December 20-26 Jacksonville to Fort Pierce

An Avenger.  

We were all packed and ready to leave in the morning as I walked to Hertz on Cassat street to pick up the car.  I opted to decline the use of a more luxurious car for $50 and stuck with the Dodge Avenger.  The Avenger is ah, well not the best car.  But it was cheap.

I returned to Huckins, and we loaded it up and left before noon for Destin where we decided to spend the first night.  Actually is really Sandestin where we did the condo thing for several years.  We do like it there.

Sandestin Beach

We got a bargain rate on a really nice room and had enough time to walk the beach.  Still great!  And the water was actually not too cold!  We treated ourselves to breakfast the next morning at the Broken Egg and hit the road for the Hampton Inn in Paducah.  Guess we really are creatures of habit since we have stayed there several times in the past.

We got into our room around 9 and left early the next morning for Ixonia.  We made it by 6pm!  This route we rake through Illinois is not heavily traveled and the only toll we have to pay is $1.90.  Beats the traffic hassles of Chicago and the tolls there.

We pretty much went right t bed and Monday we stayed put and took care of some computer work and sorted out all the stuff we brought including presents that had to be wrapped and fetched from Greg and Laura's.

Learning the finer points of TV watching 

The next day we had lunch with some friends and relatives at Dan and Judy's.  And we stopped by to see Jan and Bob.

Birthday Girl.  How Old?  Young.  Very, very young.

The the next day took off for Green Bay and Mary's checkups.  Creatures of habit we stayed in the Suamico Country Inn Suites again.  Also visited Woodmans and bought olive oil at the Oilerie, now with a branch store in Suamico right near the hotel.

Mary had her CT scan at 8am and after we stopped at the stadium to checkout remodeled areas.   And then stopped in to see Amanda who does Mary's hair and cuts mine.

After that we started back to Ixonia but stopped first at  Simons Cheese factory to load up on cheese for the Hagens.

Once back in Ixonia we started packing for the Three Bears Resort in Warrens where we were meeting all the kids and grandkids for a few days of waterpark fun and Christmas.  Since we wont be around for the real Christmas we decided to have a pre-Christmas Christmas while we were in the state.

Brant and LeAnn beat us to the resort but we were all there within an hour of each other.  Its basically a 2 storey cabin with a loft for the kids.  Pretty neat.  We, well they really, cooked so were able to eat in and not have to go out to a restaurant.

After unpacking what else could we do but hit the water park.  Those of us more senior lingered in the hot tub which admittedly was more lukewarm the hot.  But I asked one of the LIfe Guards about it and he said it would be warmer tomorrow.  I can only hope.

One of the hot tub pools has an outdoor area where you can swim outside and sit in the warm water.  SInce it was only in the 40's that was an option we exercised.  Very nice.

The next day we loitered around the cabin before heading to the water park again where the water temps were more normal.  Hot tub was really hot this time!

Presents!

Later we returned to the cabin and opened presents.  Amazing how littered a large room can get opening gifts.

I also called the Hertz guy in Jacksonville and extended the rental another two days until Friday.  We were debating whether or not to stay in Green Bay and wait for the results but decided we'd just head back to Ixonia and leave the next day and see what develops.

Holy crap are we old!

Us, minus Mary, Laura and me

Visiting at the nursing home

We stopped in to see my Mother and Kathy, Dave and my sister at the nursing home.   Thanks for the cake Kath!

Jonah.  Chocolate Cake.  Nothing more to add

The drive back was a 2 day trek.  Ixonia to Paducah and then Paducah to Jacksonville.    Long days in the car.

New Stove

We arrived back at Huckins late at night and only unloaded a few essential things from the car.  The new stove was in and working and the fuel leaks were taken care of but the oil leak is still a mystery but I'm thinking its the water pump shaft seal now.  We'll see when we run down to Stuart and I can sit down in the engine room and watch.

Old on the left.  New on the right.

One of our VHF ICOM radios has a command mic which has a badly frayed cord.  I was talking to one of the yard electronic guys about it and he mentioned he had a spare.  $50.  I took it and it works great!

The marina cats know me now as the guy who feeds them and so anytime I'm out walking in the boat yard I'll have several cats trailing behind me.  For feral cats, they sure are affectionate.

I was up at 7 to do some initial weather checking decided it would be better for us to leave today rather then wait until Sunday.  Its hard to pry yourself away from the dock sometimes.  But the weather was looking rather ominous  Tuesday night in to Wednesday so we elected to leave today which would give us plenty of time to make it to Fort Pierce by Tuesday where we could spend some time with Brent and Susan.  Next we'll stay at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart for a week or so before heading across Lake Okeechobee to the western side of Florida.

