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We have at long last arrived aboard Antares after a very uneventful flight south. Everything about today's journey went smoothy, especially when compared to our aborted attempt on Valentine's day which was our original schedule. We were awake before the alarm went off, the taxi was a few minutes early, the flight crew were on time and even the line at security was shorter! Of course, it wasn't snowing either.
On Wednesday everything conspired against our getting airborne before the Valentine's Day blizzard of 07 got wound up, but we'll just blame it on Frank, our flight attendant who was late in arriving at the airport which set a series of events into motion. The deicer malfunctioned after only spraying half the plane causing us to wait until another one was finished with other outbound flights, at which time it was deemed more fuel was needed for take off and then visibility dropped below the safety limit. The pilot also informed us that the deicing fluid wasn't effective against the by now heavy snow that was falling making it dangerous to fly. We did get to spend 2 hours sitting aboard at the gate before deplaning. The most interesting comment we heard from a number of folks was that the airport never closes because the Air National Guard station keeps the runways cleared. Lot of good that does when when the weather conditions don't allow commercial flights to fly.
Once we got past the 20 minute wait on the phone with the airline, the first date they had space available was Sunday. The storm delays were getting piled on top of the mess the storm caused in the midwest. Leonard was delighted to find open seats on Saturday while attempting to confirm our seat assignments for Sunday.
We did get to experience the blizzard - all 28 inches of snow that came down in about 24 hours. We got to shovel the drive several times. It qualified for a real blizzard - the temperature hovered in the single numbers above zero and the wind howled which made for some interesting drifts. Unfortunately the snow was so deep that it made it too much work to go out and play in it - 28 inches of powder is work to move through!
The day after the Valentine Day storm
Listening to NOAA that night we learned that new low record temperature was set in Jacksonville - 23 F, with more freeze warnings through Sunday night before warming up to more normal temperatures. It felt pretty nice this afternoon while we washed down the decks, but it's starting to feel more like Vermont than Florida now that the sun's set.
We are glad to be back aboard - we'd had our fill of winter before the blizzard. Other than dirt and grim on the decks, the boat is in good shape. The decks aren't covered with layers of bird droppings, but it looks like we'll need to do some serious cleaning to remove the residue the local industries deposited on the decks. It also took a lot longer to flush the antifreeze out of the lines and hot water tank than we anticipated. We'll talk to the boat yard Monday about a launch date later this week, then we'll start planning our trip south.
Sent 2/20/2007 from Fernandina Beach
Just
wanted to let all you folks up north know that we spent the best
part of the day doing "spring" boat work in short sleeves today.
The
local temperatures finally are getting up to the normal highs which
makes it much easier to get out of bed in the morning. Naturally this
moderation in temperature means the cabin is being inundated by
mosquitos this evening.
We did break down and get a small electric heater at Home Depot when we were out Sunday. It was difficult to find one down here since winter is officially over and the stores are filled with grills and bedding plants. We can only use it when we are at a dock, or up on jack stands like now, but it is much easier to get fired up than the propane heater, and with a thermostat it can be left on at night.
The last couple of days we managed to get some of the cleaning done, both inside and out, as well as a trip into Jacksonville to exchange rental cars, visit West Marine and Costco. We plan on getting the boat back into the water Wednesday providing we get the rest of the bottom finished. As usual, things always take longer than we anticipate. We'll spend a day or two on the dock before heading south.
We did break down and get a small electric heater at Home Depot when we were out Sunday. It was difficult to find one down here since winter is officially over and the stores are filled with grills and bedding plants. We can only use it when we are at a dock, or up on jack stands like now, but it is much easier to get fired up than the propane heater, and with a thermostat it can be left on at night.
The last couple of days we managed to get some of the cleaning done, both inside and out, as well as a trip into Jacksonville to exchange rental cars, visit West Marine and Costco. We plan on getting the boat back into the water Wednesday providing we get the rest of the bottom finished. As usual, things always take longer than we anticipate. We'll spend a day or two on the dock before heading south.
Sent 2/26/2007 From St. Augustine
We were glad the wind had died back from the 20 - 30 knots we'd had most of the day Sunday. It was light enough for us to get the sails back up before we headed into Jacksonville to swap rental cars and make our standard West Marine and Costco runs.
We swung past the Ortega River to see what changes had happened since last year at ORBY. The docks were in and a sales office for the condos was open, but no building had taken place. I wonder if their sales are going more slowly than anticipated. Another condo development planned by the yacht club has never been built due to lack of sales. It sounds like downtown is developing waterfront condos to draw more residents into the area. Perhaps between higher interest rates and increased competition there may be more choices for fewer prospective buyers. Sorry to see the working marina disappear, especially since it was located so conveniently for shopping.
It took some arm twisting to convince Leonard that we really needed to clean on the hull. In the past he's been less than pleased with the results when he's used the special Awl grip products on the stern. He had to admit that the hull does look better now, and it was less work than the compounding and waxing we did on Gulf Wind. Unfortunately things will get salty as soon as we get splashed, but hopefully it will wash off easier next time we have fresh water at a dock. Leonard touched up the few spots on the bottom that needed paint. When we got the boat in the slings prior to launching he was able to get some paint under the keel which should help keep the barnacles down and our speed up.
On Wednesday, we figured slack water would be around 1130 and at 1100, the travel lift was at the boat and shortly after that we were tied up on the dock. Captain Bill didn't waste any time since launching at slack water is easier and he was expecting a shrimp boat that had lost both engine and generator to be towed in for hauling. Apparently the astronomically low tide on Sunday, combined with the strong winds had run the boat aground in St. Augustine where it was moored and poked a hole in the planking. It arrived about an hour after we were launched and it was quite the operation to get the vessel on the dock and into the slings. It had to be as big as would fit in the hoist. The boat captain had to climb up the out riggers to the top of the hoist to work the rigging past the hoist. We were really glad to have been launched before it arrived since by the time it was hauled the current was back up and running.
On Thursday we were back to chores before turning the car in about 1300. With clean clothes and enough food until we reach Vero Beach we set about finishing the last of the boat "to do" list. (The only thing we missed was to replace the knotmeter, which we realized when we departed. It's more exciting to pull the stopper out and insert the plug when under way.)
We launched the dinghy after draining the water out of the tubes. We have no idea how the water gets in, but we could hear it sloshing around inside. The outboard started right up and we took a short ride up Egan's Creek before putting it back on deck. By 1700 we had everything in order for an early morning departure and we walked into town to mail some letters, check out the town docks and have dinner at the Irish Pub.
By 0700 the next morning, we had left Egan's Creek and were headed for the St. Mary's River to hop offshore to St. Augustine. We had a great sail with the wind out of the NW. We began motor sailing about an hour before we reached St. Augustine when the wind went lighter and it was hard to keep both sails filled in the swells. We didn't see any boats out with us, but Leonard got to watch as a northern gannet and a dolphin both went after the same fish. Score one for the gannet, zero for the dolphin. He said the fish looked too big for the bird to swallow. There was also a news item on the radio that a hump back whale had been sighted between the jetties and the ferry landing on the St. John's River over the weekend. Unfortunately we missed that event and didn't see any out at sea either.
