Moving to Stuart, Florida

We got ourselves and Odissea xx ready to leave bright and early - Jesse and Ginny Price on Wind Dust, the Nauticat we are rafted to, have decided to come along with us to Stuart. At the last minute, Jesse looked a little nervous about leaving as he was picking up approaching rain showers on his equipment. We waited about 5 minutes and then Blair made a decision to leave. The next thing you know, up went the lines with everyone springing into action, and away we went. It was great to be underway. We left the rain showers behind us, had a rather uneventful motorsail into Stuart. Wind Dust was in our hip pocket through the trip. We had a minor tense moment trying to line up our approach through the last bridge before Sunset Bay Marina, but it all worked out. Blair called the Marina for a mooring assignment - #51- the bizarre thing is that they gave Wind Dust the same assignment - dear old Ruth..lol!
Weather is gorgeous - warm, sunny - vast improvement over Vero Beach.
We spend the next week exploring Stuart - the restaurants, shopping, and the sights. It is a very pretty town and there have been many improvements over the years. It looks as though it has been "restored" from a kind of "hippy flower power" kind of hangout. We meet up with some friends from last year and that is fun. Mike and Judy McKendy on Sea Sharp arrive from Fort Pierce with their friends, Jacquie and Roger on Audacious - we have a terrific evening on our boat with this bunch singing along with Mike who was on the guitar. We are able to add Mike's signature to our valued Cuban guitar!
As the week goes on, Sea Sharp and Audacious jump at the opportunity to head out and position themselves for an approaching weather window to the Bahamas. We are envious but realize that the window is small and the possibility that it may disappear or shift is real. We need to be home for Christmas and cannot afford to put the boat in a position where there is no safe place to keep her if we can't make it to Ocean Reef Resort in Freeport. So we opt for the sure thing and commit to leaving the boat in Stuart on a mooring while we are at home for the holidays.
The weather is also starting to cool off and we resort to using our heater and the propane stove to keep warm - often the night time temperature is at freezing. I am now looking forward to going home. If it is going to be cold, it will be nice to have a good warm home to enjoy.
Bev and Dave Patzer on their Gemini in the Sunset Bay mooring field have their car here and offer to take us to the West Palm Beach airport. Everyone is making their Christmas plans. I, for one, am glad to be going home as I miss my kids and friends and family. We have a good-bye bash on our boat the night before we leave - Jesse and Ginny on Wind Dust, Dave and Bev on BackRoads, Dave and Joanne on Tropical Breeze, Eric and Ellen on West Wind, and Carl and Laura on Ekotopia. We listen between fits of laughter to the tale of Eric landing in the water off of Ramba's boat - hysterically funny - my retelling does the story little justice. For a truly first hand account, visit the Tropical Breeze website @ svtropicalbreeze.com
On Sunday, December 12th, Dave Patzer drives us out to the airport and we arrive back in Toronto to snow and cold temperatures. Carmen picks us up at the airport and makes a stop at Swiss Chalet. And now begins the frenzy and flurry of activity to prepare for Christmas.
Some Interesting Facts About Stuart, Florida:
Our boat is on a mooring at Sunset Bay Marina which is just west of the Roosevelt and Railroad Bridges. It was once the popular city-owned and operated Southpoint Anchorage. It has since been cleaned up and improved - and although it can tend to be vulnerable to rolling in the mooring field with the wind and passing fishing and power boats, it is still a popular spot - the staff are efficient and go out of their way to make your stay here worthwhile.
The countryside surround Stuart provides a little bit of everything for which Florida is noted: citrus, winter vegetables, flowers and cattle. Although agriculturally important, the emphasis throughout the area has shifted from farming to sport fishing. Both the outside and inside waters provide outstanding fishing.
Downtown Stuart's facelift and revitalization has been a boon for residents and tourists. The restored Lyric Theatre features plays and concerts and the once abandoned city blocks have been transformed into gift shops, art galleries, and trendy restaurants. In fact, it was in one of these antique shops that I picked up some original articles from magazines related to WWII and Hitler for Michael, the history buff. But just to emphasize the importance of the Lyric Theatre, it should be noted that for over 80 years, this theatre has played a leading role in bringing quality entertainment to the Treasure Coast. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this cultural showplace is a keystone of downtown Stuart. The Lyric was built in 1925, and opened in 1926 as a silent movie house with a small stage for vaudeville acts. At that time, it was the largest building in Martin County. Over the years, the building was used for a variety of purposes, including for the Talking Pictures ("talkies"_ which debuted at the Lyric in 1930. Throughout the 1960's and 70's, the Lyric was converted to use strictly as a performing arts auditorium. The Theatre was purchased in 1978 by the New Life in Christ Church as a venue for its weekly services. By 1987, the church had plans to move, and there was talk of razing the Lyric to make room for new offices and shops. A group of community-minded citizens came together to purchase the property and use its restoration as the cornerstone for the revitalization of historic downtown Stuart. Today the Lyric hosts hundreds of shows each year, and is a dynamic catalyst for cultural and economic growth on the Treasure Coast. The original cost of construction of the theatre in 1925 was $100,000.00.

Pre-Departure Repairs

The first item to take care of this morning is to make a phone call to Vinny, the Yamaha man, to order a new impeller for the outboard. We end up having to buy a kit with the impeller included. Jesse and Ginny kindly give us a ride over to the dock to meet Vinny. Blair promptly gets to work on the outboard, but alas: there is another problem. We need a new gas line which we add to our list of necessities for this afternoon. Bert and Marlene Meadley from CBYC in Toronto (and also friends of Jan Hadfield's - small world) have a condo in Fort Pierce, Florida and have volunteered to pick us up and help us with any items we need to pick up. We don't find everything that we need but we do have a new gas line, groceries, wine, and a new digital TV antenna. The antenna is an experiment, but it seemed like a fun purchase.
It was a pretty rainy day - actually more like showers sweeping in and out. We had to time our dinghy ride back to the boat from the dock between the raindrops. We had a drink at the Riverside Cafe, at the foot of the bridge near the marina. We treated Bert and Marlene as a very small token of our appreciation for all their help. It was fun to hear their sailing adventure stories about their journey to the Bahamas without a chart plotter.
Once safely back aboard Odissea, Blair and I get to work hoisting the dinghy up and tying it down. Jesse and Ginny do the same on their boat, and we confirm our plans to head out to Stuart in the morning.
Surprise of all surprises, on our way back to the boat from the dock, we come upon Southern Cross IV (Andy, Isabella, and Max) on a mooring, rafted to another boat in the Vero Beach mooring field. They are having a Sirius satellite installation done on their boat. They wander over in their dinghy later after dark for a drink and we catch up about our adventures over the last week. We say goodbye to them once again at the end of the evening.
It has been a great mooring here in Vero Beach, and our earlier apprehension about rafting has proven to be unnecessary as we have ended up meeting Jesse and Ginny. We have been moored on the farthest mooring ball from the Marina dock and have watched the egrets and the herons fishing not more than 25 feet or so from our boat. There are plenty of manatee in the area, although we haven't seen any. They call this area "Velcro Beach" because apparently once you get here, it is hard to leave - you stick to it like velcro! I would have liked to have seen the beach close by, but we were so busy solving the outboard problem. Having said that, we are more interested in pushing ahead to Stuart where we can have access to internet, complete some mechanical type installations, and watch the weather for a window to the Bahamas.

