SUMMER BREEZE

Summer Breeze soon to be renamed Lady Darcy!

2021-07-27T14:58:00.003-04:00

We have very much enjoyed our time on Summer Breeze. She has challenged us in many ways, we have learned a tremendous amount, have had some amazing experiences and made some wonderful lifelong friends. We traveled to the Chesapeake Bay, to the Abacos, to the Florida Keys and the FL loop twice and crossing Florida via the Okeechobee Lake 3 times.

Meet Robert (Bobby) Kleiman and Michelle Fair, new owners of Summer Breeze!

Their plans are to be full time liveaboards in Stuart, FL. They will be doing their desired updates while at the marina as they prepare for their own adventures in cruising on "Lady Darcy" named after their beloved King Charles Cavalier 15 1/2 yr old pup who is making the trip home with them along with Finnley.

Darcy discovered that sleeping on the floor in our pantry was her spot!

Finnley found his "happy place" on board.

Video of Bobby and Michelle leaving our dock on Tuesday, July 27.

CLICK HERE for Youtube video

They spent several days here with us learning more about their new boat and moving on.

The dogs were definitely a part of the training sessions.

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The survey/inspection was on July 13-15th.

On July 13, we take her over to the boat yard for the haul out and survey. Inspector #1 does the engine inspection and a sea trial.

The next day we are back there at 8 AM to meet the other surveyor and prepare for the haul out.

Bella is ready.

She always looks so BIG out of the water!

Time for another sea trial with surveyor/inspector #2

Bobby takes a turn at the helm with Bruce

On July 15, we take her back to her home dock and we realize that this is our last time to cruise...

thus our final family photo on Summer Breeze!

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A throwback look when we bought Mar Azul in St Petersburg, FL and renaming her Summer Breeze.

Last visit for Bob and Elaine Ebaugh

Sold! Summer Breeze is ready for her new cruise loving owners!

2021-06-16T10:21:00.003-04:00

SOLD

After 4 1/2 great cruising years, it is time for us to change gears and our beloved Summer Breeze is ready for her new owners. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time aboard with our short cruises around Charleston and our extended cruises to the Chesapeake Bay, the Abaco Islands and several trips to the Florida Keys and the FL west coast. We have made some new forever friends along the way and have some unforgettable memories. As time moves on and things change, it is now time for us to go in a different direction.

FOR SALE INFORMATION:

Click link below or "For Sale..." tab above.

Summer Breeze Sale Info

Sunday June 6, home! 1551.73 miles at average speed of 7 mph

2021-06-07T18:45:00.000-04:00

The seagulls followed us all up the S Edisto River!

We arrived a day earlier than originally thought and the weather was looking ok for a docking so we headed to the barn!

As we crossed the sandbar about 5 PM, several of our neighbors were out on their docks offering us homecoming greetings!

David Smoak

David Kennedy had a water 💧 hose welcome.

And Doug waving as we crept up to our dock

Wait! Bella sees more people she recognizes! Her people!

Melissa, Caitlyn and Maya were on our dock welcoming us and being dock hands.

And they cooked dinner for us tonight and helped us unload the boat. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

We traveled for 12 weeks and 3 days though we thought we would be out 4-5 months. It was time to come home and it does feel good to be home.

We traveled a total of 1551.73 miles at a whopping speed of an average of 7 miles per hour going to Stuart, FL, crossing Lake Okeechobee, spend some great quality time with Bryan, Mary and our longtime friends, Ridge and Denise. Then traveling down to Boot Key Harbor and working our way up the east coast. Travel days from Boot Key was 12 though we spent a few extra days here and there.

Thanks for following along

Bruce, Rosie and Bella

Summer Breeze

Sunday June 6, Horses heading to the barn!

2021-06-06T21:52:00.004-04:00

Since we have been on the return trip, it’s like we are horses heading to hay. Time to get home!

And with the tumble Bruce had, we are not taking the dinghy down and stopping in ports along the way home. He is just too sore to be doing that but he is ok and is getting better.

Last Friday morning, we started our trip through Georgia and we were armed and ready! It is too rough to travel offshore which is our preference with GA as the winding ICW and huge horse flies are brutal.

Also this is St Andrew Sound, the inlet between Jekyll and Cumberland Islands which is a beast most days. The winds and seas are generally calmer early so we planned this crossing early. And it was perfect with gentle swells.

The lighthouse off the northern tip of Cumberland Island, which we didn’t get a chance to stop at this year.

Bella is very concerned about us swatting flies!

We also bypassed Jekyll Island which is one of our favorite stops but it was way too early in the day to stop.

Next was Mud River and of course, we managed to get there at dead low tide which means that if you can stay on the right track, there is between 7 and 8’ ft of water. We draw 4.7” it looked muddy! One of us wanted to wait for the tide to rise but the other 🙄 one of us didn’t.

We got through without hitting bottom though our depth finder lost its readings at 1.6” with Bruce at the helm and Rosie swatting flies.

We saw a Roseate Spoonbill!

We stopped at Wahoo Creek close to St Catherine’s Island. It was a very cloudy and windy evening.

Saturday, we traveled again while swatting. Rosie just held her swatter like a magic wand keeping them from landing. Bruce killed a ton of them. Bella is freaked out by these swatters!

We had thunder storms and lots of local boat traffic (it’s a Saturday) as we traveled close to Savannah. The clouds were amazing.

We were pretty beat by the time we got to Dafuskie and unfortunately were too tired to stop and Bruce is too sore to deal with the dinghy.

See you next time Tom and Robin!

Happy hour #1, Advil and Gatorade!

The winds again are very strong. Our flag was straight as a board and of course we were sideways to the current. Not always comfortable.

Sunday, we are on the home stretch. It’s about 73 miles to our home dock and we can get there late in the afternoon though we are seriously considering waiting until morning to dock if the winds are as gusty as they have been and as are predicted for the afternoon.

