PEKABU 3 Cruising: Last Minute "To Do's" Before Leaving Riviera Beach

Friday, 1/19 - Before we left Riviera, Pete and Howie were able to get in a round of golf. While they were on the course, I did laundry and worked on some photos. I joined them at the Club for lunch, which is always a delicious treat.

Later that afternoon, as we picked up the rental car , there were classic cars parked on the walkway for a show. Some really cool cars (I wish I had my big camera instead of my phone, but I was able to gets some photos!)

Enterprise must like us, for they let us have a beautiful and comfortable Cadillac XTS for the weekend.
When returned home, the cruise ship, CELEBRATION, which usually departs by 5pm, was still in port and with pink lights dancing across her hull. Apparently, the Breast Cancer Run for next weekend was having a fund raiser/kick off night aboard. We heard the ship leave around 11 later that evening.

Along Route 1A

Saturday, 1/20 - We were up early as we have a 10-hour round trip drive to Key West. The was light traffic on our way down. Our only hold up was a fender bender that delayed us about 10 minutes. The light traffic heading onto The Keys was surprising, until we saw the mess and debris along the road as we crossed the smaller, less commercial Keys. Key Largo, the main area of Deer Key, and Marathon have been cleared of the debris, but the piles of concrete, vegetation, mangled metals and wood, along with damaged boats and RVs, are very present on the smaller islands. Apparently, the debris was taken from the other areas of the islands and dumped alongside A1A; some in separated piles, others just dumped, or deposited there by Irma. There were also piles of sand that must have covered roads. There are empty lots along the beach where homes once stood. Many trees as down to naked branches. Fencing, that is still in place, have debris piled up and marking just how high the water came ashore, but probably only half of the fencing is still in place. Islands, that were once thick, lush, tall mounds of green, are now sad, with stick-figure trees and bushes standing in the sand. In Marathon, the golf course on the eastern side, used the second 9 holes as a dumping/recycling area and another area for salvaged boats. We only saw 3 sunk boats in our travels today. All those others have already been salvaged. The trucks and equipment are still out there working on the cleanup. It will take time, but the keys will return to their prior Irma beauty due to the combined efforts of Mother Nature and the people who live here. I can’t imagine the heartbreak and devastation that the residents of The Keys, Texas, Puerto Rico, and all the other Caribbean Islands who have to deal with the hurricane disasters.

Marina & destruction on Long Key

Many RVs also were destroyed by Irma

This is an island, south of Marathon.
Last time we passed, this was a
lush green domed island where we only
suspected there might be a structure
somewhere under the lush canopy.

Sanctioned disposal site and trucks for hauling

Sand, cleared from the road, is waiting for redistribution

Segregated piles for proper disposal

FEMA, but the county continues the cleanup,
even on weekends!

Peanut Island's north shore

Sunday, 1/21 - Pete washed the boat and we did our final preparation. We also took the new dinghy engine for a test run over to Peanut Island. I was amazed at how quiet the engine is. While checking the weather for next week, we were surprised to see that beginning on Thursday, gale force winds are predicted for lower Florida and The Keys, that will continue for 3 days. Pete immediately called and thankfully, was able to get dockage in Key Largo during the blow!