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.