We would be entering the inlet on a falling tide. So we'd need to watch our depths, especially in Salt Run, or be prepared to wait a couple of hours before the water came back up. We managed just fine (Leonard seems to have an innate skill at finding the deeper water) and were welcomed by a couple of dolphins when we dropped anchor.
There were more boats on moorings in Salt Run than last year, so we set 2 anchors to keep us out of the channel and away from the boats. We learned the next day that all the boats moored in Sister's Creek, on the other side of town, had been chased out last fall and most had dropped moorings here. There is talk of the city putting in moorings since some of the land residents over here are now complaining about the boats. What to people think they're going to see when they buy water front property?
We went into town on Saturday and after walking up St. George's St. (the touristy old town part) we wandered over to Castillo de San Marcos. We've walked around the outside before and when we went to check out the entrance fee, realized it was a Federal Park. Since I'm officially an old foggy now, I whipped out my senior park pass and we got free admission. I bought the pass last year in St. Mary's so we could use it for the discounted dockage in Okracoke and found it also gives both of us free admission to all federal parks. A great perk.
We enjoyed touring the fort. It has the distinction of never having been taken by siege, only exchanging hands by treaty. It's built of coquina, a local sedimentary rock made of crushed shells, which deflected or absorbed cannon shots rather than crumbling. Since it was a local material, it was also more easily repaired. Much of the original fort is still standing, with the most damage having been done by park visitors since 1942, touching, climbing or sitting on the structure. The fort was started in 1672 and completed in 1695. It has an impressive array of cannons and mortars and, since it was Saturday, we got to observe the firing of one of the cannons and heard a short lecture on the history of the fort.
After we left the fort we walked south along the narrow city streets. We saw the oldest house and walked to a small park on the river. It was after 1700 by the time we got back to the boat and we were ready to call it a day.
A cold front was forecast to arrive sometime on Sunday but we figured we could walk to Anastasia Park and the beach before it arrived. It was quite windy again and after walking to the St. Augustine fishing pier at the south end of the park, we were dusted with the airborne salt and sand. We people watched - bikini clad women to wet suited surfers and everything in between. A number of dogs were having a great time fetching things in the waves. The fishing pier must offer free access to the beach as well as allowing dogs as it was much more crowded there than within the state park. They are refilling the beaches so there are a lot of shells, but most are bits and pieces having gone through the dredging and hauling process.
Terns on the beach
We kept a weather eye on the clouds and headed back by mid afternoon having had our fill of salty, sandy winds, stopping at one of the picnic areas to eat lunch. The chop in Salt Run was less than it had been in the morning, so we dinghied back to the park border and looked at all the various boats now moored there. When we got back to Antares there was a bigger sailboat rafted with the boat behind us. It looked like we'd still have enough room to swing clear of them. There was a little shore bird busy picking at the growth on the mooring line. When I saw him still there in the morning I had to wonder if he'd spent the night there!
It took longer than anticipated to haul the anchors in the morning. The bottom was a gooey black mud that stuck to everything. Then, after he had the danforth up and stowed, Leonard accidentally hit the washdown pump inlet hose and broke it. After wrapping it with tape he found that if he left the water spraying over board out the nozzle it didn't make quite such a spray on him. Another of those things to be fixed in an exotic place. At least the dolphins were back to see us off.
The west wind that had been forecast and been changed to SW between 5 and 10, so we still planned to go offshore. It was a dark dreary morning with low clouds, and after clearing the entrance with it's lumpy seas from the current running against the swells, we found what wind there was, was from the south. At least it is easier motoring in the calm seas than threading the ICW markers and shoals.
Leonard spend much of the morning monitoring the battery charger. It was not behaving right and he couldn't figure out why. He finally recycled it and things returned to normal. I keep my eye on the new 'fridge temperature monitor we installed. It's for indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer and has been pressed into use to monitor the 'fridge. I've found that the sensor unit has to be upright and it seems to want more air circulation that it gets when the 'fridge is packed. It isn't mounted anywhere and tends to get knocked over easily. All the more gadgets added tend to add to fretting levels. Perhaps ignorance is bliss.
Around noon the skies began to clear and the wind backed more to the east allowing us to set sail. The plan was to reach Ponce de Leon inlet and reach an anchorage we like just south of New Smyrna Beach before dark. Looked like most of the day would be spent motor sailing to reach that objective. Not much to see out here - lots of gannets, a couple of sea turtles and a number of pods of dolphins, but the sea is mostly calm so it's easy going.
We reached the channel entrance at 1700 and had an easy passage but had to wait 15 minutes for the 1800 opening of the Coronado Beach Bridge to open. At this point we had 2 more miles to go to the anchorage we have stayed at in the past. We got there just after sunset and when we left the ICW for the anchorage spot we proceeded to run aground. We backed off and thinking we were to far south tried further north and ran aground again. OK, try farther south. We made it a little farther in but went aground again. By this time it was getting dark, so we backtracked a mile and anchored with some other boats off the Yacht Club. So much for Leonard's ability to find the deep water. Anyway dinner is over and the night is quiet. Tomorrow is another day.
Sent 3/3/2007 From Vero Beach
Getting the anchor up at New Smyrna Beach was much less work than at St. Augustine. We thought very briefly about giving one more try to the anchorage we couldn't find last night, but thought better of it as we went past. The morning was overcast and foggy, with less than 3 mile visibility, and almost windless. We had an easy trip down Mosquito Bay, with almost no other boat traffic, so we enjoyed the wildlife around us. There were also a lot more dolphins in the river than we've seen in the past. We cleared the Haulover Canal bridge before noon and headed down the Indian River.
There are a couple of barrier islands just past the canal that serve as a rookery filled with pelicans, ibis, egrets, herons, cormorants and spoon bills. I've always wanted to get closer to them, but the depths outside of the marked channel prevents it.
We ran the jib out for a day of motor sailing and sailing since it was early enough that the restricted bridges wouldn't be an issue. We debated heading to Eau Gallie by Dragon Point or stopping earlier at Cocoa to visit the huge hardware store to pick up a replacement fitting for the wash down pump hose.
As we made the turn toward the south in the river there was a huge flock of cormorants, gulls and pelicans ahead of us in the water. A flash of tails and fins indicated dolphins were fishing there too. As we went through, the birds flew, making a circle to return to the good fishing spot.
We watched the clouds build into some towering cells and heard the strong thunderstorm forecast on the VHF and decided stopping at Cocoa made sense since it was closer. It looked threatening enough that we decided to wait before heading ashore to keep out eye on the weather.
By 1600 things cleared up to the west and we headed ashore for the washdown hose fitting, a walk, and possibly dinner at the little place we'd liked last year. Other than a brief sprinkle before we reached Cocoa, our day had been dry. I was surprised when I spoke with my brother that evening who thought we'd been caught in a hail storm. He'd seen on the web that NASA had delayed the shuttle launch after sustaining the worst weather damage ever. We were only about 10 miles away, but had been completely unaware that there'd been a problem. We'd missed the news by the time we'd gotten back to the boat and the dinghy stowed. Some days it can be hard to catch the news since we can't hear the radio when we're motoring so we miss the morning news with our early starts and if we run late, the evening news is over by the time we stop.
