What a Long, Strange, Trip it has Been (part 2)

 So, we are approaching the St. Augustine inlet in the morning fog, my course on the chartplotter taking us straight to the inlet's marker.  Visibility is around a quarter to half mile.  I have the radar on and it finds the marker about a mile away, but I don't see any radar blips for the channel markers.  Then about a half mile from it I notice a shadow of the inlet marker appear from the fog.  About this time, the radar also starts picking up the channel markers.  Hmmm...maybe?

As we continue to approach the inlet marker, I keep looking to the right in an attempt to visually locate the channel markers.  Then I think I see a faint outline of the coast.  Is the fog starting to lift? Sure enough, by the time I reach the inlet mark, 2 to 3 sets of the channel markers appear from the fog.  We make the turn and start heading in.  We pass the first set of markers and visibility continues to improve.  By the time we pass the second set of marks, I can now make out much of the channel.  Whew.  We make our way in and dock at Camachee Cove marina.

A few minutes after we arrive, another Leopard 3800 enters the marina. At our home port we occasionally see another Leopard, but rarely the same model and vintage as ours.  We make their acquaintance, compare, and swap stories about our boats.  They are half owners from England.  John and Dorota on Eagle Song, it was nice to meet and share stories and I wish you safe travels...hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.

Rover and Eagle Song in St.. Augustine 

A cold snap was predicted and arrived, dropping  temperatures to near freezing in St. Augustine...I thought Florida was supposed to be warmer.  We took the time (and use of the marina’s courtesy car) to do more provisioning and some shopping at Sailors Exchange while we waited out the cold.  

A tiki bar boat anyone?

Weather wasn't predicted to be great, so we begrudgingly decided to again motor down the ICW and our next stop was Palm Coast.  One night there and we were moving on to Daytona.  During my morning check of the engine, I found one of the fan belts broke on my starboard engine (fortunately it has two and I had a complete set of spares).  I went to install a spare only to find that it was about a half inch too small in diameter (guess those cross references aren't that good, eh, Autozone? ).  We continued with the single belt on that side.

When we pulled into the marina in Daytona, we noticed a boat we recognized as a couple we met when they were stopped in New Bern. We visited a bit and found out this was their home marina.

The next morning, we got out the folding bikes and rode to Napa to get the replacement fan belt.  Unfortunately they only had one, so I'd have to pick up additional spares elsewhere.  I installed the belt without much fuss.  A check of the weather and again it looks like we will be trudging down the ditch. At least we are slowly making our way south, right??

So we made plans and the next morning headed south, down past the Kennedy Space Center and on to Titusville.  While tying up the boat, I noticed the boat behind us had a hailing port of Durango, CO...so naturally we had to make their acquaintance.  I’ve often mused that we should have made our hailing port Leadville, CO. as I find the thought of my boat somehow making it to Colorado funny. I also checked the Napa there and found they didn't have the belts but could get them by the next morning, so I ordered them and picked them up the next day.  While there, we also ran into a couple we had met months earlier at our new home marina.  Chuck and Tina sail a Beneteau 473 named Whisper.  They too were headed to the Bahamas, so we began traveling somewhat together.

The NASA VAB in the distance

The next two legs of the trip would also be down the ICW as Titusville is a fair distance from an inlet.  Since it was finally starting to warm up some, the next night we anchored out in a wide part of the ICW halfway between Titusville and Ft. Pierce that had several good spots for anchoring.  Not long after we set the hook, we noticed a catamaran that had been some distance behind us all day was also coming in to anchor.  As they got closer, we recognized the boat.  It was the Swiss couple that we met and docked next to in Charleston. We chatted on the radio a bit and found out they were heading to the Keys and then Bahamas.  So, if you are keeping count, we have run into someone we knew on the last 3 stops.  As big as the world and oceans are, it still surprises me how small it can all seem at times.

The next morning we got an early start and made our way to Ft. Pierce.  We docked at the city marina along with Whisper. Here is where one of the downsides of having a cat can be seen.  The dockage rate for our cat was 50% higher than Whisper, even though we were both tied up next to each other on a face dock and their 47 foot boat takes up 10 foot more dock space than our 37 foot boat.  If it were a slip, I could understand an additional charge for our width, but at a face dock it seems silly as we take up less space.  

There was one thing that happened that made up for the overcharge though.  At many marinas, there is a space known as the "free table" where boaters can leave things they no longer need but may be usable by someone else.  We have picked up and left things at various free tables in the past.  Here, there was a working portable clothes washer and spin dryer that someone left when they upgraded.  We have a small bucket size washer that is good for a couple shirts or shorts, but this one is bigger and can handle jeans, bedsheets, and larger towels.  I've wanted to give one of these a try, but never could find one we could fit into one of our storage lockers.

