Torry Island Free Town Dock

Thursday January 19, 2013
26 42.197 N
80 42.937 W

Woke with somewhat of a sensitive head this morning, do not understand that. Nevertheless we were underway by 8:30 AM with out cruise plan calling for two locks and 49 NM, so quite a big day. Weather forecast was OK though calling for 15-20 mph winds during the afternoon, calming to 10-15 mph this evening.

Hang on Deidre!!

We were soon out of the river and into the first lock of the canal system. This lock lifted us 16' and took about 20 minutes. We were the only boat in the lock and all went well. The canal was "canal-ish" cutting thru swamp and mangrove alternating with farm land. By 3 PM we had arrived at the lock that let us out into the lake. This lock lifted us a mighty 2". (Not a typo, just two inches.)

The swing railway bridge

We also had a couple of lifting railroad bridges to pass. They are typically up and open, just closed when there was a train coming. To our dismay the first such bridge closed as we approached. Usually they are automatic, but I tried the radio to get details. To my surprise we received an immediate response to our call, that was something like: "Sorry about that! The train is on its way but if you hurry I will open the bridge and let you through!" We sure hurried, Deidre had visions of a four locomotive freight train slamming on its \brakes as it approached the open bridge at 75 MPH.

We must have been protected in the canal for as soon as we hit the lake the wind hit us. My new hat went straight overboard – it was a Christmas present from Deidre. (It was sorta inevitable - I left it at the restaurant last night and the waiter had to chase us down with it.) The wind was quite strong, but mostly on our beam and so in effect was just a nuisance. We hugged the east shore (it was an east wind) and so the water was still reasonably flat. We had about 20 miles to cover.

Too fast....

Lake Okeechobee is the Bass Fishing Capital of America, so we are told. And people who fish for bass drive bass fishing boats. BFB tend to be about 25' long, flat on top, painted with sparkly paint and powered by one or two enormous outboards. They are driven at 80 MPH or more wherever they go. I have no idea why this is the case, although maybe bass fish can swim really fast? I suspect the BFB owners also own assault rifles, but that is just a guess. Anyway, we were passed by a bunch of these boats today and I tried to take a photo but they go too fast to get a decent photo. I have included my best results below.

Hand operated swing bridge

We had picked out an anchorage that would be a bit tight, now especially so because the wind was forecast to swing from East to West during the night. There was a small town on the way that offered a city dock for free, and we planned to check out to see if we could fit. To get to the dock we had to go through a hand powered swing bridge – no kidding. We called them on the radio but the guy who operated the bridge was cutting his lawn and could not hear the phone, so someone had to go “fetch him”. But after a 20 minute delay he arrived and the bridge was duly opened.

A little tight

The dock was probably a bit small for Tide Hiker but by now I was pretty keen to make it work. So we did, and here we are, although our bow is nestled in the water hyacinth that grows by the shore. 

Stewart

Tuesday January 8, 2013
27 12.604 N
80 16.990 W

Another good day. We dropped the pennant about 8:15 AM and threaded our way out to the ICW. It was another perfectly calm morning. First stop was a fuel depot in Fort Pierce, about 15 NM south where we took on 475 US gallons. We are now chocker with fuel.

The weather was calm and warm, with a few small thunder storms that pushed us below for 15 or so minutes each time. We were headed for Stuart where we hoped to take a ball at Sunset Marina in Stuart. Unfortunately no balls were available and so we resolved to anchor in the river.

Stuart Anchorage

During the afternoon we came across an Australian couple on a sailing boat also headed to Stuart. We had a good chat on the radio and resolved to get together for lunch tomorrow.

We were anchored by 3:15. Forecast was for south east winds backing further to the east so we should be good here.

Wednesday January 9, 2013

Enjoyed a restful night. It rained cats and dogs about 4 AM but there was no wind. We have decided to hang around here for the day so we can meet up with the Australians this afternoon. They have picked a bar-restaurant to meet that overlooks our anchorage so I will be able to keep an eye on Tide Hiker while we are away.

