February 27, 2025 - Stuart, Florida

Today was a relaxing day.  Too cold and windy for the beach, so we read, napped, snacked, and that's about it.  

We met with Doug and Gwen for dinner at 5:00 p.m. at Duffys.  We had a great time chatting and eating good food.  We left there around 7:30 p.m., stopped for a small dish of ice cream at Kilwin's, and went back to the boat for an episode of "Blue Bloods".  

February 26, 2025 - Jupiter Sound, Florida to Stuart, Florida

Kip was up at 5:00 a.m. and let me sleep until after 7:00 a.m.  He took some nice sunrise pictures.

    Do you see the rainbow?

                                                                    Looper Flag

We are heading to Stuart and hope we can snag a mooring ball.  Kip called the marina, and it just so happened there was only one open, so we are tied up to it.  We are going to stay here until Sunday, and then we are going to the mooring balls at Manatee Pocket.  

We met a couple on a mooring ball by us - they are in a Silverton (John and Gretchen).  It turns out that they live in southern Minnesota, and they had a slip on the 300 dock in Lake City.  They love it there and are hoping to get back on a dock there again this year, so we have quite a bit in common.  We invited them onto our boat, and we talked for quite a while.  

We are going to have dinner with them on the 28th and hopefully get a tour of their boat.  The world seems smaller somehow -- It is amazing the people you run into!

February 25, 2025 - Dania Beach, Florida to Jupiter Sound, Florida

We left Dania Beach around 7:00 a.m.  We are heading for Stuart, but it will take us two days to get there.  

We passed several cruise and container ships.   We took turns being captain.

When we passed this boat earlier, it was sitting on mud.  The tide now came in, so it isn't as bad.

                                        So many HUGE boats - it is quite amazing.

                                                    Cool bridge building.

                                                 This boat didn't quite make it on the lift!

We anchored out at Jupiter Sound.  There are a few other boats here and it is fairly calm.  Kip has his anchor alarm set in case our anchor comes loose.

For supper we had leftovers, watched "Blue Bloods" and were in bed by 10 p.m.  

February 24, 2025 - Dania Beach Marina

It's a slow-moving morning.  It is cloudy, very windy, and sprinkling.  

Kip is doing laundry, and I am updating the blog (I'm really behind)!!  The pirate ship is docked right by us, and we really enjoy watching and listening to the kids who are boarding.  They are so excited.  They get swords, hats, eye patches, vests, the whole deal.  Smiles from ear to ear.  Then a dinghy with a pirate on it (and a skeleton with a life vest) follow them and harass them and the kids shoot water canons at him... So cute!

Kip wanted to show me the route to get to the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk.  We went down the trail, stopping a few times, to take in the beach view, etc.  At one stop, my bike decided to not cooperate - the chain broke.  This did not surprise us because the chain was rusty, and my bike would shift on its own all of the time.  I guess it's time to retire it.   

                                        This is not my bike -- it is a clip art that looks like my bike!

We walked the bikes back to the marina (leaving my bike on the bike rack) and loaded Kip's bike and the dinghy back onto the swim platform on the boat.   

While exploring, Kip found a hiking path that looks like fun called Whiskey Creek.  We are going to check that out today (in between the rain drops).  We started walking down the path, passing docked cruise ships, container ships getting loaded, lots of beach access, etc.  We found the "colored" beach used in the 1950 and 1960 in the Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park.

We ended up walking almost 5 miles (with one small Gatorade).  For supper we were going to make spaghetti but ended up going to the Quarterdeck restaurant right across from the boat instead.  I had fajitas and Kip had a burger and tots.  It was really good!  While Kip was eating his soup, I saw something roll onto the shore below us, so I had to go out and examine it.  It was a bobber.

Back to the boat with full stomachs and no energy, so we are tucked in for the rest of the night.  Besides, it is raining!  

February 23, 2025 - Dania Beach Marina

Today we are meeting our friend (and co-worker from our previous job) and his wife for lunch.  They are just returning from a cruise and are meeting us at Le Tub at 11:00 a.m.  We had a fun lunch, telling stories and catching up.  

We then walked to Hollywood Beach and met up with Jeff and Laura.  It is less windy today and warmer, but it didn't last long.  At least we got a few hours of beach time in!  We ended up on the roof of their hotel and sat by the pool.

We walked the boardwalk, ate dinner at Margaritaville, and listened to a country rock band for a while.

We went back to their hotel and played dominoes.  Then, of course, we had to go back to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream.  

Jeff and Laura drove us back to the marina and we said our goodbyes.  They are leaving on a cruise tomorrow, and we are doing laundry!  It was a blast having our friends here with us.