Adventures in Vero Beach

Today was a very sleepy lazy kind of day with no rushing to get anywhere. We slept in a little and then Blair went to work clearing off the hatch exit in the aft cabin. Jesse and Ginny Price (our rafting partners on s/v Wind Dust) told us the story of the electrical fire on their last sailboat (a Vagabond) caused by a lightning strike and how quickly the boat became engulfed in flames. That scared us enough to cause us to clear the exit for the aft cabin. We also got the dinghy in the water and the engine mounted on her. We decided that we would have some lunch and then head over to the marina office to get on land for a short while anyway. Given that it is Sunday, nothing is really open but we were looking forward to a respite from the boat.
We climbed into the dinghy, laden down with a backpack, a purse, and a couple of bags of garbage to dispose of - headed down the centre of the array of other moored boats when we heard that dreaded sputtering noise - the outboard died! Good heavens, not another incident! We were only halfway down toward our destination but if you have to row (with only one oar no less), it is a long way. Blair frantically tied to get the motor going while I grab hold of an ugly looking line protruding from a mooring ball so that we can stabilize ourselves from drifting into the mosquito infested bushes off to the side. We stare longingly down towards our boat at the most extreme end of the mooring field, wishing that Jesse was there ready to run to our rescue in his dinghy - of course, he is out somewhere, which in some bizarre way makes this particular misadventure even funnier. Finally, a very kind man on a Morgan Out Island shouts out an offer to give us a tow - and we are not too proud to refuse. As we approach our boat being dragged along by our rescuers, Ginny spots us, and it is a wonder she can keep a straight face. She manages to do so, but we do find the time very shortly afterwards to dissolve into fits of laughter. Jesse returns on his dinghy and he offers some assistance to Blair. Blair manages to isolate the problem in the motor by taking it apart in the dinghy. By now the garbage bags are ripped open and we have small garbage bags and wine bottles rolling around on the stern deck with me chasing around after them. How I love boating! We know which part Blair needs for tomorrow to complete the repair (fingers crossed), so we pack up, just in time to gather up all our loose stuff from the decks before a good sweeping rain washed through.
Jesse and Ginny invited us over to their boat for a drink and a tour. What a beautiful layout they have - it is a motor sailer with a pilot house - lots of wood - extremely nice and comfortable boat.
We finish the day off with a pork roast, some music, and a reasonable bedtime.

Arriving Velcro Beach

Bright and early, once again, we head out from our anchorage at Cocoa, Florida. The departure was uneventful - in other words: seamless - YEAH! The day was overcast and as I sat in the cockpit facing the stern for the majority of the day, I could see the dark sky in the distance. It looked brighter ahead toward our destination at Vero Beach (or "Velcro Beach" as it seems to be affectionately known among cruisers and visitors to the area). As the day began clouding over more and more, there were plenty of small boats and fishermen running for cover. Blair finally had to put on his foul weather coat when the cold front swept through. The channel was narrow on the way for the bulk of the day - and many of the markers were in different spots than on the charts and the chart plotter.
Blair did all the steering (by autopilot when he was able, and by hand when necessary through the markers). The only time the autopilot failed, of course, is when Blair went down below and left me in charge at the helm - hell...I hate that! I was only too happy to surrender the wheel back to Blair. The only other very minor episode occurred when Blair begged me to relieve him for a toilet break. There were so few boats out that I was confident that I could manage to keep Odissea centred in the deepest part of the channel for at least five minutes. However, to add interest to this was the fact that the speaker in the cockpit is now not operating at all - it appears to be, not the wiring (as originally suspect), but the speaker itself that has malfunctioned. As Blair left the cockpit for the head, a catamaran on our stern sent a radio message: "Sailboat flying a Canadian flag approaching marker number 40, please advise which side we can pass you on." Holy smokes, why now!!? Once I shook off the fact that I was being asked to perform two functions (steering and operating the radio at the same time), I gave myself a quick stern talking to, reached for the portable hand held radio, pushed one of the buttons on the side, and responded in my best official voice: "You may pass our sailboat on the port side." There, I had done it. I waited, but no response from the catamaran. Miraculously, Blair appeared and I was overjoyed to see him. He returned to the wheel, and I quickly told him that I had asked the cat to pass on our port side. The next thing we know, the cat is passing on the starboard side, and is contacting us again by radio with their intentions. Now, the funny part to all this is that Blair is unable to respond to them because , unknown to me, I have locked the radio - that was the button I had pushed and held on the radio (the "lock" button), thinking I was having a radio conversation with the catamaran. All Blair could say to me after this was that I should ask for a refund from the sailing school that I had taken my lessons from a couple of years ago. I decide I don't want to steer again today. I spend the rest of the day wondering what our approach and arrival in Vero Beach is going to bring us. We decided to first go to the fuel dock for fuel, a pumpout, and to fill up the water tanks. I am a little apprehensive about this, but aside from the minimal amount of help from the city employee at the dock, the first experience we have had with a dock since St. Augustine goes reasonably smoothly. Blair gets our mooring assignment and we study it, mapping our strategy for the approach both cautiously and meticulously. We will be rafting up on a mooring with another boat, and we have absolutely no idea what this is going to look like. We get all kinds of fenders ready on the port side of the boat so that the starboard side will be free for us to run the generator twice a day without irritating the hell out of everyone around us. As we approach the boat on our assigned mooring, they have their dinghy tied to the side we want to raft on to - and they have positioned some fenders on to the port side of their boat. OH NO...my heart races as we approach their boat and Blair has a conversation with them. Change of plans - we will tie to their port side. Now I race to untie the fenders and move them to the other side of our boat, with Blair nudging me to hurry. He tried to sound calm, but there is an edge of panic in his voice nonetheless. We circled around a number of boats on their moorings, and I said a million Hail Mary's that we will not come anywhere near them. The couple on the boat we will raft to have lines ready to throw to us, and I have lines to throw to them. Blair slinks up close to them and we all start throwing lines all over, tying up every cleat we can find. They look just as nervous as we do, but they are a tremendous help. By the time the last line is dropped through the ring in the mooring, we all breathe a huge sigh of relief. They turn out to be a very lovely couple: Jesse and Ginny Price on a very pretty Nauticat. They come aboard a short time after our successful arrival, and we share and swap adventure and stories - and plenty of laughs.
We finish off our day with a pasta dinner on the boat, and head off to bed, knowing that we can sleep in as we are safely tied up to a mooring at the Vero Beach Municipal Marina.
Some interesting facts about Vero Beach, Florida:
Vero Beach has an affluent ocean resort that is close to the ICW, although the city itself is a couple of miles inland. Vero Beach also processes much of the Indian River citrus crop before shipping it to points around the country.