Passing Parris Island

Making good time! Cloudy so it is comfortable and no flies!

Spoke too soon. Had a couple but nothing like GA!

Yes! We are home! The winds cooperated and we were met at the dock by Melissa and Caitlyn!

May 30- June 3, Jensen FL to Cumberland Island, GA

2021-06-03T18:48:00.000-04:00

Sunday May 30

Leaving Jensen at sunrise with the vessel Pegasus leaving just before us. It was a very calm and eerie cloudy morning which meant rainstorms on the horizon!

Despite all the holiday boat traffic, it was a good trip to Melbourne with several turtle sightings and a ray that flew out of the water. The storms seem to pop up close by but we managed to stay dry.

Sunset at Melbourne on Memorial Day eve.

Miles: 64. 8 hrs, 20 min

Monday May 31, Memorial Day

We stopped at New Smyrna Beach, FL. We have anchored here at least 4 times over the years but have never gone to town. We had planned to but due to a tumble that Captain Bruce took, we stayed on board. A passing boat came up suddenly creating a large wake causing him to lose his balance on the dinghy deck and tumbling head first down to the deck below bounding off things and landing on his head and back. Thank God, no broken bones or major damage though he is scraped up, bruised up and very sore.

Miles traveled: 71.6

Bella was eyeing that park with green grass that is "just over there"!

Onward north! The weather has been nice, cool actually and storms around but none where we are, so we traveled a long day towards St Augustine.

We were only traveling about 20 minutes when an engine alarm goes off. Never a good thing. Seems that the alternator belt broke. So Rosie had Summer Breeze limping along on one engine while Bruce spent time in the engine room replacing it. Thank goodness for spare parts on board!

And the LB Knox Bridge is still only opening one span which makes it a tight opening. It was just one of those days.

But it got better! We had 3 dolphins ride along with us for a bit.

Click here if you would like to see a video.

Since we were not getting off the boat, we chose to go about 3 miles north of St Augustine and try a new spot to anchor. We always go to the marina there and go to town but not this trip. We passed by the inlet and noticed how "ugly" it is offshore. Looks like it will be rough out there for a while so we get to go the rest of the way in the ICW.

Miles traveled: 74.5

Wednesday June 2

We woke up to a rain storm and since it had been cool the windows and doors were all open. It took us a while with many towels to dry up!

And then the rainbow! We could see both ends in the water very very close to us.

We spent the night just north of the St John's River.

Miles traveled: 34.5, only 5 hours. After several long days, we were ready for some short ones.

Sunset at Sisters Creek.

Thursday June 3

The sea breeze has been coming in strong in the afternoons as well as the storms so today was another short day. We stopped at another new spot on the north end of Cumberland Island at Brickhill River.

Miles traveled: 44.5

May 25 - 30, Elliott Key, Key Biscayne, Lake Worth and Jensen

2021-05-30T03:20:00.000-04:00

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RED SKY AT NIGHT, SAILORS DELIGHT!

Lots of red skies this week and some great photos!

We left Islamorada on Tuesday morning. Bruce is manning the anchor while Rosie and Bella mind the helm.

Though Bella was minding that sunrise!

She was mesmerized.

It is still breezy though nothing like the last 10 days.

We had a dolphin catch a ride with our wake for quite a while! I got several videos and photos.

If the video doesn’t show up, click below.

https://youtu.be/fVkytP_DjmY

Hope the links work! It was very cool.

The ride through the Keys in the Florida Bay was nice. Pretty water, lots of shoaling though.

We stopped at Elliott Key for 2 days. The water is immaculate there, much like the Bahamas.

Bruce is off to check the anchor. Just like the Bahamas here the bottom can be coral or rock with not much sand to grab. Anchor was set in a good spot.

During the 2 day stay, we we took several dinghy trips to different beaches and islands.

Full moon.

Red sky at night, sailors delight!

So the saying goes.

The next day we took a longer ride over to Boca Chica Key. Bella was super excited to see real grass but “no pets allowed” was posted.

Another red sky night!

And full moon night

Thursday, we moved about 18 miles to Key Biscayne, just across from Miami.

We took a walk to the lighthouse. I have painted this one several times and happy to know that 2 out of 3 are in my collectors homes!

It is on a beach that is frequently listed as one of the top 10. Not this year though!

Sunset on Thursday.

With another red sky! Miami in the distance.

Friday morning, we left at 6 am for a 10 hour run offshore to Lake Worth in the Palm Beach area. The morning sky was beautiful with the lighthouse.

The seas were predicted to be 2’ or less. I would say they were more but both Bella and I took precautions and we were fine for the long day of dodging 2 ocean going tankers, 2 cruise ships, several small dive boats and a million small fishing boats. We were on autopilot but had to keep an eye out for them and be ready to move.

Saturday, we lifted anchor at 8am and after hovering/waiting for an opening at the fuel dock, we took on 278 gallons of diesel. That should get us home. Lake Worth is a large port as well so as we left we were dodging some big guys as well as a million small boaters out for the holiday weekend.

According to our FL sister, this is the peak of the season for the Royal Poincianas. This one is just stunning.

We stopped at Jensen for the night and was hoping to meet up with our sister for breakfast but we scouted for good place to leave the dinghy and it just won't work. 😞

May 24, Marathon to Islamorada

2021-05-24T21:09:00.000-04:00

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Sunday sunrise and looking like some rain coming. We have had only one light rain all week with the strong winds. The humidity is low, rare in S Fl - Keys in May. Winds are subsiding a bit. Weatherman says breezy now instead of windy!

Friday morning, the local weather man stated, "Marathon is recording gusts up to 33 this morning and the seas in the Florida straits are up to 13'.” Yeah, we stayed put! Even though we are in a very well protected harbor it is still choppy in here but thankfully Summer Breeze handles this very well and we don't feel the chop inside. We check the mooring lines and say "ok", we are good.

