s/v Far Niente - Cruising Log

Spring 2015 - The Florida Keys

11 March 2015 | Marathon, FL
19 February 2015 | Marathon, FL
09 January 2015 | Vaca Key - Marathon, FL
10 December 2014 | West Palm Beach, FL
01 December 2014 | West Palm Beach
20 November 2014 | West Palm Beach, FL
05 October 2014 | Port Royal, SC
24 February 2014
17 February 2014 | South Carolina
01 June 2013 | Port Royal Landing Marina
16 May 2013 | Anchored Cocoa, FL
26 April 2013 | Marathon, FL
21 December 2012 | Harbour Cay Club, Marathon, FL
07 December 2012 | Mooring #30, St. Augustine Municipal Marina
31 August 2012 | Dataw Island Marina, SC
13 June 2012 | Conch House Marina, St. Augustine, FL
08 June 2012 | New Smyrna Beach, FL
03 June 2012 | Harbour Isle Marina, Ft. Pierce, FL, USA
29 May 2012 | Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End

Marathon, FL to Cocoa, FL

16 May 2013 | Anchored Cocoa, FL
Jeff
Aerial View of Cocoa, FL with a good anchorage south of the bridge on the west side of the Indian River (north is up).

Here is the breakout of our legs north so far. We have really enjoyed the last 2 weeks as we connected with many cruising friends and buddy boated for a while.

Weather for the most part has cooperated. We haven't hit the pattern of daily, afternoon thunderstorms and squalls we experienced last year cruising north along the Florida coast.

5/7/13
Harbour Cay Club (Marathon, FL) to Rodriguez Key via Hawk Channel
Distance: 54.2 nm (motor sail)
Time: 7:58
Anchored east of Rodriguez Key with SW and W winds. Quite comfortable with these winds. Don't think this place would be very good with a stiff south or southeast wind.

5/8/13
Rodriguez Key to Miami (Fisher Island) via Hawk Channel / Atlantic
Distance: 50.6 nm (motor sail)
Time: 7:39
Anchored south of Fisher Island and north of Virginia Key. Had the whole place to ourselves and nice south and southwest winds. A bit of current here and we swung 180 degrees over night but it was good holding and smooth. View is interesting; Virginia Key to the south and undeveloped, Fisher Island to the north with multimillion dollar marina and condos, Atlantic ocean to the east and the Miami skyline and port (cargo ship docks/cranes) to the west.

5/9/13
Miami (Fisher Island) to West Palm via Atlantic
Distance: 67.7 nm (motor sail)
Time: 9:50
Winds moved to the north and were light and variable most of the day. We picked up a Gulf Stream push and hour north of Fort Lauderdale. Then the wind came around to the beam and we motor sailed at 8.3-8.7 knots for 3+ hours. Made it in the Lake Worth inlet and up to the Flagler Bridge in West Palm by 4:15. We pulled into Palm Harbor Marina (our favorite marina on the U.S. East coast. The next day we were joined by our cruising friends from TRUE NORTH who made the crossing from West End, Bahamas to West Palm. Then on May 12 our cruising friends from MYSTIC GYPSY sailed up from Marathon overnight and joined us. We all had a great time at West Palm.

5/14/13
Palm Harbor Marina (West Palm Beach, FL) to Vero Beach via the ICW
Distance: 61.5 nm - 8 bascule bridges (motor)
Time: 10:40
Weather outside did not cooperate for an Atlantic run up to the Ft. Pierce inlet, so our good friends on MYSTIC GYPSY joined us on a long day on the Florida ICW. Distance-wise, not that bad. But we had 8 lift bridges to traverse. For 7 of the 8 we had a fleet of 5 to 7 other sailboats which has its pluses and minuses. It was a straightforward ICW run and we picked up a mooring at Vero Beach City Marina at 5:36 pm. MYSTIC GYPSY rafted on our starboard and we had a great, relaxing evening of good food and wine and of course great company.

5/15/13
Vero Beach, FL to Ccoa, FL via ICW / Indian River
Distance: 47 nm (motor)
Time: 6:56
The ICW leg up to Cocoa was a piece of cake. We had nice NE winds of 5-10 knots which were cool and refreshing (aka low humidity). The route up to Cocoa is mostly via the Indian River which is plenty deep and wide enough in the northern end so you don't have to stay in the channel or follow the magenta line. Along the way we heard a USCG safety call which announced that an Atlas 5 rocket with a GPS satellite was to launch at 5:38 pm from Kennedy Space Center which is just east of Cocoa. We dropped anchor and relaxed in the later afternoon. At 5:38 pm the launch went off as scheduled. While not as large or impressive as a space shuttle launch it was still a treat to watch and hear.