The Sights on the Journey to Cocoa, Florida

We made an early exit from the anchorage in Daytona Beach - well planned and discussed right down to which side of the red triangular marker we would exit on, given the flow of the current and the wind. All for naught, though, as we made a safe and uneventful getaway. The only thing that rattled was our nerves, and only for a few minutes at that!
This next part of the trip down the ICW was scenic - a little more on the rustic side with a lot of mangroves sprouting on islands dotted all along our route. The water tended to be shallow, so Blair was focusing intently on navigating while I admired the scenery. There were lots of small fishing boats, canoes, and kayakers along the way - and we spotted a number of campers nestled on their own little island - simply beautiful! I spent some time daydreaming about how idyllic this would be and then the next thing I know, I am imagining how it would have felt to be Robinson Crusoe, or Gilligan and the crew from the Minnow! In fact, that programme could easily have been filmed on any one of the small islands that we passed.
We motored through some areas with very unique names: once we came by the Ponce de Leon Inlet, we were on our way to the Indian River North and Mosquito Lagoon. New Smyrna Beach is quaint and very pretty, much like a family fishing resort. Interesting facts about New Smyrna - sugar mills were built in the early 1800's with coquina stones (a natural limestone formed of broken shells and corals). The mill processed sugarcane into granular sugar that was shipped north. Molasses, a processing by-product, went south for rum production. In 1835, the Seminole Indians, who had been driven out of the region, returned to raid and burn all 10 of the area's mills. The local sugar industry never recovered.
We continued south to Mosquito Lagoon, enjoying the hordes of pleasure fishermen (and women). I craned my neck over the side of the boat, curious to see what they were catching. They were small fish - and, of course, considering that I have not even the vaguest idea what I am talking about with respect to fishing, I can't say what kind of fish they were pulling out. They just all looked like they were enjoying themselves, so that is what counts!
The really exciting view, though, in this stretch of Mosquito Lagoon, was the realization that we were staring straight ahead to the Kennedy Space Center. It was the shuttle hangar, and we could clearly see a rocket in place. That was quite a thrill - for me definitely - but more so for Blair. Apparently if there are plans for an actual launch, the area is inaccessible for that time period. As exciting as that might have been to see, I am relieved that we can continue to trudge through unimpeded.
The Haulover Canal is so unusual - a mile long rocky cut - there was a swift current racing through, and so many small boats loaded with fishermen and their gear - they were tied up to tree branches, roots, and/or anchored to prevent from drifting, casting their fishing lines like mad. It was quite a sight - and there were so many of them that I wondered how they wouldn't get themselves all tangled up with all the casting of lines going on. It was like a totally new world from the relative expanse of the Mosquito Lagoon. We passed through the Haulover Canal Bridge (27 foot bridge). As we called for an opening, I thank god that Blair is navigating because I haven't the faintest idea what the bridge operator is saying. I only pray that he will actually open the bridge as we approach (because we are counting on that) - and he does!
The next stretch down the Indian River is a choppy jaunt. The river is wider, and fortunately less worrisome with respect to carefully navigating for depths. And joy of joys, Blair has managed to get the autopilot working. He is convinced that all the testing of the system in Fernandina Beach actually bled the system of excess air. We are both relieved more than we can even describe. However, true to the Murphy's Law curse, our speaker in the cockpit that allows us to hear the VHF radio mysteriously stopped working. It is not a huge disaster at this late stage in the day - just enough to be a pain in the neck - literally (as Blair's neck is bothering him with all the days of manually steering this old tub).
After crossing under the Cocoa twin fixed bridges, we settle into an anchorage on the west side with a view of the huge water tower painted with the American flag and "Cocoa" off in the distance. As we settled down following the workout of dropping the anchor, Blair accidentally pushed the "help" button on our Spot messenger. This caused a little excitement, especially because we are not really sure what will happen. Blair called Art Hawkes immediately to assure him that we are still afloat. Art, of course, has a little chuckle. Next, he called Ron Paquette - and we learn from him that the distress call didn't get through (whew!) given that Blair turned off the unit almost immediately. We asked Ron to add my PIN number on my blackberry so that we can communicate quickly with him if we need to. I text messaged Carmen and asked her to add me to her BBM contacts for the same reason.
Just before we at dinner, a huge gusty rainstorm swept through - a test for the anchor, and a chance to wash all the salt and mud off the decks from the muddy anchorages we have been frequenting along the way. The rain is short-lived; Blair resets the anchor; we enjoy dinner; plan our route to Vero Beach for tomorrow (we make a reservation for a mooring at the City Marina there); and then head off to bed.