Big Boat

Look on the bow.  Jaguar?

As we made out way ut of the Ortega River and into Jacksonville we had to idle around for about 20 minutes waiting for the railway bridge to open.  2 trains.  Long, long freight trains had to pass across the bridge before it would open.  As we went through the bridge we passed this rather gargantuan motor yacht.  

I could see the scratches on the hull

Leaving Jacksonville almost ran into a big car carrying ship.  5 danger blasts were sounded by the tugs.  I had thought I could go in front if the ship and make it out of the way before it completed its turn into a small side channel.  We made it fine but I guess the tugs weren't all that pleased with us.  Oh well.

Strong currents as we made our way to St. Augustine

We had the tidal current pushing us down the St. Johns River and into the ICW so were making good time.




We pulled into the St. Augustine Mooring field (pdf) and finally secured the mooring pendant on the third try.  Guess we've gotten a tad rusty. And  we did loose a boat hook but Mary, using one of the 3 spares we have on board, retrieved it!   In our defense the current and wind was substantial which made the whole operation rather difficult.

We paid for the mooring over the phone but one of the marina guys still had to drive out with a form for u to fill out and sign.  Odd since were were here for a week this spring.

Mooring field at St. Augustine

St. Augustine was in party mode.  The entire water front was ladened with festive Christmas lights.  You gotta love palm trees decorated up with Christmas lights and ornaments.  And it being Saturday night the crowd noise was impressive even out by us.   Revelers finally quieted down around midnight.

St. Augustine waterfront all lite up

It was a comfortable night knowing we weren't drifting anywhere, but it was bouncy with the wind driven waves battling the tidal current.
We left the mooring at 8am intending to just drive thru the Bridge of Lions, but the tide was very high and the height board was showing 17 feet but with 4 feet additional clearance at the center of the span.  Since it was almost 8am and the bridge was going to open anyway we waited a few minutes and went thru as it opened.

Hit a few other 20-something bascule bridges on the way to Daytona Beach and so I took out little stub mast off.  With it down we have cleared the bridge in Chicago which is 19' 1".  So in theory we could get under almost all these bridges.  But, when you starting thru and and looking up there is that moment of unease.  Its almost an automatic reaction to yank back the throttles and start backing away.

We went through the area of Flagler Beach where we began encountering clusters of these high end homes.  Huge places.

What can I say!

Wait!  Vacuuming is better than napping?

We came into Daytona and since it was only 2:30 we decided to go all the way to Rockhouse Creek where we have never anchored before even though people tell us is such a great place.   So we by-passed usual spot near Memorial Bridge and made it into Rockhouse creek around 3:45pm.

 Paradigm, a sailboat we talked with on the radio a few times on the way here was already anchored.  It was only the both of us in the anchorage.  The weather is supposed to be rainy but not windy and the moderate current here will swing us in the opposite direction which isnt a problem for us.  Its' a very good anchorage adjacent to New Smyrna Beach.  

Rockhouse creek.  Paradigm in the distance

Boy, did it rained last night.  A lot.  Buckets worth but no leaks any where except a few smaller ones up on the fly bridge where we only have a sunbrella enclosure.  Decks were sure nice and clean.  And it made nice sleeping for the most part except when the thunderstorms rolled through which woke me up.  Winds though were surprisingly light and we didn't move except with the currents which swung us around 180 degrees as expected.

We left before Paradigm.  Unusual because sailboat people usually leave well before we are beginning to wake up.  But we had a 73 mile day and daylight hours are relatively short during this tie of the year.

As we wound our way through New Smyrna Beach I suddenly couldn't make sense of the chart plotter display.  Turns out it had activated the wrong route and I was right in front of a bifurcation buyou and couldnt remember which channel we should be taking.  I was fairly certain we should be turning to starboard so thats what we did while I fiddled with the charting software and finally brought up the correct route.

After that, the excitement fizzled into a long and sedate 8 hours running in the ICW in Florida which is basically a marked channel through broad swampy low lands.  Mary fell asleep and I read a book and fiddled with our new waterproof  Blue Tooth capable speaker trying to get my laptop to play songs through it and not the laptop speakers.  Epic fail so far.  I should mention I did have the auto pilot on so at least the boat was being actively maneuvered.

It was a dolphin day today.  We had several instances of pods running with us and even a few playing in our puny bow wave.

There were a few bridges with vertical clearances of 21 feet or more.  We can get under a 19 foot, 1 inch bridge but still ... Going under a 21 foot bridge is a trifle disconcerting.   But being brave souls fortified with my notes on our air clearance we breezed right through them.  Very convienient to go junder a bridge and not have to wait for an opening.