Sunday evening we finally made it over to Dockside restaurant (really a bar) on the other side of the harbor. We had a great time, listened to some great music and had some ok food. But you know it’s time to leave when I’m drinking Monkey in Your Trunk and Iguana Bait beer abd it tastes good! Or... maybe it’s time to stay? Hmmmm

Got some really great shots of the sax player. I feel another musician painting coming!

Monday morning, we left at 7:30 am. The winds are predicted to slow down some being making the waterway reasonable. We took the Florida bay route vs offshore as it is much calmer. The bay route can be tricky with the shoals and little mangrove islands everywhere.

Anchored behind Islamorada for the night. Tomorrow we head tor Elliott Key closer to Miami. Time to head home.

Miles traveled today : 44

7 hours

May 16- 19, Batten Down the Hatches!

2021-05-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

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Bella’s ears are flying back in the wind.

As I write this today, Wednesday afternoon, we are battening down the hatches and checking our lines one more time! It is BLOWING! Steady winds 25-35 with gusts close to 40. Seas just outside the harbor are reported to be 8’ today and up to 12’ tomorrow. We are in a very protected harbor and is is white capping!

Last Saturday’s sunset inside Boot Key Harbor

Sunday

Sombrero Beach

The marina has some courtesy bikes for us to use. We took a bike ride to the beach and publix. It has been quite a while since either of us have been on a bike and I'm happy to report that Bruce did not go into any bushes.

We walked to dinner to Keys Fisheries, just across the street from the marina. Again there were several acres of stored crab and lobster traps since the season is closed for both.

The restaurant is waterfront but on the bay side and is all outdoor seating. You place your order at a window and they call you when ready to pick it up. Drinks are at a different window and you find a table.

They also have a seafood market if you prefer to buy and take home to cook. We were prepared with a small insulated bag to take home fresh grouper and lobsters (frozen).

Sunset from the restaurant

Sunset at the marina. This is a partial image of just one side of the mooring field. 226 balls!

Panoramic shot of harbor

Monday

We had planned to ride a city shuttle bus to Bahia Hondo Key and State Park today but the bus never came! We waited quite a while even trying the app but no bus. So we walked back to the marina and enjoyed a lazy day.

Dinner was fresh grouper and home made key lime pie.

Monday sunset

Tuesday sunrise

When is the wind going to STOP? It has been blowing strong since last Friday and getting stronger each day. Sunday or Monday might be a departure day.

We do need to venture to shore on the dinghy in between gusts to go to West Marine. Yes, another repair! The bolt that the cable is attached to on the dinghy broke and we are beyond lucky that it didn’t break while hoisting it on top. That repair is a must before we leave.

Sunset tonight after a brief rain storm and winds.

May 15, Marathon in the Keys

2021-05-15T19:32:00.000-04:00

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At anchorage just south of the 7 Mile Bridge off of Marathon. The water is clean, clear and beautiful.

We both went for a great and cooling swim!

Dinner at Burdines, just a short dinghy ride into the harbor. We ate here last year as well. It is all outdoor seating, great pub food as well a small marina.

The harbor entrance from the ocean and our anchorage just past that last mangrove. It is beautifully calm out there except for the passing fishing boats.

View going into Boot Key Harbor where the big marina (mooring ball marina) is. If we go in for weather, we have go through all this.

And of course, we did.

The next morning, we decided that the northeaster winds coming down will be quite strong so we would like to be inside tied to "something" other than sand. The City Marina at Marathon is mostly a mooring field consisting of 226 moorings. That's a lot of boats! It makes us a bit nervous going in there.

Captain Bruce did a great job of maneuvering us in with a NE strong wind and nestled us into a mooring ball on the far end of our line of balls. They assign us T1. All the blue and black dots are the mooring field.

We were rewarded with a great sunset on our 1st night. The bigger part of the mooring field is behind us .

The next day we dinghy into to drop trash and pick up some filtered water and had to stop the motor to play with the manatees that were determined to visit us. These photos were taken from our dinghy.

A family quickly boarded their 2 small children on a paddle board to join us with the manatees. The kids were squealing and the manatees loved it.

Today (Saturday May 15), our oldest granddaughter Jordan graduated from UNC at Chapell Hill, NC!

Where has the time gone? We are so very proud of her.

We sent her a congratulatory video but I can't show that because I'm crying. We couldn't be there because only 4 tickets were allowed per graduate. We watched the ceremony on live stream.

Jordan! So proud of you!

The ceremony was social distanced and only 4 guests per graduates allowed and Dr Fauci was the keynote speaker.

We dinghied around scouting out an entrance to a restaurant we are interested in going to and found the stored lobster (or stone crab?) traps and the lobster boats. Stone crab season just closed. There is a long "block" of the traps and boats just for this company.

May 11 -22, Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

2021-05-12T20:27:00.002-04:00

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Sunrises and sunsets!

Bridge to bridge, Ft Myers to Boot Key Harbor

Tuesday morning at 1st light, leaving our anchorage off of York Island which is just around a mangrove island from Ridge and Denise. Their home is the one between the 2 mangrove islands. Thank you again Ridge and Denise and really great seeing y’all!

1st light on the channel towards the bridge leading us out into the Gulf.

Leaving San Carlos Bay Area and into the Gulf. Water and waves look nice!

Our timing could not have been better. We were setting up for a weather window to cross the Gulf to the Keys and the winds have been fierce (as you know from my whining) but here we are with 2-3 days if “predicted” low winds and low waves which are very favorable for us to make the crossing.

And it sure is! Calm seas and beautiful blue green water. We did spot a large loggerhead turtle as we turned into Indian Key in the Ten Thousand Islands aka Everglades National Park, for the night.

Sunset in the Ten Thousand Islands.