Departing St. Augustine to Daytona

When we awoke at 6:30am this morning, the water was as calm as can be in the St. Augustine Marina and it was a quiet and serene morning. We had a very quick discussion about how busy the day would become here given that it is American Thanksgiving...and made an executive decision to ask the Marina staff to help us throw off the lines so that we could make our departure at this opportune time. Our plan is to find an anchorage along the way, but for now it is enough that we are underway once again.
We have entered manatee territory now as evidenced by all the signs and warnings posted all the way along the ICW. So far we have only seen one, though, so I suppose they are hiding somewhere. Still the odd dolphin - lots of pelicans, egrets and cormorants.
Gary and Line on Rum Line II called on the radio to say goodbye. They are planning to stay in St. Augustine until at least Monday as they need to have some mechanical type issues addressed.
The scenery along the ICW was actually quite something and varied - from new homes all over with lots of people on their docks or their fishing boats waving at us. I'm starting to feel like the queen of the world with all the waving (or at least some kind of celebrity!)
By the time we found our way to the Halifax River, the channel widened thankfully, making it a little easier to navigate without constantly worrying that you might run aground in shallow water. After passing through the last of the four bridges in Daytona Beach, we were hailed by a Morgan sailboat exiting the Halifax River Yacht Club. They knew our boat name as they claimed to have seen us last night in St. Augustine. They were very lovely - admired our hard top (although Blair swears they were admiring our hot tub!) Their boat name is: "Jeanne.......something or other (my memory fails me here). They plan to be at Riviera Marina in Lake Worth until at least February getting some work done on their newly acquired Morgan.
We tuck into an anchorage just south of the Daytona Beach Memorial Bridge - only touched the bottom once, but managed to get off on our own. So far (knock wood!!) we have not needed to call Tow Boat US once! We manoeuvred our way in with 1.3 foot clearance under the keel (at high tide - YIKES) and dropped the anchor. At least we were stopped safely for the night.
In honour of American Thanksgiving, I made a roast chicken with all the trimmings. It was good to have a relaxing meal as it seems like we have been participating in the Amazing Race recently. Michael called from home just to check on us and to make sure we are still in one piece. I do miss home and kids and family, but don't want to think about it too much or I start to tear up.
We spent some time planning our departure in the morning before bed. Although Blair has added air to our dinghy and tested the outboard motor, we did not go to shore. Perhaps we will on our next stop in Cocoa.
Some interesting facts about Daytona Beach:
The airport area in Daytona is home to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which specializes in aviation-related degrees that usually lead to airline careers. Also, the Daytona International Speedway is where the nations top drivers and automobiles compete in the Daytona 500 every February and the famous 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. Daytona's 23 miles of beach were once a proving ground for automobile engines in the early 1900's. Automobile pioneers like Louis Chevrolet and Henry Ford found the hard-packed sand, gentle slope and wide expanse of beach to be the perfect venue for auto racing. Today, the beach remains popular with motorists, though they are restricted to a leisurely 10mph pace and must pay an access fee. Automobile racing moved inland to Daytona International Speedway in 1959 as cars became faster and crowds of spectators grew larger.

Adventures in St. Augustine, Florida

We woke this morning, feeling quite organized and optimistic for the day - wandered down the face dock to say farewell to Gary and Lina on Rum Line II. They are having some issues with their engine overheating so they will be moving pretty slowly on their way down the ICW today. The current gave us an unbelievable push all day today. At some points we were cruising along at 7 knots. We almost felt like powerboaters!
I took plenty of photos of flocks of white pelicans lining the shores - quite a sight. We are still seeing dolphins although not as many as out in the ocean. I managed to prepare a nice lunch while underway without getting tossed around in the galley so that, too, was a real treat.
We arrived at the St. Augustine Bridge of Lions a minute or so too late to sneak through on the hour/half hour opening so we had to wait in the harbour. The current was strong - we were actually drifting back. We had reservations as transients at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina. From the harbour, St. Augustine's downtown area looked interesting - a bit of a tourist trap, but if you can get past that, there is a lot of history here. The Spanish fort erected sometime in the 1500's when conquistadors would have been roaming around these parts was visible from the water. We were looking forward to being tourists for the evening.
We hired a taxi to take us out to the Winn Dixie for groceries. As the sun had set by now, it was lovely to enjoy the lights of the city...very charming. We decided to have dinner out at a local restaurant - it was nice - across from the Marina. We ate outside while a local guitarist provided the entertainment, and we had a chance to catch our breath. Once again, we head to bed early as we want to leave on slack water first thing in the morning.
Some interesting facts about St. Augustine, Florida:
Founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US. Traces of the city's Spanish heritage are everywhere, and a Spanish Quarter where conquistadors once strolled is re-created for the tourists. You can inspect battlements and dungeons of Castillo San Marcos National Monument, built in 1672, and wander the narrow old streets of San Agustin Antiquo which depict Spanish colonial life. Walking from the old town gates across from Castillo de San Marcos, you will encounter the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the US. Superb examples of 19th century Spanish Renaissance architecture can be seen nearby - Flagler College occupies the buildings and grounds of Henry Flagler's luxurious Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in 1888.
Although we did not stop at Jacksonville Beach, it is worth noting that Ponce de Leon landed there in the 1500's in his search for the Fountain of Youth.