We had a bright sunny morning as we headed for Vero Beach. Eventually the wind filled in and we spent much of the day with the jib out and the engine ticking at low RPMs. A boat from Charleston, SC, left Cocoa about 15 minutes before us and we had their sail in view all morning. I noticed they'd furled their jib as we approached Grant Farm Island where the channel starts to get a bit trickier, and noticed they had an anchor down. That area has always looked interesting to me and last year at Staniel Key we met a couple who live on the island, and I thought perhaps these folks were going to explore the area. As we approached it became obvious that they had gotten to the starboard side of the channel and the stop had been unintentional. The anchor was a kedge and they were trying to work back to deeper water. There was nothing we could do to help without going aground ourselves and it looked like they had things under control. It looked like they'd gotten free once, but they didn't make it back to the channel.
Meanwhile we realized that the wind was giving us a continual nudge toward the windward side of the channel and we'd need to be careful. It doesn't take much inattention to slip out of the deep water. Leonard would check the computer navigation program and tell me I was running down the starboard side of the channel. It can be helpful to look at the computer to check where you are, but I don't necessarily trust the computer charts to be completely accurate.
The area just north of Vero Beach has some very fancy estates on the waterway. Jones Fruit Dock which must have had their grove on the land years ago, is just at the beginning of the fanciest ones. We've never stopped there, the docks have been reported to be in less than pristine condition and they no longer sell fruit although they still offer transient dockage with 6 foot depths at the docks, power and water. The dock house looked new this year so perhaps the owners are still enjoying part of their past life while irritating the new folks.
We'd called ahead to the municipal marina at Vero for a mooring and when we arrived we were directed to raft up with another sailboat. Our neighbors, Loy and Linda Williams aboard Sand Piper, are from the Chicago area and are slowly doing the great loop - 3 years into a 2 year trip. They are friendly and we have common ground with both boating and Chicago. We've enjoyed spending time together and sharing adventures.
They have been here for about a month while he had hand surgery to remove a bit of imbedded fiberglass which had become infected. It also gave them time to locate a new windlass and get it installed while they waited. They plan on hopping over to the Abacos from Lake Worth at the next weather window.
We have been waiting for the weather to settle a bit too. The last couple of days have had strong southerly winds, not exactly what we want or need. Each day the forecast gets stretched out just a bit, but Saturday morning the winds finally switched around to the north. Leonard talked about heading to the St. Lucie River, but was glad we'd stayed as the front came through with a bit more vigor than anticipated. It would have been miserable offshore and neither of us really likes the ICW on the weekends. I'd gone to the farmer's market at Ft. Pierce with Linda since they had a car. We had a great view of the approaching front and were sure we'd get soaked, but the rain passed just east of us. The wind did set the tents and displays flying however. The record setting temperature of 91 F yesterday has been replaced with 70's and much less humidity. Hopefully it will also decrease the number of no see ums that emerged last night when the wind dropped.
We plan to go out Ft. Pierce inlet down to Lake Worth and anchoring there for the night. We've been welcomed back to the Bruce's dock just north of Boca Raton but want to run the gambit of bridges on a weekday which has less boating traffic. After we leave there, we hope to hook up with the Chupacks in the Ft. Lauderdale area for a quick visit. We're hoping to get a spot back up at Cooley's Landing in town, but need to call back to see if they'll have an available slip.
Sent 3/10/2007 From Miami, FL
We were glad the wind had died back from the 20 - 30 knots we'd had most of the day Sunday. It was light enough for us to get the sails back up before we headed into Jacksonville to swap rental cars and make our standard West Marine and Costco runs.
We swung past the Ortega River to see what changes had happened since last year at ORBY. The docks were in and a sales office for the condos was open, but no building had taken place. I wonder if their sales are going more slowly than anticipated. Another condo development planned by the yacht club has never been built due to lack of sales. It sounds like downtown is developing waterfront condos to draw more residents into the area. Perhaps between higher interest rates and increased competition there may be more choices for fewer prospective buyers. Sorry to see the working marina disappear, especially since it was located so conveniently for shopping.
It took some arm twisting to convince Leonard that we really needed to clean on the hull. In the past he's been less than pleased with the results when he's used the special Awl grip products on the stern. He had to admit that the hull does look better now, and it was less work than the compounding and waxing we did on Gulf Wind. Unfortunately things will get salty as soon as we get splashed, but hopefully it will wash off easier next time we have fresh water at a dock. Leonard touched up the few spots on the bottom that needed paint. When we got the boat in the slings prior to launching he was able to get some paint under the keel which should help keep the barnacles down and our speed up.
Mast high view of Tiger Point Marina
On Wednesday, we figured slack water would be around 1130 and at 1100, the travel lift was at the boat and shortly after that we were tied up on the dock. Captain Bill didn't waste any time since launching at slack water is easier and he was expecting a shrimp boat that had lost both engine and generator to be towed in for hauling. Apparently the astronomically low tide on Sunday, combined with the strong winds had run the boat aground in St. Augustine where it was moored and poked a hole in the planking. It arrived about an hour after we were launched and it was quite the operation to get the vessel on the dock and into the slings. It had to be as big as would fit in the hoist. The boat captain had to climb up the out riggers to the top of the hoist to work the rigging past the hoist. We were really glad to have been launched before it arrived since by the time it was hauled the current was back up and running.
Working the Gail Marie into the slings
(Leonard supervising on the left, the boat captain's on top of the hoist)
Up at last!
We'd decided to keep the local rental car another day since we still
needed to do the laundry and finish up provisioning. The marina
is pleasant, as is Fernandina Beach, but a car is a necessity at either
since it's about 5 miles to the stores. It also gave us the
opportunity to spend an afternoon on the beach, something I don't turn
down when offered. By the time we got back to the boat it had
started to rain and we were ready to have dinner and call it a day.
(Leonard supervising on the left, the boat captain's on top of the hoist)
Up at last!
On Thursday we were back to chores before turning the car in about 1300. With clean clothes and enough food until we reach Vero Beach we set about finishing the last of the boat "to do" list. (The only thing we missed was to replace the knotmeter, which we realized when we departed. It's more exciting to pull the stopper out and insert the plug when under way.)
We launched the dinghy after draining the water out of the tubes. We have no idea how the water gets in, but we could hear it sloshing around inside. The outboard started right up and we took a short ride up Egan's Creek before putting it back on deck. By 1700 we had everything in order for an early morning departure and we walked into town to mail some letters, check out the town docks and have dinner at the Irish Pub.
By 0700 the next morning, we had left Egan's Creek and were headed for the St. Mary's River to hop offshore to St. Augustine. We had a great sail with the wind out of the NW. We began motor sailing about an hour before we reached St. Augustine when the wind went lighter and it was hard to keep both sails filled in the swells. We didn't see any boats out with us, but Leonard got to watch as a northern gannet and a dolphin both went after the same fish. Score one for the gannet, zero for the dolphin. He said the fish looked too big for the bird to swallow. There was also a news item on the radio that a hump back whale had been sighted between the jetties and the ferry landing on the St. John's River over the weekend. Unfortunately we missed that event and didn't see any out at sea either.
