Saturday, October 10, 2009

What a Ride..

Thursday we left Ocracoke around 9am.. Wanted to wait for a favorable current up Big Foot Slough. We got it but also 20 kts on the nose so we plugged along at about 5.1 knots. Would have been very bad if the current was against us.

The ride was not bad until we hit the last 2 marks on Big Foot Slough. Suddenly the waves grew from about 1 - 2 foot to 6 foot or maybe a little better. My speed dropped to about 3 kts... The other 2 sailboats did not slow down -- don't know why. On top of this the Cedar Island Ferry was just arriving to come down the channel!!

I have to give credit to the Ferry Operator. He saw how we were struggling in these waves in the entrance and he waited until we cleared. I hailed him on channel 13 and thanked him. That was a very polite and seaman like maneuver on his part.

Once we cleared the mouth of the channel the waves dropped to 2 -3 foot with a quartering sea so it was rolly. Karen did not like it and we immediately recognized that we had not prepared properly for a rough ride as things started to fall down and around down below.. Caught again!!

Once we poked the Jib out a bit the boat steadied but still rolled a bit. It was uncomfortable until past Royal Shoals. Better approaching Brandt Isle Shoals then smooth the rest of the way to South River.

We made South River by 3pm and had the hook down and stowed by 3:30pm. Then we met Julie and Bob Norman on Quest. They are members of the WRCC. Julie is a weather reporter and Bob is a Fleet Captain. KE4OIM and KE4OIL. We had a nice visit with them and Craig and Dovie.. Ohhh Dovie was feeling better since she had a bit of seasickness on that passage.

Later we had a light supper of canned soup and called it an early night. Ohh but not before the fresh water system went down.

The pump came on but pumped nothing. The tank still had 50 gallons of water but I switched over to the full 80 gallon tank and still no output from the pump. I troubleshot and found that the pickup valve was clogged with that crusty while debris from inside the tanks -- I think it is aluminum Carbonate from chlorinated water in aluminum tanks. Must have broken up during the rough passage. I blew through the line and freed it and then sucked on the line and got a mouth full of the stuff. Tasteless but not pleasant. I reconnected but it still was not right. The pump ran fast and long and would shut off but obviously not working the way it should.

I saved further investigation for tomorrow.

First night of this trip where no one wanted to play games!! All that boat motion wears a body down..

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Another fine day in Ocracoke

Boy it did get windy last night... Glad I was at the dock. The strongest winds occurred between 6am and 9am.

We had a nice easy day. Wandered around the lake looked at the rough water in the sound, checked out the new "digs" of the welcome center here -- very nice but leaves another abandoned building (the old welcome center). Watched the ferries come and go and watched the tourists shoot their pictures and wander around.

LAte morning we went to the Preservation Society Museum with Craig and Dovie and had a nice time looking over the exhibits. Naturally Craig and I were taken with the photos of the "Beach Jumper" Navy photos -- all that cool old electronic equipment and the discussion of the psychological war fare they presented. All practiced here because of the relative isolation -- not anymore!!

After lunch -- and a stolen nap -- we went to the lighthouse and took a few pictures. Way cool because now they allow you to enter the lighthouse and look up the circular staircase.

LAte afternoon Craig and I had a nice visit with Mark from Liahona -- a 60 foot motor sailor.

HAd a light dinner then ended the day with some games of Farkle and Mexican Train Dominoes which I must admit -- I DOMINATED!! Didn't win all the games but most. I'm sure I'm cursed to never win again after writing this.

The day ended with light winds. Fitting... Forecast was 15 - 20 all day and night and 40% chance of rain and storms.

Saw no rain or storm and the winds laid down by evening.

I feel like Charley Brown kicking the football with Lucy holding when I listen to the NWS weather forecasts.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

It's a Small Cruising World




Time got away from me yesterday -- no excuse just too busy doing little.

The forecast looked ominous for Wednesday with strong winds and Silver Lake has a reputation for poor holding so we moved into one of the PArks slip. Not too bad. An easy landing, not crowded and only $1.25 a foot with $3 a day for electricity. We will stay 2 days.

Just puttered around the boat and went for some short walks around the lake since the skies looked like rain and the forecast was for 60% chance -- none came during the daylight hours but it stayed cloudy all day.

Craig came over a visited awhile and then about 3pm a large cruising ketch came in and anchored -- hey it was LIAHONA with Mark and Willie aboard. We crossed paths with them many times in the Abacos this last winter. In fact it was the first cruising boat I saw when Rachel, Diva, and I crossed into the Bahamas on December 21. Liahona had just cleared customs that day at Spanish CAy and passed us on our way to GTC.

Small world. I talked to them briefly and gave them the 30 second verbal tour of Silver Lake with a promise to meet up soon for a longer visit. They are on their way South after going all the way to Newfoundland this summer. Now that is a VERY long trip.

Karen fixed a couple of Fococcis for dinn er and Craig and Dovie came over and enjoyed it with us.

We then spent the rest of the evening playing Farkle. Oh I won 3 of the 4 games -- I was lucky!! And I didn't even keep score!!

I adjusted lines just before going to bed.. It was dead calm and the sky was clear!! We should have traveled today. The weatherman missed again.

Monday, October 5, 2009

This morning started with a "What the ...."

Boy the ol weatherman is definitely asleep at the stick... AGAIN!!

Last night the wind was only supposed to be 5 -10kts. Back on the boat at 9:30pm it was blowing 17kts and gusting. Today was supposed to be a nice day with rain creeping back in tomorrow.. NAW!!! THE DAY STARTED WITH LIGHT RAIN. A look at the weather radar showed the lower half of the entire state in light rain this morning. Now how did they miss that??

Ohh well, we just made the best of it. Off and on again showers just let us poke out occasionally during the day. We did make one "foraging" trip to town and bought some fresh shrimp -- tonight's appetizer with sun downers. Ohh I was looking for some local Ocracoke color or natives. The ubiquitous community store is now staffed by Mexican immigrants rather than the previous older lady natives. What a disappointment and no local food available.

We went out to eat last night but the first restaurant we stopped at Dajio did not wait on us. We waited 5 minutes then left. Then it was obvious why they were not hustling -- only show (food service) besides the Jolly Rogers which was closed last night. We walked down the highway and came to a Pseudo sports bar and everyone but me ordered burgers. I had the fried oysters which did not digest very well.

Hopefully tonight we will find something better.

On the plus side -- Ocracoke is really laid back during the off season. The pace is much -- much slower than it is in the summer. Maybe the rain, maybe the clouds, but it is restful.

Good day to do some reading. I'm re-reading a first edition copy of Out Island Doctor -- Evans Cottman signed by the author. I found it online at a book seller in Great Britain -- not too expensive < than $30.

Temptation is riding pretty here in the harbour but the internet connection is very slow -- too slow to post pictures. They will come later so stop back.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Anchored in Silver Lake

NICE DAY... Wasn't perfect but very nice.

We had a comfortable night on the hook in South River and got away on time this morning from South River to Ocracoke. The only complaint was the anchor mud. I have never seen it so thick and tenacious as it was this morning. It took 20 minutes to get the hook up and still I had a muddy mess.

I was trying to activate the route I had built for this leg and inadvertently deleted it!! Damn... Fat fingers!! Next time I'll put the routes in TWICE..

It is difficult to load routes into the Garmin. Requires changing the interface to Garmin/Garmin and then have to reboot the PC to get NMEA back.

I just wrote down the waypoints I had used in my first trip to Ocracoke in 19996 and used those. They still good -- got here!! I use EASY GPS to manage the waypoints and it works great..

It was a fast motor sail averaging 6.3 knots. Got stuck with the ferry coming in Big Foot Slew and he pushed me to the edge ... Then just as we were to enter Silver Lake here comes the Swan Quarter Ferry out!! I turned tail and waited on him.

The anchorage was nearly empty.; Two small boats on anchor and no one on them. We anchored. Bubbles took a slip at the PArk Service docks -- they were nearly empty too.

Tonight it is showers aboard and off to find a Restaurant meal. Then a night of Mexican train on Bubbles.

We played Farkle last night and that was fun but we quit early since Craig and I were very tired. He scuba dived on Bubbles and I snorkeled dived on Temptation. Temptation didn't need much -- pretty clean.

I did stay up for awhile to enjoy the nearly full moon last night in South River. It was glorious -- clear and cool but still an annoying mosquito or two.

Tonight hopefully it will be clear here in Silver Lake for the REAL Full Moon night.

Time to shave and head for dinner!!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Ahhhh on the water again!!

We are BACK!!!! just for a week but we are still back..

Bubbles (Craig and Dovie) are accompanying us on a weeks cruise to Ocracoke and Washington, NC through Pamlico Sound and up the Pamlico River.

We started today. Left early just to get away from the dock and hundreds of dead fish floating in the Marina. There has been a huge fish kill going on for 3 weeks now and most are finding there way into the marina. It is very sad and odiferous!!.

They say it is low oxygen in the water but why does it continue!!

We had a nice motor to South River today. Very light winds -- not enough to fill a sail. We left at 9:30 and were in by 2:30pm. Played with all the toys... I was running a route uploaded to the GPS from the Coastal explorer software, had the monitor in the cockpit, played with the Gyro Mouse, and checked in with the Waterway Net once I remembered to tune my antenna. Used 2 meters all the way across the river to criticize what we saw. Great private line.

Craig and I both took time to dive on our boat bottoms to check them out. Temptation was looking great. Just light slime and no barnacles on the prop.

The weather forecast was for some rain and thunderstorms today but it seems they all passed early this morning before we left. It has been nice yet "too" warm day on the river -- low 80s. Should cool off nicely tonight with lows in the 50s.

Tomorrow we will make Ocracoke and should send some pictures from there. Looking forward to a nice moon lit night -- Full Moon is tomorrow!!

Gosh it's great to be back on the juice -- Neuse juice that is.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

All good things must end --- DARN IT!!

