Bailing Out Porty in Hollywood!

Our plan was to leave Hollywood this morning along with "Passages" who came into the Municipal Marina a couple of days ago. But....the rain started to fall yesterday around noontime and hasn't stopped yet (24 hours later)! More than 13 inches of rain fell. At times it has been torrential! There have been tornado watches & warnings, and the parking lot here is flooded. We kept waiting for the rain to let up last night so that we could walk to "Le Tub" but it just wouldn't, so we had grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, and played dominoes with Mo & George. As all boat projects go - the wind generator install is taking longer & longer to complete; but we do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Looking North on ICW from Hollywood Bridge

 

Mega Yachts at Pier 66

 

Fort Lauderdale Home

 

Jupiter Inlet Light

 

We Have Arrived in Hollywood

We are doing some marina & land time in Hollywood, FL - visiting Mom in Pembroke Pines for about a week to 10 days. "Kismet" is tied up in the Hollywood Muncipal Marina where Jim will be completing some boat projects; installing the Kiss wind generator and three new batteries, replacing the cockpit remote VHF radio, & general boat maintenance. On the day we arrived, I did a long overdue defrost of the refrig/freezer. I hope to never wait that long again! We are also doing tons of laundry - particularly the things that don't get washed on a routine basis - canvas bags, comforter cover, shower curtain, etc. On our way here, we stopped in beautiful Jupiter Island (Hobe Sound) for our semi-annual visit with friends Judy & Ken McBrayer (friends from High School in NH). The trip there from Vero was pretty exciting - thunderstorms & very heavy rain - we couldn't see the ICW markers & we didn't dare go through the bridges til the rain let up. But it was all worth it - had a great dinner & evening with friends. Next stop was the anchorage just beyond Peanut Island in Lake Worth. Went aboard "Cookie Monster" with Robin & Corbett for Happy Hour; which of course made dinner a non-issue! Around 2000, Jim realized that we had moved a significant distance from where we anchored; so we had to reset the anchor. This has only happened a couple times in the 16 months that we have been gone. Probably because the wind and current were so strong in opposing directions. We left Lake Worth at 0700 on Monday. Went out the inlet to check out the conditions in the ocean - it was pretty rough around the inlet, but once we got out about a mile and turned south, conditions improved & we had a nice motorsail to Fort Lauderdale, about a 40 mile trip. We avoided about 20 bridge openings. That was particularly nice because our remote VHF wasn't transmitting. Anchored in beautiful Lake Sylvia in Lauderdale for the night. On Tuesday morning, we arrived at the Marina - pumped out & filled our diesel tank & tied up in the slip. After attacking the defrost job, Jim and I walked to "Le Tub" for pina coladas & fabulous burgers!

Hanging Out in Vero Beach

We motorsailed to the mooring field at Vero Beach on Monday; and rafted up on ball #4 (by the bridge) with "Passages". Jim & George spent two days improving the insulation on "Passages" refrigeration; while Mo & I enjoyed the free bus service to do errands, Mo gave me a haircut, and both of us were up to the challenge of driving our dinghies without the guys. We are expecting rain, thunderstorms, and some wind for the next few days, so we may be here til Saturday. The mooring field is great here - $14.00 a day with good showers & laundry. The field is pretty full so most balls have 2 or 3 boats on them. Many folks stay here all season; hence the name - Velcro Beach!