Exploring Fernandina Beach

It was amazing to wake up to a beautiful sunny warm sky. We had morning coffee in the cockpit. I threw in the last load of laundry. Blair and I did some testing of the autopilot right at the dock. As we got the internet up and running, Blair has been in email contact with the manufacturer of the autopilot in Vancouver. As old "Murphy" would attest: we can't get the autopilot to kick off now - groan...the joys of boating!
We packed up some bags in the back pack and ventured along Centre St to explore the area. It is so quaint - very beautiful. There is a lot of history here. It was quite the pirate hangout - the old Palace Saloon is still original and served many of the most notorious pirates in history. The old original oak saloon swinging doors are still there, and the interior is a stale smelling/cigarette smelly original scene. How fitting that we should be standing in a former pirate haven given Blair's fascination and avid interest in the history of pirates.
We picked up some groceries (just a couple of items), some fresh shrimp from the Bait Shop, and Blair got some fishing lures. He also got a few fishing tips from the fellow at the Bait Shop, as well as the young man on a boat beside us on the dock - he and his father-in-law are heading to the Bahamas for a fishing tournament beginning December 1st. With any luck, we will be catching our own fish soon! Now that will be an interesting adventure. I also bought a throw blanket depicting all of the points of interest on Amelia Island.
Randy Beck called...as did Ben Elliott. It was great to hear that they have been following us with our Spot Tracker. Those who didn't call sent emails congratulating us on our arrival in Fernandina Beach.
We really cleaned up the boat this afternoon - washed her down, inside and out - fixed up the dock lines and Blair had to repair the halyard on the mainsail again. We would like to get the boat to a point where it is cleaned up and uncluttered- we are almost there!
After dinner - garlic shrimp fettucine - we asked the crew at the Marina to get us turned around at the dock so that we would have a stress free departure in the morning. So glad we did that as the current will be on a flood and I am totally unable to swing this boat - what the hell...what kind of a sailor am I?
Andy and Isabella sent an email announcing their arrival in St. Augustine - they left here at 7am and arrived at 3pm - not a bad day. I'm sure they are relieved to be free to choose their own speed and course - but it sure was great to have them as travel companions to this point!
We headed off to bed with the alarm set for 5:30am to prepare for our departure down the ICW - destination: St. Augustine.
Some interesting facts about Fernandina Beach, Florida:
The huge paper mills here are still busy - however, better emission controls have improved the quality of air and water. A sizable commercial fishing fleet, consisting mainly of shrimp boats (Earl's Girls), lies docked above and below the marina.
The downtown historic district, a 50 block section surrounding Centre Street, is an attractive and popular gingerbread seaport dating back from the 1850's when Florida's first cross-state railroad ran from Fernandina to Cedar Key (the railroad still runs past the waterfront with occasional traffic). The area is listed on the National Historic Register. The Palace Saloon, located on Centre Street is Floria's oldest tavern.

Landing at Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Florida

We arrived at the fuel dock at Fernandina Beach Marina exhausted, grateful to be here - almost kissed the ground in front of the Marina office. We made it around to the inside wall to tie up, Blair made a rum and orange juice (at 8:30am!!) to celebrate our arrival, then he headed off to bed. I couldn't sleep so I cleaned up a little and generally just relaxed. The sun is bright and it is HOT. One Blair woke up, I had to scramble through my belongings to dig out my summer clothing - time to do an exchange of summer wear for winter wear in my drawers. We went for a short walk up the pier to check things out - had a shower, and then stopped for a lunch meal at the restaurant on the water. I don't know how Blair manages to create this kind of conversation so often, but he soon discovered that the waitress' name was Bobby Jo...her sisters were name Billy Jo and Becky Jo - even the waitress was unable to keep a straight face as she shared the names with us! There is a local seafood/bait and tackle shop that we wandered into to pick up some local grouper for dinner. The fellow who looked after us was quite a character - he looked like a mountain hillbilly, or a dishevelled confederate soldier - long gray hair, a half-toothless grin, big bright blue eyes, a loping walk, and was wearing one of those civil war type hats. He certainly added to the flavour of the area and make our stop at the Bait and Tackle Shop even more worthwhile. After lunch, I got the washing machine going and got a couple of loads done. It feels great to be clean again! Blair wandered up to the local hardware store to find fuel filters as he wants to have a supply on hand. I ran into Andy and Isabella - they have decided to push on tomorrow morning. They want to be in Fort Pierce by Friday. We will stay one more day to rest up, regroup and "stop to smell the roses" as they say. There has been so much racing to get here (which has been great), but now we want to slow down a little to explore and enjoy the trip. We say our goodbyes to them and wish them well. We may see them at Ocean Reef in Freeport - which is where they hope to end up before heading home for Christmas.
The grouper was so tasty - enjoyed a great dinner, a bottle of wine, and a short walk. Gary and Lina (Rum Line II) are just ahead of us on the dock. Lina slept all day as they had just finished a three night trip. We stopped for a short time and shared a few laughs as we swapped stories and our experiences on the trip to Fernandina Beach. We went to bed fairly early so that we could get back on a regular routine and get up to enjoy exploring tomorrow.