Darn – all good things must come to an end and this is the end of our 2008/2009 Bahamas cruise. Gosh seems rather abrupt now. We made it in at 2pm today to Slip 34 in SailCraft Marina in Oriental, NC.

On the bright side we had a great welcome from a familiar face – Gaylen from our former marina – Matthews point.. He was cruising the canal in his fishing boat and spotted us. Gosh it’s great to arrive with a familiar face. When I returned from my 2005/2006 cruise it was Bill Brinson that greeted me at the dock at Matthews Point.,

We had a pretty nice night at Cape Lookout until the wind piped up to 20 kts for awhile out of the NE – was not forecast of course!!. That is the only bad direction out there. Fortunately it didn’t last more than an hour and we had a quiet night. This morning I was so happy I chose to go in there after that long day yesterday rather than crowd into anchorage and then had to deal with all that wind last night.

We had a nice cruise of 33 miles from Cape Lookout to Oriental and sailed the last 2 miles in 5kts of wind. Wasn’t much but certainly welcomed when entering a new slip for the first time – darn the water levels seem low in here. I hope this is not the norm otherwise it seems a very nice protected marina.

We pushed hard these last several days and made a lot of miles to get home but now the feeling is bittersweet.

I had been getting tired of the long days, the questionable anchorages, the fluky weather, the shallow spots in the ICW, the bridge openings, etc. I really just want to tie up to a safe dock for awhile and just veg out. Now that I have enjoyed 4 hours of that – veg out NO --. I’m not sure this is what I really wanted. Hopefully the really crappy weather forecast for the coast this weekend will make me happy to be at the dock.

We plan to just clean boat for a few days and our Son Andy will come down Saturday to retrieve us and take us home on Sunday.

Until then we will explore – by foot and bike – our new second home here in Oriental, NC.

I’ll post one more blog in a week or two to summarize and extol the cruise. Maybe add a few pictures like Miss Kalik of MAY!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

GUESS where we are tonight???


Guess where we are tonight?? You betcha – Cape Lookout Bight. The finest anchorage I have experienced anywhere. Nothing but good memories here.. I’ve erased all the bad ones!!

It is only fitting that we make this our last anchorage of the cruise barring something unforeseen tomorrow. That and we heard Beaufort was full of anchored cruisers – the TWOMORROWS – and the current would have been against us after this record 71 nm day!!

It was a GREAT day on the ocean. Just as soon as we left Masonboro Inlet I raised sail and we were doing 6.1 – 6.5 all day!! Unheard of. There was maybe a 2 foot swell and light wind chop. The wind hovered around 10 kts SW all day. Just perfect. N o sea breeze filled in so it was comfortable the whole day.. For the most part we were alone out there too.

We made Cape Lookout and there were only 3 boats already anchored. We took a gravy spot near the entrance and the light house. It is going to be a fine evening in the light of the light house and the glow of a great sailing day.

Tomorrow we will leave in the morning on a rising tide to speed us up Adams Creek to Oriental and our new home slip at Sailcraft Marina. We will be with our good friends the Jim and Barb Thompson who are in final preparations for their great cruise.

Much more later. I’m whipped tonight.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Welcome back to North Carolina!!!

Yep we are almost home -- Anchored in Wrightsville Beach, NC tonight. It was a fairly long day but we really made tracks and had favorable current most of the way. Why?? I don’t know.. I haven’t been able to figure it out.

I expected to fight my way up the Cape Fear River on a falling tide and never saw anything less than 5.5 kts. I expected to be down to 3.3 kts through Snows Cut and held 8.5 kts!!

We expected to make the anchorage at Wrightsville about 6pm and actually had the hook down by 4pm.. Well welcome to NC!! I’ll take it!!

Our passage through the troublesome inlets of Shallotte and Lockwood Folly were both done near high tide and we had no problems. What a day…

Shortly after arriving we made a bee line to Robert’s Grocery for a little comfort food and ICE. Then back to the boat for dinner and later we played the Euchre game for the championship of the world between Ian, Sharon, Karen, and myself. Unfortunately we split 2 out of 3 games and we decided it was too late to continue since we will all leave early tomorrow so the final game still needs to be played. Ohhh when will it be??
\
We split up here. The Canadian contingent will continue up the ICW and we hope to go offshore tomorrow for Beaufort.

Won’t be long now – then again I may chicken out tomorrow morning and we will head up the ICW with them

Monday, April 27, 2009

Now an EASY day -- sort of

Boy last night was not too bad. Once the wind died the boats just hung on the anchors and everyone had plenty of room.

After dinner we all congregated on Celtic Cross for a drink and some talk and called it a night by 9pm. It was a long day and everyone was whipped.

Today we got an early start – 6:45am and headed into the Waccamaw River and were immediately greeted with an adverse current 4.4 – 4.7 kts. This stayed with us all the way till we nearly hit the Little River Swing bridge and then we had a great current for the last 7 miles!!

We finally reached the Calabash Creek at R2 around 2pm. It was nearly low tide and quite shallow to enter – 6 feet!! We found a little more water inside and I anchored in 8 feet with the tide level expected to drop another foot. Celtic Cross made it in just fine but poor Waterparke grounded at the entrance. We went over to assist him but Boat US just happened to show up and offered assistance. He got him off with great difficulty and then escorted him to the anchorage and helped him anchor NEAR ME!! Ohhh shades of last night. This is a bit squirrelly here too where you go forward on the anchor but hopefully the current is not as bad as it was in Cow House Creek.

Sweet Chariot much to their credit decided to hand at a nearby marina. They draw 6 feet and could not enter here anyway at low tide and cannot leave until the tide comes up in the morning.

Celtic Cross invited everyone over for dinner tonight so I need to end this and clean up.. Boy it’s nice to have not such a long day today.

Tomorrow will be a long day and we hope to anchor at Wrightsville beach tomorrow night -- getting close to home now!!

The Longest Day

OOO Wee it was a L O N G day. A new record for number of miles traveled in one daylight day – 68 miles.

We were underway by 6:40am. The tide was just 2 hours off of low and rising. We needed the tide to get through the possible trouble areas. The near areas were easy but the Minim Creek was going to be dicey since we would be there on the low side of high tide. Fortunately we had a favorable current all the way through Minim Creek and made it an hour early or half tide. No problem other than anxiety.

Then as we reached Winyah Bay the favorable current left and a strong adverse current was felt. Speed over ground dropped to 4.4 to 4.7 kts and stayed that way all afternoon. Motor sailing I could increase the speed to 4.9 – 5.0kts. It was a long afternoon.

We reached Cow House Creek across from the Wacca Wache Marina a little after 5pm and had the hook down by 5:30pm. Celtic Cross and Waterparke were already there. I anchored between them with no problem and just sat down to relax when we moved forward into the current over the anchor. Ohhh shades of Beaufort, SC again. What the heck!! I had a current coming into the creek and a mild wind behind but the boat moved into the current and very close to Waterparke. Then Sweet Chariot came in and ran aground on a falling tide??

I set my freshly opened beer down and launched the dinghy and mounted the outboard. I went over to assist Ian and Sweet Chariot to get off. It was tough and all we could do was pull up the anchor and move it to deeper water so they could get off once the tide rose. Then it was time to decide what to do about my closeness to Waterparke.

It looked very close but with the wind forecast to die I decided to leave it alone and Waterparke agreed too. It was not going to be a comfortable night and it had been such a LONG day already.

After a hasty dinner since I had a motor on a dinghy in the water I went around to Waterparke and Sweet Chariot and ferried crews to Celtic Cross for a little get together.

We all agreed that this might be an anchorage for one or two boats but not four. That and the proximity to the marina on a Weekend day was bad because of all the buzzing boat traffic from small outboards.

Sleep was welcome this night.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Better to anchor with a "hook" rather than the keel!!

As you can tell from the title – not a good day. Yep it finally happened. Ran the boat HARD aground!! Ohhh the waiting is no fun..

The day started nice enough weatherwise but the crazy fisherman where moving in their articulated power boats around 4:30am and rocking and rolling the boats at the dock. After a long hot water wasteful shower we left towards Georgetown.. We delayed leaving to catch the falling tide. It was perfect for going offshore which I wanted to do but could convince no others so relegated to the ICW. We figured – actually I did – that giving the strong tide we would have half a fine ride then a slow ride to the Ben Sawyer bridge which opens only on the hour weekends and holidays. We targeted for the 11am opening and left at 9:15 am to go 7.2 miles. Well we got to the bridge 50 minutes before the next opening!! Had we left 15 minutes early we would have made the 10am. The boats I was gravelling with would not let it die!!

Several other boats joined the wait then at 11am it opened and we were last ones through. I was feeling feisty so I ran the engine into TURBO range of 2700 RPMs and motor sailed and passed boats. I was doing fine and had an unexpected favorable current till we hit Dewees Island – there is an inlet there and it dropped our progress to under 5kts. We plodded along with 5 boats behind me and 2 in front and I was down to normal cruise RPM of 2400. Everything went fine till we approached marker G103. Ohh did I say we were 2 hours from low tide?? Well suddenly the boats in front jogged to the red side. I checked the Skipper Bob updates and they said to favor the red through here so I moved over too rather aggressively – don’t do that. Suddenly the low water alarm went off. Only 6 feet. I figured I was still too close to the green and drove hard to red. No fast stop here – just slowed down and all forward motion stopped. I checked the marks closer – Damn – I was out of the channel on the RED side!! The current was fast and the water level dropping quickly. I tried to motor off and no avail. I dropped the dinghy and kedged out the main anchor but the chain proved too unwieldy. I grabbed the smaller delta and took it into the channel and dropped it but could not kedge off. Grrrr.
I then checked the tide tables and saw I was 2 hours from low tide and the low tide would be .5 feet lower than average… Aaaach!! Remember when I did well at low tide areas the tide was 1.6 feet above low average. Well I was hard aground now. The boat listed a little but the water level would only go down another .5 feet.

