Munyon Island, Florida – ICW Mile 1014 (5-7 Jan 2018)
Munyon Island was a very small-uninhabited island in the middle of the ICW about 7 miles north of West Palm. It had yet another amazing free dock which was better than some of the marinas we have stayed in. Here we saw our first warnings about Crocodilians, so had to keep our wits about us while out exploring with Daisy and Scrumpy dog.
Despite being a weekend the place was dead probably because the temperature outside was unusually low for this time of year but we loved the privacy so spent a couple of days taking the pup for a nice walk. Luckily we are all alive and can report no sightings of any reptiles
Manatee pocket, Port Salerno, Florida – ICW Mile 987 (7-11 Jan 2018)
Definitely one of my favourite stops on our trip, Manatee Pocket a sheltered bay just off the ICW was nothing like the other places we’d visited. This had a real working class feel to it probably as it was home to the historic fishing village of Port Salerno and full of commercial fishing docks. In the early evenings Daisy and I would watch the guys with big long beards like Zee Zee Top and thick southern accents haul in their catch while some old wrinkly chain smoker would weigh it all in for shipping. People were warm, friendly and full of character.
The whole area was a hub for wildlife hundreds of big brown pelicans hung around the boat ramps and moorings, until Scrumpy chased them off! Walks around Sandsprit Park never got boring, filled with Monk parakeets, red-bellied woodpeckers and squirrels that would come and take monkey nuts straight from your hand. The noise was unbelievable it was like being in an Avery. Daisy absolutely loved it.
The Port Salerno Waterfront District was quirky and fun, but still a bit rough around the edges. A row of wooden houses sat behind the docks each had a beach themed front garden finished off with decorative mailbox. Restaurants dotted around the harbor had seafaring names including The Twisted Tuna, Pirates Loft and Shrimpers and a store called Nautical Pickers sold second hand marine treasure. An Aladdin’s cave for boaters, I couldn’t keep Simon out of here.
The weekly trudge to Walmart & Aldi for food shopping was a 3mile round trip. Yes you heard right we walk 3 miles for groceries and sometimes we take the dog with us too! Daisy’s stroller has been officially commandeered as the Boat Hobos shopping cart. Supermarkets here don’t seem to sell UHT milk apart from Dollar Tree (the US version of pound land) so we stock up on as much as we can carry/push. Sometimes people look at us hauling it back and I’m sure they think we are homeless!
Boat Hobos 