Boat Trouble on the High Seas

We had a great departure from Charleston at 6:30am, enjoying the multitude of dolphins dancing along beside the boat. We spent the early morning hours listening to the local shrimp fishermen laughing about all the southbound sailboats - one remarked (in the local patois as far as I was able to make out) that his wife would push him overboard if he tried to make a heading to Florida waters! - he still sounded dreamy thinking about heading south himself, though. The shrimp boats are quite something - I took plenty of photos - puts me in mind of Forest Gump and his money-making Bubba Gump Shrimp business.
In the morning, just as we were putting up the mainsail - with Blair on deck untying the lines, and me at the wheel feeling pretty confident - there was a "may day" distress call. A local fisherman lost his engine and his boat was drifting into the rocks in the jetty near the Wappoo Creek. Despite my confidence at the wheel mere seconds earlier, the anxiety of the fisherman and the questioning by the coast guard scared the wits out of me, leaving me feeling pretty rattled! In the end, another boat managed to pull the distressed fisherman off the rocks so that he could drop his anchor top wait for his friend's arrival. As the coast guard continued to question him (about everything except the colour of his eyes!), he had completely regained his cool...he thanked the coast guard for the help and commented that he would be busy/unavailable to answer any more questions as he would be busy fishing off his boat until his friend arrived to tow him ashore. The first crisis of the day had been averted successfully!
By noon, Blair began testing the autopilot - rather than setting it to a compass heading, he programmed it to a way point. Much to our surprise, it held a heading for an hours. We had a quick conference, did some calculations with respect to time wasted going in and out of inlets as opposed to making a straight run for Fernandina Beach, Florida. We figured that with light wind conditions (that we were experiencing), we both felt rested enough to handle a straight passage rather than stopping at Tybee Roads or Hilton Head. Andy and Isabella on Southern Cross IV were elated with our proposal to make a direct run...so we all quickly altered our course headings for Florida. Of course, no sooner had we made the commitment to go straight through then the autopilot mechanism fell off again. No problem (we figured), we would just reset it continuously and deal with it for this leg of the trip. Even if it held for 30 minutes at a time, that would be more than fine. Weeeellllll, that was not to be. It seemed that no matter what we did, the crazy system would not hold a heading. YIKES! - another conference and we decided that we would stay the course behind Andy and Isabella if they were willing to act as a beacon at night with their mastlight. Once again, Blair gave them an option to move on without us, but they insisted on staying together, even though it meant that we were hampering their speed. Blair and I felt that we could handle two hour shifts at the helm. As the day wore on, I glanced over to see Blair madly scribbling mathematical calculations in his notebook. He became convinced that we would not have enough fuel to sustain us on the trip to Florida. "That's it," he said, "we can't go forward - with no autopilot, we just can't afford to risk running out of fuel." If I haven't already mentioned, I was already beginning to feel somewhat apprehensive about the decision to go forward with our plans. Now I was feeling absolutely terrified. Now, Blair will always err on the side of caution, but even so, I had watched him scribble his calculations for the better part of an hour. And I did not want to be adrift very little wind AND no fuel. So, once again (groan..), we radioed Andy to break the news that we would NOT be making this reckless passage with them. And once again, Andy peeled Blair off the ceiling with promises to abandon the trip in Brunswick, Georgia if necessary - and, absolutely worst case scenario, Andy plodded him along by promising to launch his own dinghy and send his extra gallons of fuel over to our boat should we run out. Try to get a visual of this possibility: our Morgan 462 bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean without fuel with light winds but some swells trying to lasso a dinghy laden with jugs of fuel. It seemed like something of a bizarre plan to me, but it was enough to convince Blair - and we carried on.
Blair and I were takings turns at the wheel - an hour at a time. It is hard work and my upper right shoulder is burning with the strain. Blair's neck is burning with pain for him. But still we press on - and as we pass Tybee Roads, we both wonder how wise our decision was. By the time the sun sinks below the horizon, we switch on all the running lights and the masthead light (minus the missing starboard light at the bow...thank you Bald Head Marina), and Southern Cross IV does the same. I go below to the galley to organize dinner - the last of the stew - and we finish it up just as the swells begin to pick up (although the winds are light). We fall into an easy hour on/hour off rhythm, until Blair begins to feel sorry for me and offers to do two hours shifts to my one. I am just fine with this - and Blair must sense my terror - especially as we listen to the coast guard issuing a "pan pan: pan pan: a distress call from an unidentified boat..." Would that be us if we weren't careful...you better believe it could be! I review in my mind the man overboard procedures and start to scare myself as I begin wondering whether I could get cushions and the life rings into the water fast enough to save Blair as he falls off the boat....potentially falling overboard from the deck of the boat messing about with the mainsail. I know that I need to stop thinking like this, but it would sure be a lot easier if the coast guard would stop scaring the wits out of me!
I finish my last sail watch and steering duty at 2am - thank god! By 3am, the ocean is so rolly that I am having a difficult time hanging on to the side of the boat - and I start praying for this trip to end. Poor Blair is exhausted, but we manage to get the sails down just outside the Harbour into Fernandina Beach, Florida...and surprise, surprise...Rum Line II (Gary and Lina Gratton) are hailing us on the radio from the fuel dock inside the Harbour. It will be fun to catch up with them once we are all rested. So it is the three Canadian boats tied to the concrete dock in Fernandina Harbour Marina...safe at last and warm!
Some interesting facts about Fernandina Beach, Florida:
Fernandina Beach is Florida's northernmost city and is on Amelia Island east of the ICW. Discovered in 1562 by the French explorer Jean Ribault, who named it Isle de Mai, the Spanish settled the island in 1567. They renamed it Santa Maria, established a mission and built Fort San Fernandino. In 1702, the British captured the island and gave it the name that finally stuck: Amelia, in honour of King George II's daughter. Amelia Island has enjoyed a colourful history. In its earlier years, pirates and smugglers used it as their stronghold, and during Prohibition, rum runners continued the tradition. Eight different flags have flown over Amelia Island, among them the standard of the conquistadors and the French Huguenots, the British Union Jack, and the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy. The island is the only place in the United States to have been claimed by so many governments.

Charleston Harbour

The day got off to a bit of a rocky start - Blair and I got up early to prepare for an 8am start as we all agreed to last night. However, at 7am, Andy and Isabella sailed past us, sounding their horn to alert us - given that we didn't have our radio turned on. Once again, we were scrambling to keep up. Fortunately, things improved quickly and we ended up having a great day. The winds were very light - I even managed to bake muffins while underway!
There were so many dolphins along the way that it is almost getting tedious to continue reporting on their sightings. There was another sailboat close by us that reported a sighting of two whales. They reported this to the US Coast Guard as apparently NOAA has an interest in tracking their whereabouts. I finally peeled off the long johns and long-sleeved shirt - enjoyed the sun and the day covered in suntan lotion and sunglasses! Blair studied the manual for the generator and narrowed down the problem we are having - the generator wouldn't start earlier in the day, but Blair eventually managed to get it going.
As we were approaching the Charleston Harbour, Andy radioed over, excitedly reporting that he had almost hit a whale in the water. We were a little envious as we couldn't see it despite a concentrated scan of the water all around - with both Blair and I trying to steer the boat and use binoculars at the same time. We certainly looked like a ship of drunken sailors as we were lurching all about trying to find a whale that, for all intents and purposes, could probably cause some serious damage to our boat if we struck it. Common sense prevailed, and we went back to paying more attention as we steered!
As the day wore on, we had a bright idea - we put on our "marriage saver" headsets and began a mission to study the hydraulic steering in an effort to sort out the autopilot problem. I took over at the helm and turned on the autopilot. Blair went down below to watch the hydraulic steering mechanism stuff under our bed in the aft cabin. Of course, true to Murphy's Law theory (if there is such a thing!), the autopilot held its heading for all the time he was down below. The idea was that Blair might be able to observe what happened to the steering when the autopilot kicked off. Shortly after we abandoned the project, Blair returned to the cockpit, and the autopilot kicked off - go figure! We will try again tomorrow. At least the headsets work well!
We arrived in the Charleston Harbour on a flood tide - screaming in at 7.9 knots - it felt like we were were on a carnival amusement ride as we were going along faster than we have this whole trip! The Harbour is quite stunning - the bridge and an old vintage sailboat under sail in front of it with the full moon just appearing behind it all - breathtaking!
We set the anchor, enjoyed a glass of wine - had showers (how decadent!) - barbecued a couple of steaks - and generally felt pretty pleased with ourselves. Even the generator started tonight with no fuss. We watched the Carnival Cruise Ship leave the Harbour on the ebb tide. As I was staring out over the Harbour, I was fantasizing about Rhett Butler and Charlotte from the epic novel, Gone With the Wind, as we floated about on the anchor in the Ashley River near Wappoo Creek.
Some interesting facts about Charleston, South Carolina:
The Harbour is the fourth largest shipping port on the East Coast. Charleston was named for King Charles II - it has been written that the king was "one of the most hedonistic of English monarchs" and that the colonists came "to recreate the luxurious, cosmopolitan, pleasure-filled world of Restoration England...inhabited by a landed gentry."
The British founded Charleston in 1670 on what is now Charles Town Landing on the western bank of the Ashley River. The colonists aboard the English ship "Carolina" originally planned to settle at Port Royal, but the chief of the Kiawah Indians convinced them to move farther north. Within 10 years, they had relocated to what locals refer to as "the Peninsula" on the site of current downtown Charleston. The culture is a melange of influences. The English ideas blended with those of the French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution. Many came by way of Barbados and added a Caribbean flair to the city's lifestyle. The Spanish were here, and slaves certainly had a huge impact on the population from food to the arts and language. Gullah, a patois of all the languages, is still spoken on the sea islands today.