I thought – what the hell – call Boat US towing. You have bought the insurance for 16 years and never used it. I called – they said 45 minutes. Well 90 minutes later they show up but now my rudder is in the mud. I tell him I don’t want to be pulled off with the rudder in the mud. He said no problem he had 2 others to service and would be back. Oh this occurred at 12:05pm. N Well at 4 pm he returns and now the water is up 1.5 feet and I’m nearly floating but I have 3 anchors in the water. Another 2 hours and IO can pull myself off but then will have to gather all those anchors up. I let him pull me off and gather my anchors. It took maybe 20 minutes but went smoothly – only because I waited 4 hours!!

It was now 4:30pm and we were whipped. WE just went 2.5 miles to Whiteside Creek and anchored for the night. I had a whole lot of anchor mud to clean up and anchors to store.

Wow a full 8 hour day and only traveled 16 miles!!

Tomorrow we leave at 6:45am so we will have a rising to high tide for all the upcoming shallow spots.

Man I really wanted to go offshore today. Had we – we would have been in the Cape Fear River near Southport, NC rather than 16 miles north of Charleston..

Ohhh big news today.. I was hailed by Born to Cruise – they ahhh heard me call Boat US for the tow. They were coming in from running offshore from Allen Pennsicola in the Abacos to Charleston non-stop. They left Thursday and had a great mild crossing all the way – the lucky dogs!! They still may beat us back to the Oriental, NC area yet!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Just a working on the dock

It’s a nice day at the dock but way too much boat traffic past the Mega-dock. It is quite rough on the outside because of it. Must be fishing season because these darn boats start moving just after 4am!~!

Karen went to town with Ian and Sharon to wander around and I remained to clean the boat. I had a pretty good morning. I got the top sides washed, the Lighthouse Windlass polished, and the bow pulpit polished. I was able to clean and restore the Lucite windows on the sides and aft cabin of the boat. I was also able to clean and polish the full enclosure.

A little excitement this afternoon – a boat MAYDAY!! Boy hearing a MAYDAY really grabs your attention.

A large 56 foot trawler had just left the marina here and was just south of the Coast Guard station when they called a MAYDAY – Engine room fire!! He investigated further and reported the engine room full of smoke but no flames, said he would try to get back to marina then immediately reported loss of second engine!! He was towed in.

I wonder if anyone worked on the boat while it was here?? Could be very bad for someone other than the owner – eh?? Oops the Canadian influence showing.

I visited with a few other boaters in the afternoon and discussed going offshore from here but Karen still does not want to be on the ocean overnight. Thus back on the ICW./

The wild fire near Barefoot Landing has closed the ICW from mile marker 347 – 366 but is expected to reopen soon. We should be there in about 3 days. I guess worse case will have us going offshore at Georgetown if necessary.

We went out to dinner to Hymans Seafood in downtown Charleston. It was good but a long wait since we were a group of 10. We took the marina van there but had to call a taxi to return. The fare was only $4.75 for us.

It was a late night but because of the tidal current we don’t expect top leave the marina until around 10am. I hope I can sleep in in the morning.

Just a working on the dock

It’s a nice day at the dock but way too much boat traffic past the Mega-dock. It is quite rough on the outside because of it. Must be fishing season because these darn boats start moving just after 4am!~!

Karen went to town with Ian and Sharon to wander around and I remained to clean the boat. I had a pretty good morning. I got the top sides washed, the Lighthouse Windlass polished, and the bow pulpit polished. I was able to clean and restore the Lucite windows on the sides and aft cabin of the boat. I was also able to clean and polish the full enclosure.

A little excitement this afternoon – a boat MAYDAY!! Boy hearing a MAYDAY really grabs your attention.

A large 56 foot trawler had just left the marina here and was just south of the Coast Guard station when they called a MAYDAY – Engine room fire!! He investigated further and reported the engine room full of smoke but no flames, said he would try to get back to marina then immediately reported loss of second engine!! He was towed in.

I wonder if anyone worked on the boat while it was here?? Could be very bad for someone other than the owner – eh?? Oops the Canadian influence showing.

I visited with a few other boaters in the afternoon and discussed going offshore from here but Karen still does not want to be on the ocean overnight. Thus back on the ICW./

The wild fire near Barefoot Landing has closed the ICW from mile marker 347 – 366 but is expected to reopen soon. We should be there in about 3 days. I guess worse case will have us going offshore at Georgetown if necessary.

We went out to dinner to Hymans Seafood in downtown Charleston. It was good but a long wait since we were a group of 10. We took the marina van there but had to call a taxi to return. The fare was only $4.75 for us.

It was a late night but because of the tidal current we don’t expect top leave the marina until around 10am. I hope I can sleep in in the morning.

It only gets better



Sorry no blog yesterday – too busy.

We had a great cruise from Tom Point Creek to Charleston, SC where we tied up to the MEGA-dock and Charleston City Marina. For ONCE we had the current and tides with us. Transiented a couple of problem areas at low tide but since it was near high – no trouble seen. Then with the current with us we averaged better than 6.5 knots and actually hit 8.2 through Elliott’s cut.. We were all smiling ear to ear. Especially Graeme on Sweet Chariot – in the fall he went through there – about 2 miles long – and he fought the current and it took 1.5 hours!! This time it took only 10 minutes.

WE had an easy dockage and were secure by 11am. Then it was time for fuel and water, then lunch, setup the backs. Took care of some personal business then a van trip to Harris Teeter.

Back on the boat Karen discovered her purse missing!! Ohh how quickly a fine day can turn BAD. I raced to the office and the purse was not there, they checked the van and it wasn’t there!! Then we checked the communication office and we found it. Ohhh the sun came out then and it was a nice day except with the sea breeze coming in, boat traffic off the beam of the boat and strong current coming aft it was very bouncy on the boat. We dealt with it the best we could. We took showers and went out to dinner with the Canadian Armada -- the local marine restaurant.

When we returned the wind had died, boat traffic was minimal, the current switched and it was quite nice on the boat for the rest of the evening.

We expect to stay today – Friday then leave Saturday. This could be problematic since there is a large wildfire near Bare Foot Landing in myrtle Beach that has shut down the swing bridge there and essentially stopped traffic on the ICW.

The weather looks great for going offshore but can I talk Karen into spending a night at sea??

Enjoy the pics from Tom Point Creek.

Nightmare in Beaufort, SC!!

Ohhhh what a night. I hinted it might be uncomfortable – well it was a NIGHTMARE!! I went to bed around 9pm, then around 10:30pm I was awakened by a strong wind gust. I went topsides to check boat positions – I have never seen such a picture. All the boats were in motion. Some moving forward, some back, some upstream, and some down stream and constantly moving. I had no point of reference. I checked my anchor and I was fully forward of it!! The anchor rode was streaming to the rear of the boat. The wind was gusting to 30 – 40 knots and then it started to rain. The closest boat was at first a couple of hundred feet away and then suddenly just 25 feet away. He was swinging in a very large circle coming close to several boats. At one point he hailed me and I asked how much chain he had out – he said 2 anchors!! Ohhh boy he was definitely going to lay differently than the other boats. Then I heard him running his windlass and motor and changing all kinds of anchoring parameters – this was not good. I was going to have to stay in the cockpit and fend him off till the wind settled – ohh did I say “this was NOT forecast!!!”

Well others yelled at him and he was able to pull both anchors up. He tried once to re-anchor then moved to the fuel dock of the marina. I was thinking of that too just to get out of the way but I needed more than this to pull an anchor and move in the dead of night with so much wind.

Unbelievably it was like someone turned a switch. He tied to the dock and the wind laid down to an acceptable level. I went to bed 20 minutes once seeing no other boats were close to me and VOWing never to anchor in Beaufort, SC again!!

Boy this was just the final coating to a rather anxious day anyway. All that shallow water to negotiate – it was bad.

Today started out pretty nice except we could no leave Beaufort until 9am. The Ladies Island Swing bridge is on a restricted schedule in the morning. Once through we had an adverse current – under 5 kts – until we reached the Coosaw River then we FLEW – Current and strong current had us going 7+ and at times 8 kts!!.. It was great but only for about 10 miles then we had to fight the current again. The Ashpoo cut was horrible. Going through low tide we had 6+ feet is spots where it should have been 10. Then all along to the North Edisto River we had shallow water of 8 feet or so. Then again low tide was 1:30pm today so we had 4 hours either side to navigate these terrible waters. Just the luck of the draw!!

We are anchored just 26 miles from Charleston tonight so we should be in before noon tomorrow and NOT have to fight any lousy shallow water.

Damn we need a break. Looking forward to a few lay days.

Every day for the last several the NOAA forecast for tomorrow is 5 – 10 kts then it blows 15 – 20 with higher gusts!! As a taxpayer – I need a refund!!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Fields Cut -- BAH HUMBUG!!

We had a nice evening in Herb River last nut. One big thunderstorm hit around 5pm and was all rain and a little flash and boom but no big wind. Another at 11pm and still not too bad. Definitely better than expected but we will take it!!

Graeme and Laura from Sweet Chariot came over just before the rain for GNTs and stuff and we had a nice visit in our full enclosure watching the storm unfold. Great protection in that Herb River.

Finally in South Carolina -- good riddance Georgia! I hate the waterway through Georgia except for maybe Cumberland Island.

It was a good passage today except for being on Pins and Needles through Fields Cut which is actually in SC but on the border – just North of the Savannah River. It was tense but we transited at 2 hours after high tide and had plenty of water. Later we heard there were 2 sailboats aground there at 2 hours before low tide!! What a bummer.. Remember I said there were 3 aground yesterday at low tide!!

We had adverse current most of the way but a favorable one and light winds to cross Port Royal Sound and slide pass Paris Island.

We anchored on the Beaufort water front in deep water. Usually not too bad but it was crowded and I short scoped it at 100 feet of chain for 22 feet of water. Then – the weather forecast was wrong and instead of 5 –10 SW – W today it has built to 15 – 20 SE late this afternoon and probably tonight. That will be uncomfortable in all this current and deep water. Ohhh well – we will be moving along in the morning.

