Summer in the FL Keys

Colleagues, after a 6-month refit period, minor upgrades and repairs, and the carefully conducted (and well-lubricated) name change ceremony, M/V White Rose is leaving next week for some extended Florida cruising. Our original plans to strike out for the Loop trip were put aside for now as several issues have prevented us from heading North to chase the cooler weather. We were hoping to rent our Cocoa FL condo for a year but have not yet found suitable tenants, so for now we simply plan on exploring FL for a few months.

We plan on leaving Merritt Island on July 1 and initially head north to spend Independence Day in St. Augustine. We will the return south and head toward the keys, without any set schedule or firm plans. As this will be our first time cruising south Florida and the Keys, we'll gladly accept any advice from fellow cruisers!

You call follow along with us via Marine Traffic here: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/367599340/vessel:WHITE_ROSE?_=5942545070151ec0b39fa59ef2f89ee9
and we plan on keeping the blog up to date as we go: mvwhiterose.blogspot.com

Notwithstanding hurricane season and summer Florida heat, we hope to have a ton of fun, meet as many fellow cruisers/boaters as possible, and experience as much of what we can from cruising south Florida.

Gary and Cathy
M/V White Rose
1988 Jefferson 42

Have a great trip

Fair winds and safe passage.

Missed you guy's before you left, but I heard the horn. Have a safe trip and enjoy.

We're doing the same thing. We're holed up in Ft. Lauderdale til after the 4th. We came up from Key West headed North.

Louman said:

Missed you guy's before you left, but I heard the horn. Have a safe trip and enjoy.

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Sorry we missed you Lou! We will see you and everyone else in the "D-Doc" club when we return. We are looking forward to seeing the results of al of that hard work and can only hope you and your wife enjoy your Jefferson as much as we enjoy ours.

timjet said:

We're doing the same thing. We're holed up in Ft. Lauderdale til after the 4th. We came up from Key West headed North.

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We will likely pass one another Timjet. We darted over to Stuart to spend the 4th in the mooring field at Sunset Bay....these folks are really great and put on a free BBQ with $1.50 Coronas. Great fireworks to cap it off.

We plan on spending one more night and plan on stopping at Old Port Cove in North Palm Bay tomorrow. Stay in touch and we'll give you a toot on the pass.

Spending the day in North Palm Beach, continuing south tomorrow. Had to replace the generator start battery while in Stuart, luckily we had guest with a car visiting so the t rip into town to get the new battery was no big deal. Looks like my salon AC unit might need an R22 charge...anyone know of a good AC mechanic in Key Largo?

The Cobber said:

Spending the day in North Palm Beach, continuing south tomorrow. Had to replace the generator start battery while in Stuart, luckily we had guest with a car visiting so the t rip into town to get the new battery was no big deal. Looks like my salon AC unit might need an R22 charge...anyone know of a good AC mechanic in Key Largo?

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Yeah, call Anchor Air. He has helped me twice as I was travelling. He was on my boat in Ft. Pierce a couple of months back. Very reasonable. 772 979-2203

Moonstruck said:

Yeah, call Anchor Air. He has helped me twice as I was travelling. He was on my boat in Ft. Pierce a couple of months back. Very reasonable. 772 979-2203

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Thanks Moonstruck. The guys here at Old Port Cove came through and got the guys from Ice Marine to drop by and do a recharge. Excellent, quick service. Now I just have to work on finding the leak that caused the problem...I will keep the Anchor Air contact info in case I need additional service further south.

Leaving North Palm Beach tomorrow morning and heading to North Lake anchorage in Hollywood Beach.

The Cobber said:

Thanks Moonstruck. The guys here at Old Port Cove came through and got the guys from Ice Marine to drop by and do a recharge. Excellent, quick service. Now I just have to work on finding the leak that caused the problem...I will keep the Anchor Air contact info in case I need additional service further south.

Leaving North Palm Beach tomorrow morning and heading to North Lake anchorage in Hollywood Beach.

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Keep him in your book for the return trip. He is based around Stuart, and I believe that N. Palm Beach would be about his limit of travel.

Don has more local knowledge than any cruising guide I have ever seen! He has been there done that with a no nonsense knowledge of how it should be done.
I can't wait to meet him and MRS Moonstruck!

Sailor of Fortune said:

Don has more local knowledge than any cruising guide I have ever seen! He has been there done that with a no nonsense knowledge of how it should be done.
I can't wait to meet him and MRS Moonstruck!

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Thanks Jack, but it just means I have dropped cash in a lot of different places. When you move around like we do. you just about become a homey in many different areas. From the Chesapeake to Louisiana and the Tennessee River system-----we have done it. Still doing it.

If you are in Jax next trip to the boat, I will try and stop by to see you guys there. Grandson is home for the summer, so no St. Augustine stop.

Cobber, If you need any local knowledge as you pass through Miami, I'll be glad to help.

We have just cruised up to Jekyll Island from Marathon and found many free city docks and great anchorages. All in our blog @ TheOffice

Enjoy the ride and stay safe!

Caesar Creek - North channel to Adams Key?