We also had the great fortune to be crossing paths with cruising friends we originally met back in Holland, MI on their Ocean Alexander 50, PRESENT MOMENT. We dropped our dinghy and I shuttled our friends from MYSTIC GYPSY and PRESENT MOMENT to the municipal dinghy dock. It was a bit of wet ride back and forth, but not real bad as far as dinghy rides go. Veteran cruisers know exactly what I am talking about.

We are hanging out at anchor here in Cocoa another day before moving north to New Smyrna Beach for the weekend. After a few years of cruising up and down the coast, we do know we do not enjoy the recreational boat traffic that explodes on weekends, especially a nice weekend in spring in Florida. So we'll enjoy New Smyrna 2 days and then make for St. Augustine to stage for our sail up to Beaufort, SC. We plan an ICW run up to the St. John's River and then out to the Atlantic at Mayport. From there we are an 18 hour overnight sail to Beaufort along the northern coast of Florida, Georgia and South Caroloina.

Now if the weather will cooperate just a while longer.........


Comments
Vessel Name: formerly - Far Niente
Vessel Make/Model: formerly - Island Packet 45 (#33)
Hailing Port: Beaufort, SC
Crew: Marjorie and Jeff Graham
About: CRUISERS June 2010 to May 2015.
formerly - Far Niente's Photos - Main
A collection of photos from spring in the Bahamas
6 Photos
Created 1 April 2012
4 Photos
Created 26 January 2012
A collection of photos taken along the way as we made our way from the Chesapeake to South Carolina
17 Photos
Created 9 November 2011
Pictures of the newly installed cockpit grate.
10 Photos
Created 7 July 2011
Photos of JFK's Presidential sailing yacht, Manitou
10 Photos
Created 26 June 2011
Photos of the various places we are stopping as we make our way back north for summer 2011.
3 Photos
Created 28 April 2011
A collection of photos, including some from the Turtle Hospital.
5 Photos
Created 26 March 2011
Pictures of a variety of projects underway or completed on Far Niente
3 Photos
Created 7 March 2011
Photos from the Florida Keys.
19 Photos
Created 19 February 2011
Photos from Florida 2011
10 Photos
Created 1 February 2011
First batch of pix from our stay in Beaufort and a few from our previous stop, Charleston. Maybe the 2 best stops the entire journey.
18 Photos
Created 2 December 2010
We really like Georgetown.
12 Photos
Created 10 November 2010
A couple photos taken by Tom Jones (original owner of Far Niente when it was Christiana) Tom was on a fall delivery on a Grand Banks Eastbay 38 from the Great Lakes to Annapolis. On a very windy, cool early Sunday morning 50 miles north of Annapolis, they were motoring south on the Chesapeake at 23 kts and just happened to spot us exiting the Sassafras River headed for Annapolis for the sailboat show. What are the odds? A chance but great encounter none the less.
2 Photos
Created 1 November 2010
2 Photos
Created 17 October 2010
Photos from our stop at Cape May, NJ
10 Photos
Created 27 September 2010
Photos from our stop in NY and NJ (Liberty Landing)
5 Photos
Created 14 September 2010
A selection of photos from our stay in Troy and Catskill, NY including stepping our mast.
18 Photos
Created 10 September 2010
10 Photos
Created 20 August 2010
5 Photos
Created 19 August 2010
A couple of pictures of our ongoing excellent dining experience and the Credit Village Marina we are staying at
10 Photos
Created 11 August 2010
A few photos from Port Dalhousie.
6 Photos
Created 9 August 2010
Pictures from our transit of the Welland Canal, down bound from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario
11 Photos
Created 9 August 2010
Photos from our leg from DeTour to Lake St. Clair
8 Photos
Created 27 July 2010
A couple pix from our stop at DeTour.
2 Photos
Created 24 July 2010
Photos from the Mack Island and the after regatta party
7 Photos
Created 20 July 2010
Collection of photos from June 22 to July 17 from our travels around Charlevoix, Beaver Island and Mackinaw.
17 Photos
Created 18 July 2010
A few photos of some of the things we changed/added to Far Niente in the summer of 2009.
3 Photos
Created 3 April 2010
5 Photos
Created 21 March 2010
Interior photos for friends and family who have not been aboard....YET!
18 Photos
Created 22 February 2010
Pix from the summer 2009 sailing season
8 Photos
Created 21 February 2010