We would be entering the inlet on a falling tide. So we'd need to watch our depths, especially in Salt Run, or be prepared to wait a couple of hours before the water came back up. We managed just fine (Leonard seems to have an innate skill at finding the deeper water) and were welcomed by a couple of dolphins when we dropped anchor.
There were more boats on moorings in Salt Run than last year, so we set 2 anchors to keep us out of the channel and away from the boats. We learned the next day that all the boats moored in Sister's Creek, on the other side of town, had been chased out last fall and most had dropped moorings here. There is talk of the city putting in moorings since some of the land residents over here are now complaining about the boats. What to people think they're going to see when they buy water front property?
We went into town on Saturday and after walking up St. George's St. (the touristy old town part) we wandered over to Castillo de San Marcos. We've walked around the outside before and when we went to check out the entrance fee, realized it was a Federal Park. Since I'm officially an old foggy now, I whipped out my senior park pass and we got free admission. I bought the pass last year in St. Mary's so we could use it for the discounted dockage in Okracoke and found it also gives both of us free admission to all federal parks. A great perk.
View of St. Augustine from the
Castillo
de San Marcos
We enjoyed touring the fort. It has the distinction of never having been taken by siege, only exchanging hands by treaty. It's built of coquina, a local sedimentary rock made of crushed shells, which deflected or absorbed cannon shots rather than crumbling. Since it was a local material, it was also more easily repaired. Much of the original fort is still standing, with the most damage having been done by park visitors since 1942, touching, climbing or sitting on the structure. The fort was started in 1672 and completed in 1695. It has an impressive array of cannons and mortars and, since it was Saturday, we got to observe the firing of one of the cannons and heard a short lecture on the history of the fort.
Cannons at the Castillo
Detail on a cannon
Detail on a cannon
Preparing to fire a cannon
On guard - red material in the hat
designates Spanish
different countries had different colors on their hats
uniforms were basically identical
different countries had different colors on their hats
uniforms were basically identical
After we left the fort we walked south along the narrow city streets. We saw the oldest house and walked to a small park on the river. It was after 1700 by the time we got back to the boat and we were ready to call it a day.
A cold front was forecast to arrive sometime on Sunday but we figured we could walk to Anastasia Park and the beach before it arrived. It was quite windy again and after walking to the St. Augustine fishing pier at the south end of the park, we were dusted with the airborne salt and sand. We people watched - bikini clad women to wet suited surfers and everything in between. A number of dogs were having a great time fetching things in the waves. The fishing pier must offer free access to the beach as well as allowing dogs as it was much more crowded there than within the state park. They are refilling the beaches so there are a lot of shells, but most are bits and pieces having gone through the dredging and hauling process.
Terns on the beach
We kept a weather eye on the clouds and headed back by mid afternoon having had our fill of salty, sandy winds, stopping at one of the picnic areas to eat lunch. The chop in Salt Run was less than it had been in the morning, so we dinghied back to the park border and looked at all the various boats now moored there. When we got back to Antares there was a bigger sailboat rafted with the boat behind us. It looked like we'd still have enough room to swing clear of them. There was a little shore bird busy picking at the growth on the mooring line. When I saw him still there in the morning I had to wonder if he'd spent the night there!
It took longer than anticipated to haul the anchors in the morning. The bottom was a gooey black mud that stuck to everything. Then, after he had the danforth up and stowed, Leonard accidentally hit the washdown pump inlet hose and broke it. After wrapping it with tape he found that if he left the water spraying over board out the nozzle it didn't make quite such a spray on him. Another of those things to be fixed in an exotic place. At least the dolphins were back to see us off.
The west wind that had been forecast and been changed to SW between 5 and 10, so we still planned to go offshore. It was a dark dreary morning with low clouds, and after clearing the entrance with it's lumpy seas from the current running against the swells, we found what wind there was, was from the south. At least it is easier motoring in the calm seas than threading the ICW markers and shoals.
Leonard spend much of the morning monitoring the battery charger. It was not behaving right and he couldn't figure out why. He finally recycled it and things returned to normal. I keep my eye on the new 'fridge temperature monitor we installed. It's for indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer and has been pressed into use to monitor the 'fridge. I've found that the sensor unit has to be upright and it seems to want more air circulation that it gets when the 'fridge is packed. It isn't mounted anywhere and tends to get knocked over easily. All the more gadgets added tend to add to fretting levels. Perhaps ignorance is bliss.
Around noon the skies began to clear and the wind backed more to the east allowing us to set sail. The plan was to reach Ponce de Leon inlet and reach an anchorage we like just south of New Smyrna Beach before dark. Looked like most of the day would be spent motor sailing to reach that objective. Not much to see out here - lots of gannets, a couple of sea turtles and a number of pods of dolphins, but the sea is mostly calm so it's easy going.
We reached the channel entrance at 1700 and had an easy passage but had to wait 15 minutes for the 1800 opening of the Coronado Beach Bridge to open. At this point we had 2 more miles to go to the anchorage we have stayed at in the past. We got there just after sunset and when we left the ICW for the anchorage spot we proceeded to run aground. We backed off and thinking we were to far south tried further north and ran aground again. OK, try farther south. We made it a little farther in but went aground again. By this time it was getting dark, so we backtracked a mile and anchored with some other boats off the Yacht Club. So much for Leonard's ability to find the deep water. Anyway dinner is over and the night is quiet. Tomorrow is another day.
Sent 3/3/2007 From Vero Beach
Getting the anchor up at New Smyrna Beach was much less work than at St. Augustine. We thought very briefly about giving one more try to the anchorage we couldn't find last night, but thought better of it as we went past. The morning was overcast and foggy, with less than 3 mile visibility, and almost windless. We had an easy trip down Mosquito Bay, with almost no other boat traffic, so we enjoyed the wildlife around us. There were also a lot more dolphins in the river than we've seen in the past. We cleared the Haulover Canal bridge before noon and headed down the Indian River.
There are a couple of barrier islands just past the canal that serve as a rookery filled with pelicans, ibis, egrets, herons, cormorants and spoon bills. I've always wanted to get closer to them, but the depths outside of the marked channel prevents it.
We ran the jib out for a day of motor sailing and sailing since it was early enough that the restricted bridges wouldn't be an issue. We debated heading to Eau Gallie by Dragon Point or stopping earlier at Cocoa to visit the huge hardware store to pick up a replacement fitting for the wash down pump hose.
As we made the turn toward the south in the river there was a huge flock of cormorants, gulls and pelicans ahead of us in the water. A flash of tails and fins indicated dolphins were fishing there too. As we went through, the birds flew, making a circle to return to the good fishing spot.
White pelicans, cormorants and terns
fishing
We watched the clouds build into some towering cells and heard the strong thunderstorm forecast on the VHF and decided stopping at Cocoa made sense since it was closer. It looked threatening enough that we decided to wait before heading ashore to keep out eye on the weather.
By 1600 things cleared up to the west and we headed ashore for the washdown hose fitting, a walk, and possibly dinner at the little place we'd liked last year. Other than a brief sprinkle before we reached Cocoa, our day had been dry. I was surprised when I spoke with my brother that evening who thought we'd been caught in a hail storm. He'd seen on the web that NASA had delayed the shuttle launch after sustaining the worst weather damage ever. We were only about 10 miles away, but had been completely unaware that there'd been a problem. We'd missed the news by the time we'd gotten back to the boat and the dinghy stowed. Some days it can be hard to catch the news since we can't hear the radio when we're motoring so we miss the morning news with our early starts and if we run late, the evening news is over by the time we stop.