We met the Australian-Canadians at The Deck and had a fun evening. Its amazing just how much you have in common with a fellow countryman. We stayed for dinner and I maybe had too many beers, but the dinghy knew the way back to Tide Hiker in the dark

Vero Beach

Sunday January 6, 2013
27 39.639 N
80 22.325 W

Today was a fun day. We woke up under a blanket of fog. We had planned top leave at 8AM so we delayed that till 9AM to give the fog a chance to lift. But by then it was no better. We had to leave no later than 10 AM or we would not make Vero in the light (and I do not like boating in the dark). At 10 AM I could see blue sky straight up, and that was enough for me. It had to burn off soon! So we pulled out.

I was immediately disoriented. Even with all the aids to navigation under my nose I was disoriented and the boat was going in circles. Then, as usual, the Admiral came to the rescue. "Here is a compass course for the bridge. Adjust it to "true", enter it into the auto pilot and let go the wheel!" That worked, and we started making progress. We were only doing about 4 kts and had our radar and fog horn going, so felt comfortable enough. We were on the radio listening and talking to other boats. The water was dead calm.

The fog lifted at about Noon and it was a perfect sunny day. We moved from the Pilot House to the Bridge. Deidre changed into shorts and a tee shirt. It was warm.

Mooring field at Vero Beach

We arrived at Vero about 4:45 PM. We were assigned a ball and threaded our way thru the boats to our spot. There were all sorts of boats from all sorts of places. During the fog we had "made friends" with an English boat and had been invited over for drinks. As soon as Tide Hiker was secure we had the dinghy in the water and off we went. The captain was ex RAF and had sailed the boat over from the UK.

Deidre had been cooking during the afternoon. Its good to cook underway as we have more electricity then. Plus the vent for the galley must exit just under my seat on the bridge and I get to enjoy the aromas in advance. She had made a tasty meat sauce and we had it over pasta.

Tomorrow we will catch the bus into Vero Beach for breakfast. (No photos today. I took some, but forgot to put the memory chip back into the camera)

Monday January 6, 2013

Ladies Rowing Practice

This morning we were woken up by the local ladies rowing club practice. Since we were awake we put a fast 1/2 hour charge into the batteries and took the dinghy into the marina, from where we took the free city bus to "downtown" Vero. Found a decent breakfast place where we ate and read till we could eat and read no more. Followed by $100 shop at Publix and then back to the dinghy and boat. No lunch today! This afternoon we have done "boat things" and now taking it easy. We have decided to recover the dinghy before the rain comes and eat dinner at home.

Taking it easy - the new baby's blanket

Tomorrow we head for the St. Lucie River and Stuart. Arriving at Stuart will mark the end of our first "voyage" after just over 600 hours of engine time. On the way tomorrow we plan to stop in Ft. Pierce to take on about 500 gallons of fuel.

Cocoa

Saturday January 5, 2013
28 21.468 N
80 43.531 W

The honey boat arrives - late

The pump out boat did not arrive until almost Noon. We had planned to cruise south 42 NM and anchor in the Banana River but now it was too late to make it there. So we decided to just cruise 15 miles or so to Cocoa and check out the marina and the town. The place had been recommended by several people.

We were underway soon after Noon and the sun came out. We ran the boat from the bridge and it was just like "the old days". It was a pleasant and short run, and we were all tied up in our new slip soon after 3:00 PM. Barely got the engine war.

Its been a while since we have had 50 amp service, so we have everything going! It turned out to be more expensive then we expected. Deidre has stripped our bed and has the linen in the washing machine. I have every charger turned on.

With the boat humming we walked into town. As promised it was a cute and touristy place and we picked out a Thai restaurant for dinner. Back to the boat to reload the washer and clean up for dinner out. While we were walking to the restaurant I received a call from a boater in the marina - it was movie night at the marina and we were invited for an 8 o'clock showing of "Silver Lining".

