Northbound Again

As much as we would like to stay in the Keys a bit longer, the dreaded "H" season is fast approaching once again so it is time to make our way back north. We made one last provisioning run to the Publix supermarket near Tarpon Basin and departed on Wednesday morning. The goal for the day was to pick up some fuel and once again anchor near Elliot Key.

We have done pretty well on fuel best I can figure. We last topped off our 66 gallon fuel tank in Ft. Pierce during our trip south. Since that time, we have spent most of our travel time under sail, only starting up the motors to maneuver in tight channels (where the wind is often blocked or not in a favorable direction) and to anchor (the windlass needs running motors). The lack of solar means most of our diesel was actually spent feeding the generator to top off our house battery bank.

Believe it or not, I found only two marinas where we could get fuel between Tarpon Basin and Elliott Key. One was Gilberts Marina located right next to the Highway 1 bridge into Key Largo. They didn't have fuel prices listed on Active Captain and the reviews seemed to indicate that they were well aware of the fact they were the only game in the area. The other marina was Herbert Hoover marina in southern Biscayne Bay. They were a municipal marina and, while the knowledge of the staff was questionable, they were reported to be more friendly and with better fuel prices (for the area).

We sailed as much as we could. Unfortunately the winds that were forecast to be from the east were more northeast and we occasionally fired up an engine to get a better course. We arrived at the marina a little after 3PM (they close at 4) and topped off our fuel and water supplies. When we left the fuel gauge indicated over half a tank and my "worst case" calculation said we should have at least 26 gallons remaining. It was nice to see it only took 32 gallons to fill up. I've been logging the gas gauge indications and fuel added and am gaining more confidence in what the gauge is telling me.

We departed the marina and motored directly into the wind across Biscayne bay. We dropped the hook just a bit north of where we were the last time, near a sandy beach. Just as we were anchoring a couple of guys from the parks service stopped by. They wanted us to know that they were doing rodent control on the island that night and not to be alarmed if we heard gunfire. Fortunately we didn't hear a thing, I guess the park service great rat hunt didn't go that well but at least they didn't keep us awake.

Our neighbors anchored at north Elliott Key

The next morning we decided to continue our trip north by making a stop by No Name Harbor before doing an overnight passage to Lake Worth.  We raised the main sail while still anchored and only started the engines in order to use the windlass.  We pulled up the anchor, pointed the nose north, and let the sails once again take over.  We made our way through one of the narrow cuts and had a nice sail across Biscayne bay.

No Name Harbor at Bill Bags Cape Florida State Park.

We arrived at No Name Harbor around 1 pm.  The main reason for stopping here is that I know that the harbor is often used as a staging location for people waiting on weather in order to cross to the Bahamas and I wanted to check it out while we were here.  We tied up to the wall and paid the $8 day use fee.  We had lunch at the on-site restaurant (can't say I would recommend them...all the quality of airport food with prices to match) and took the dogs for a nice long walk along the paths in the park.  Around 5 pm we bid the park adieu, continued out Biscayne channel and pointed the bow north.  The engines again fell silent after we exited the channel and wren't pressed into service until we were becalmed about an hour outside of the Lake Worth inlet.

Sun Setting somewhere over Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.

Having spent so much time sailing since we left Ft. Pierce and given the heat of the day, we decided to treat ourselves to a dock at a marina in North Palm Beach.  This would allow us to use the air conditioner, do some provisioning without the hassles of the dinghy, and get wifi access. So, as I finish up this post I'm sitting in air conditioned comfort...trying to keep my eyes open late on Friday night.  Maybe I'll finish and post this in the morning.

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.

Return of the Beast

Spent more time looking at the stubborn starboard Westerbeke engine today. While it was starting a bit better, it is still a long way from right.  So I crawled back down into the engine room with my trusty flashlight, inspection mirror, paper towels, and a wrench.

I looked at all of the fuel system I could see and didn't find any leaks.  I checked every fitting I could get a wrench on and they were all tight.  I ran paper towels over the lines and found no leaks. Since the engine runs fine once it gets running, I've ruled out airflow (which I think would cause black smoke) and compression (since it does run fine once it is running) so that only leaves fuel issues.  But I'm stumped.

Of course, during my inspection, I found that one of the coolant hoses was chafing on a couple of the engine bolts.  So I did find something to fix.  This hose is molded to fit the engine a specific way and appears to be installed correctly, so I don't know if this is just bad design or what. In any case, bolts rubbing through a coolant hose is bad, so I needed to do something about it.

I was able to get a piece of scrap reinforced hose and so I cut a couple patches to act as chafe protection for the hose.  I used some high temp RTV to glue them onto the hose and temporarily secured them with zip ties to allow the RTV to set up.  Please note, if you ever try this, you must remove the zip ties...I've seen them cut through metal aircraft engine mounts so I have no doubt that they would make quick work of a rubber hose if left in place.  Hopefully the added reinforced rubber will give this hose some added lifetime.

So, still no joy on the engine starting issue, but at least I may have prevented, or at least significantly slowed down, another potential problem.  One of these days I'll hopefully solve this little Wester-Beast problem.