Hello from Plantation Yacht Harbor. We were going to stay at the Rod & Gun Club for 2 nights but we had a problem. About 3:30 am the fishing boats started leaving for their day on the water. They have no respect for the “no wake signs” and it took about 30 to 45 minutes for the 9 boats to leave. Every time one went by we were pushed hard into the seawall and that is no way to sleep.
I tried to talk to the dockmaster in the morning, 8:00, but he does not get in until 10:30 or so. Lenore and I decided to leave. We called back later and requested a refund on the dockage for the 2nd night and they said they would send a check. They were sorry about what happened but they also knew that it happens.
The ride was uneventful other than the crab pot markers. In Florida Bay near East Cape, they were lined up and not real easy to see, especially the darker ones. Fortunately the chop was less than a foot and that helped. In the intercoastel Waterway (ICW) near the Keys they were everywhere with no rhyme or reason that we could tell how they were placed. They were in the channel, out of the channel, everywhere. We were on plane so we could get to Plantation Yacht Harbor before the end of the day, it was like a slalom course .
There also were a lot of boats in the ICW moving both east and west. We slowed for most of them so we did not rock them and a few came on the radio and thanked us. The ICW is pretty interesting from the standpoint that it appears to be large bays that are connected by channels thru the reefs. The waves on the water are stopped by the reefs so there is no opportunity for larger waves, but then again the water is only about 8′ to 10′ deep so not much chance for large waves anyway.
We arrived at Plantation Yacht Harbor around 3:30 and got situated. I had called earlier in the day to make sure they would have a slip available because we were 3 days ahead of what I told them early last week. The staff here is really great. The harbor was just rebuilt a few years ago after hurricane damage. The harbor is attached to Founders Park which is an Islamarada City Park. Lots of activities, tennis, pool ball fields, soccer fields, swimming pool, bath house, laundry, dog park and a beach. The City does a nice job of maintaining the park. We are located on the Florida Bay side of the keys (west).
The only issue is that the access to shopping is somewhat difficult because it is not close so we solved that by renting a car for the 1st month. We will be at Plantation Yacht Harbor for 2 months and if the car works out the 1st month, we will probably extend it for the second month.
I will try and post a minimum of once a week while we are here so stay tuned and if anyone is near, call and stop by.
I was wondering where you were going to wait out the winter. Looks like a nice place to kill a couple of months. What will you do with your time?
Nice quiet place with a lot of amenities. I listened to some other cruisers when we were in the river system and we were lucky to get a slip when we called.