We had a bright sunny morning as we headed for Vero Beach. Eventually the wind filled in and we spent much of the day with the jib out and the engine ticking at low RPMs. A boat from Charleston, SC, left Cocoa about 15 minutes before us and we had their sail in view all morning. I noticed they'd furled their jib as we approached Grant Farm Island where the channel starts to get a bit trickier, and noticed they had an anchor down. That area has always looked interesting to me and last year at Staniel Key we met a couple who live on the island, and I thought perhaps these folks were going to explore the area. As we approached it became obvious that they had gotten to the starboard side of the channel and the stop had been unintentional. The anchor was a kedge and they were trying to work back to deeper water. There was nothing we could do to help without going aground ourselves and it looked like they had things under control. It looked like they'd gotten free once, but they didn't make it back to the channel.
Meanwhile we realized that the wind was giving us a continual nudge toward the windward side of the channel and we'd need to be careful. It doesn't take much inattention to slip out of the deep water. Leonard would check the computer navigation program and tell me I was running down the starboard side of the channel. It can be helpful to look at the computer to check where you are, but I don't necessarily trust the computer charts to be completely accurate.
The area just north of Vero Beach has some very fancy estates on the waterway. Jones Fruit Dock which must have had their grove on the land years ago, is just at the beginning of the fanciest ones. We've never stopped there, the docks have been reported to be in less than pristine condition and they no longer sell fruit although they still offer transient dockage with 6 foot depths at the docks, power and water. The dock house looked new this year so perhaps the owners are still enjoying part of their past life while irritating the new folks.
We'd called ahead to the municipal marina at Vero for a mooring and when we arrived we were directed to raft up with another sailboat. Our neighbors, Loy and Linda Williams aboard Sand Piper, are from the Chicago area and are slowly doing the great loop - 3 years into a 2 year trip. They are friendly and we have common ground with both boating and Chicago. We've enjoyed spending time together and sharing adventures.
They have been here for about a month while he had hand surgery to remove a bit of imbedded fiberglass which had become infected. It also gave them time to locate a new windlass and get it installed while they waited. They plan on hopping over to the Abacos from Lake Worth at the next weather window.
We have been waiting for the weather to settle a bit too. The last couple of days have had strong southerly winds, not exactly what we want or need. Each day the forecast gets stretched out just a bit, but Saturday morning the winds finally switched around to the north. Leonard talked about heading to the St. Lucie River, but was glad we'd stayed as the front came through with a bit more vigor than anticipated. It would have been miserable offshore and neither of us really likes the ICW on the weekends. I'd gone to the farmer's market at Ft. Pierce with Linda since they had a car. We had a great view of the approaching front and were sure we'd get soaked, but the rain passed just east of us. The wind did set the tents and displays flying however. The record setting temperature of 91 F yesterday has been replaced with 70's and much less humidity. Hopefully it will also decrease the number of no see ums that emerged last night when the wind dropped.
We plan to go out Ft. Pierce inlet down to Lake Worth and anchoring there for the night. We've been welcomed back to the Bruce's dock just north of Boca Raton but want to run the gambit of bridges on a weekday which has less boating traffic. After we leave there, we hope to hook up with the Chupacks in the Ft. Lauderdale area for a quick visit. We're hoping to get a spot back up at Cooley's Landing in town, but need to call back to see if they'll have an available slip.
Sent 3/10/2007 From Miami, FL
After
we sent the last message we went exploring ashore again. It
was
much more pleasant to have the temperature and humidity drop some, even
if it meant digging out long pants again.
The Vero Beach neighborhood by the marina is a nice place to walk with interesting houses and yards to look at. One road runs along the lagoon and goes up to a park along route A1A. We went a bit further north and looked at the condos on the other side of the lagoon, most of which have slips. There was a very nice Hinckley in one of them, so we figure those, like the homes in the neighborhood, are out of our price range.
A public access took us to the beach and we walked back along the ocean to another park south of the town. The air and water temperatures were about the same so I took my shoes off and walked in the surf, getting a low cost pedicure minus polish.
After a detour to the frozen custard stand, we explored the area a bit further south before reaching Riverside Park. We had taken the camera with us so we stopped back by the art museum to get a few shots of the kinetic sculpture exhibit that was currently in the gardens. We'd looked at it the day before and found them fascinating - the movements don't have any obvious pattern, so the shapes keep changing. Leonard wondered if the moving parts ever collided.
By this time we were tired of walking so instead of taking the longer path along the river we headed behind the museum. I was surprised to see four sand hill cranes feeding in the park. They seemed rather nonchalant, and the viewing was much better than when we've seen them in Texas.
Sandhill crane
We'd hoped to see the partial eclipse of the moon scheduled to occur
just after moonrise, but the clouds showed no sign of breaking up, so
we
headed back to the dinghy. We took a ride up though the mooring
field
and into the mangroves north of the boat before calling it a day.
When
we got back by the docks Leonard noticed that the fuel dock was
completely usurped by a motor vessel named Ed's Toy. We planned
on
taking on water and fuel before leaving in the morning, but since it
was
1830 he realized the boat was probably docked there for the night since
the only other dock space close to that size had 2 large boats on it
already. We decided to forego refueling and used the dinghy dock
to pay
our bill. Leonard was right, the "toy" would be docked there
until at
least 0800.
We said good-bye to the Williams and were underway by 0700 on Sunday. Linda had thoughtfully printed up Chris Parker's latest Bahamas weather report and handed it to me as we left. They had signed up for his service via SAT phone e mail after experiencing one of those weather report "holes" when they tried to cross to the Abacos last year. The report was perfect, but the weather at the Gulf Stream wasn't.
We figured a couple of early morning hours in the ICW until we reached Ft. Pierce Inlet wouldn't be filled with weekend boaters. Other than bucking the current in the inlet itself, the trip was fast and easy. We opted to get the sails up while still in the flat water before leaving the inlet and had a great run south. Most of the trip we were doing 7 plus knots, pushing past 9 occasionally as we surfed down a wave. We would drop back to 6 knots it seemed like we were hardly moving. It sure beat dealing with channels and impatient weekend boaters!
We'd had dolphins with us in the ICW, but that was nothing compared to the show we got offshore. So far this trip they've seemed more interested in eating than entertaining. We started with a few, but every time I looked up, more were joining in. At times there were 6 abreast charging for the bow wake. They almost appeared to time the wave like surfers. Our speed must have been just right for them, most of then hung around for over 2 hours, swimming and jumping, giving us a great display of their antics of graceful leaps and occasionally not so graceful flops. Two of them remained with us until we headed further offshore.
As we headed back toward the Lake Worth Inlet we were joined by a bird, I think it was a northern parula. It didn't stay long and our pictures through the dodger isinglass were blurry. It had a beautiful gray blue head and an orange-yellow breast.