Wednesday sunrise

Another beautiful day! Seas were minimal if at all. We could not have planned it better. Thank you God!

We had blue green clear water the whole way in.

Bruce is negotiating the passage under the 7 Mile Bridge for our 1st stop just off of Boot Key Harbor.

May 10 , Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa then back to Pine Island

2021-05-10T20:57:00.000-04:00

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Friday we traveled by dinghy a about 2.5 miles over to Cabbage Key for lunch. It is “old Florida” charm and a sister restaurant to Tarpon Lodge over on Pine Island that we went to last week.

We ate out on the patio but went in for an interior tour. There is a dining room, a pub room and the “dollar” room. Our server told us that there is approximately $90,000 pinned up on the walls and ceilings.

One must travel there by boat, there are cottages that can be rented and it is noted as a historic site.

Cabbage Key website

These 2 photos taken from their website

29 boats in the Pelican Bay this afternoon and I’m sure there will be a few more come in. The winds had slowed down yesterday and I’m so glad we had a beach day because the winds shifted from the north and they were GUSTY 💨💨💨💨!

Whitecaps in the protected anchorage.

Saturday

The winds did slow down for the night and early morning (only about 10-15s) but still windy.

We traveled by dinghy about 5 miles over to Bokeelia on the north end of Pine Island and met up with Ridge and Denise at Captain Con's Fish House for lunch. We are enjoying going out to restaurants again though dining outside and this area of the Gulf coast has so many small keys (mangrove islands) that are accessible only by boat.

We met up for dinner on Sea Dweller as Bryan grilled up a great dinner again.

Bryan sawing a large dog bone in half for the pups.

Sunset view of Summer Breeze

View of the anchorage with everyone’s anchor lights shining like stars. Summer Breeze is the low one on far left side.

There is a small lagoon next to our anchorage so we dinghied in and discovered that there are several manatees there. They were quite playful and inquisitive about us. One came up to the dinghy and got close to the motor so we turned it off.

Taking Otis out for a little beach time.

Dinner and sunset on Sea Dweller.

Happy Mothers Day!

And happy birthday to Otis! He made it to 1!

Well, true congratulations to Bryan and Mary for making it to 1 year!

He and Bella look sweet here but she won't let him get too playful with her still. She puts him in his place.

This photo worked because they knew there were some treats being handed out.

Monday May 10, time to head out. Sea Dweller is following us out of the anchorage.

Sea Dweller passing us up.

They are faster than us so they left us in their wake! They also had a longer trip to make back home, about 6 hours. We had less than 3 hours to get to the area close to Ridge and Denise again to provision and stage for our Gulf crossing over to the keys.

We got to an anchorage very close to their home about 1:00 and had plenty of time to provision. Thanks to them for letting us use their laundry so to not use up our fresh water supply and take us to the grocery store.

Sunset at York Island anchorage.

Tomorrow, Tuesday May 11 we head south towards Marathon in the Keys. It will be a 2 day run for us and the winds have appeared to calm down enough for us to travel. Perfect timing!

May 5-7, Cayo Costa

2021-05-07T09:38:00.000-04:00

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Sunset on Tuesday, anchored at Pelican Bay behind Cayo Costa

Wednesday, Bryan and Mary joined us on Sea Dweller at Cayo Costa.

They are coming into Pelican Bay and looking for their special spot to drop the hook.

They come by to visit on their tender.

They have a ladder on Sea Dweller that Otis can use to board but we haven’t figured out to get him on or off Summer Breeze so we gather for our evening meals at their aft deck.

And Bryan is the master chef on board.

Wednesday sunset view

Thursday

We have been having chronic issues with our inverter (charges our batteries) and our back up inverter is not feeling trustworthy. So we bit the bullet and bought a new one while we were visiting Pine Island but we waited to have help from the pro captain for the install.

We are hoping that this is the end of the inverter issues!

After ER work, we are off to the beach.

On Sea Dweller’s tender (dinghy) we can all fit and go further so off we go!

After some play on the beach, we drove across the Boca Grande inlet to Gasparilla Island and drooled over the great homes and boats.

Dogs were done for the evening.

Well, Otis awoke and was full of energy again.

Sunset and dinner on Sea Dwellers “back porch”.

May 3 - 4

2021-05-04T20:11:00.000-04:00

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Monday

We left the anchorage at Ding Darling mid morning and moving up the coast a bit past Sanibel and Captiva to Cayo Costa. We considered to anchor in the Captiva area so Ridge could easily come join us for a fishing trip but the winds were high and the water was rough. No go. Maybe on the way south. The water is getting clearer and prettier as we move north just a bit.

We anchored at the Pelican Bay area on the north end of Cayo Costa which is just before the Boca Grande inlet at Charlotte Harbor. There is a state park there which we had access to with a 1 mile trail to the beach, so we went for nice HOT walk but were rewarded with a nice dip in the beautiful ocean! Luckily it was about 5 in the afternoon and all the tourists that are ferried in had just left so we had the beach to ourselves. Bella got really hot and needed a cool off too.

Tuesday we decided to travel by dinghy 2.8 miles south to a cut in the mangroves that takes you through a winding water path and then a "not so sure" walking path to the beach. The tunnel is known as the The Tunnel of Love.

It was bit strange dodging branches and roots in the dinghy and finally found what we thought was the area to get the foot path.

We turned on our tracking on the chart plotter app on the phone in case we needed it to return. There is a small cut through the mangroves (not shown on chart) and then we walked to the beach.

Quite a different day than yesterday. Water was way too rough to enter but still quite beautiful.

We found a nice shady spot (the only shady spot) to sit and have a snack and water break.

Rough water and windy

We had a lazy, relaxed afternoon on the boat and a great sunset.

Saturday May 1

2021-05-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

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Dinner at Tarpon Lodge with Ridge and Denise.

