October 2023 - October 2024
St. Petersburg, FL to Brunswick, GA
Recently we provided an overview of our plans for the upcoming year and this week we’re recapping last year's activities. Many cruisers also look at this time of the year as the beginning of the cruising season. In addition, our boat insurance policy insurance limits where the boat can be between June 1 and November 1, another factor for our defining our sailing season to run roughly from October to October.
The first season of our full-time cruising started when we moved onto the Utopia mid-October, 2023. Our first year can be broken down into these chunks:
Appalachian Trail Hike (we understand this is not cruising on a boat, but a major adventure for us)
Shakedown Cruising in Tampa/St. Pete Area
October 16 – November 3
October 16 we drove down to St. Petersburg and left the slip the following day for the first of two shakedown cruises where we spent some time at anchor unpacking boxes. The shakedown trips were separated by a doctor’s appointment in Jacksonville, and then followed by more doctors’ appointments and visiting family. Here is a summary of our stops:
Gulf Coast: St. Petersburg to Key West
November 3 – December 24
November 3 was our big day as we left our slip for the last time and headed south before sailing under the Sunshine Skyway. The first few nights of our vagabond life was spent at anchor on the Manatee River off Emerson Park, near Bradenton. Attended a potluck one evening with Tampa Bay area sailors celebrating the kickoff of cruising season. From there our trek varied between taking outside routes (in the Gulf) and taking the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as we picked anchorages (and one marina) on the way down to Charlotte Harbor.
About a full month was spent in the Charlotte Harbor area. A majority of the month was spent anchored off of Punta Gorda, spending Thanksgiving in town. After being at anchor since November 16, we left Punta Gorda on December 1, and hopped south until we reached Marco Island where we set anchor inside of Smokehouse Bay on December 12.
We met several experienced cruisers during our stay there. This stop ended up being about 10 days as we waited for a long enough weather window for a passage to visit the Dry Tortugas, which never materialized due to the strong El Nino year. According to the World Meteorological Organization,
the 2023 El Niño event began in June 2023 and peaked in November 2023 and January 2024. It was one of the five strongest El Niño events on record. The El Niño event faded by mid-May 2024.
So on the afternoon of December 22, we pointed Utopia to Key West instead of the Dry Tortugas and made an overnight passage to the Northwest Channel of Key West, ending our Gulf Coast cruising for the year.
Our stops on the way south:
Stop Type | Location | Related Posts |
Anchor | Manatee River, Bradenton | |
Anchor | St. Armands Circle, between Lido Key & Otter Key, Sarasota | |
Marina | Crow's Nest, Venice | |
Anchor | Between Punta Blanca and Mondongo Islands, just off of ICW, Charlotte Harbor | |
Anchor | Pelican Bay | |
Anchor | Punta Gorda | |
Marina | Burnt Store Marina, Charlotte Harbor | |
Anchor | Useppa Island | |
Anchor | South of St. James City | |
Anchor | Glover Bight, Cape Coral | |
Anchor | Smokehouse Bay, Marco Island | |
Overnight passage | Gulf of Mexico, from Marco Island to Key West |
Florida Keys: Key West to Boca Chita
December 23 – January 31
On the morning of December 23, we caught a mooring ball in Garrison Bight (after a very short anchorage off of Wisteria Island to repair an impeller upon arriving in the Northwest Channel of Key West). We spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve here, departing on New Year’s Day, and headed around Key West to reach the Atlantic Ocean waters. From Key West we worked our way north on the outside route (Hawk Channel, on the ocean side of the Keys) to the Channel 5 Bridge in Long Key Bight, with an enjoyable stop at Marathon Marina.
We decided to brave the shallow inside passage in Florida Bay, and on the morning of January 11 we slipped under US 1 at Long Key Bight to motor all the way to Buttonwood Sound off of Key Largo. It was a wonderful stay in this anchorage, which was significantly heightened by the cruisers we met there.
From here we hopped north from anchorage to anchorage, until reaching Biscayne Bay. Highlights of places we visited include Alabama Jacks, John Pennekamp State Park, Elliot Key and Boca Chita Key. These last two stops are part of the Biscayne National Park, but with very different atmospheres. We loved the quiet very remote Elliot Key as much as the crazy cultural experience we had at the harbor at Boca Chita Key.