Shortly after arrival at 2:45pm we launched the dinghy and went to tow to walk a bit. Haven’t been off the boat in a couple of days!! Felt good and almost didn’t buy anything except Karen found a book she just had to have.

Hopefully a quiet night but if this wind doesn’t die down – won’t be. Looking forward to a couple of days in Charleston – tied to the dock. Hope to get there Thursday morning and stay till Saturday morning.

An interesting observation this morning. While waiting for the 8am Causton Bluff bridge opening several sail boats congregated behind us. As the opening approached – 2 a hunter 44 and a Benneteau 47 passed in front of us and went through first – very discourteous. Well they had a lot of power and stayed ahead of us. In fact as the day wore on they disappeared from sight. I’m thinking – “boy they really want to travel a great distance today” -- NOT – as we pulled into the Beaufort Anchorage there they were sipping their drinks at 2:30pm.. We would have pushed on with a favorable current but there is no good anchorage for the next 18 miles and we had already down 45 for the day.

Cruisers as a group are a laid back set but when it comes to making anchorages and doing laundry – they are an especially aggressive crowd.
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Lucky -- I guess -- beat the forecast weather

Not a bad day. The weather forecast was the usual gloom and doom that did not come true. Such a pain to make plans based on these forecasts and then find that we could have done something differently. Like last night – 50% of Thunderstorms. I shortened a trip and went to a different anchorage than I wanted to and – no storms – no rain. Same forecast today with the addition of 15 – 25 kt winds and gust to 30. Hasn’t happened yet and it is almost 4pm and the sky is partly cloudy and no storm clouds in sight. I suspect bad weather is on the way but will be later than forecast.

Today we passed through the infamous Hells Gate channel and it was bad. We passed at mid tide – falling of course – and found 6.1 feet at G87. Ohh well we made it. We had a nice push to Hells gate from the falling tide and hit 8 kts for awhile but paid for it up the Vernon River at 5.2 kts but were able to motor sail or it would have been worst.

Ohhh well. We had a nice run from Kilkenny Creek to the Herb River this morning and were in just before noon. I felt safe and secure here in case of strong winds and thunderstorms ass forecast for today.

I put the easy day to use and changed the oil in the main engine – which is a 1.5 hour job including cleanup, and pulled the transducer for the knot meter and cleaned it – it hasn’t worked for a few days. Not critical because the GPS gives true Speed Over Ground reading but I like the gauge to work.

Other than that just some gentle cleaning and waiting for the big bad thunderstorms to arrive. No don’t think I’m making fun of the storms because I have a great respect for them – like 120 feet of chain rode down right now!!

Most of the Canadian contingent pushed on but Sweet Chariot came in here and they will be over in a little while for sundowners.

If the forecast holds then we will be across Port Royal Sound and Calibogue sound tomorrow and spend the night in Beaufort, SC. Actually we are just about 8 miles from the SC border but have to negotiate another terrible patch of water – Fields Cut just north of the Savannah River. Today near low tide we heard 3 sailboats were aground there. We hope to pass through tomorrow at 1 hour after high tide and should have no problem . Boy I will be glad to get this part of the ICW behind us.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

LOTS OF SOUNDS!!

Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it. That is how I felt today. We had four lay days due to weather last week and I really wanted to do some traveling but 10 hour days - is for the birds.

Wow - what a L O N G day. Mileage wise it was very respectable at 58 miles but no record. Unfortunately we had an adverse current for more than 4 hours at the start that really held us back. Mostly less than 5 kts for 4 hours!! Now we had some 7+ later in the day for an average of 5.8kts but still a very long day - 10 hrs for 58 miles.

On the plus side we traversed several Sounds - ocean frontage - the St. Simons, Buttermilk, Alatamaha, Doboy, Sapelo, and St Catherines. That is a LOT of sounds in one day. You must remember that when you traverse a sound the tides are with you part of the way than against you part of the way.

The other really bad part today is we had to traverse a couple of the worse sections of Georgia waterway at LOW tide. Namely the Buttermilk, Altamaha, and Mud River. We only bounced once on the bottom and that was at R209 on Altamaha Sound. We traversed the mud River at near low tide and had 6 - 7 feet most of the way - very slowly. My plan was if we hit bottom - drop anchor - wait 1 hour then go on.

Our Canadian friends were 20 miles ahead of us this morning but are now only 6 miles ahead. They anchored in the narrow RedBird Creek where with the threat of thunderstorms I opted for the wider Kilkenny Creek.

We all have to traverse the infamous Hells Gate tomorrow. They are an hour closer but I should be there 2 hours before low tide - not ideal but should manage it.

The forecast6 is for strong thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon from an approaching cold front and I hope to be into Herb Creek near Thunderbolt GA by 1pm. Hopefully before they start and well protected. Unfortunately the Canadian contingent want to head further on - but I am the captain of this boat.

Time for a late dinner and an early bedtime - we need to leave at first light tomorrow to make Hells Gate as early as possible.

It's Charleston or BUST by the weekend!!@

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Patience is Rewarded!!

Ahhh on the move again. I have learned to be patient while cruising. You cannot always do what you want to do when you want to do it. It just comes with the lifestyle. But – REALLY – 4 days in one week waiting on weather has been hard to take. I could really feel it yesterday when I wanted to get going but couldn’t.

Ahhh but patience is rewarded. Today we awoke to a “mill pond” – flat calm. Once on the river there was maybe 5 kts of wind and just a nice ripple. St Andrews Sound had about a 2 foot easy swell and a little ripple. It was nice – very nice. BUT there is always a snake in paradise that was Jekyll Creek today. The sailing directions indicate only 3.5 feet of water in some areas at low tide – remember I draw 5’ 3”. Well it just worked out that we would be right smack in the middle at low tide!! Prudence says to anchor and wait a couple of hours for the tide to rise. The marinas along it were all full – no one leaving just yet.

Well I thought yesterday I was losing my adventuresome spirit when I didn’t leave in all that wind or complete the alternate passage. Today I was going to try the unthinkable but with such mild conditions – If I bump I just stop and wait for the water to rise.

The creek is 3.5 miles long. We entered it and I traveled at a respectable 4 kts. Karen stayed glued to the navigation software and would CON me to the center of the stream. I adjusted for the shoals I could see. We did great!! Made it all the way. Never bumped and saw only 8.1 feet at the lowest point. Of course the moon affect had the MLW at 1.6 feet ABOVE datum which really helped.

We arrived at Golden Isle Marina in St Simons \Island and took a slip for the day. We immediately borrowed the courtesy car and went to the Harris Teeter Grocery here. Ohhh great selection and we loaded up on the fresh stuff. Then back to the boat for a late lunch and start the laundry -- it’s been 2 weeks. Karen stayed with it since there are only 2 machines and I returned to the boat to fill the water tanks, hose the top sides down and do some general exterior cleaning. I guess I’ll owe us dinner out at the restaurant at the Marina tonight. Hey we have been on the hook since Green Turtle Cay!!

Hopefully we will get away tomorrow and travel as far north as we can go before thunderstorms come in then the same on Monday. Hope to hit Charleston, SC by next weekend or before.

I think I’ll travel with the Canadian pack again. It was very lonely at Pine Island and Brickhill River. They are all moving about 20 miles north of us today but we should catch them tomorrow or Monday – weather permitting.

Friday, April 17, 2009

The Trip to No Where!!

Just got to be flexible!! Today was a replay of the strong winds from yesterday. It never did really lay down last night so I knew that St Andrew Sound would be rough today. I thought maybe we could do the alternate route around the sound. I discussed it with the trawler (Castel Felice) that stayed here last night and he was game to try it first since he only drew 3.5 feet of water.

He left a little after 8am and said it was a bit rough out front of Brickhill River but quite calm in the alternate passage – begins at Floyd Creek. He called back later and reported nothing less than 10 feet as he approached the cut across St Andrews then said he had hit a patch of 4 foot – but it was low tide. I never heard back from him on the rest of the passage where the really shallow water was reported.

So around 9am – low tide – we left. We got out into the Cumberland River and took some spray on the windshield, then entered Floyd Creek and it calmed down but a lot of wind and no trees – we were on a slight heel. We stayed in the center but never saw the really deep water on the chart. Then as we approached the first hair pin turn we encountered crab pot floats which were very difficult to see in all the water foam that was occurring. The wind was blowing 25 plus. Darn – I wanted to try but if I ran aground this strong wind would just exacerbate the issue and could become dangerous. I decided to abort the attempt and go back to Brickhill River and re-anchor which we did with no problem. A nine mile trip to NO WHERE!!

Unfortunately this is the 4th day this week that we are sitting and waiting for the weather to improve – it’s going to take awhile to get home if this keeps up!! I’ll need to buddy up with another boat or boats to avoid this isolation in the future. It really makes the day go long when there is no other boat to commiserate with..

The wind is supposed to lay down tonight and be only 10 – 15 and dropping to 10 tomorrow. We will try and get across the sound in the morning. Unfortunately we have to delay the departure because we need a rising tide to get through Jekyll Creek due to shoaling. Georgia is the PITS for transienting the ICW.

On the radio today we heard at least 3 boats run aground near the same spot I had trouble with yesterday R60. Gosh I hope it moderates because I want to move again!! Plus I need a grocery store stop.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Back to the "Middle of No Where"


Got to be flexible.. The weather forecast was for small craft advisory beginning at 3pm today and a lake wind advisory beginning at 11am. I thought we could make it across St Andrews sound before either event.

Well it didn’t happen. I knew we would have an adverse current at the start of the trip but it should get better. It didn’t. It wasn’t terrible but we were in the low 5s at the beginning. The wind was under 17 but on the nose. All was proceeding then near R60 where the Brickhill River empties into the ICW we bounced on the bottom a couple of times. No warning just 10 feet then 5 feet. Once you feel that sudden deceleration it just keeps coming at you for awhile. Almost simultaneously the wind piped up to 25 – 27 kts. Speed over ground dropped to 3.1 – 3.3 kts and the waves began to build and we were not even in the St Andrews Sound. It was uncomfortable. I checked the charts and we were about 2.5 miles from the mouth of Brickhill River which has an excellent sheltered anchorage area. We made for it. Once in it was like someone switched a switch off on the wind and waves. It was comfortable. I hailed some of the boats behind us but they plugged on – we went in and relaxed by 11:30am. Tomorrow we will try again to get across. We are just 20 miles from Golden Isle Marina now.

