Languishing in Loggerhead
31 January 2012
So, as I reported in previous blogs, we decided to go slow this season, particularly because of the emotional travails we endured this summer/fall due to Mom's death and disposition of her estate. We chose Loggerhead Marina in Stuart as our short term home to allow Judy and Chopin and I to reunite and chill. I realized that this was the longest time that Judy and I were separated since we were married 35 years ago!
And Loggerhead Marina turned out to be a delightful place to reunite and recuperate. Loggerhead operates a series of a dozen or so marinas in the south Florida area including this one recently acquired in Stuart. It operates in conjunction with a large and upscale Condo complex. We understand that the original idea was for condo owners to also purchase a boat slip. The downturn in the economy changed that and the development did not thrive and the slips were not used. So we assume Loggerhead must have entered into some sort of management agreement to operate the marina part.
And good for us. This place was top quality. The docks were secure and modern and we had access to good land-based amenities, most notably the pool! And at a reasonable price. To add to the attractiveness, we had our vehicle here so were able to move around at whim. As I had reported on over the last three years of posts, Stuart is a very nice town, classy, safe and convenient. And to add to the pleasure for us, we have several friends who have land based homes here including Sandi and Peter from our hometown Fredericton and Ray and Patti, cruising friends from Boston.
A good percentage of the some 250 boats on the slips here were cruisers and quite a number of them Canadians. So it was a comfortable social setting. There was a roster of activities such as a weekly Friday happy hour, Monday pot luck, morning aqua size classes, weekly are classes and , of course, many impromptu gatherings, meals and happy hours. We reunited with old cruisers like Blair and Laurie (Odissea XX), Ian and Marlene (Gust O Wind), Steve and Jean (Island Trader), Dave and Joanne (Tropical Breeze) and others. We also met many new, interesting folks, notably Susan and Elden ( Soteria) Karl and Laura (Ekotopia), John and Karen (Felicity) and Bud and Corinne (Blue Heaven). All had great stories to tell and interesting backgrounds.
We particularly enjoyed an evening on board Sea Sharp with the aforementioned John and Karen and Bud and Corinne along with their friend Laurie. Note, Bud and Corinne's boat name - Blue Heaven. Well, it just so happens that she along with two friends were the conceivers and developers of the famous bar/restaurant in Key West, immortalized in song by Jimmy Buffett in his lament, "Blue Heaven Rendezvous, Judy's favourite Jimmy song. What stories they told about resurrecting this derelict building, adjacent to a crack house into one of the most revered eating and watering holes in Key West!
Our routing day saw us up at dawn and Judy heading to the pool for either aquasize or painting classes while I did a chore or two. We'd then go for a walk run. I usually ran while Judy walk/ran and we'd meet on our return along the lovely St. Lucie riverfront and cool down with the walk over the Roosevelt Bridge.
Chopin loved it too and Judy took him for long, long walks along the docks. He would check out all of the boats and I swear he favours the new Kady Krogen luxury trawlers on the next dock to us. Reluctantly, he would trudge back to Sea Sharp and the cramped but relative comfort of our boat.
Judy loved the pool, She would spend most of her day every day by poolside, but even more in the pool She was affectionately dubbed "Nemo" by folks who would see her hour after hour floating or paddling around in the pool, which most of the time, was only inhabited by her.
We also had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Blair and Laurie's delightful and engaging children Marilyn, Carmen and Elya who visited in two instalments. We played games, had singsongs and generally got to know them.
It was a wonderful place to recharge, do a few chores, provision the boat and just relax in the warm weather of south/central Florida. We will certainly return to this marina and hopefully reunite with our new and old cruiser friends.