Stop Type | Location | Related Posts |
Anchor | near US 1 between Summerland and Ramrod Key | |
Marina | Marathon Marina | |
Anchor | near the Channel 5 Bridge in Long Key Bight | |
Anchor | Buttonwood Sound off of Key Largo | |
Anchor | Steamboat Creek anchorage in Barnes Sound Barnes Sound off of Key Largo | |
Anchor | near Pumpkin Key | |
Anchor | off of Elliott Key | |
Tied to wall | Boca Chita Harbor |
Atlantic Coast: Miami, FL to Brunswick, GA
January 31 – April 1
During a high tide on January 31 we left Boca Chita and headed further up Biscayne Bay towards the skyline of Miami. Our Biscayne Bay stops included a mooring ball, an anchorage and a marina and we spent a little bit of time exploring Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove and Miami before our big jump north.
The afternoon of February 9 we left our slip and headed out into the Atlantic for an overnight passage to Lake Worth. It turned out that the end of this passage was just as dramatic as the passage to Key West.
From Lake Worth (also the Palm Beach / Riviera area) we traveled northbound on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Traveling up the ICW was a dance with lots of boat traffic, shoaling, and bascule bridges. On the other hand, it was fun to view this part of Florida from the water, seeing the change of scenery as we headed north. Several towns offered free dinghy docks giving us an opportunity to purchase groceries, to dispose of trash and to stretch our legs. Highlights for us are definatly being able to see friends during our stops in Cocoa and Titusville. It was also neat to see some rocket launches from the boat.
After our relatively quick paced trip up the ICW, we crossed into Georgia to spent Jimmy’s birthday at Cumberland Island National Seashore. We enjoyed walking around the island, visiting the ruins, and seeing the wild horses.
Our cruising for the season came to a close on March 15 when we pulled into a slip at Brunswick Landing Marina and had the boat hauled out 10 days later. Here Utopia would sit for the remainder of the season while we headed out for a different adventure.
Stop Type | Location | Related Posts |
Mooring ball | Crandon Park Marina, Key Biscayne | |
Anchorage | Key Biscayne Bight | |
Marina | Dinner Key Marina, Miami | |
Overnight | Atlantic Ocean: Miami to Lake Worth Inlet | |
Anchorage | North Lake Worth, Palm Beach / Riviera | |
Anchorage | Hutchison Island | |
Anchorage | Ft. Pierce | |
Mooring ball | Vero Beach | |
Anchorage | Cocoa Village | |
Mooring ball | Titusville | |
Anchorage | New Smyrna Beach | |
Anchorage | Daytona Beach | |
Marina | Palm Coast | |
Mooring ball | St. Augustine | |
Anchorage | Jacksonville | |
Mooring ball | Fernandina, FL | |
Anchorage | Cumberland Island, GA | |
Anchorage | Turtle River, Brunswick | |
Marina | Brunswick Landing Marina | 24-12 |
Boat Yard | Brunswick Landing Marina Boat Yard |
Appalachian Trail
April to October, 2024
Now that the boat was buttoned up, we headed out on a three-week road trip (24-14 & 24-16) making stops in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina before arriving in Washington DC, where we caught a train to Harpers Ferry, WV. On April 21, 2024 we started hiking north on the Appalachian Trail (AT) with a friend of ours who joined us for the first 10 days or so. We continued on north to complete the Presidential Range in northern New Hampshire. Skipping the next 130 miles, we hopped up Maine to hike the AT through the Bigelow Mountains. From Caratunk, Maine we drove down to Harpers Ferry (after a quick visit to Utopia), and began to hike the AT southbound July 25. We made as far as the northern side of the Smoky Mountains, at Interstate-40 near the North Carolina and Tennessee border when Hurricane Helene, then a storm, caused significant damage to the area, thus ending our hike on September 24. Overall we nearly hiked 1,700 miles in just over five months. Details about the hike can be found on our Appalachian Trail page.
Once we realized that the hike was over for the year, we headed back to Utopia to prepare her for our next cruising season.
24-47
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