Unfortunately I have delivered Karen back to “in the middle of nowhere”. This is Cumberland Island and there is nothing but beautiful landscape/marsh scapes here. Some wild horses too. Here is where we stay for tonight.

The anchorage is sheltered by trees from the NE wind which is blowing in the 30s but less than 20 in here. Holding is good and just a ripple on the water. Not bad except for not being able to make the marina and grocery store today. Hopefully tomorrow but if it does not lay down tonight then we will be here again tomorrow.

Be sure to check the satellite view of our position report today and you will see – we are in the middle of nowhere.

I posted a picture of the waterway but they never do justice to how wild it can really get.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Just 2 more miles of Florida!!

What a difference a day makes. Today was a very pleasant day with mild winds. Unfortunately the timing of the tides was terrible and we had an adverse current most of the day -- maybe 20 minutes it was favorable. As we approached the St Johns River from the South our Speed over ground dropped to 4.1 and avg 4.5 for several miles.

At any rate we made Fernandina FL by 3:30pm and anchored in Bells River just across from the mooring field of the Marina. We are just 2 miles from the Georgia border. Unfortunately the next several days are not good for going offshore so GULP -- we will take the ICW through Georgia.

Ohh we passed the site of that terrible boating accident that occurred a couple of days here near the Palm Bridge. A 22 foot power boat with 14 persons aboard (grossly overloaded) slammed into a parked tug working on a dock at 7pm – still full daylight – and injured all persons aboard and killed 5!! The site was pretty clean but the damaged tug was easy to spot. No reason – visibility is excellent here.

Winds are supposed to come back strong tomorrow afternoon 10 – 20 with gusts to 30 but we hope to be tied up at Golden Isle Marina on St Simons Island by that time. Time for fuel, water. Laundry, and fresh groceries – they have a courtesy car there.

Tonight it will be a Euchre game for the world championship between Ian and I and Karen and Sharon --- Boys against girls like it should be. Never Husband/wife against husband/wife!!

Should be a fun evening. Sand Castle and Sweet Chariot will join us too. It will be nice to have some company after 2 very isolated days at Pine Island.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

WOW -- What a wind GUST!!



Ohhh what a night!! It has been a long time since I have felt the grip of a 70 mile an hour wind gust. I felt it several times last night!!

It started about 11pm. Just sleeping comfortable and suddenly I was awakened by a violent jerk and roll from the boat and Karen rolled on top me. That was the first gust and it was long duration. The boat turned into the wind and righted itself and I got up and stuck my head in to the cockpit. Even with the full enclosure the wind driven rain was getting in. The wind and rain was so thick that I could see no lights on the boats around us. I could see nothing. Just feel the pull of the boat on the anchor and hoping it was not dragging. This went on for about 20 minutes then settled down after 30 minutes. Boy I hope that doesn’t happen again. Fortunately the night remained calm after that.

This morning the weather forecast had changed and they had a lake wind advisory again today from 11am to 1pm. Then around 8am another thunderstorm came in with strong winds but not 70kts. Unfortunately it never stopped. It blew hard and long with lots of rain for nearly 4 hours. There were occasional gusts to 50 but a steady 25 – 30kts for 4 hours.

I was turning the wind generator on and off to keep from overheating it when suddenly we heard the roar of an airplane propeller. I missed my timing and the wind generator had gone into free run mode and was screaming but not generating any power. I waited for a lull in rain and wind and then went and grabbed the control lines and feathered it so I could put a tether on the blade. I hate that sound. Supposedly it does not hurt it but amongst all the other high wind sounds it is best to avoid.

Our anchor held. Then around 10am we heard a mayday go out from the sailing yacht Brilliant. They were on a mooring near Jacksonville naval air station and it parted. They dropped an anchor but were blowing towards rocks. They called Coast Guard. They sent a helo to investigate!! The yacht skipper said he had 300 feet of chain out and was still blowing towards the rocks. He said once the boat grounded they would get off and walk ashore. Ohhh depressing. We heard later that 7 boats near that area had blown aground. I should have went into the marina yesterday!!

The winds and rain finally died down around noon and it was quite pleasant till about 1:30pm when the wind came back 20+ kts. They have another lake wind advisory till 7pm tonight.

Fortunately tomorrow looks quite mild as well as the next few days. We will get an early start and make Fernandina tomorrow.

I thought about moving on this afternoon but my anchor has been so well tested here (in the middle of nowhere as Karen likes to call Pine Island) that we will remain for tonight. A couple of boats have come in this afternoon so it should not be too lonely tonight. Gosh I wonder how the anchored boats in St Augustine faired last night and today?? Glad I left..

Enjoy some pics from Pine Island – this place grows on you after awhile then again Karen says it doesn’t.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Just Waiting Weather


It was time to go.. That anchorage at St Augustine is okay but the derelict boats there really take something away. The one that was dragging around the first night we were there was re-anchored yesterday and it dragged again last night. I thought about going into the marina to sit out this weather system but why should I spend $200 for that!! After discussing the plans with the Canadian contingent and hearing thoughts of anchoring at different spots across the ICW on the way to Fernandina we decided to leave this morning and run 15 miles to Pine Island anchorage and anchor there. Funny thing happened though.. Almost all the Canadian cruisers changed their minds underway and all took slips at Palm Cove marina in Jackson beach. We are the only ones anchored here in Pine Island this afternoon. Now there are two other boats a smaller sailboat and a trawler anchored here too but none from my group.

Hopefully it will not be too bad. There has been a Lake Wind Advisory in effect since 11am this morning which surprisingly is when the winds really piped up and should be over by 7pm tonight. This afternoon it has been blowing a steady 20+ kts with gusts to 30. This anchorage is exposed but short fetch so not too bad. Just the usual anxiety of an anchor drag but it seems to be stuck well here – so far. Forecast is for thunderstorms later this afternoon and tonight with very heavy rain. We will see.

The Easter parade was interesting yesterday with the usual contingent of baton twirlers, motorcycle clubs, race cars (with bunny ears), and assorted other groups looking for any excuse to parade. It was all right.

There was a group of 16 cruisers gotten together for dinner at Harry’s on the waterfront and that was great fun and good food except just before ordering Ian and Sharon received a call that their boat was dragging anchor and had to leave to address that. What a bummer for them!! Fortunately nothing bad happened and they anchored near me!! They didn’t drag last night.

Tonight we will just sit tight and take what weather we get. Not one of the more fun days when cruising but all part of the experience. Depending on how fast this system moves through tonight we may stay again tomorrow or [possible leave mid to late morning and head for Fernandina. Time to leave Florida


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter


Happy Easter all. Like my bunny picture??

Actually this is the Miss Kalik April 2009. I haven’t had good internet in awhile but I do now. Enjoy the pic – missed sending it on the 1st of the month.

Today has been pretty nice. Although disconcerting this morning. Some sail boat anchored behind us with clanging halyards had moved during the night – by itself!! I awoke this morning to halyard clanking coming from a different direction and that boat had moved during the night to a spot in front and to the side of us.. Ohhh grief!! It was very close to another derelict boat and eventually was bumping into it. I think/hope his anchor is fouled with that one and will stop moving.

When I checked into the marina office this morning to register the dinghy I mentioned the boat to the dockmaster and he was quite interested. When I pointed it out he said “Glad I moved my boat to the North Anchorage”. That was it!!

We wandered about town a bit this morning. The dinghy just barely made it into the marina. Ohhh I hate it when this stuff doesn’t work well!! They have a ships store here and I tried to buy new plugs for it. All they have are Champion plugs and mine are NGK. They had no cross reference chart or engine application chart. Damn you would think this was the Bahamas except the plugs were less than $4 each vs. $16 each in the Bahamas.

I called Andy and he got on the internet and looked the cross reference up. I bought 2 plugs and tried them in the engine. One at a time. Lo and Behold the first one made a HUGE improvement. My 15hp engine is now the equivalent of a 8hp motor vs. the ½ hp it was doing on our way in. I believe this is another Al gotcha. He left a gallon of no name 2-cycle oil I have been using and I think this stuff fouls the plugs. The previous set was new and only in for about a month till this happened. The motor is at least serviceable now.

This afternoon there is a parade planned at 3pm and the cruisers want to do dinner at 5:15pm tonight. We will head back in and do both. Maybe take some pictures too…

Not sure about the next couple of days. Forecast is for lots of storms and rain (2 – 3 inches) beginning tomorrow afternoon and then all day Tuesday. Might just stay here till Wednesday -- Decisions Decisions.

Time to get ready for the Easter parade today.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Slow Down Ol Man!!

WOW - making great progress heading north. All the way from Vero Beach to St Augustine in just 4 days. We will hang here for a day or two to enjoy the place and rest a bit. Hey it's Easter Sunday tomorrow and Karen needs a new bunny!!

The wind finally died down after midnight last night and we had a peaceful evening on the hook in Daytona. Ian and Sharon braved the wind chop and came over for an evening of Euchre. It was cool to play with some veterans. Wayne and Jill - we have some tricks to show you now.

We left early to make the bridges in Daytona before their schedules kicked in and we had to run 54 miles which is a LONG day. We left in a pack of boats - probably a dozen in all spread into 3 groups. Unfortunately the morning was marred by Ian on Celtic Cross running aground at the main St bridge and had to call Boat/US to get off. Love that tow insurance!!

We had a nice run to Palm Coast where we went into the marina and filled with Diesel - 28 gallons and topped off water - about 50 gallons. Water is free here and diesel was $2.02 a gallon.

Back on the waterway we had both favorable wind for part of the way - to the Matanzas Inlet and current the rest of the way - 7+ kts!! We made St Augustine by 3:30pm. Not a bad run and a bit crowded but the hook stuck first time and the spacing looks good.