Since the price was right, we figured why not take it to the boat and see if we could find a place for it.  We measured it and our largest inside locker door and it would just barely fit.  The problem was that once I shoved it through the door, I don't think I could get it back out.  But it is lightweight enough that we decided we could just store it in the shower and move it when we wanted to shower.  We had just done some laundry so we also gave the spin dryer a try.  Our small washer had a spin basket and so did a previous one we tried, but I found those didn't extract much water and I could hand wring better.  This one is a game changer.  It spins as well as our home front load washer and leaves things almost dry.  An hour or two hanging on the lifelines, even in humid Florida, and a sweatshirt and towel were dry.  This find mostly makes up for the overcharging of the marina.

The free clothes washer with spin dryer

Since the trip to Florida has taken much longer than planned, we again did a grocery run.  We had hoped to leave out the Ft. Pierce inlet and sail south to Key Biscayne/No Name Harbor, but the weather has been fickle.  It only seems to get better when we are trapped in long stretches of the ICW.  After a couple days in Ft. Pierce, we again decided we would take the ICW so we could make it a little further south.  At least at the end of this next leg would be the anchorage in N Lake Worth and another inlet near Palm Beach to try again.

Rover and Whisper head out the next morning, continuing our trek down the ICW.  I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to this leg of the trip.  I've been through Jupiter before and I remember it to be a circus.  Several bridges in close proximity to one another, with jet skis and small boats that don't have a clue about right of way for boats with limited ability to maneuver (tall masts going through a raised bridge, for example).  This time was no different.  

The trip started out nice and we were making good progress.  As we approached Jupiter, more and more boats appeared.  Party barges with young sun worshipers, jet skis, motorboats with big engines driven by small minds all entered the frey.  It was like rush hour.  We wait at the bridges, trying to keep station in the current as we wait for the next scheduled bridge openings while small boats and jet skis zip around us in all directions.  With two motors set far apart, I have a fair amount of control. I feel for my friends on Whisper that have to contend with this mess in a single engine monohull.  At the last bridge before Lake Worth, a motor yacht passes us, Whisper, and a trawler waiting at the bridge so he can be first through when it opens.  I think it was the trawler that keys his radio mic with two stern words "back off".  Sigh.  If I ever think about coming down this part of the ICW again, please slap me.

We finally make it to the lake and drop anchor with about 40 other boats, undoubtedly also waiting on the weather to continue their journeys.  This will definitely be the end of my journey down the ICW.  Ahead are Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  The former has lots of mega yachts and expensive marinas, the latter has a fixed bridge built by a dyslexic engineer who made it 56 feet high instead of 65 so we can't pass under it.  And both have rich NIMBY's that don't like us "poor boaters" anchoring and ruining their views.  Besides, I'm growing tired of being just a tall motorboat.

We wait a couple days and a weather window appears.  It isn't perfect, but at this point I'm not picky, I'll take what I can get. We head out the inlet and are met with a little wind.  We raise the sails and make an attempt to sail, but the winds are light.  We even attempt to fly the spinnaker, but by the time I get it rigged, the wind all but dies.  Well, at least I won't be motoring down the ditch anymore.  Whisper had followed us out the inlet and also attempted to sail, but gave up sooner than we did and had motored past us while we stubbornly tried to sail.  Later that evening, as we were passing by offshore of Ft. Lauderdale, the winds picked back up and we were able to sail the rest of the way to the Biscayne Bay channel on a nice reach.  Finally!

We anchored outside No Name Harbor, our intended staging point for crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

The anchorage outside NoName harbor...
We are not alone.

Next stop, Bahamas?

(More to come next time)

Yes, We Can Sail This Boat

Another post that either disappeared or didn't manage to get posted.  Guess the internet was more spotty than I thought.  Oh well.  This should have been posted somewhere around 4/16/2016. At least this time I found a couple of the pictures for the post.

We departed the marina at Lake Worth, where we picked up the batteries, around 1PM. Yes at least this time it was not a multi-week process to replace the starting battery. We made the short trip out the Lake Worth inlet and pointed the boat south once again.

We unfurled the sails and put the engines to rest. With the southeast winds, we were set up for a nice beam reach down to Biscayne Bay.  We sailed down the coast, past Palm Beach (and a dozen other towns with beach in the name) Bocas Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Port of Miami.  It is amazing how deep and how blue the water is here just a couple miles from shore.

How most of the coast looks...high rises along the coast.

As we were passing by Boynton Beach, the Coast Guard came on the radio and said there had been a report of an airplane going down a mile west of the inlet. We kept a lookout, occasionally scanning the sea with our binoculars. Soon a Coast Guard helicopter and a couple small Coast Guard boats were searching the area around us. After a couple hours, as the sun was setting, they gave up the search. Since we were in the area around the time the plane supposedly went down and we didn't see anything, I suspect this was a false alarm or they got the position wrong.