Rather than backtrack north to the anchorage we've used in the past, Leonard decided to try the anchorage just a bit south of the entrance channel. It would save us time both days and we'd get to see something new. A walking path ran between the fancy houses and the water, but there was no obvious place to tie up a dinghy, so we just relaxed in the cockpit until dinner. There was a huge mast above the water at a strange angle, so we suspected it marked a rather large sail boat that had sunk.
The Ft Worth anchorage with a sunken sailboat
In the morning we began picking our way through the 10 bridges that
would get us to get us to Dick and Barb Bruce's dock. The bridges
were
much easier to deal with on a weekday. We did experience
something new
as we went south. The engine would change revs without any
direction
from us. Not a good sign. The revs would drop down and then
come back
up to normal for the throttle setting after a brief time. The
captain
was not amused. We half expected the engine to die causing a
anchoring
fire drill.
We were relieved to be tied up on the Bruce's dock by mid afternoon just as Dick finished his 25 mile bike ride. We decided to let the engine cool down before looking for the problem. It was great to see them and know we'd at least have transportation available if we needed to get parts.
After visiting a couple of hours, Leonard and I went to explore the fuel system. With effort the first of the fuel filters was removed for inspection. It took Dick's vise to free the filter from the holder. The instructions said this system is self priming with a little pump at the top. Being in a sail boat and tight quarters, the only way to operate the pump was to remove the bracket. Attempts to get the fuel to pump into the new filter failed, adding to the gumption trap level. By now dinner was ready so we packed it in for the day and enjoyed the tasty dinner Barb had prepared.
We'd brought the West Marine catalog up to the house with us and after dinner found to replace the entire unit would be $140. The sticker price encouraged Leonard to continue pursuing a fix rather than a purchase. It was past "boater's midnight" (2100) when we got back aboard for the night so he wisely decided to sleep on it rather than get caught up in repairs for the night.
We were up bright and early to get back to work. After attempting to get the primer pump to work using our hand oil changing pump, he decided it was time to take it apart. Once disassembled, the problem was obvious - there was thick black gunk inside which impeded the fuel flow. Once we got that cleaned up and put back together, the primer pump worked as advertised. After purging the air from the fuel lines the engine started right up and purred like it's supposed to.
By the time everything was back in place and we'd had breakfast, it was deemed too late to leave. Instead we enjoyed a walk through the neighborhood with Barb, looking at all the homes for sale. The million plus price tags put them a bit beyond budget especially since the annual property tax is between 1 1/2 and 2% of the purchase price and not the number shown on the listing and the taxes rise at a 3% rate every year. Burlington looks pretty good.
I did more provisioning when I went to the store with Barb. Please note that the bridge was down both times we crossed the ICW. Leonard and I took a short walk on the beach by their house. Public access is very limited, so we used the gated access for their community. I guess I can see why given the size of the ocean front houses. The Bombardia estate borders the access to the south. These are the Canadian folks who make everything from train cars to snow mobiles and jet skis.
We had planned to take the Bruce's out to dinner, but they already had plans to go out with neighbors and asked us to join them. It was quite the night, fortunately for us low end boaters, it was casual. However our transportation was anything but low end. The neighbor has a thing for Porsches, owning 4 of them. Four of us fit in the back seat, a bit of a friendly fit, but then again it was the Porsche version of a station wagon. On the way home he found enough room on the road to open it up a little, and we found ourselves pressed back in the seat. The dinner was wonderful, a little Italian place in a shopping center and informal as advertised.
We also enjoyed meeting Dick's sister Joan, and her husband Al. They returned from a trip to the west coast of Florida. From the looks of it, the Bruces run a resort with lots of guests.
The Bruce Marina - Dick is pointing to a branch in the channel
We departed in the morning and found that the bridge times listed on the Florida web site weren't the scheduled times. ARGH. We had a 20 minute wait at one bridge, but managed to do the rest in a timely fashion, either dawdling along at half throttle, or full bore ahead complete with jib for an extra boost. One tender was kind enough to hold the bridge as we charged through.
It was a relief to head up the New River into Ft. Lauderdale since the bridges there open on demand and really try to accommodate you. All attempts to raise the dock master at Cooley's Landing Marina failed. I'd talked to Mauareen the day before and knew we'd been assigned to slip 30 and that it was east of the last bridge. The problem was with the current running getting into slip 30 was impossible. We were lucky that the sailor on slip 31 was on board and came to help us. After one try, Leonard decided to park in slip 29, on the up side of the current. With the change of plans and the extra hand we managed an almost graceful docking. The guy told me the bumpers on the pilings were good and would protect the hull, which they did.
After looking at his boat I asked him if it was a Sparkman and Stephens design (it looked a lot like a Tartan 34 to me). It was in fact a 34, but it had had some upgrades and modifications. When asked if he was headed south, he said he was planning on trucking the boat back to Michigan. He explained he was a sailor and didn't like motoring. Since retiring he'd done the east coast from Maine to the Bahamas a couple of times before deciding to sail out the St. Lawrence and over to the Mediterranean. He'd just finished that trip with only minimal motoring so he felt justified in shipping it home. He was also single handing.
Our location in the marina was a mixed blessing. It was actually
closer
to the dock house, river walk and the store, but was only a slip away
from the bridge. With metal grids on the opening portion of the
bridge, the music made by the tires while tonal, about 5 tones, had to
be described as kinetic. It was not unlike listening to a
continual
piece by Philip Glass, or the composer who uses audience participation
so that no piece is ever repeated. Brass and percussion was added
by
the bridge as it opened and closed and the passing traffic.
We were joined by the Chupacks the next morning. We'd been able to synchronize our schedules so they could spend some time with us before going on a kayak camping trip at Flamingo in the Everglades with their kayak group. We had a full day of visiting and running errands. Jeanette was right, it was hard to forget where the van was parked since it was the only one with 2 wooden kayaks on top. It got a bit dicey when we drove into the garage at the Publix, the overhead bar clearance was 8'2" and they had never had need to measure how much clearance they needed with the kayaks. We crept both in and out, and as we left a cyclist passing by indicated we had good clearance.
It was good to see them and catch up on the news in Florida. We apologized for the "bridge music" which they graciously said they could tune out, much like "listening" to your spouse.
We all took a short walk before they departed the next morning. The neighborhood beyond the marina was an interesting mix of housing. It looked to be under going gentrification. One art deco house had been cut in half and was blocked up like it either was going to be or had been moved.
After they left, Leonard and I walked into town to cash some travelers checks and I convinced him to go far enough to locate the Italian bakery we'd discovered last year. Part of the store front is the actual working bakery and the other half is the store. They do a lot of business with really good sandwiches and treats at reasonable prices. We stocked up with what seemed like some of everything.
We wandered off the main drag and found a park at Tarpon Bend. It was being serviced by the Good Humor truck and serving a number of little kids and their moms. We also stopped at the model floor plan for a fancy new high rise. It looked interesting, but again the property tax issue would dictate a job to pay for it.
Mega yacht transisting the New River with a tow boats fore and aft
Tired of walking, we decided to launch the dinghy and go upstream to
see
where all the mega yachts that we've seen pass the dock go.