We will stay here certainly for tomorrow and maybe a day or 2 longer.

Everyone is whipped tonight plus the sea breeze is still blowing hard so we will wait till tomorrow to head to town and probably spend the whole day there.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Snow Birds -- Heading back North


Another fine day on the ICW. The nice thing about Florida is that for every mile you go North or South it is nearly a full mile in that direction. Thus a 50 mile day is another 50 miles north where in Georgia you go only about one third the total distance traveled.

We left early this morning – m7am expecting to get to Daytona around 4 – 5pm. Well we had a GREAT following wind through the Mosquito Lagoon that powered us along at 7 kts at time. We entered an anchorage near R44 in Daytona at 2:30pm. WOW a great day.

Hey and the gang is all here!! It is a large pool here that accommodated the complete Canadian Contingent, ourselves and other boats. Try it some time when passing through Daytona.

Be forewarned that the holding is excellent mud yet the vagaries of wind and current have the boats going in all different directions. A bit disconcerting but no pesky tugs on the hook.

Tonight with so much time on our hands we plan to play Euchre with Celtic Cross. Should be fun.

Last night we had everyone aboard for drinks in snacks and it was a great time. Everyone enjoyed the conversation and time spent. We plan to all arrive in St Augustine tomorrow and stay for Easter – Hopefully we can finds a nice restaurant to feed us all – I don’t think anyone will want to cook for Easter.

Last night was a very nice evening in Titusville. Another clear sky and a HUGE moon rising over Cape Canaveral. Should be interesting here tonight.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Easy day in Titusville

Last night was really nice on the hook. We had a beautiful full moon and clear sky. There were some folks on the beach setting off some fireworks which looked really cool in the moonlight although being RANK AMATEURS some of the fireworks took real erratic paths. I think one chased a couple of them on the berm.

We had a mild evening and left about 8am. It was a nice easy run of about 30 miles to Titusville and we anchored by 1pm. After a quick lunch I ruined the nice day by trying to work on the dinghy motor.

I took the carburetor off the engine and stripped it down to its components and cleaned all passages with spray carburetor cleaner. I reassembled it and - this is the hubris - put away the tools - then tried to start it. Ohhh man it did not want to start. Actually acted like the cylinders were full of gas and would not crank!! I checked the plugs and they were wet. There was also some gas in the water.

I took the carburetor back off and examined the fuel pump. I had marked it before taking off so I couldn't get it back together wrong --- WRONG!! One gasket was flipped 180 degrees. I reassembled and tried again. It fired up but ran no better than it did before I started. Darn. I hate it when that happens!!

We cleaned boat and got ready to host the Canadian contingent tonight. WE have the whole group coming over at 4:30pm today to trade stories, laugh at my dinghy engine, and plan the next couple of days.

It should be a great time and looking forward to the near full moon rising over the Vehicle Assemble Building at Cape Canaveral which is visible from this anchorage.

Got to run.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Finally heading North!!

Ohh YEAH - On the move again. We finally pulled away from Velcro Beach this morning. It is tough because it is so comfortable. The only fly in the ointment was that I was waiting on a UPS shipment of a repair kit for a pump that is giving me some problems. I expected it Monday but it did not show up till 9:30am this morning so we delayed our departure.

We had a nice run up to the Causeway just pass Dragon Point. It is called Palm Shores and has protection from North/South Winds depending on the side you anchor - pretty much wide open but with 5kts from the SE to SW tonight - should be fine. It was 38 miles but a good run for a late departure.

Tomorrow we will make it to Titusville and meet our Canadian Contingent for some cocktails and tales - should be in early enough. We are currently traveling with Celtic Cross, Sand Castle, Sweet Chariot, and Water Parke.

Tonight we dropped the hook after 5pm so it will be showers, dinner, then bed and up early to get an early arrival at Titusville tomorrow.

Ohhh and my dinghy motor is now down to a 2HP motor.. It is running very poorly but is still running. I bought some carburetor cleaner the other day and when I have the time I'll tear it down and see if I can resuscitate. It., Wish me luck.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Windy Windy Windy

NOAA got this one right. Darn it is windy today!! They have Lake advisory and Small Craft Advisory out today.

The day started pretty calm. In fact I was wondering why I had decided not to move today.. Around 9am we took the bus to the Publix grocery for one last provisioning run. Then when we got back it was really blowing hard. I had to angle the dinghy ride back to the boat so I took the waves perpendicular until I hit the tree line on the other side then ride to the boat.

We gathered up all the laundry and made a run in to do a couple of loads. Might be 2 weeks before we do laundry again.

That took awhile and then when we finished Karen had a hankering for some Thai food so we took the bus back to town for some Thai. It was very good at the Siam Orchid.

The wind laid down for awhile this afternoon but it is really honking again now as I write this. All the fenders are creaking against the boat I rafted to - Cherie. The other boat 'Homeward Bound' left today. Oh well when you want to go - you go.

Beginning tomorrow the weather will be better behaved for the next several days although the first 2 are forecast to be in the low 40s for the low but rising to near 70 each day. We expect to move for the next 4 days until we get to St. Augustine then stay an extra day there so Karen can do the museums she missed on the way down.

Not much else to report - just reviewing charts and directions for the next 4 cruising days, preparing to leave and I guess maybe another round of Mexican Train Dominoes with Celtic Cross tonight. In fact all the cruisers we are hanging with right now bought a set of Mexican Train Dominoes this week.

Should be a real traffic jam at the entrance to Vero Beach Marina as most of us leave to head north again tomorrow.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Gone Swim'im ALMOST!!

Just sitting and waiting for the forecast STRONG cold front to come through. Like usual looks to be an after dark event. This is a mean one. We have heard several tornado watches north of here. Strong storms all the way from NC to Georgia descending on us.

In the mean time -- we made another run to grocery store this morning and Karen remained to get her hair cut and styled - looks very nice. We want to provision so we will be good to Charleston, SC or about a week and a few days.

The no seeums are terrible here. Even though we have screens we both were eaten alive in our sleep last night. For some reason they have a real liking to ankles and inside forearms. Hopefully this cold front will stop them for awhile.

Late this morning I went and topped off the water tanks. 40 gallons into the 80 gallon tank and 15 gallons in the 120 gallon tank. That should keep us awhile.

Late this afternoon I was going around the boat tightening up the mooring lines and looking to adjust things for possible strong squalls tonight. Took down the riding sail and adjusted fenders. Removed loose stuff form the dinghy and shortened the painter. I noticed the teak steps on the swim ladder looking pretty grubby so I got a stiff brush out and cleaned them. At one point I kneeled down on the sugar scoop to get the lowest rung and leaned out and lost my balance -- I was heading for the
water!! I quickly realized I was going in so I pushed sharply with my legs to propel myself towards the dinghy -0 got lucky. Top half entered the dinghy and lower half got wet but I could drag myself in. Just as I pulled in to the dinghy I heard a frantic woman's voice - "are you okay?" . I said yes thinking it was Karen below but when I went below she had no idea what had happened. Well someone got a show today.

I think it's time for a GNT and relax the rest of the afternoon now.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ahhh Pizza Pie!!

Ohhh we had a nice lunch today. Karen had a hankering for pizza so we decided to do lunch at Nina's on the Beach. A bit of a bike ride away. Well about the time I was going to land the bikes on the dock Ian and Sharon came by and said that a relative had loaned them the use of a car - a Cadillac no less. They needed to get some propane tanks filled and would be back to drive us to lunch.

We spent the rest of the morning installing the new Genoa control line and changing the direction of the roll to match the installation instructions to see if it would make the operation easier in a breeze. Unfortunately this puts the sun protection on the inside. For a few weeks should make difference and we can try the operation.

We had trouble pulling the sail up the other track on the furler track. About half way up I had to use low speed on the winch - that is just too much force. I brought the sail down with some difficulty and then we "greased" the sail bead with the zipper snap lubricant and it went all the way up with a lot loess force. Now to try it.

Ian and Sharon were back by noon and we all left for Nina's. Graeme and Laura came along and Laura went to the beach to sun bath and Graeme came along for lunch.

Well disappointment. Nina's doesn't open till 4pm on Sundays!! Well a helpful lady came by and gave us directions to another Nina's across town.. Ohh what the hey - everyone wanted pizza so we went. We saw an Advance Auto on the way and Ian graciously stopped so I could get some carburetor cleaner - try it on the outboard motor. We found the pizza parlor easily. The pizza was GREAT. Then off to the Publix for some beer. Bottles are easy to handle when you have a car and not riding a bus. Well that turned into a bit of a shopping trip so why not go to West Marine - Graeme's desire and hey the dive shop is next door.

Well I didn't buy anything from WM but ohhh I could not pass up a sale price on some Speedo swim trunks - picture will follow.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Just Putz'n and re-furling today and visiting

Ohh it's been a nice day here in Vero. Didn't do much. Karen left with Sharon at 9am on the bus for a morning of shopping that turned into nearly a day's worth. Didn't get back till 2:45pm. She picked up our own box of Mexican Train Dominoes - you go girl.

I stayed back and went to the marina and made a couple of trips with Jerry cans to put 24 gallons of diesel in the tank and then another 24 gallons on the deck. The price of diesel here is $2.20 a gallon. Back at GTC it was $3.71 a gallon. I'll do the water tomorrow.

I visited with Ian awhile and he took me on a tour of his Catalina 322. WOW it really is laid out nice and great storage. The interior is very comfortable and roomy and lots of storage. I think he said that in one locker he had placed 22 18-packs of beer in it before departing to the Bahamas.

The day has been nice and sunny and in the 70s with light 5 - 10 knot winds. Very nice. I did make up a new control line for the Genoa today. I had bought a 100' of ½ inch line several years ago for Luna Sea but never used it. I was able to use that line for the new control line. The control line is 76' long with the core removed from the first 39' so it will all fit on the drum when the sail is fully deployed.