It is a historic "Old Florida" lodge with a fine restaurant and accommodations (cottages, boat house, lodge) all on the water on Pine Island across from Cayo Costa. We will be anchored in that area next week.

We cleaned the ICW mustache off the hull of Summer Breeze. She looks much better. Bruce got in the dinghy and Rosie moved him around the hull with the dinghy lines while he cleaned. 😄

Summer Breeze leaving “Kaiser Channel”.

Ridge and Denise waving from their back yard. Notice the new pool construction going on!

We left at 2:00 just before high tide and only going 2.33 miles away and anchored in the little bay area behind Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We are looking forward to exploring this area by dinghy.

Sunset on Saturday evening.

Sunday

Yesterday we dinghied around towards Tarpon Basin but didn’t find anything interesting but we did stop for a swim on a sandbar. Today we took the dinghy the other direction towards some cuts through the mangrove islands we could see on the charts.

Again, nothing great but still interesting.

We stopped at a sandbar again and spent some time in the water. No manatees over here right now.

Tomorrow we move up the coast a bit.

Sunset on Sunday. Being on a “west” coast, we are getting some some great sunsets! Finally!

And it gets better ...

And better!

Wednesday April 28 - Pine Island, FL

2021-04-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

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Ridge and Denise live at St James City on Pine Island which is in between Sanibel Island and Cape Coral on the main land. Way out there!

There are some cool restaurants and they are not far from Matlacha Island which is "old Key West" style. Lots of restaurants and art galleries. Last weekend we went to Waterfront Restaurant on Pine Island as they have Gulf oysters on the half shell at $12.95 a dozen. And we went again on this Saturday! We go early and catch the corner waterfront table with a cool mural on the outside wall and a waterfront view. And great oysters!

As we noted last post, we are anchored in the channel behind Ridge and Denise, which we have renamed for our purposes "Kaiser Channel". We were not sure if we could get in but we did at high tide leaving us with a low point of 3' below the keel. Plenty of water!

Look at that ICW mustache! Needs a cleaning!

The view from their home towards us.

Photo credit: Ridge Kaiser

The view of their home, white roof in the middle.

The had an awesome kayak lift installed at their dock. They moved their kayaks over and tied them down so we could lower and raise the lift for our dinghy. Pretty cool. They also sometimes come by to visit or pick us up from their boat.

Bruce and Ridge making a Summer Breeze run and Bella was not happy to be a dinghy crew member.

Another view of Summer Breeze sunset from their home.

Rosie's business office today as she has a call from fellow gallery artist.

We visited Pine Island Museum. Bruce is standing behind a manatee skeleton. They are huge. We have seen several in the area as this is a favorite hangout for them.

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April 12 - 21, Ft Myers

2021-04-22T10:24:00.000-04:00

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Sunsets at Ridge and Denise's home on Pine Island.

They have a beautiful home right on the water. Pine Island is behind Sanibel Island (kind of) and just north of the Caloosahatchie River. Absolutely beautiful location and home.

We spent 3 days with them again and had fun fishing, kayaking and a lot of eating. Ridge is a fantastic cook.

Fishing off of the ICW between Sanibel and the small outer islands. No fish today.

Otis and Bella really don't get along. Well, it is more like Bella won't play with him. He wants to play with her so very badly and he doesn't realize how strong and scary he is. She just growls at him. He keeps trying. And she has the nerve to steal his bones from him and growls when he looks at her!

Here is the booboo that occurred when the Coast Guard "bumped" us. It has been filled in, sanded and is ready for priming and painting.

Bella and Otis helping Bruce take the blue tape off the repair.

Both dogs got a little grooming. Otis gets brushed quite frequently as he is a shedder. Bella needed a good old haircut! Don't let this sweet picture fool you. There was some growling going on!

We met up with Serendipity friends, Larry and Erin whom we met last year cruising down here and had a fun lunch at the Ford's Garage.

It feels so great to meet up with our family and friends who have all been vaccinated and have taken precautions as we have. The waiters were all wearing masks. It is a strange feeling to go somewhere now and take it off. But feels good again! Normalcy!

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April 4 - 11, Fort Myers, It is not all about Otis, but mostly yes it is!

2021-04-11T20:42:00.000-04:00

Otis and Mary at home on Sea Dweller.

He is a BIG dog! He also goes by the name of No-Otis!

As an 88 lb 11 month puppy, he hears Nooo-Otis a lot!

Otis helping Bruce fill water tanks. He loves water and especially from a hose and directly in his mouth!

Our friends from Serendipity, another DeFever 44 who are staying in Fort Myers introduced us to a great farmer's market at Lakes Park. Erin came to pick Rosie up for a girl veggie shopping trip which also resulted in fresh bread and stuffed flounder for dinner.

We were happy to see that everyone was wearing their mask.

Some great pickings, fresh off the farms.

Otis is our door man these days. No one enters or exits without his approval.

The week has been consumed with boat maintenance and repairs on both boats.

Bryan sitting on the port side engine trying to "fit" back there to work.

Besides changing oil on fuel injector pumps, removing and cleaning out the Magnum Inverter to see if that is the issue with the over heating shut downs, replacing our horn that just stopped working and doing our regular maintenance to our teak we also are repairing a boo boo on the side of the toe rail by the swim platform.

When we were boarded by the Coast Guard in Georgia, they “made contact” with our boat but it wasn’t until later that we realized where that fiberglass ding came from. It actually messed up the fiberglass and Bryan knows how to repair it.

Rosie is the teak person. And yes, it was fun trying to keep both dogs off the teak especially the cap rail for the day. We had a great time spending the weekend over on Pine Island with our long time friends, Ridge and Denise fishing, kayaking and eating great food.

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March 31-April 4, Crossing the state from Stuart to Fort Myers.

