5) January 17-23, 2026
Friday, Jan. 16
Fort Pierce Inlet to Lake Worth Inlet
Fort Pierce Inlet to Lake Worth Inlet
You would think that living on a sailboat is all fun and games but not always. Last night it was 32 degrees. We have a heater but it was still cold. Woke up to a sunny, calm day and decided to move. After hot hot showers we untied the lines, fueled up at the fuel dock and headed south on the ICW. The Atlantic Ocean has not calmed down yet after the high winds and waves from yesterday.
The first few hours was pretty uneventful. 3 65' bridges until St. Lucie Inlet. No issues. Then it starts!
Bascule Bridges! These are my stressers! (I am not sure that is a word but you know what I mean). Bascule bridges need to be opened so we can go through them. Some are on demand. You hail the bridge master on channel 9 and ask them to open the bridge. Some are on a time schedule. Like on the hour and half hour or on the quarter and three quarters. Others many be every 15 minutes.
I sit at my computer and use Waterway Guide to look up all the bridges that will be on our route. I write them down and what mile marker they are at. I triple check to make sure I have it right.
We had 7 Bascule bridges to deal with. One we had to wait 20 minutes for it to open which meant we had to try and keep our boat within sight of the bridge but not hit the bridge. We dealt with current push us forward and a little bit of wind. Stressful, for me, but we did see a manatee close to our boat.
Anchored in North Lake Worth Bay for the night. 8 hours but it's getting warmer as we continue South. Tomorrow's a new day and new adventures!
January 17-18
We left Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet towards Cay Biscayne for another night of anchoring. Ocean calm, waves 2 feet, not much winds and the 2 knots of current directly on the nose. We struggled to do 5 knots! So we settled in and knew it was going to be a very long day.
Listening to the VHF radio was so entertaining. President Trump was coming into Mar a Largo and bridges closed down. Boats were asked where they were traveling to. Caused a huge backup on the ICW. Had we not gone outside on the ocean we would have been in that mess. There are 21 bascule bridges in this area. YUCK!
Kim tried to catch the "big one" but...
As we moved along the coast we saw a few dolphins but nothing like the other time. As we approached Fort Lauderdale we saw 5 cruise ships head out to the Bahamas, I think. Kim has to always push the envelope and got way to close for comfort to the 5th one.
The lights of Miami were amazing but hard to capture on video. Did hear a some of the Diplo concert (somebody I have never heard of) coming from a venue at Miami coast.
We finally made it to Cay Biscayne around 11:00 pm but had a 2 knot current pushing at us so it took another hour to get in the bay. Anchored in calm waters and asleep by 1:30 am After watching some of Lost in Space.
Sites as we left Palm Beach.
Sunset over Fort Lauderdale.
Sunday, Jan. 18
When we woke up it was dead calm but then the fishermen started heading out. We rocked and rolled. I think some of them did it on purpose. Some weather was coming in later this afternoon we decided to move to a more protective area. We are the big blue boat.
Glad we moved. Winds blowing at 18 knots. Choppy waves. Suppose to be like this for a few days. Next stop will be Key Largo for a few weeks. Once the weather settles down we will move there.
Views of Miami.
Monday-Thursday, Jan. 19-22
Still anchored here. Winds blowing 20 knots. Anchor holding. Suns out during the day so that helps the situation. Looks like we may be here until Thursday. The chart below shows the green area of high winds.
Anchor chart after 5 days.
Friday, January 23
Finally time to leave this anchorage! We have bounced around for 5 days and it's time to move South. So to maximize the current direction, we need to leave at 3:00 am. In the Dark! UGH! The city lights of Miami helped as we pulled anchor and took off. First obstacle was dodging anchored boats outside No Name Harbor who did not have their anchor lights on. DON'T Do That! Turn your anchor lights on!!!! Then we had 4 hours before sunlight to inch our way down Hawks Channel. Listened to the VHF radio about an over turned boat, people in the water, but not near us. Seas were calm and the current was behind us-for once!
Marina Del Mar, Key Largo
Needless to say we are tired and can't wait to get into a marina. New record for us, 6 days on anchor. Surprisingly we survive being together in a very small space.
The marina in Key Largo where we are going has a shallow entrance so we have to make high tide at 11:00 am or close to that. Again leaving at 3:00 am will get us there on time.
We made high tide and successfully navigated Crash Corner, a 90 degree turn on a blind corner. You have to hail on Channel 16 before you get to that corner to warn other boaters you are turning. We had a tight docking but, again, Kim has this down and it went smoothly.
We tied the lines, got off and headed to Sharkey's for beers and lunch. Came back to boat and slept. Here for a month.