Dinner was great, the movie was OK and we were back in bed by 11PM. Tomorrow we were headed for Vero Beach, a 7 hour run.

Titusville

Friday January 4, 2013
28 37.452 N
80 48.243 W

Friday morning in Daytona was a continuation of Thursday night - cool, wet and windy. I got up a few times during the night to check the anchor but Tide Hiker held her ground nicely, despite the exposed anchorage. The wind seemed stronger than advertised. (I would like my own anometer one day).

Sometimes you just need a place to stand

We were underway by about 10 AM. We were not in a hurry as our target today was the mooring field at Titusville which was only 41 NM away. The weather stayed the same so we set up in the Pilot House all day. The wind was still 10-15 kts but on our tail so it had no effect on our comfort.

We arrived at Titusville at about 4PM and did a good job connecting to our ball. The wind picked up as the sun set so we decided to stay put for the night - there is a nice restaurant under the bridge that we had dinghy-ed to last visit. The boat was bouncing around when we went to bed. We had "double roped" the mooring ball but just for my piece of mind I also set the anchor alarm. The way we were facing we wopuld blow right onto a rock wall if something let go.But nothing did and we both slept well.

Its saturday morning now and the sun is out. First time for a couple of days. We are waiting for the pump out boat and we will get underway.

Daytona Beach

Thursday January 3, 2013
29 11.767 N
81 00.208 W

Low tide was at 9:00 AM this morning, not the best time to leave the development. We remembered the water being a bit skinny on the way in, and that was close to high tide. So we took it easy this morning and delayed departure till 11.00 AM, with about 30% tide. We made it out to the ICW easily enough, although the depth gauge got down to 0.7 of a foot, and the depth gauge is located about a foot higher than the keel, so we were "plowing some mud" for a bit.

"Needs a little work"

The port starting battery crapped out again this morning. I had engaged the battery charger for a few days while we were at Palm Coast, but obviously it cannot hold a charge. So next time we stay more than a couple of days at a marina I will be ordering a replacement and looking for volunteers. Fortunately the port starting battery is the "easy one".

I had originally planned on reaching an anchorage in New Smyrna Beach but because of our late departure that seemed a bit out of reach. The weather was not especially pleasant, overcast and grey with rain threatening, so we were "just doing the miles". I ran the boat from the bridge most of the morning until it just got too cold for my bare legs. There were a couple of possible anchorages in the Daytona and that is where we have ended up. Its not a particularly protected spot but the wind forecast is pretty mild. It seems to be steady 10 kts from the North with some stronger gusts. Maybe it will lay down a bit tonight.

We have all of our Nav systems operation at the moment so I took this photo of the pilot house.
From left to right:
1. Active Captain - mostly for anchorages and marinas etc
2. Polar Navy - Chart Plotter on the computer
3. CMaps - Chart Plotter on the Furuno
4. eSea Chart Plotter on the Ipad
And of course Deidre has the paper charts out.I love the set up - Deidre thinks I am nuts.

Back to Palm Coast

Sunday Dec 30 thru Wednesday Jan 2

On the way back to Florida we paid a visit to a pair of Valpo friends. (Bill was the Plate Mill Superintendent at Inland Steel and Dee was in the personnel department. Bill and Dee retired 10 or more years ago and moved to Gulf Shores, AL about the same time Deidre and I moved to Scottsdale. We had kept in touch but had not crossed paths in 12  or so years.) When they heard we would be "passing their door" on the way to/from Houston they invited us to stay. We stayed two nights and had great fun catching up on all the news. I find it interesting that neither of them had aged a minute.

We were back on the boat by 6 PM Saturday. Sunday we did the shopping because the rental car was to be returned Monday. We were planning to leave Palm Coast on News Year's Day but were we expecting a package Monday that was delayed till Wednesday.

Head in the Electro Scan again

This gave me a chance to get on with some jobs. I had our new compass to install and wanted to try a few more fiddles with the Electro Scan. The new compass looks smart, the sanitation system is still kaput.

Wiring the new compass