2021-04-04T19:38:00.001-04:00

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Summer Breeze docked next to Sea Dweller in Fort Myers

Bryan and Mary live on Sea Dweller at their dock and land just off the Caloosahatchie River which is off the Okeechobee Lake. We arrived here on Thursday April 1, about an hour before the NE winds hit.

Easter Brunch on the river.

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Wednesday March 31

Leaving Stuart.

After a great visit with Becky and Charles in Stuart, we left at 6:10 AM at the break of dawn with the help of some moonlight.

St Lucie Lock with a rainbow.

We entered the St Lucie Canal towards the Okeechobee Lake reaching the St Lucie lock (lock #1 out of 5) at 8 AM. We just missed entering the lock by minutes so we waited hovering an hour to catch the next passage which took 30 minutes to do while raising 13’. There was quite a rush of water coming in! The lock master was a nice guy offering us tips.

Here the boats exit the lock after we wait for an hour before entering

We got to the 2nd lock which enters the lake, Port Mayaca Lock at 12:40 which is 30.5 miles from Becky and Charles home. The Lock Master opened up for us as we approached and we were able to go right through entering the lake.

We had left Stuart a day earlier than planned because of the cold front approaching bringing fierce N-NE winds. We were hoping that it would not hit while we were traveling and hoping that we would have better timing with the other locks.

We had a nice crossing with a moderately calm lake getting to our anchorage in the lake at about 2 in the afternoon. There was no way to make the next lock which exits the lake in time. We do only travel at 7-8 mph.

The approaching storm was bringing rogue storms ahead of the front and they were already in the area. This one at 5:30 PM missed us.

Dinner on the lake was home made pizza!

Sunset on the Okeechobee Lake

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Thursday April 1

We did have a rain shower during the night though not that we knew about until waking and having to mop up the water! We slept great out there!

The alarm was set for 5:30 AM but we awoke to a heavy overcast with no moon light to start travel early and then we had a light rain shower at 6:30. The rain was gone and sun was rising just before 7. So off we go with a delay!

It was a beautiful calm morning after the little rain shower.

Exiting the lake and entering the rim canal on the west side. There is 2 1/2' more water in the lake than last April when we transited. We know there are rock ledges along the side of the channel there! Seen them!

We have 3 more locks to do today and about 70 miles to make it to Bryan and Mary's in Fort Myers but the real push is to make it through the last lock before 4:30, otherwise, we will have to find an anchorage along the river close by. The last lock is only about 4 miles from Bryan's.

At Moore Haven lock (#3) exiting the lake rim canal to the Caloosahatchie River, we were also able to right through after him opening the gates for us.

Ortona Lock (#4)

We had a full lock here with 3 of us waiting to enter and 2 more waiting on the other side for passage. Unfortunately for them, the lock closed down for maintenance after locking us through.

Full lock. It took 45 minutes to lock through and had about a 3' drop.

We were so surprised that we made the last one, Franklin Lock before 4:30. We averaged 8 to 8 1/2 mph today which really helped to beat the clock.

Meet Otis.

He is 87 lbs and 11 months old, a Golden Lab. He is still trying to figure Bella out because she doesn't want to rumble around in the yard with him.

We will stay here for a couple of weeks visiting with them and other friends in the area, then exploring some of the out islands along the west coast

Miles today: about 70

It is about 600 waterway miles from our home in SC to Bryan's home in FL

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Saturday March 27 - Tuesday March30, Ft Pierce and Stuart

2021-03-30T21:16:00.004-04:00

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On our way to Ft Pierce, there are many ospreys nesting on top of the day markers. Sometimes we can hear babies.

We did an extra 20 miles again today getting us closer to Stuart in hopes of seeing our niece and family before they head home. We tried a new anchorage for us which was in the inlet channel. There are many other boats there as well so we thought it was worth a try.

Sunset in Ft Pierce

Western sky

And the moon rise in the eastern sky.

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Sunday March 28

It was a sleepless night as we were up most of the night worrying about the current and anchor. The current started to rip through about midnight. And that was the end of sleep for some of us. We started the coffee pot at 5:30 and were under way by moonlight.

Break of Dawn

Sunrise on the east

And moon set in the west!

This is as we go by the Pierce City Marina which we bypassed this year. It looked pretty full of boats. The moon above it was beautiful.

On our way to Stuart.

Photo below is going south on the ICW taken by fellow cruiser Paul Lawrence a couple of days ago.

Passing through the Roosevelt Bridges. All 3 of them at one time. We had to wait for the one to open along with "millions" of other boats, large and small.

We arrived at our anchorage in the St Lucie River behind Becky and Charles home at 11:30 and got to spend several hours with the little family.

We get to meet Brooks O'Hara for the 1st time!

We had not seen Adeline Rose since she was 2-3 months old and it was great to see Erin and Brian!

Sampson (Becky and Charles grand dog) and Bella

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Monday March 29

Sunrise in St Lucie River, Stuart

While cruising the last couple of years we have made some great friends. No photos 🤷🏼‍♀️ but we met and had lunch with friends living in the Melbourne area who drive here to meet up for lunch and then with other friends staying in Ft Pierce. We also had some great family time and great meals with our sister and brother in law in the evenings after their work. And yes, everyone has been vaccinated and we wore masks while going places.

Their home on the St Lucie River

Sunset drive back to Summer Breeze after dinner.

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Thursday -Saturday, March 25-27, St Augustine to Cocoa Beach

2021-03-29T10:57:00.000-04:00

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Thursday March 25

A foggy start to the day in St Augustine. We opted to sit and enjoy our coffee instead of piloting through pea soup. It only delayed us for an hour.

The LB Knox Bridge, south of Flagler Beach has only one side operational which makes for a very narrow passage. It is definitely lower than our air draft.

Bella has always been afraid when going under bridges (???🐶???) and this one made her very nervous.

Daytona Night Lights at anchorage

Just passed through here.

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Friday March 26

Daytona Sunrise

Still blowing and gusting with white caps in the ICW.