It was an interesting ride winding up the river. The shores are
laced with canals and filled with boats of every size and description,
many with for sale signs attached. After dodging several big
boats, we went as far as the I95 bridge where a mammoth boatyard was
located. It had a series of travel lifts, each bigger than the
last to haul yachts, and a couple of dry docks for the really big
ones. Other yards are located even further up river, but the 55'
clearance at the I95 bridge would restrict the really big ones.
We did see a large iguana on the seawall. I thought it was a
sculpture until it turned its head.
Boatyard up the New River
Mega yachts on the docks up the New River (compare size of person on side deck)
We made one last trip to the local Publix and now the 'fridge is filled from top to bottom. After topping off the water and fuel tanks we are really sitting low in the water. I did learn last year that things, while available in the Bahamas, do cost considerably more, especially fresh fruit, veggies and meat. Maybe I'd better cross my fingers that the 'fridge holds up or we'll have one huge feast before we go on rations.
After dinner we took one last walk to mail a letter. If sent from the Bahamas we may beat it back to the states. However finding a mail box can be problematic now days. We waded through the bar scene on Las Olas Blvd., it's spring break somewhere, and although Ft. lauderdale may no longer be the "in" spot it once was, there was a crowd overflowing the sidewalks. Eventually we found one in the banking section of town. We walked back on the river walk which while busy, wasn't a mob scene. We stopped and listened to some of the musical performers, split a dish if ice cream and headed to the boat.
We planned an early morning departure but were foiled by the lack of a dock master to check us out. We also wanted to make use of the free pump out, so while we waited, we repositioned the boat to help make that chore easier. By the time the dock master appeared, so had the window for slack water. Computer problems added to the wait, he had owned a marina but wasn't computer savvy. He also said he runs two different locations that don't happen to be adjacent. Maybe that's how the dockage rates stay reasonable. We should have checked out the night before while we were doing the laundry.
By the time we reached the ICW, it was teeming with weekend warriors, the whole gamut from mega yachts to kayaks. The bridge at Port Everglades was opening as we approached so we slid through with the big guys. There were at least 6 cruise ships tied up in port, and commercial ships coming and going. Once we cleared the shoals we ran up the sails and turned toward Miami. It's not a long sail, so we didn't need to worry about arrival times and shut down the engine and sailed.
We arrived at Government Cut into Miami as the local regatta fleets were ending the day. It's a good thing this is a big ship channel as it was crowded with dozens of one design fleets headed in along with the usual number of sport fishers who neither wait nor slow for any vessel. Since it was Saturday and beautiful, the jet ski fleet was busy bouncing across all the wakes. Toss in the Fisher Island ferries dashing across the incoming flow and you have chaos.
We worked our way around Fishers Island to the anchorage we used last
year and joined the fleet of vessels either anchored or running around
hoping that the scene would calm down by nightfall. With luck the
light winds forecast for Sunday will give us enough of a window to sail
to Bimini. Had we been able to leave Ft. Lauderdale early, it
would have been tempting to just cross as we left, but a wee hour
arrival in the morning didn't seem wise. While the forecast calls
for 10 knots of NE winds with an increase in the afternoon we have
hopes that the Gulf Stream will not be a maelstrom. Hopefully the
next note will be from the Bahamas.
Lynnea
The Vero Beach neighborhood by the marina is a nice place to walk with interesting houses and yards to look at. One road runs along the lagoon and goes up to a park along route A1A. We went a bit further north and looked at the condos on the other side of the lagoon, most of which have slips. There was a very nice Hinckley in one of them, so we figure those, like the homes in the neighborhood, are out of our price range.
A public access took us to the beach and we walked back along the ocean to another park south of the town. The air and water temperatures were about the same so I took my shoes off and walked in the surf, getting a low cost pedicure minus polish.
After a detour to the frozen custard stand, we explored the area a bit further south before reaching Riverside Park. We had taken the camera with us so we stopped back by the art museum to get a few shots of the kinetic sculpture exhibit that was currently in the gardens. We'd looked at it the day before and found them fascinating - the movements don't have any obvious pattern, so the shapes keep changing. Leonard wondered if the moving parts ever collided.
Some of the kinetic sculptures
By this time we were tired of walking so instead of taking the longer path along the river we headed behind the museum. I was surprised to see four sand hill cranes feeding in the park. They seemed rather nonchalant, and the viewing was much better than when we've seen them in Texas.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill crane
We said good-bye to the Williams and were underway by 0700 on Sunday. Linda had thoughtfully printed up Chris Parker's latest Bahamas weather report and handed it to me as we left. They had signed up for his service via SAT phone e mail after experiencing one of those weather report "holes" when they tried to cross to the Abacos last year. The report was perfect, but the weather at the Gulf Stream wasn't.
We figured a couple of early morning hours in the ICW until we reached Ft. Pierce Inlet wouldn't be filled with weekend boaters. Other than bucking the current in the inlet itself, the trip was fast and easy. We opted to get the sails up while still in the flat water before leaving the inlet and had a great run south. Most of the trip we were doing 7 plus knots, pushing past 9 occasionally as we surfed down a wave. We would drop back to 6 knots it seemed like we were hardly moving. It sure beat dealing with channels and impatient weekend boaters!
We'd had dolphins with us in the ICW, but that was nothing compared to the show we got offshore. So far this trip they've seemed more interested in eating than entertaining. We started with a few, but every time I looked up, more were joining in. At times there were 6 abreast charging for the bow wake. They almost appeared to time the wave like surfers. Our speed must have been just right for them, most of then hung around for over 2 hours, swimming and jumping, giving us a great display of their antics of graceful leaps and occasionally not so graceful flops. Two of them remained with us until we headed further offshore.
As we headed back toward the Lake Worth Inlet we were joined by a bird, I think it was a northern parula. It didn't stay long and our pictures through the dodger isinglass were blurry. It had a beautiful gray blue head and an orange-yellow breast.
Rather than backtrack north to the anchorage we've used in the past, Leonard decided to try the anchorage just a bit south of the entrance channel. It would save us time both days and we'd get to see something new. A walking path ran between the fancy houses and the water, but there was no obvious place to tie up a dinghy, so we just relaxed in the cockpit until dinner. There was a huge mast above the water at a strange angle, so we suspected it marked a rather large sail boat that had sunk.
The Ft Worth anchorage with a sunken sailboat
We were relieved to be tied up on the Bruce's dock by mid afternoon just as Dick finished his 25 mile bike ride. We decided to let the engine cool down before looking for the problem. It was great to see them and know we'd at least have transportation available if we needed to get parts.
After visiting a couple of hours, Leonard and I went to explore the fuel system. With effort the first of the fuel filters was removed for inspection. It took Dick's vise to free the filter from the holder. The instructions said this system is self priming with a little pump at the top. Being in a sail boat and tight quarters, the only way to operate the pump was to remove the bracket. Attempts to get the fuel to pump into the new filter failed, adding to the gumption trap level. By now dinner was ready so we packed it in for the day and enjoyed the tasty dinner Barb had prepared.
We'd brought the West Marine catalog up to the house with us and after dinner found to replace the entire unit would be $140. The sticker price encouraged Leonard to continue pursuing a fix rather than a purchase. It was past "boater's midnight" (2100) when we got back aboard for the night so he wisely decided to sleep on it rather than get caught up in repairs for the night.
