Nov 31 to Dec 7

It took a few days to get a mooring ball in Stuart. It had been highly recommended to us as being both inexpensive and relatively safe in terms of crime.

I was not in shape to go car touring so we used the time to enjoy the company of others in the anchorage and to prepare the boat for our absence. We also broke down and bought a slightly used inflatable and outboard.

Beverley also fished, landing a pretty impressive catfish. It was both meaty and delicious.

The return to winter has been a climatic shock.

As our friend Gerry is fond of pointing out, the problem with retirement is that you never get a day off. Our return to the frozen North is our sabbatical from our adventure. It is always nice to have a change, it is nice to see friends and family, but I am very much looking forward to our return to warmth, sunshine and the boating lifestyle.

Nov 30

On November 30, we intended to motor up to Stuart. Before we could go, we had to gas up. Unfortunately, I made a mistake which could have been fatal. I forgot to turn off the propane fridge. While filling the cockpit tank, the fumes migrated to the pilot light and flashed. Beverley did the smart thing and jumped off the boat. Tuck followed her. Fortunately, the gas tank did not explode. I jumped back, and after verifying that I was not actually on fire (if so, I was going to jump in the ocean), I grabbed a fire extinguisher which very quickly put out the flames. In the end, the only think that burned was me – first and second degree burns on one arm and both legs from the initial flash. There was a bit of soot on the end wall of the cockpit but this washed off easily.

The hospital in Stuart cleaned up and dressed my wounds. Thank you Medoc (Johnson) Health Insurance for efficiently covering the hospital costs. I never even saw the bills. When I returned home, they had already mailed forms to cover prescriptions without being asked. Health insurance is not cheap but DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!

Nov 29

Having arrived in paradise, we immediately developed itchy feet and decided to double back to Stuart where we would take a mooring ball and to rent a car for the weekend. Also, we had talked to our friends on the Great Catsby who would be at Lake Worth that evening. Our challenge was that it was 85 miles and we had only 12 gallons of gas on board. In calm conditions, at our normal cruising speed, we can go just a little over 80 miles on 12 gallons. I would not, however, like to find ourselves fighting a strong tidal current in some narrow inlet lined with rocks and sand bars when running on fumes. A light breeze was forecast from the East, however, and I was hopeful that if it materialized, we could motorsail. If not, we would not be in danger of running out of gas as we could monitor our consumption. We would just have to enter an inlet to gas up. Unfortunately, the sun would not rise until just after 7:00 AM and would set before 5:30. If we had to pull into an inlet, we would loose an hour or two and would not have enough time to make the anchorage in Lake Worth before dark.

As it was, we left the anchorage in Key Biscayne in the pre-dawn light. Five to ten knots of breeze filled in from the East. We were able to motorsail. We arrived in the Lake Worth anchorage after the sun had set but before it was dark and we still had a little over 2 gallons of gas in the tank.

We did meet up with Rich and Carol from the Great Catsby and had a great reunion.

Nov 26 to 28

Having spent several days in Vero, it was time to move on.

Initially we thought it might be nice to spend a few days in the Florida Keys before putting the boat on a mooring ball so that we could return home for the Christmas period.

Accordingly, we fuelled up and then spent most of the day motoring to Lake Worth. There were lots of bridges and shallow spots. Fortunately, the latter were not a problem for us.

At Lake Worth, we finally caught up with Sun Bum with whom we shared Happy Hour. Sun Bum is another Prout 34, but much newer than the Stray Cat. He even had the same outboard with which he had recently replaced his troublesome diesel. Compared to many others, we are travelling on a shoestring. Compared to us he is also travelling on a shoestring, so no matter what your challenges, there is always someone else with bigger challenges.

Early on the morning of the 27th, we left to go as far South as we could. There are about 40 lifting bridges between Lake Worth and Miami. If you can go outside on the ocean, you can save a lot of time. The forecast was 5 to 10 knots from the East so outside is where we went.

Unfortunately, this lead to a few unpleasant surprises and the demise of one of our cameras. Notwithstanding that the wind was pretty calm, there were significant and sometimes confused waves from the South East and the East. We tried to work offshore a bit to find calmer waters, but that did not work. We then tried nearer the shore, but that did not help either. We occasionally took water over the bows and then a few times, took solid water not only over the bows, but right over top of the cabin top and into the cockpit. Oops, that was the end of digital camera number 1.

Beverley tried fishing as we motored along, but without success. Motoring into these waves was not fun, so we went inshore at Fort Lauderdale. In the process, however, we had saved ourselves about 30 bridges.

We did 5 bridges and then anchored overnight in Hollywood, leaving ourselves only a











short trip and 5 bridges to clear Miami. The houses and the yachts are truly amazing.





Note the Santa Claus. Seeing Christmas decorations in a place with no snow and no chance of snow seemed pretty weird.

As we headed south from Miami, we had a chance to go for a pleasure sail to nowhere on our way to No Name Harbour in Key Biscayne, just south of Miami. It did my soul a great deal of good. I just love the feeling of peace that the sounds and motion bring me in as we reached gently at about 6 knots in less than 10 knots of breeze.

No Name Harbour is a favourite of those waiting for a favourable “weather window” before making the jump across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. I can understand why. It is extremely well sheltered. There is a very nice park, lots of dingy docking space and a city bus for those still provisioning. It is also a manatee zone which also contains many visiting dolphins for those wishing to nature watch. There is also evidence of great fishing with coral reefs near by. The water is a beautiful blue-green, a very pleasant contrast that of to the intracoastal waterway. We used this as an opportunity to scrub the bottom, something that had not been done since August.


During our stay, we were visited by the “Cuban Navy”, a cigarette boat blaring Latin-American music. Someone yelled “can you turn it up?”. “What?” was the reply. “Can you turn it up” they yelled. “What?” was the reply. “CAN YOU TURN IT UP?” they yelled, turning red with exertion. “OH, OK… THANKS” was the reply … and so turn it up they did. It’s a good thing we liked their music because it would have been pretty intrusive if we did not.