attention to our charts while sailing we might go aground... potentially with disastrous results. In life if we wander aimlessly without regard to civil laws and/or the commandments of God, we will find ourselves in disastrous circumstances. 

Different types of anchors

While sailing if we follow our charted course, and pay close attention to the advice of wise people who have traveled these waters before us, we have peace of mind and confidence we will arrive safely at our destination.  Similarly in life we will have peace of mind and confidence as we heed the word of God and his prophets, as well as church leaders, and trusted family and friends.

Imagine the size of the Queen Mary's anchor!

We have had only a couple of instances while anchoring where the anchor didn't stay where we dropped it.  The first time was years ago when we were new to sailing and clueless about the need to put out enough “scope”. There needs to be enough line and chain between the boat and the anchor to ensure that the boat is pulling on the anchor at a narrow angle, which makes it dig in deeper rather than pull out.  Since we didn't put out enough line, the anchor didn't have a chance to dig in properly.

Anchor Scope

In retrospect it was pretty comical watching the boat pick the anchor up off the bottom each time a wave lifted the bow and we drifted wherever the wind and waves pushed us along.  Luckily we were on the boat at the time. We figured out pretty fast that it is important to put out a length of rode (rope) and chain that was at least five times the depth of the water in calm weather and more when there are significant wind or waves. 

Add caption

Another time the anchor didn't hold was years ago when we were in the Bahamas. We had left the boat at anchor and gone ashore only to come back hours later to find our that our boat had moved!  Thankfully the anchor had dug back in as it dragged across the bottom.  We came to understand that anchors don't set well in thick sea grass or in thin sand over smooth rock.

Now each time we drop our anchor we take the time to make sure it is firmly set with good holding and we back down hard so the flukes dig in.  As we think about anchoring and how this applies in our lives, it is apparent if we aren't careful to make sure we are anchored to gospel truths, we can be blown onto the rocks of deception.  If we are firm in our testimony of Christ, the storms of tests and trials in our lives may still blow but we can be at peace knowing that we will not be in spiritual danger.

Safely at anchor at the end of the day

We hope your life's anchor holds fast and is deeply set ensuring you are safe and secure to weather life's storms.  Fair winds.

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.

More Food?