We had planned on stopping in Titusville as we do every time but we got there early today. We just found out that my niece and little family will be in Stuart for the weekend and we would love to see them. So we opted for about 20 extra miles arriving at an anchorage next to the Merritt Island Bridge at Cocoa and Merritt Island. If we do that again tomorrow then it will get us in Stuart earlier in the day on Sunday.

Cocoa Sunset

And the sunset got better....

... and better!

The bridge and land next to it offered us some good wind protection though the winds have been dying down at night.

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Saturday March 27

Cocoa Sunrise

On our way to Wabasso but we hope to push it to Ft Pierce area which gives us a shorter and earlier arrival at my sister’s on the St Lucie River.

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Tuesday, March 23, Cumberland Island, GA to St Augustine FL

2021-03-24T20:26:00.002-04:00

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Tuesday, March 23

No wind today!

We have finally arrived in Florida. It took us only 2 weeks!

Crossing the St Mary's River over to the Amelia River behind Amelia Island was a bit rough and we could see the seas offshore! It would not be a fun day out there so we continue on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

Passing through the Fernandina area, there are a lot of large boats, ships and lots of industrial stuff.

It was nice to get past all these big guys. The weather was nicer today with no wind in the morning but picking up quickly in the afternoon.

Bella's favorite place to sit though we don't let her stay long there.

She was taking a break from her "captain's" chair.

We arrived in St Augustine about 4:30 and the wind was blowing like crazy. That was fun trying to pick up our mooring ball with high winds and some wave action.

We are here for 2 nights enjoying some of our favorite restaurants and walks. There are a lot of people here and the seafood restaurant we went to (Harry's) was full but not as crowded as last year as they were monitoring how many people could enter the check in and bar area.

St Augustine at night.

Miles from Cumberland Island, GA to St Augustine FL: 67 (9 hours today)

Friday - Monday, March 19 - 22, Jekyll Island and finally, Cumberland Island

2021-03-22T20:33:00.004-04:00

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Friday, March 19

There was still plenty of wind overnight offering us some gentle rocking with the waves hitting the hull. It was nice to know that we were secure tied to a dock. It was a beautiful day to enjoy a beach walk and lunch out dining outdoors and a DQ treat on the walk home.

One of our dock neighbors here. There are many live aboard at this marina and most have dogs and there are a couple of cats.

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Saturday - Sunday, March 20 - 21

A coastal gale.

Windy, cold, rainy. And then more windy!

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Monday March 22

10:20 AM: We left the marina at low tide though with plenty of water on the south end of the creek. We hoped to take the western route as it would be calmer but we needed several hours of tide coming in to cross a shallow area. So off we go towards St Andrews Sound with a North wind at 20+ mph. Yeah! 😳

I know! These photos don't look bad. It is really hard to capture wave height in a photo so trust me.

It started off with 2’ seas but ended up with 3-4’s. We’ve transited it worse than this before and we've transited when in perfect conditions. Not this time.

Yes, it was bad but could've been much worse. Bella even survived without incident. 🤢

We later heard on the radio that the seas were 5’+ after we crossed and on the news that gusts were up to 40.

The Cumberland Island lighthouse

(still in the St Andrews Sound)

As we enter the river behind Cumberland Island, it was very calm and we spotted 4 of the wild horses grazing on the low land there.

And lucky us! The Coast Guard offered us a “courtesy”inspection and the real fun part was that it was while in the St Mary’s River with 20+ mph winds and hefty gusts. Lots of wind and current! We got a glowing report from them.

Not a great photo but you can see the small Coast Guard boat on the port side as they disembark us from the swim platform. Unfortunately a large wave hit them and they got soaked.

After we anchored, the winds calmed down quite a bit. It is still a bit cold and windy and will miss going ashore this time. We will plan on exploring Cumberland on our return trip.

On to St Augustine tomorrow!

Miles today: Jekyll to Cumberland Islands: 27

Total miles: 210.6

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March 15 -18: Dafuskie to Jekyll Island, Batten Down the Hatches!

2021-03-18T22:31:00.002-04:00

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Monday March 15

View of Hilton Head Harbor Town and lighthouse from our anchorage.

Today we batten the hatches and stay put in Bull Creek behind Dafuskie Island and just across from Hilton Head. The wind gusts were in the mid 30s which is really blowing! The wind really likes to use our high profile with the isinglass as a sail so we opted to stay put one more day. It is too windy to go ashore so we watched movies and read our books.

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Tuesday March 16

We weighed anchor at 7:30 AM with calm winds and water which means lots of gnats until we were under way. The sunrise reflections were amazing.

Went through Walks Cut and Fields Cut at mid tide with lots of water under us. We waited for the Savannah Barge Ferry to come through first which is met at one of the curves into the cut.

Crossing the Savannah River is always fun as we are on the lookout for anyone screaming down the river, like this big guy.

Sights along the way through Georgia.

The winds picked up quite a bit all afternoon and were of course, against us slowing us down. 10 1/2 hrs later and 71.97 miles later we got to Crescent River at 6pm.

Pollen is everywhere on the boat. EVERYWHERE.

Fabulous sunset tonight. The sunset just kept getting better and better by the minute.

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Wednesday March 17

Anchor up at 8:30 as we have a shorter trip to Jekyll Island. It is a calm morning which means the gnats were bothersome until we got moving again. The autopilot remote failed and he couldn’t get it to work the whole trip and we are in Georgia where the ICW is very winding.

We again got lucky with the tide timing at Little Mud River and actually had plenty of water. Last time we were here, we plowed through mud.

St Simon Sound was very calm and the huge Sea Ray car cargo is still there being chewed down by the giant chain saw.