I'm going to install it later today or tomorrow And try wrapping it in the other direction - the direction preferred in the installation manual and see if it works better. Unfortunately that will put the sun-protecting strip on the inside, but for a few weeks that will be fine.

No plans for the evening yet but we will do something - hmmmm maybe Mexican Train Dominoes ehhh!

Getting fat -- again -- in Vero Beach

Ahhh the living is easy here at the Vero Beach Marina.

We dashed out early this morning to run to the grocery and TJ Max and the Dive shop this morning. There is a weak cold front with rain in it coming through today. Would like to have those chores finished before the rain.

The dive shop is called the Deep Six and is a lot of fun. In addition to the dive stuff they have a huge assortment of beach wear - more beach footwear than anyplace I've seen. TJ MAX is just TJ MAX but what strikes you if you sit outside and wait on the wife to shop is all the people - woman - who bring back all the returns. Their bags have lots of stuff in them not a single item. One wonders whether they just wear stuff one time and return or really find that much defective or are such poor shoppers to always buy the wrong size. Returns of good are unheard of in the Bahamas. It is just not done or accepted. You buy it - you bought it.

Loaded up on more comfort foods at the grocery that you can't buy in the Bahamas. WE certainly don't need it and we have both lost some weight without it and should probably just not eat it - but we do. Ummmm good.

Europeans and Canadians included have a saying that it is always easy to spot the Americans in a crowd of foreigners --- they have the widest rear ends!

The rest of the afternoon was spent puttering on the boat and watching a steady parade of cruisers coming in - most returning from the Bahamas.

We visited with Ian and Sharon from Celtic Cross and had a great time.

The NOAA weather forecast was full of doom and gloom - small tornadoes possible, wind gusts to 40kts, torrential rain, and flooding. None if it happened. Just a short 5-minute lightning storm a little rain and no big wind gusts. Had to run the diesel generator to charge batteries since the solar panel and wind generator had such weak output.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Ahhhhh Back in Velcro Beach

We had a nice night in Hobe Sound near Jupiter Florida last night. That big ol wind just died away and it was very pleasant.

Today we wanted to make Vero Beach Marina and latch onto a mooring ball for a few days. We have shopper's withdrawal and grocery store envy. We pushed hard to make the last bus from the marina to the Publix. I just had to have a fine shrimp cocktail tonight plus one of those ubiquitous rotisserie chickens. Ohh I was drooling coming up the waterway today.

The trip was pretty uneventful. Certainly less boat traffic than yesterday and most pretty well behaved. We left the anchorage around 7:45am and made the Marina about 3pm. They assigned us to a mooring just across from the Gas dock and we are to raft to one boat already there. Well naturally the wind picked up and the current was running strong through here. I hailed the boat 'Cherie' on 16 and got no response. There was a dinghy trailing off the back so I hailed him on the hailer - Karen didn't like it but it seemed the thing to do.

Well I should trust first impressions and ask for a different mooring. The boat was a bit disheveled and so was the captain. I sailed near by and shouted my instructions - he just kept cupping his ear like he couldn't understand and had a dumb look about him. We got the fenders in order and the lines ready and pulled up next to him and Karen gave him the bow line. He just held it and didn't cleat it. Thus the strong current started to pull us back and he kept letting out more line. I grabbed a stern line and then reached over into his cockpit and tied one end to his winch and that stopped our reverse motion. He then weakly pulls on the bow line. I tell him to cleat it and I pull us over. I give him a spring line and he doesn't know how to attach or where.

Looking at his lines going to the mooring ring it is obvious that he has been here quite awhile and since he left no fenders out - he didn't really want to share. As a group cruisers are a great bunch but still there is a curmudgeon in every flock.

Once all was secured we dashed for the bus and caught the 3:45pm which actually goes to the beach, then back to the marina, then on to the grocery. What the hell - the bus is clean and great air-conditioning so we took the long trip to cool off.

We picked up some favorite foods - not too much - then back to the boat to munch on a shrimp cocktail and that fine rotisserie chicken. The Bahamas are great but something to be said for relatively cheap food.

Excuse me while I stuff my face again.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Back in the good ol USA!!

Ohhhh boy - don't expect much we are dog-tired.

We crossed from Great Sale Cay Grand Bahama Island to Lake Worth yesterday. Eighteen hours!! Most of it was very pleasant except for the last 25 miles to the Florida Coast. The wind piped up to a steady 18 with gusts to 22 (not forecast!) and it was rough. It can certainly get a lot worse but for us cruisers - it was rough.

We arrived of the Lake Worth Inlet about midnight because I was having problems rectifying my GPS course parms. I had a bearing of 249, I was on magnetic 244 and the GPS track kept saying 273!! Obviously a current affect but so close to the shore I didn't expect it. I finally gave up on the GPS track and navigated by compass to the outer mark. Tough ion the DARK!!

Once there I realized that I had not approached from the direction I thought I was coming from and was experiencing a lot of flood tide current.

We got in with difficulty and trepidation - the night vision is not as good as it once was. Found the anchorage which was quite full and had trouble finding a spot since distance was so difficult i9n the dark and several boats had no anchor light. We were finally secure by 1am!! Hit the sack shortly after that.

This morning I was up at 7am and cleaned up from the crossing and checked in with Homeland Security. We still had to present ourselves to their office at Rivera Beach. That was a JOKE. I had to pay $10 dollars to dock the dinghy that is not running well, the wind is blowing 20 kts this morning with a lot of fetch.

We went in to the office just as an officer finished with a customer. We made eye contact and he left. I expected him back. After a couple of minutes I noticed a bell on the desk. I thought about ringing it but that would probably make him mad so I waited a few more minutes. Then another officer came and took a startled look at us. He said you had to ring the bell to get service!!?? I suspect the first guy is playing a game. He probably sits there during the day and pulls his gun on the other agent!! What a BOZO!!
I suspect this type of work is what causes folks to "go postal".

We left soon after returning to the boat. We had both got completely soaked from the spray of the dinghy. We made reservations for Vero Beach tomorrow then motored to Hobe Sound this afternoon to anchor. We made 6 bridges!! It was not pretty. The wind was blowing 20+kts and we had a favorable current except forcing us into the bridges while we waited. Several Bridge Tenders asked us to bunch up before they opened but in these conditions it was terrible. Several us had to spin at the last minute to hit anything. We need to complain top the folks that have instructed these tenders to act like boat captains!!

Should sleep well tonight. It is still blowing 20+ this afternoon but the fetch is slight and the holding is great here in Hobe sound and the closest anchored boat is a ¼ mile away.

Were BACKKKKK!!!

Monday, March 30, 2009

ON OUR WAY!!

Sorry about missing yesterdays blog but between farewell parties and card playing and watching the boats dance in the stiff wind -- I just missed it. I'll make it up later.

We left Green Turtle Cay this morning and are heading back to the USA. Not sure of exact timing yet because of different weather forecasts. Could be in Fort Pierce as early as tomorrow morning or maybe Lake Worth by the weekend.

Keep tuned and I'll let you know -- watch position reports too during the day as I'll try to send more \than one a day.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Living is easy -- at the DOCK!

It's a better day. The forecast high winds never materialized overnight. It was windier in the afternoon. Ohh well at least everyone slept well last night. This morning the wind piped up around 9am and started to blow pretty stiff. In the next 2 hours 3 boats began to drag anchor and had to reset. One little motor boat that was tied to a dock was swamped by waves - tied stern to the wind/waves.

On the radio we heard one sailboat had "broke" his mast - as reported by a large motor yacht in the Whale Cay Passage - but waved off assistance.

We had a nice easy morning. I played radio and propagation once again was terrible. I checked in no where today. Later we did 3 loads of laundry and while Karen was supervising that I worked on the dinghy motor. I had found a crack in the old fuel line and replaced with a new spare. Made no difference. I then removed the carburetor and drained all fuel thinking possibly water trapped and found none. I checked some passages and all looked clean. Reassembled and made no difference. I then checked the sparks plugs again and made no difference. It is useable but runs fairly slow. Will have to wait till in Florida before troubleshooting further. Suspect the ignition control module or spark coil.

We had lunch at the restaurant - have to eat our dockage!! We are a little behind but will have dinner tonight. No drinks though - the expense is a killer. Yesterday we had one Tipsy Turtle and a Margarita and it was $17.25 for the pair. We will be drinking water tonight.

After lunch and a little nap I tackled the main engine primary fuel filter. I want to change it before crossing the Gulf Stream. The removal went well and it had debris in it but the suction had only risen to 8lbs. With the new filter the suction starts at 2 lbs so it was not bad. Generally you replace when the suction reaches 15 lbs.

I ran the engine for 20 minutes to be sure no air had got into the system, which would have required bleeding the system. This main engine has a mechanical pump that will self bleed the input line but if air gets past it then the system must be bled or she no runny.

I filled the filter assembly before installing it thus eliminating a long start up on the pump. I got lucky - no air and we should be good to go..

It's blowing hard this afternoon but the anchored boats and ours on the T-dock are behaving. Dinner tonight at the restaurant and then cards on Born to Cruise later on.. Ohhh yes and let's not forget -- real high pressure high water volume showers.. If you never lived on a boat you don't understand this simple pleasure that dirt dwellers take for granted.

This is going to be tough to leave!!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Near Disaster!!

Whooooa that was a close one today. You just never know when an innocent task could turn very bad!!

We have some very strong winds coming in tonight and through the weekend so we decided we wanted a safe harbour. Thus we left for White Sound GTC this morning to either anchor or get a slip. The Sea of Abaco was in a snit with 3 foot wind chop. All the cuts to the ocean were suggested to be unusable. It was rough out there today. Fortunately we had to cover only 4 miles on the Sea of Abaco.

We entered White Sound on the high tide and it was fine except for meeting an outgoing large power vessel that was intent on keeping the center of the narrow channel and not sharing. What a BOZO. Well with the high tide I could hug one edge with no problem. The anchorage looked manageable but I was thinking with the dinghy motor on the fritz, lots of laundry, and a need to get some provisions, water and fuel before leaving for Florida we should go to the marina. That and the holding is not ideal in White Sound, it was crowded, and lots of wind 20 -25 SW - S - WNW predicted to begin tonight through Saturday and early Sunday - let's go to a Marina..