HopCar said:

Cobber, If you need any local knowledge as you pass through Miami, I'll be glad to help.

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Thanks Hopcar. This is our first pass through the area I'd greatly appreciate anything you can pass on...just PM me. We are planning on passing straight through the area tomorrow and over nighting at at Elliot Key. I do have questions if you have any knowledge about the Caesar Creek cut. I draw a little less than 4' and was planning on cutting to the outside at Caesar Creek, and I was curious if the locals would recommend the north or west channel. According to Active Captain the north channel has about a foot more depth than the west. Leaving Elliot Key and heading to Pennekamp in Largo, is there a better place to cut from inside to outside?

I just came up feom that area. If not too late I recommend the south lake anchorage in Hollywood beach, I found the north side too shallow. Dinghy over to the east side of the ICW and ask one of the restaurants if you can tie up. That will give you easy access to the Hollywood boardwalk. Further south get a great view of the Miami skyline at the Marine stadium anchorage. Also Crandon park marina is a good stop, but there pump out doesn't work. We spent 2 nights off Ellot key, very nice. Market 88 restaurant in Cowpens anchorage is a great anchorage. We stayed 2 days, food at Marker 88 is some of the best of our trip though expensive. Also a well stocked Ace nearby, but limited marine supplies.
Boot Key harbor is a good stop over, WM, Publix, and Home Depot all nearby.
We stayed 4 nights at A&B in Key West, highly recommend them, free laundry too, best fuel prices south of Miami.
We're in West Palm Beach anchorage, will stay until tomorrow then Vero Beach.

Caesar's Creek is a good place to go through. You shouldn't have any trouble with 4 feet of draft. Stay to the north side of the little island in the middle. You'll be able to see where shallow water is. You need to be careful once out of the Creek. As I recall the channel heading offshore is narrow and surrounded by very skinny water. You'll have no trouble seeing the shallows. Great bonefishing on those flats.

timjet said:

I just came up feom that area. If not too late I recommend the south lake anchorage in Hollywood beach, I found the north side too shallow.

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We took your advice and are currently anchored in the south lake keyhole. A long day of bridge roulette, but not too bad overall. Looking forward to tomorrow's travels. Thanks for the recommendation for the south lake.

We had a great cruise through Ft Lauderdale and Miami today and are currently riding out thunderstorms anchored off of Elliot Key. As expected, hard packed sand stopped the CQR from digging in, but we've got plenty of chain out to keep us in place. We were able to get one swim/dive in to check the anchor before the storms rolled in, and we are really impressed so far and may stay an extra day before heading to Key Largo.

Lots to do at EK, including taking the dinghy to Boca Chita as well as hiking around EK. Another fun stop is anchoring off the north side of Pumpkin Key and taking the dink over to explore Ocean Reef. I found going out Angelfish Creek much easier if going on out side.
Somewhere on here is a whole list of anchorages I put together for the Keys. Next would be Tarpon Basin with a formal dinghy dock and walking distance to Publix and KMart. Next, Personally,we definitely prefer the bight off Lorelei's southeast of Steamboat Channel; a little deeper, more options, and more places to take the dink, to Cowpens. Or better yet, try both!
Have a great trip!

Enjoy Elliot key it's hard not to. We stayed 2 nights. We're in Vero Bch for a couple of days then headed north to who knows where.

timjet said:

Enjoy Elliot key it's hard not to. We stayed 2 nights. We're in Vero Bch for a couple of days then headed north to who knows where.

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Vero's a really nice hang out. Are you on a mooring? Usually a fun group of boaters there, though we haven't been there this time of year. Marina-wise, the Loggerhead is a nice resort-like setting. I heartily agree with your "who knows where" plan! Best cruising strategy of all!

caltexflanc said:

Lots to do at EK, including taking the dinghy to Boca Chita as well as hiking around EK. Another fun stop is anchoring off the north side of Pumpkin Key and taking the dink over to explore Ocean Reef. I found going out Angelfish Creek much easier if going on out side. Somewhere on here is a whole list of anchorages I put together for the Keys. Next would be Tarpon Basin with a formal dinghy dock and walking distance to Publix and KMart. Next, Personally,we definitely prefer the bight off Lorelei's southeast of Steamboat Channel; a little deeper, more options, and more places to take the dink, to Cowpens. Or better yet, try both! Have a great trip!

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Thanks for the recommendations...we may consider Angelfish as it looks to have more favorable depth. I will look up your anchorage list. Cathy and I are big Active Captain fans and put a lot of weight into what others are saying. We have absolutely no plan or schedule, other than that we will eventually get to Boca Chica and stay at the base for a while. Somewhere in that busy schedule we have to learn how to catch lobster before the end of the month!

caltexflanc said:

Vero's a really nice hang out. Are you on a mooring?

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Hi George, we're at the city marina in Vero. Lots of character. We are meeting friends from Tampa so decided to stay at a slip in lieu of a mooring.
Any anchorage recommendations north of Vero to Jacksonville?

Hopping to see some pics .... Oh well.

manyboats said:

Hopping to see some pics .... Oh well.

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blow the conch...