Enjoying the Dolphins...

We decided to leave Bald Head Island rather than stay - so we prepared for our departure at 8am. There was a small mishap as we left the dock at the Marina. Blair mistakenly thought that the throttle was engaged, and as the boat pole was tied down, I couldn't get it free fast enough to prevent the bow from drifting into the wooden post at the end of the dock. We lost the starboard green navigation light off the bow, and really shook up the pole...but other than that we escaped unscathed. Thank goodness for the super-sized stanchions on Odissea. It was a sad sight to say goodbye to a $60.00 fully operational light, but we left it there on the dock and headed out on our way. We had reasonably good winds today - maybe 10 knots, first from Northwest, shifting to Northeast and then South near days end. We are still hand steering the boat - I made Blair promise not to put up the mainsail today (at least until we can practice "man overboard" procedures). We sailed with the jib and mizzen mast. I am gaining more confidence at the wheel of the boat which gives Blair far more freedom to worry about other things. He changed the filters on the engine today and I even made sausage and barley stew with vegetables, cutting up the veggies in the cockpit while underway. At least we will have a hot meal on our arrival in Winyah Bay. Blair got some amazing photos and a short video clip of the dolphins that chased our boat today. Blair stood up at the bowsprit with the camera - very exciting. As the sun set, we headed towards the entrance to Winyah Bay, South Carolina - once again, cautiously so that we could respect the tide and current. Southern Cross IV went in ahead of us to scout out an anchorage. Once Andy located a suitable spot, he contacted us by radio and we anchored in behind him. We had a glass of wine and a hot bowl of stew. Blair went straight to bed as he wanted to get up at the tide change at 12:30am to ensure that we would still be anchored and not drifting away when the current would be changing direction. I followed shortly after. Andy and Isabella think we should leave at around 8am for Charleston tomorrow - Blair would like to be out by 7am so that we can arrive at an earlier hour. It is really tough to get in so late after the sun is down everyday. Some interesting facts about Winyah Bay, South Carolina: The first Europeans to settle these banks were the Spanish, but after failing as farmers, they built a ship from the towering cypress and oak trees lining the swamps, and sailed off to the Spice Islands of the Caribbean, where there was a ready market for their slaves.

Cape Fear...literally (And the Green Flash)

We were up and ready to go - threw off the lines at 6am and began our offshore adventure. And adventure it was! I planned to write, ready and enjoy the scenery while the autopilot pointed us south. By about 10am, the autopilot decided that we should manually steer the boat. Then the generator decided not to start. Thank heavens that Blair is so handy as he managed to restore both of these items. Laughing in the face of adversity, I couldn't help but shake my fist at the sky and think: is that all you've got...we can handle this!! Well, that wasn't all, as we listened to the engine shut down at about 11:30am without warning. Talk about a major meltdown! Blair disappeared below while I took the wheel - once again with no autopilot and now no engine! WHAT THE HELL!!! I was more than slightly terrified. After a lot of cursing on Blair's part, and a lot of recitals of the "Hail Mary" on mine, we managed to restore the engine - at least Blair did - not sure if the Hail Mary's played a part.
We contacted Southern Cross IV by radio - Blair suggested that they go on ahead without us, but Andy would hear nothing of it. We changed our course to head into Southport, North Carolina so that we could regroup. The day ahead proved to be long and tiresome as we had to hand steer all the way. On the really positive side, I managed to get a great feel for the boat - so although it required a lot of focus, it wasn't nearly as treacherous as I had imagined. We had all the sails up until just before dusk and had a great sail - enjoying the dolphins riding our bow wave - now that was exciting!
Southport Marina looked like our best bet for a reservation for the night, but much to our surprise, they didn't have a spot for two boats. I got the feeling that the owners didn't want a couple of sailboats arriving so late. That was mildly terrifying - to be turned away - now what? I contacted Bald Head Island Marina (on Bald Head Island, of course) and they were very helpful. We reserved two spots and pointed ourselves towards Cape Fear River...how appropriate is that? We arrived at the mouth of Cape Fear on an ebb tide with the current against us - just to add to the drama of the day. Despite this, we got in and tied up on our own. Andy arrived quickly and we agreed to meet for a drink. Blair, in exasperation, told Andy that he hates boats, and wishes that our Odissea would sink right now! However, the really funny thing is that (as Andy pointed out), we couldn't sink because we were sitting on the bottom - our depth sounder showed "O" feet under the keel - WHAT ELSE!??
The four of us sat down - Andy and Isabella were right in suggesting that we push on for day hops - we can make Winyah Bay tomorrow where we can anchor. Once we get to Winyah Bay, we will go inside on thge ICW to Charleston, South Carolina; then outside again to Brunswick, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida. Hopefully we will have solved the autopilot problem in Charleston.
Some interesting facts about the Cape Fear Inlet:
The inlet is a well-marked big ship channel that is protected from the North. It is an easy entrance by day, but challenging at night, as we experienced. The current is strong. Fortunately we arrived near the end of a slack following low tide so it wasn't as bad as it can be. Cape Fear's moniker comes from the fearsome Frying Pan Shoals offshore - this area marks the southern border of the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Bald Head Lighthouse (or "Old Baldy") was North Carolina's first lighthouse dating back to 1796. Also, Joshua Slocum (the 19th century single-hander sailor) came ashore in this area while returning from South America in his self-built vessel that he wrote about in his book "Voyage of the Liberdade".

