Rest in Peace

This blog is dedicated to Mathew D. Uler, the beloved son of
Linda and Jay Uler, who unexpectedly passed away on Friday, March 27th, 2009.

He had many hardships in his life and his strength and courage were an inspiration to all those who loved him.

We will miss his mischievous smile, sparkling eyes, dry wit and humor and his sincere appreciation for the smallest of favors.

To quote Linda, “Our loss is his gain”.

Rest in Peace Matt!

(We will be in Michigan for the next two weeks.)

Where the Boys (and Girls) Are!

We spent a wonderful week in Fort Lauderdale at historic Cooley’s landing and enjoyed all the fun things to do there. Even though we had a few days of rain we were able to take advantage of the down time to get some things done, boat projects, laundry and needed provisioning. We also took in a couple of movies, went to the famous Fort Lauderdale beach. Yes, the Elbow Room is still there and it looks the same as it did in the 1960’s when we spent time here from college spring break. We spent much time on the River walk and enjoyed the restaurants and scenic beauty.

St. Patty’s Day was celebrated with our Looper friends Hank & Ann from “Queen Ann’s Revenge”. It was a great time visiting with them. We met them back in January in Mobile and it was nice to see them again.

Departed Cooley’s early Monday morning and headed north along the Intercoastal Waterway and enjoyed viewing the opulent homes, fabulous landscaping and mega yachts along the way. We needed a lift from a lot of bascule bridges but the schedule matched our travel time well. There was only a short wait for a few of them and all the bridge tenders had their own unique personalities which made it interesting.

Found some great anchorages along the way. Monday night at Lake Boca Raton, Tuesday in Lake Worth next to Peanut Island where we explored a beautiful park. An interesting fact about this island is that it housed the presidential bunker for JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Waved at Donald Trump when we passed his home. Wednesday continued our journey north to North Palm Beach and found a special anchorage in the NE corner of Lake Worth.

We are all looking forward to having Andy Light come aboard this evening!

Florida's Gold Coast

Thursday, March 12 In the morning we took a short ride across the Biscayne Bay to Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove. Later that evening we celebrated my 60th birthday at a great dockside seafood restaurant overlooking Biscayne Bay. We spent the next two days enjoying this trendy little town on the outskirts of Miami.

Saturday, March 14 Today we motored over to the chic Miami Beach Marina located just two blocks from “SOBE” Miami’s South Beach district. Spent the afternoon sunning and taking in the sights on the beach.

Sunday, March 15 We departed Miami through the Government Cut and sailed south toward Ft. Lauderdale. Our high spirited 30 mile sail in the Atlantic ended mid afternoon as we re-entered the Intracoastal waterway at Port Everglades. We spent the night anchored in Lake Sylvia, a small lake just off the waterway in Ft. Lauderdale. That evening we had a clear view of the space shuttle launch from 200 mile away Cape Canaveral.

Monday,March 16 Took a slow sightseeing ride several miles up the New River on our way to Cooley’s Landing Marina. The marina is located in the heart of Ft. Lauderdale’s historic/restaurant/theatre district. Ft. Lauderdale isn’t a very old city so there is not a lot of history here, but what there is started at the site that is now occupied by the Marina. In 1836 the Seminole Indians attacked and killed the Cooley Family at this location. This marked the beginning of the Seminole War in South Florida and led to the founding of the military post, Fort Lauderdale

This is Heaven!