Well I called the Green Turtle Club and they had a spot on a T-dock for me - usually an easy access. Well there was a large mega yacht already there but room in front of it. The wind had died down to 10 or less so I just went right for it with the wind to my back which is not really bad but preferably you want it on the nose. Well we eased in and Karen threw a bow line to the dock master, I stopped the boat and left the cockpit to throw a stern line. The dock master says I'm still moving foreword - because of wing and he is leading the bow line forward like leading a horse.; He should have taken the line aft to stop and hold me. I jump back and reverse hard. The stern kicks away from the dock so I throw a midship line onto the dock. He is still fussing with the bow line, I say "you better grab that line before it pulls off the dock. He saunters to it grabs it and tries to pull me back but a big gust (20 kts reported by the boat waiting to come in behind me) catches me and is putting me perpendicular to the dock. I now about ready to wrap around the bow of the mega yacht. I yell to cast the line off and for Karen to cast off the bow line. I need to leave and in a HURRY!!. We are just inches from the bow of the mega yacht when my prop finally digs in and pulls me away - perpendicular - from the dock. Whew that was too close!! Even the dock master had big eyes!!

I turn around a lightly run aground just off the dock. I power away stirring up mud then come from behind the mega yacht and into the wind and work the boat into the dock where the dock master and friendly boaters catch our lines and problem solved.

Two things went terribly wrong and both were the dock master fault. First he should have taken that bow line and lead it aft to a cleat/piling and fasten it. That would have stopped my forward motion and allow me to power the stern into the dock. With that not done right he could have taken the midship line and fasten it rather than hold it and that would have stopped me from going forward and moving further from the dock. Grrrrr just total lack of experience and really knowing NOTHING about docking. NO TIP WAS PRESENTED.

Once in and relaxed we rented a golf cart with Born to Cruise and went to town for groceries and stuff. It was just too rough for a long dinghy ride and min e is not working very well. It was only $35 for a half day on a golf cart and we split it. Then after depositing the groceries we rode around a bit and visited different beach overlooks to watch the spectacular large waves coming in from the ocean and the real wind has not even arrived yet!!

Boy the showers here at Green Turtle Club are really nice and it felt GREAT. It has been a month since I took a real shower. Boy I smell good now..

Tomorrow will be dinghy motor work and changing diesel fuel filters in anticipation of a gulf stream crossing mid week next week. We will stay here till Sunday or Monday.

I'm going to sleep well to night tied to the dock!!

Ohh it is a bit expensive but they have a special on till the end of the month were I can subtract whatever I owe from the dockage from anything we spend in the restaurant or bar -- We will be eating out but not much. Food and drinks are quite expensive here. For example a Tipsy Turtle and a Margarita was $17.25 tonight -- that's just one of each!! Maybe we can afford lunch tomorrow.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sea Glass Bonanza!!

Sea Glass Galore!!! We hit the "mother lode" today.

The day started a little bouncy. The wind laid down a bit but there was a surge in the anchorage that became irritating. Later in the morning Born to Cruise suggested moving near Rat Cay - just about ¼ mile to the East and try that. It was a good idea. Not only would it relieve the surge but we could test the fix to the prop shaft coupler.

I tested the prop shaft before pulling the anchor. Then we tested reverse and moved the boat. Anchor dropped easily and we backed it down smartly. A quick check of shaft and fasteners showed all in order.

During the morning we monitored the progress of several boats trying to get around the Whale today and up here to Manjack and GTC to stage for a crossing early next week. It was interesting hearing everyone's comments and none found it too difficult but certainly a handful.

Celtic Cross and Sweet Chariot joined us here at Manjack. Sand Castle went into White Sound.

After lunch we took dinghies to the beach - a "sweet spot" Jill and Wayne knew about. Ohhh it was sweet. The amount of Sea Glass was huge. Very nice large thick pieces and lots of colors. Ohhh we could not pull Jill and Karen away. Sharon from Celtic Cross and Laura from Sweet Chariot joined us. There was glass for everyone..

It was a difficult wet ride over in the dinghies but worth it. Or so I thought!!

The dinghy performed great going over but on the way back it would not come up to full power. It would go but rather slowly and it took awhile to get back. The cover is off and it is cooling right now. I suspect either clogged spark plugs or water in the carburetor. I'll check in a bit.

Tonight should be great fun. We are having dinner again with Born to Cruise but on their boat and then later the crews from Celtic Cross - Ian and Sharon and also the crew from Sweet Chariot will join us for some Mexican Train Dominoes.. Should be a great night - just need to get the dinghy going better first. Always something it seems.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ahhhh Success -- Engine Drive train repaired!!

Whoa -- the wind has really piped up today. Actually it blew strong all night and I was a bit anxious and all seeing how I had no reverse gear in my boat in case we needed to do an emergency re-anchor.

Well it worked out just fine. Just like 99.995% of the time where these fears are really just that -- fears.

We had an enjoyable night playing dominoes over at Born to Cruise with Jill and Wayne and the crew from Whisper -- Pattie and Ray. Very enjoyable evening.

Today I did little this morning. With the wind blowing 20+ on my little Delta Anchor - which has never failed yet - I was uncomfortable working on the shaft coupler incase we needed to more abruptly. After lunch with no abatement in the wind and everything holding fine I went ahead and disassembled the coupler to see if possibly I could "finesse" it back into position rather than using my perceived brute force method of just driving the boat HARD until it reseated. I had little hope since last summer I had to drive the shaft into the coupler from the outside using a 3lb Ball Peen hammer.

Well I disassembled it and cleaned the shaft and hub with solvent. Then using a fine sand paper I polished the shaft and inside hub. I found a slight burr on the edge of the prop shaft so I removed it with light filing. Then I greased all surfaces using that white lithium grease with Teflon and tried to reassemble. It would only go on about ½ inch by hand. Then I found that if I took a 16" wonder bar and lightly tapped the face of the hub it slowly moved on the shaft. Surprisingly using only light taps I was able to get it all the way into position for the setscrews - ALL RIGHT!!

To avoid this problem in the future I got Wayne to come and advise me in how to safety wire the setscrews. Ohh I had done that wrong originally.. He showed me how to do it and with the help of some loctite on the threads this problem should not recur. I hope so.

After a celebratory beer or two it was back to reading for the afternoon. It is just too windy to leave the boat this afternoon. Fortunately moderation of wind is predicted for tonight and it will be downright nice tomorrow. Unfortunately listening to the VHF there is a whole pass ale of boats waiting to cross the Whale and come up here and GTC to wait for the next weather window to head back to the US.

There is a small window today through Friday but it is not ideal with a 7 foot swell and 3 foot wind chop so we will wait a little longer. That and I want to test my fix to the prop shaft a bit first before heading out across the Atlantic.

Even though it is windy - we plan another night of games with the crew of Born to Cruise, and Celtic Cross hopes to be here tomorrow night for even more games.. Yahoo -- I fell better now that my prop shaft coupling has been repaired!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Mark of the Beast 6 6 6

Sailors as a lot are a superstitious bunch. I try not to but I'm doubly affected because of my Italian heritage. Now Italians are superstitious - big TIME.

This morning started innocently enough until I took my readings from my weather station for reporting on the Basra Weather net at 7am. The outside temperature was 66.6 degrees Fahrenheit or as the superstitious think "mark of the BEAST". I didn't think much of it at the time but as this day unfolded - maybe there was something there..

We left White Sound this morning at 7:15am to get away on the high tide and that went well. I tried dragging the dinghy using 2 lines and that worked pretty good but I wouldn't do it for more than a couple of miles. Manjack is only 4 miles away so why not.

We arrived in the anchorage around 8:30am and it was looking good. Nice spot near Born to Cruise. We dropped the hook - the CQR - backed down and damn - just drug back and would not set. Ohh well - pulled the hook up and dropped the Delta. It was biting easily and we backed it down but the line never went taunt. Karen said "Ahhh we have a problem here". She had reversed but no load on the prop. A quick look at the prop shaft showed the engine turning but the prop shaft Not Damn - it had backed out of the coupler and thus no longer connected to the engine but fortunately it stopped just shy of the coupler and had not pulled out all the way - whew!!!

We had a good breeze which seemed to set the anchor. I jumped in the dinghy and pulled with it against the boat and all seemed right. Ohhh well it happens.

Gosh it was only 9am so we just settled in. I opened the engine compartment to cool it and we visited with Born to Cruise. They said they found the mother lode of sea glass yesterday. Karen was excited so she left later with Jill and Wayne to hunt sea glass. I stayed to work on the engine.

The real gothcha once I removed the coupling hub was the shaft key was missing. Ohhh that is bad since there is no way to lock the coupler to the shaft. Aaaack!!.. I looked around thinking it was thrown when the shaft pulled out. I finally reached under the engine and just felt with my fingers since I couldn't see anything and - oh boy - I found it!!

I then tried to put the hub back on the shaft. It would start about ½ inch then stop. When I had it off before I had to beat it on with a 3lb Ball Peen from the outside - that option was not available today. I tried to work it on but it just would not go.

I had a little light lunch then put the wet suit on and headed for the water. Damn - I could wedge myself between the rudder and the prop but still no movement. Unfortunately no one available to help since they all went sea glass hunting.

Ohh well a couple of beers and my new Barefoot Man CD and the issue was not so bad anymore. Heck - the shaft is started and will turn from the engine so even though it is not locked I still can go forward but no reverse - that will work in an emergency.

Since the prop pulled out while in reverse maybe I can drive it back in by going forward. Hell it's worth a try and I'll try it when the glass hunters return. Gosh hunting must be great because it is 4:30pmn and nobody back yet!!

Ohh the other issue was when I sent the position report this morning and tried to shut the PC down it would not turn off. I had to force it down via the 6 second power switch.

I sure hope bad things are not happening in 3s today. I'm one short right now.