By the way, I saw the elusive green flash at sunset today - absolutely thrilling. I thought it was a myth, but believe me, it is real! For some facts about this phenomenom, check this website:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/redsun.html

Preparing for our Offshore Voyage

We spend the day cleaning, exploring, cooking, etc to prepare for our offshore passage. One of the power boats close to us has allowed us to use his water hookjup, so we have full tanks - and we have showered on our boat - YAY! For those who take bathing for granted, we are so grateful to now have this ability in an actual shower rather than a sponge bath in the galley or a frigid shower down in the cockpit. Another sailboat arrives on the same dock - Tropical Spice - with a captain named Ralph Hunter. He had just purchased his boat and was like a little boy - just thrilled beyond belief. Nice man who could really play guitar. Blair asked him to tune and then autograph our Cuban boat guitar which he was pleased to do.
By Tuesday, the plan is to prepare for the passage - we are expecting rain on Wednesday with clearing skies - wind will be Northwest 10-15 knots - apparently this is perfect for us - let's hope so! We said goodby to Don and Susan on s/v Old Sam who we met last night - they are from Gold River, Nova Scotia - what a small world!

The Adventure Begins - Deltaville, VA to Morehead City

After launching Odissea xx in September from the Deltaville Boatyard in Deltaville, Virginia, we have returned from home to begin our sailing adventure. Odissea xx has been tied up on a slip at Dozier's Regatta Point Yacht Club. They have treated us very well there and it started to feel as though we lived there. We are restless now as most of our prep work is complete. It is time to leave.
Andy and Isabella Gauster on Southern Cross IV arrived at Dozier's last week - it was fun to catch up with them. Gary and Lina Gratton on Rum Line II are also in Deltaville getting ready to launch. They were really kind to us - picked us up at the airport in Richmond. Blair dove in and helped them out by assisting in the painting of the bottom of their boat. Andy and Isabella had us over for dinner - delicious meal - on our arrival. They headed out Thursday morning for the Great Bridge where they will tie up and wait for us.
In the meantime, Blair and I ran around for all the possible last minute items, using the courtesy car whenever we could to race into town. We moved the boat around to the transient dock on Monday morning in preparation for our own departure - it was a good idea as we would never be able to get an early start from our slip with the low tide as we pretty much touch the bottom when the tide is out. We said our goodbyes to the Dozier's crew - Margie, Martha, Wayne and Jimmy; went to bed early to be fresh for our 5:30am departure. However, by the time we woke up all ready to go on Wednesday, November 10th at 5:30am, it was so dark - we couldn't see a thing. We waited it out and finally left by 6:15am.
As if to prepare us for the trip, we touched the bottom just before we got into the channel outside of Dozier's. There were a few swear words and a couple of tense moments, but Blair managed to get us off, and away we went. It was freezing cold and we are all decked out in our foul weather gear - hats, gloves, and a couple of layers of clothing. Our sailing plan?: to get as far south as quickly as we can in order to shed our winter clothing!
The trip to the Great Bridge was fairly easy going. We passed through Norfolk - tons of naval ships, one that actually turned in the channel getting ready to dock. Imagine our surprise when we turned our heads toward Odissea's stern to discover this enormous ship on our tails. It was just a little disconcerting as we turned around to get out of the way with the navy crew aiming their guns at us - quite certain that we were target practice! Not a threat really, but intimidating nonetheless. By the time we arrived at the last bridge (the Steel Bridge), it was 3:59pm - and the bridge operator closed the swing right in our faces - the nerve! - for two hours. We had to drop the anchor and wait for the bridge to reopen at 6pm. Of course, by now it would be dark for our arrival and we begin fretting about this now (given that we aren't really sure how we will tie off after the Great Bridge). Fortunately, Andy and Isabella are on their boat, Southern Cross IV, waiting for us after the bridge to help us tie up on our 7:30pm arrival. Andy had saved us some leftovers for dinner which we were so grateful for. Blair has taken to calling their boat the "Floating Deli"!
We head out early the next day for our trip down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). It has finally warmed up a little more. The parade of snow birds on their boats following the marked channel down the ICW is quite a sight to see. Before too long, we tend to be the trailers of the pack, but that is ok with us. We head through Albemarle Sound to the Alligator River and then we are into the Alligator River/Pungo River Canal. It is a beautiful day - warm, sunny and relatively quiet - no more of the powerboaters chattering on the radio as they request "a slow pass on the port side"! It is here that we encounter "Boundless" - a Morgan 462 with a captain who is sailing south solo. Even he manages to pass us!
We end the day in a beautiful anchorage just outside of the Alligator River/Pungo River Canal in Bellehaven, North Carolina. There is a striking red sunset in a peaceful and blissful setting. Andy and Isabella invite us for dinner AGAIN - he says that he needs hgelp finishing up the turkey he bought and has prepared a million different ways. Between the four of us, we drink the last bottle of wine we have - yikes: time to reprovision!
Bright and early, we begin again and move on through Pamlico River - past Hobucken - to another anchorage in Adams Creek, North Carolina. We all have a quiet night, getting ready for another early departure.
By the time we head out in the morning for Morehead City, North Carolina, the fog is very thick. We are hoping to arrive by around 10am to secure the two inexpensive places on the dock outside of the famous Sanitary Restaurant - which we manage to do. There is no water or power hookup, but the weather is outstanding! Finally warm enough to shed our coats. We have some repairs to make - the running lights and anchor light gave out at the Great Bridge - and Blair wants to climb the mast to fix tyhe wind indicator. We unwrap our bicycles and tour around a little, enjoying being on land for now. Andy and Isabella have some visitors from home who are driving to Florida. They very kindly loan us their truck so that we can get groceries. I was worried that nothing would be open on Sunday, but everything is. At last, we have food and drink for a while. We plan to stay here until there is a weather window for an offshore passage. If the weather is favourable, there is talk that we will go straight to Jacksonville, Florida. We end the day with a nice dinner out at the Ruddy Duck (one of the waterfront restaurants) before packing it in for the day.