We were up bright and early to get back to work. After attempting to get the primer pump to work using our hand oil changing pump, he decided it was time to take it apart. Once disassembled, the problem was obvious - there was thick black gunk inside which impeded the fuel flow. Once we got that cleaned up and put back together, the primer pump worked as advertised. After purging the air from the fuel lines the engine started right up and purred like it's supposed to.
By the time everything was back in place and we'd had breakfast, it was deemed too late to leave. Instead we enjoyed a walk through the neighborhood with Barb, looking at all the homes for sale. The million plus price tags put them a bit beyond budget especially since the annual property tax is between 1 1/2 and 2% of the purchase price and not the number shown on the listing and the taxes rise at a 3% rate every year. Burlington looks pretty good.
I did more provisioning when I went to the store with Barb. Please note that the bridge was down both times we crossed the ICW. Leonard and I took a short walk on the beach by their house. Public access is very limited, so we used the gated access for their community. I guess I can see why given the size of the ocean front houses. The Bombardia estate borders the access to the south. These are the Canadian folks who make everything from train cars to snow mobiles and jet skis.
We had planned to take the Bruce's out to dinner, but they already had plans to go out with neighbors and asked us to join them. It was quite the night, fortunately for us low end boaters, it was casual. However our transportation was anything but low end. The neighbor has a thing for Porsches, owning 4 of them. Four of us fit in the back seat, a bit of a friendly fit, but then again it was the Porsche version of a station wagon. On the way home he found enough room on the road to open it up a little, and we found ourselves pressed back in the seat. The dinner was wonderful, a little Italian place in a shopping center and informal as advertised.
We also enjoyed meeting Dick's sister Joan, and her husband Al. They returned from a trip to the west coast of Florida. From the looks of it, the Bruces run a resort with lots of guests.
The Bruce Marina - Dick is pointing to a branch in the channel
We departed in the morning and found that the bridge times listed on the Florida web site weren't the scheduled times. ARGH. We had a 20 minute wait at one bridge, but managed to do the rest in a timely fashion, either dawdling along at half throttle, or full bore ahead complete with jib for an extra boost. One tender was kind enough to hold the bridge as we charged through.
It was a relief to head up the New River into Ft. Lauderdale since the bridges there open on demand and really try to accommodate you. All attempts to raise the dock master at Cooley's Landing Marina failed. I'd talked to Mauareen the day before and knew we'd been assigned to slip 30 and that it was east of the last bridge. The problem was with the current running getting into slip 30 was impossible. We were lucky that the sailor on slip 31 was on board and came to help us. After one try, Leonard decided to park in slip 29, on the up side of the current. With the change of plans and the extra hand we managed an almost graceful docking. The guy told me the bumpers on the pilings were good and would protect the hull, which they did.
After looking at his boat I asked him if it was a Sparkman and Stephens design (it looked a lot like a Tartan 34 to me). It was in fact a 34, but it had had some upgrades and modifications. When asked if he was headed south, he said he was planning on trucking the boat back to Michigan. He explained he was a sailor and didn't like motoring. Since retiring he'd done the east coast from Maine to the Bahamas a couple of times before deciding to sail out the St. Lawrence and over to the Mediterranean. He'd just finished that trip with only minimal motoring so he felt justified in shipping it home. He was also single handing.
Antares at Cooley's Landing Marina in
Ft. Lauderdale
the other sailboat at the dock is a
Tartan 34
We were joined by the Chupacks the next morning. We'd been able to synchronize our schedules so they could spend some time with us before going on a kayak camping trip at Flamingo in the Everglades with their kayak group. We had a full day of visiting and running errands. Jeanette was right, it was hard to forget where the van was parked since it was the only one with 2 wooden kayaks on top. It got a bit dicey when we drove into the garage at the Publix, the overhead bar clearance was 8'2" and they had never had need to measure how much clearance they needed with the kayaks. We crept both in and out, and as we left a cyclist passing by indicated we had good clearance.
It was good to see them and catch up on the news in Florida. We apologized for the "bridge music" which they graciously said they could tune out, much like "listening" to your spouse.
We all took a short walk before they departed the next morning. The neighborhood beyond the marina was an interesting mix of housing. It looked to be under going gentrification. One art deco house had been cut in half and was blocked up like it either was going to be or had been moved.
Building reflections in Ft. Lauderdale
After they left, Leonard and I walked into town to cash some travelers checks and I convinced him to go far enough to locate the Italian bakery we'd discovered last year. Part of the store front is the actual working bakery and the other half is the store. They do a lot of business with really good sandwiches and treats at reasonable prices. We stocked up with what seemed like some of everything.
We wandered off the main drag and found a park at Tarpon Bend. It was being serviced by the Good Humor truck and serving a number of little kids and their moms. We also stopped at the model floor plan for a fancy new high rise. It looked interesting, but again the property tax issue would dictate a job to pay for it.
Mega yacht transisting the New River with a tow boats fore and aft
Boatyard up the New River
Mega yachts on the docks up the New River (compare size of person on side deck)
We made one last trip to the local Publix and now the 'fridge is filled from top to bottom. After topping off the water and fuel tanks we are really sitting low in the water. I did learn last year that things, while available in the Bahamas, do cost considerably more, especially fresh fruit, veggies and meat. Maybe I'd better cross my fingers that the 'fridge holds up or we'll have one huge feast before we go on rations.
After dinner we took one last walk to mail a letter. If sent from the Bahamas we may beat it back to the states. However finding a mail box can be problematic now days. We waded through the bar scene on Las Olas Blvd., it's spring break somewhere, and although Ft. lauderdale may no longer be the "in" spot it once was, there was a crowd overflowing the sidewalks. Eventually we found one in the banking section of town. We walked back on the river walk which while busy, wasn't a mob scene. We stopped and listened to some of the musical performers, split a dish if ice cream and headed to the boat.
We planned an early morning departure but were foiled by the lack of a dock master to check us out. We also wanted to make use of the free pump out, so while we waited, we repositioned the boat to help make that chore easier. By the time the dock master appeared, so had the window for slack water. Computer problems added to the wait, he had owned a marina but wasn't computer savvy. He also said he runs two different locations that don't happen to be adjacent. Maybe that's how the dockage rates stay reasonable. We should have checked out the night before while we were doing the laundry.
By the time we reached the ICW, it was teeming with weekend warriors, the whole gamut from mega yachts to kayaks. The bridge at Port Everglades was opening as we approached so we slid through with the big guys. There were at least 6 cruise ships tied up in port, and commercial ships coming and going. Once we cleared the shoals we ran up the sails and turned toward Miami. It's not a long sail, so we didn't need to worry about arrival times and shut down the engine and sailed.
We arrived at Government Cut into Miami as the local regatta fleets were ending the day. It's a good thing this is a big ship channel as it was crowded with dozens of one design fleets headed in along with the usual number of sport fishers who neither wait nor slow for any vessel. Since it was Saturday and beautiful, the jet ski fleet was busy bouncing across all the wakes. Toss in the Fisher Island ferries dashing across the incoming flow and you have chaos.
Government Cut, Miami, on a Saturday
afternoon
Moated community on Fisher's Island
Lynnea
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