We got to Jekyll Island with a pretty high tide as well which is good but the tide is really weird there as it changes direction right where the Marina is. No one seems to know which tide station is right for the marina. This is the 1st time we had trouble docking there because (and we know better) we were approaching the dock with the tide, per our dock hands request. On the 3rd try, captain Bruce did it his way and we were safely tucked in in a short time. We booked 2 nights here for the upcoming storm but discovered that there is another bad storm following so we are now staying here until Monday morning. We like Jekyll Island anyway! We get to take nice walks, there are some great restaurants and there is a Dairy Queen within walking distance!

One of our favorite restaurants here is at the marina, Zachary's Riverhouse. We have always had a great meal and they let us bring in our bottle of wine ($10 corkage fee) which is great as their wine list could use improving. Unfortunately our meal was the 1st we had that was not to standard but we had a nice time anyway.

Off to dinner with sunset views

Miles: 39.4

Total miles: 183.6

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Thursday March 18

Azaleas in full bloom here.

We are tied up to the dock in anticipation of the severe weather. We watched the morning news and saw the tornado damage so far. In the morning we went for a long walk to the resort, did a bit of laundry and Bruce fixed the autopilot. He has no idea how but it is working now.

Couples having a game of croquet (I assume) at the Jekyll Island Resort.

It was a very nice day until about 2:00 when the temperature started to drop and the wind started to howl.

We had some rain and a lot of wind and the boat is still a bit choppy even at the dock as we say goodnight.

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March 13-14, Dafuskie Island

2021-03-14T22:39:00.010-04:00

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Saturday March 13

Today, we enjoy a lazy morning without any boat repairs! After 2 days of travel we are ready to stay here and go to the island for a long walk and an early dinner at Dafuskie Crab Company. Being a Saturday and a nice weekend there were tons of boats out! TONS just coming out from the marsh. Really!

Plan B went into affect as the dock (a small marina) was packed, actually triple packed in most places with many boats hovering in the area waiting for a spot. We couldn’t even get a spot for the dinghy and the thought of a Covid fest didn't sit well with us.

Burger, anyone? Not Plan B

Plan B: we went around the island to the Dafuskie County Dock hoping to just go for a walk. It is a much smaller dock but it was full too. Plan C is cook at home again!

There are 5 boats in Bull Creek for the night, one being a DeFever 49, River Girl. We dinghied over and met Jeremy Hatch and Charlene Young. They live at Hilton Head so they are out for a short trip.

A couple of days ago we also met Steve and Patti McCreary on their DeFever 52, Last Laugh at Ladies Island Marina. It seems that we are having a DeFever Rendezvous on the ICW!

Summer Breeze with 2 of the fellow creek mates.

Tomorrow we will try to meet up with old friends Tom and Robin Bessent, whom are new residents of the island, as of this weekend! We will see if that works out as they are bringing their final load of “stuff” and moving onto the island. We are still figuring out logistics which are changing after today’s events. Hopefully the boat traffic won’t be as bad tomorrow.

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Sunday, March 14

By special permission as guests, we were able to take our dinghy over to Haig Point to meet up with our friends. We took an early afternoon trial run there and had a nice walk around the beautiful grounds.

This is at the private ferry dock and even though it is not near as busy as yesterday there is still some wave action from the ICW and barnacles were just daring us so we used our life jackets as fenders.

Haig Point Lighthouse

We came back later and met Tom and Robin for dinner. It’s Sunday fried chicken day on the island!

Jasmine did great as the weekend boat traffic died down and it was a beautiful drive back to Summer Breeze in the dark (thankfully)!

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2021 Cruising begins

2021-03-12T19:31:00.001-05:00

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March 10, 2021

We left at 4:20 pm with a +4.15 tide height and saw no less than 4’ 3” under us at the sandbar. Since it was late in the day we traveled only 1.9 miles up the creek and anchored for the night. We feel a bit rusty and we need to get our sea legs back.

Our anchor spot on the creek.

Before starting off, one of our inverters was not working but Bruce finally got it going and we were comfortable that it was ok. It is always stressful planning to leave on these long trips so I had pre made a Bolognese sauce for spaghetti and a Caesar Salad so dinner was easy and we relaxed in our home creek for the night.

Miles traveled 1.9

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Thursday March 11

We left the Toogoodoo Creek at 8 am on a beautiful morning with lots of dolphins and birds. It was a very calm morning and the cloud reflections in the water made the sky look upside down.

The inverter seems to be just fine so no more problems there. We did have a strange alarm go off while under way which took some time to find. One of the small bilge alarm sensors had fallen down where there was some condensate and set it off. It was like an Easter egg hunt for Bruce to find it below the floor boards. And now we know the bilge alarm works!

We got to the Beaufort area early afternoon so we opted to stop and fuel up. We only needed 160 gallons to top off our saddle (side) tanks of 700 gallons which should hold us for a while. We decided to go to Factory Creek off of Ladies Island this time and we were anchored by 3:30.

We had wanted to to go to Dockside restaurant there but it was very crowded so we went back home and cooked up some salmon. And as things go, we discovered after our showers that the shower sump pump had failed so the bilge was filling with soapy water.

He will work on that tomorrow.

Sunset at Ladies Island

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City of Beaufort night lights

Miles : 41.94

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Friday March 12

Fortunately a new shower sump pump was in our spare part inventory and it took him a couple of hours to replace and hopefully we also have a clean bilge!

We decided that Beaufort and Lady’s Island were a little too crowded for us as our vaccinations are not yet at their potential so we decided to move on. On to Dafuskie Island and we left Factory Creek at 11:30 am.

Bryan always talks about a pipe float (something like that) when he is working so when we passed these guys I sent him a pic to see if these were his buddies and Yes, they are!

We passed by Harbor Town at Hilton Head crossing Calibogue Sound and just behind Dafuskie Island is Bull Creek which has become one our normal stopping places on the ICW.

Anchored at Bull Creek at 3:15.

28.50 miles today.

A sea island sunset!

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