It is so good to be back aboard Northern Light again after a short absence. Linda and I arrived on Saturday at Burdines Marina in Marathon. Our dear friends Dan & Kathy May drove us to the Keys and will be returning our car to Michigan this spring. Thanks for your generosity. We all had a delightful dinner of steamed shrimp & honey buns at the Castaways.
We spent Sunday in Marathon (Vaca Key) exploring the area and preparing for our departure to the Atlantic Ocean.
On Monday we departed Burdines after breakfast and had a great breeze so we were able to sail along the Keys up to Lower Matecumbe Key. We arrived at Matecumbe Bight about 4:15pm after going under a 65 foot bridge (Linda’s first) she also saw her first dolphins and a huge sea turtle swimming alongside the boat.
Tuesday was another great sailing day in the keys and we arrived at our next anchorage at Rodriguez Key. We took a short dingy ride to check out our new surroundings. Brad and I put on our snorkeling gear and cleaned the bottom of the boat and swam around looking at all the pretty fish.
Wednesday was another perfect sailing day for us and we needed to get an early start since it was our longest day (about 53 miles) to our next anchorage at KeyBiscayne near Miami. We arrived at Bill Baggs State Park, a beautiful little anchorage called “No Name Harbor”. I renamed it “Brad’s Bay”. All enjoyed hiking in the park and taking a cool shower outside. Enjoyed cocktails after dinner while waiting for the shuttle launch that never happened.
These last 3 days have been beautiful. This is what I imagine heaven to be; sailing in aquamarine waters with a fresh breeze on a beautiful boat with good friends, nothing could be better. Thank you Brad & Susan for giving us this wonderful opportunity of a lifetime.
Tomorrow is a special day! Brad’s 60th Birthday and we plan to celebrate in style.

Now we are four

We’re still in Marathon on Vaca Key at a great little marina named Burdines Waterfront. From here we have a great view of the sunset at the end of Seven Mile Bridge. When we arrived a week ago it was exciting passing under the Overseas Highway at the Moser Channel Bridge but I was a little saddened when I realized that from that point on we would be heading north. We still have a long way to go and I’m sure there will be many more adventures but somehow it doesn’t seem like it’s time to turn the corner and head home yet. Maybe that’s why we have stayed here as long as we have. The time has passed way too quickly.

Jay and Linda moved aboard

yesterday for the trip back north. It will be nice to have them along to share our new experiences. We hope to leave tomorrow for a three day trip up the Keys to Biscayne Bay, anchoring at night along the way.

Florida Bay

On Tuesday the 24th we left the mooring field in Matanzas Harbor and began our 40 mile boat ride to Naples. We went around the north end of Estero Island out the Matanzas Pass and across San Carlos Bay for our sail out into the Gulf. By 2:00 that afternoon we were entering Gordan Pass on our way into Naples Bay. The waterway from Gordan Pass to Naples Bay displayed some of the finest homes we have seen on the trip. Beautiful homes with beautiful boats docked out front but not a soul to be seen anywhere around.

The Naples City Dock was a delightfully simple spot among all the opulence. The dock was located in the “Olde Town” section of Naples within walking distance to the Pier, Tin City and the old downtown area. There are still some very quaint early Florida cottages located right off the beach in the old section of town, however their prices definitely reflected new Florida. We were pleasantly surprised and greatly enjoyed our three day stop while waiting for the right weather conditions to head for our next stop in the Florida Everglades.


Friday morning we left early for our 75 mile trip to Cape Sable. Around 5:30 that afternoon we arrived at our solitary unspoiled anchorage nestled among the mangroves just inside the mouth of the Little Shark River. The river is located inside the Everglades National Park between Ponce de Leon Bay and Cape Sable. A strong freshwater current coming out of the everglades provided us with a comfortable anchorage for the evening unaffected by changes in wind direction or tidal flow. We would have loved to have stayed there for a couple of days but a cold front accompanied by strong winds and waves was due to hit Sunday so we were forced to press on. Saturday morning we headed south for our trip across Florida Bay toward the Keys. We dodged crab traps all day before arriving at the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway around St. Mile #1192. From there we passed under the overseas highway (US 1) at the Moser Channel Bridge and entered Boot Key Harbor. Boot Key is better known as its largest city, Marathon. The Boot Key City Marina has a mooring field with 225 mooring balls and dock space for another dozen or so boats. We have spent two nights at the dock, tomorrow we go out on a mooring ball for a few nights while we decide where to next.

Dingy dock for the mooring field

Best to all…..