We made between 4 and 5 knots under sail for the entire trip from Lake Worth to the Biscayne Channel entrance. Seas were 1 foot or less on a 4 to 5 second period, and that made for a fairly comfortable sail.  It was nice to finally make significant progress without the aid of diesel.  We did fire up an engine briefly to help us negotiate the channel.  We passed by the stilt houses and into the Bay.

And you thought good fences made good neighbors...

A Stiltsville building with Miami in the background.

We continued our way south and anchored just off Elliott Key early in the afternoon. We were about 3/4 of a mile away from the key in 6 feet of clear water.  We dropped the dinghy into the water and went over to check out the dock and ranger station on the key.  It was deserted except for the millions of mosquitoes that make it home.  The signs say you can camp there for a $25 fee...but I don't think I'd pay to feed the mosquitoes all night.  Camping here does come with a luxury though; they have restrooms with running water and even cold water showers. When you live on a boat with a small holding tank, you take advantage of restrooms when you find them.

After we decided that we fed enough mosquitoes, we headed back to the boat.  We swam in the clear water around the boat, and even got out a bit of soap for an impromptu bath.  Enjoyed a beer while sitting on the bow of the boat as dusk approached. Anchored this far away from the key gave us a nice breeze, and the mosquitoes didn't come out to visit.

This is more like it.

Tourist in St. Augustine

We've been playing tourist in St. Augustine.  No time to write much, so here are some pictures...

The remnants of the city wall in St. Augustine.

Near/in Flagler College.

Random old city street.

Castillo de San Marcos with St. Augustine in the background.

Castillo de San Marcos with the Bridge of Lions.

The family trying to hide behind a small cannon.

Nothing Goes to Windward Like a 747

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a tow rope long enough...and I doubt my boat could handle a near 500 knot cruise speed anyway...

When we originally left Georgetown, SC., the plan gave us some time with favorable winds and a little time with the wind directly on our nose.  Even when we made the unplanned stop in Charleston, the next day would still give us some winds favorable for sailing.  One more day stuck there dealing witth the motor and the winds shifted to the southwest. Guess which direction St. Augustine, FL., is from Charleston.

We left Toler's Cove marina in the afternoon in order to time for a morning (daylight) arrival in St. Augustine. In Charleston harbor and the inlet we put up the sails and sailed our way out of the harbor. With the sails up, we didn't really turn on course, but as close as we could and still have the sails propel us on our way.  Tacking back and forth we were doing around 5 to 6 knots...with a little support from one of the motors to try and improve the angle to the wind.  Unfortunately, the velocity made good (VMG - the percentage of the speed you are going relative to your destination) was only around 2 knots.  Instead of 44 hours to make the trip (at 5 knots), it would take us 110 hours or more this way.  While I prefer to sail much more than motor, the weather window for making the trip wouldn't allow us to take that long. So we fire up the motors, take down the sails, and point the nose directly into the wind.

We spent the remainder of the trip motoring with the wind directly on our nose. The waves were out of the southeast, but were small enough that the ride was generally comfortable. It was a little rougher the first night with an occasional wave slap on the bridge deck, but smoothed out to an almost calm sea by the end of the trip.

We arrived at the St. Augustine inlet around 7AM and went in looking for a place to pick up some diesel. The motors had been running nonstop since we left Charleston and I think this is as empty as I've ever run the boat (don't worry Mom, we still had around 14 gallons of diesel in the tank + 10 in reserve), but should get more before the final trek down the ICW to our next stop at Hammock Beach.

St. Augustine from the water

Looking through the Active Captain database on my tablet, I found Inlet Marina and they boasted they had the cheapest fuel in the area.  Sometimes the marinas put their current prices in the database and from what I could tell it seemed to be true.  We called ahead and confirmed they had diesel and to get instructions for finding them on the water.  When we arrived, we were definitely not disappointed in the fuel price.  I think it was the cheapest we've paid the entire trip and, with the Active Captain discount, was about $0.50 a gallon less than other nearby marinas.

We make the 9AM opening at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine and continue our way down this final stretch of very familiar ICW. You can tell the weather is warmer here as there are more boats about than we encountered on the rest of the trip. Unfortunately this also reminded me why sailboats don't get along very well with some power boaters.  Some are courteous, but there are others that will aim directly at you going full speed, then swerve around you at the last minute so their large wake will toss your boat about like a rubber duck in a washing machine.

We are tied up at the marina now, just a couple slips down from where we were on our last visit here. It looks like we will be here for at least a month.  There are family visits to be made and some other family matters that need attention.  And, of course, the boat...who can forget about the never ending list of things to do on the boat.