February 22, 2025 - Dania Beach Marina

Jeff and Laura picked us up and we had breakfast at the Moonlight Diner.  We decided we would take the water taxis to go exploring 

We rode several water taxis and ended up in Lauderdale.  We walked around, had hibachi for dinner, shopped, and bought chocolates from Hoffman's Chocolate store.

It was a busy (but fun) day, and we are all tired.

February 21, 2025 - Dania Beach Marina, Dania Beach, Florida

Kip was up early and took his bike to check out the ride to Hollywood Beach.  Jeff and Laura are staying at Hollywood beach for a few days, and they are picking us up for breakfast.  We ended up at Grandpa's Cafe.  I would highly recommend it!  Great food.

It is cooler and windy today, so after breakfast we drove to Haulover Inlet to watch the boats come in and out of the harbor.  If you have never seen the videos, click on the link or Google "Haulover Inlet", and you will understand.  

For supper we ended up at "Le Tubs" in Hollywood Beach.  Then, of course, we had to drive to Jaxsons for ice cream!  

We came back to the marina and played Dominoes in the community room.  It was a fun day!

February 20, 2025 - No Name Harbor, Miami to Dania Beach Marina, Dania Beach, Florida

Our morning started very early...  

At about 12:30 a.m. I heard Kip wandering around.  I didn't think much about it until he woke me up and said "Shelly, don't get upset, but a boat is heading right for us."  I shot out of bed, and we were trying to figure out how to handle the situation.  We couldn't move our boat because the other boat was directly over our anchor.  

After several minutes, the people in the 50-foot boat that was about 3 yards away from us came out and said "I think my anchor came loose.  We will pull the anchor and move."   We watched the boat relocate and work on their anchor, unsuccessfully, for several minutes.  Kip decided we would pull anchor and go to the wall to tie up (or we probably would not have gone back to sleep).

We tied up, checked everything around us, and tried to go back to sleep.  We aren't upset with anyone; we aren't even sure what exactly happened.  We are just glad both parties and their boats are ok.

Surprisingly we were both awake early and left around 7:00 a.m.  The water is choppy today.  We had coffee and eventually, after confirming that Kip was fine driving, I tucked back into my bed and slept.  

The Dania Marina is directly across from the beach.  We are on an inside wall, we have power, bathrooms, washer and dryer, and restaurants nearby.  We are on the same dock as another looper, a 48' Sea Ray.  I took this picture for your enjoyment!  😂

We checked out the marina office, walked a little bit on the beach and then returned to the boat to unload the dinghy, etc.  Kip rinsed off the boat to get the salt off and tinkered a bit.  Jeff and Laura picked us up and we walked around on Hollywood Beach and had dinner.  

After dinner we stopped for ice cream.  I opted for a sprinkled small cone.  The server handed me the cone (which had about three scoops of ice cream towering on it).  I asked her for a cup and a spoon because I was worried that it would topple over... well, when she handed me the cup and spoon the ice cream toppled over and landed directly on the payment pad screen (and slid down).  The server was mad, and she said, "Next time, don't shake it" and she replaced it with a tiny dish.  

We repeated the story to Jeff and Laura, and they cracked up.  DON'T SHAKE IT?  It's an ice cream cone, who shakes an ice cream cone!  We had a good laugh at that.  We listened to (and Laura and I danced to) the band on stage for a while.  

They dropped us off at Dania Marina, I watched an episode of "Blue Bloods" while Kip nodded off (so he missed parts of it) and tucked in by 9:30 p.m.

February 19, 2025 - Boca Chita Key Harbor, Biscayne National Park to No Name Harbor, Miami

No hurrying this morning.  We sat on our chairs and relaxed since we are only going about 15 miles today.  Our destination ... No Name Harbor near Miami.  There is a nice area there to anchor out in, beach access, a lighthouse, trails to wander on, etc.

Kip was up early as usual and got some nice sunrise pictures.

The ride was rocky today with about 2-foot waves.  We had to close the hatch windows in the front because water was splashing in.

Here we are pulling into No Name Harbor.

We anchored and took the dinghy to shore to pay the overnight fee.  We returned to the boat, ate lunch, and took a nap.  

After our nap, we dinghied back to the dinghy dock, emptied our garbage bags, and went for a walk around the island.  We looked at the outbuildings and information about the lighthouse (which was not open today) then continued to the beach.  We walked the beach for quite a while, rinsed off, and returned to the boat.  

We had snacks and read for quite a while.  Then made supper and relaxed until bedtime.