Haulover Canal

After going through the endless Mosquito_Lagoon we made the turn into Haulover Canal leading us to this stretch of the ICW towards Titusville which I cant ever seem to navigate without getting out of the channel and upsetting the depth sounder which blares a warning of shallow water.  Haven't gone aground yet, but its been close in the past.  And so it was again today.  I think next we we run up this way I'll just set the auto pilot to do all the steering.

Leaving Haulover Canal with our contingent of dolphns

And there was a French couple in a sailboat behind us and seemingly following our every turn.  They spoke very little english which was probably a blessing since we wandered around a bit trying to find the damn channel.  Hopefully they didn't follow to closely.  I was actually afraid to look back and see.

Shuttle assembly building and a launch pad

We went by Cape Canaveral and saw what I think was Falcon launch pad.  The Falcon is the rocket designed and operated by SpaceX.   And the giant shuttle assembly building is still there and hasn't shrunk.

Went passed Cocoa_Beach and didn't stop there.  Again.  There is a nice big anchorage there and the town is supposed to be a great place to visit.


We breezed into Melbourne on glass smooth ICW and anchored near the Eau Gallie Causeway.  Only a few other sailboats and a calm and mild forecast for tonight.

Anchoring by the Eau Gallie Causeway in Melbourne

Early morning departure from Melbourne

We left on a smoky calm morning but as we headed south the winds began to pickup and so did the heat.  It was getting hot.  We had several pods of dolphins wander over to check us out but we dont have the preferred bow wave to entice them to stay much.  Despite Marys singing.

The winds were creating some good size swells and combined with the tidal flow we weren't making much beyond 6.5 mph.  And of course thats a perfect time to have an engine issue, right?

The Glendinning (Engine synchronizer) became incapable of keeping the engines in sync with rapid increases and decreases of rpms.  I shut tit down but then noticed the port engine was having difficulty keeping itself running at a specific rpm.   It had to be a fuel filter problem so I went down in the engine room and switched the Racor fuel filter over to the spare and it seemed to settle down somewhat.  I'll have to change all the fuel filters when we get tied up at the Marina.

It was a long day traveling through these large areas of very shallow water in the ICW channel.  As we made our way further south the parade of gargantuan homes began.   It's hard to imagine how even a large family could utilize all the space in some of these things.

Tied up in Taylor Creek at Harbortown Marina Ft. Pierce

We came through the North Causeway bridge and made the turn into Taylor creek.  Harbortown Marina is right on the creek and we just gently slide alongside the face bock and tied up.

Bugs and Rum! (no, its not real)

We found Brent and Susan and made plans for a little cocktail party that evening.  They had their friends, Bon and Lynette visiting and they came over.  Great time.  Bob and Lynette even gave us a present:  Superb re-creation of a Palmetto Bug left in a pile of napkins for us to discover.  Funny! They also brought over a bottle of some very good rum, Matusalem for all of us to try.  Its origins are Cuban.

It's a sippin rum but Mary inadvertently filled up everyones glass with enough "shots" to almost drain the bottle.   As you might imagine, the evening became steadily livelier.

Our guests eventaully weaved there way off the boat for the restuarant and then I grilled a pork roast.  And then we went to bed with visions of dinghy testing and fuel filter changes dancing in my head.

We also discovered the resident pelicans here hang around our dock and go through bouts of shenanigans where they splash and chase each other often times banging into the boat.  We had 7 of them sitting on our swim platform before I closed up the sundeck.

Ft. Pierce City Marina looking east towards the ocean

Today we did a little maintenance and got the big dinghy down to see how it fared after being unused for a few months.  Started up and after a few minutes wasn't stumbling so we took it out for a spin to the Fort Pierce City Marina.  They have been steadily remodeling it over the last few years.  It's been enlarged quite a bit.  Nice place.

We ran back to our Marina and filled the dinghy up with fresh gas before tying it up to out boat.  We walked to the Publix ab out 1/3 mile away for some food items for tonights party on Brent and Susans boat.

My crappy camera but thats Liz, Steve and Susan on their boat

We cooked for a few hours and then walked over to their boat.  I stopped briefly to talk to Fred and Judy who we met in Stuart when we first purchased the boat.  They are here because the Loggerhead marina in Stuart wont allow you to stay on board more than 5 consecutive nights.  Bizzare.

We had some great laughs before eating dinner up on their upper deck.  Then I walked back to get Triviall Pursuit.  Women against Men.  You can guess which side was The outcome was ... well really.  Are there really, any losers?

The women went off to church after the game while I stayed aboard and did a little fuel filter maintenance and some planning on where we were going.  I think we'll head into Stuart for a few days before embarking on our first Okeechobee experience which will take us to the west coast of Florida.