We have been anchored in Lake Sylvia since Sunday waiting for the wind to change to a more favorable sailing direction and also for the waves on the ocean to drop. Tomorrow looks perfect for sailing south to Rodriguez Key, aka Key Largo.
Mark has spent the last few days finishing up work on the solar panel installation. After attaching the five panels to the bimini over the cockpit, he had to run many wires into the area he is sitting in, the aft starboard cabin. This was all done while the boat was in the yard during the conversion. The wood around him normally is covered with a queen size mattress and bedding. Until he finishes the installation, we are limiting use of all power. For example, no more three smoothies a day made in the blender for me. No microwave meals. No curling iron. No TV. No radio. Well, the list goes on. We have had to run the generator twice for about an hour each time to charge the house batteries. That takes about 2 gallons of fuel per hour and at $4.66 a gallon for diesel, it’s not worth using extra power. We still have to buy new batteries as we want a different kind than we have. We are using batteries from the old house bank. The ones we want are quite expensive, so we’ll see how these work on this trip before we decide whether to replace them.
Our friends Lynn and Shelley were in the Bahamas for several months and never turned on their generator, relying solely on their solar panels for power. We have one more panel than them, so should be fairly self-sufficient from now on, with a way to make our own power and water. Of course we still have to rely on diesel to run the engines when we motor. However, these engines are much more efficient than the old hybrid system. Down the road, we will no doubt get a wind generator for times when the sun isn’t shining.
When Mark was ready to take Daisy for her first dinghy ride ashore yesterday morning, the battery for the motor died. He tried to recharge it and it is totally dead. It worked just a few weeks ago. He had a spare battery, but we’ll have to replace it as we need that battery somewhere else. In the meantime, while he was working yesterday, Lynn and Shelley kindly took Daisy and me ashore in their dinghy. We took a long walk yesterday afternoon and found an empty tennis court at the upscale Bahia Mar Marina and Hotel. Daisy chased a ball a few times and then plopped down on the court, exhausted. It wasn’t particularly hot, so she is obviously out of shape. Her “walks” in recent months have been mainly “sits” on benches. That is her choice, not ours, as she loves to watch people come by and, hopefully, stop to pet her. She is quite insistent on this, finding a bench and planting her four feet in front of it until we agree to sit with her.
This anchorage is idyllic, in the middle of a crowded, noisy, and sometimes rude city. Today the sun is shining and it’s a pleasant 83 degrees outside at noon. The humidity is low and we couldn’t ask for a better day. There are only a few cruisers here, probably waiting to leave like we are. Unlike some anchorages in Florida cities, these neighbors don’t seem to mind boats in their backyards. The photo at the right, above, shows the opening of the lake from the ICW. The high rise condos have a view of the ocean and Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Unfortunately, there are very few dinghy dock access points, so we have to go quite a distance, to one of the marinas, to go ashore.
Lake Sylvia has no shore access for dinghies. That’s too bad as if we could go ashore right here, we would have a couple of blocks to the beach and a lot of nice walking areas. There are a few dock slips next to us, probably for people who live in this gated community. In between them (photo above) would be an ideal place to tie up dinghies from the anchorage. I’m sure cruisers would gladly pay for the convenience, but then we’d be tromping through their neighborhood, probably not what they would want. Looking at the pretty boats is one thing. Having strangers climbing out of dinghies onto their streets is another. I guess I wouldn’t want the intrusion if I lived in this lovely neighborhood either.
Daisy isn’t interested in any of this. She is resting on the walkway outside the cockpit seating area with her feet hanging over the edge. Yes, we have warned her that if she rolls over she’ll be going for a swim. She doesn’t seem to care. The solar shade curtains are keeping the sun off her body, her beloved taxi is a few feet away in the water, and she is content.
