2026 November: Lake Worth FL

 11 November 2026 -Wednesday

It is a little unnerving to be on a travel schedule and have the engines inoperable. When the guys left on Tuesday with the injectors for the diesel engines, they gave us an aggressive schedule to have us back up and running by Friday evening. If that were to happen, we plan to be underway on Saturday for an ocean voyage to our next planned visit in Pompano Beach, Florida. 

Meanwhile, Clark has been busy keeping an eye on the EPD circuit breaker tripping issue. The fan plugged into our only shore-power only outlet annoys me as I move it from the top of the toaster oven to the top of the napkin holder and back repeatedly. I remind myself that it is serving a meaningful purpose and that it won't be there forever. All of the other outlets continue to operate even if we lose power because the invertor automatically picks them up using the batteries so it is very easy not to realize that shore power has been lost.

A couple of guys with a (guessing) 4-year old daughter came to look at Don's boat on the lift next to us. They were planning to take the boat out for a run when they discovered the starter battery on the boat was low.  Given that, the gang left without a boat ride. While all that was going on, I played a lot of "Mah Jongg With Friends" on my computer. 

Hanging out on Bethel Creek in Vero Beach is no hardship. The neighborhood is quiet, and the sunsets are quite pretty here.

12 November 2026 - Thursday

"Doctor" Woodworth was "on call" today as he received a phone call from one of our boating friends with battery / electrical questions. I had no idea who was on the phone. All I heard was "you're on anchor?" Later, I learned it was our friend Bill that we know from Marlin Bay with some questions. He spent quite a bit of time on Bill's boat diagnosing some issues, so he knows it well. 

Later in the day, we got some disappointing news that our injectors might take longer than expected. They said they would work diligently to keep us on schedule. Clark counted out the days to determine a "drop dead" date for when we absolutely have to leave to get to Marathon on time. We have a few spare days to account for some expected bad weather, but we'd prefer not to have to go out in the ocean with nasty waves to make the date. So, we wait for an update. 

Later, Clark climbed into the boat on the lift to investigate the battery situation. 

A solenoid powering the inverter / charger runs off the starter battery, and if it's low, the inverter charger won't get DC power to run the internal electronics. Without this power, the inverter charger will not charge either the house or the starter battery even if  it has AC shore power. It's a chicken and egg problem. Clark diagnosed the situation and found that the ignition switch had three positions. The switch at one point had been left in the run position.

To get away from boats and worries about our schedule, Clark and Don decided we should go out for pizza for lunch today. I was excited to get in a car and have a change of scenery.  We went to Nino's - a place we have been a few times before and enjoyed the food there. 

Inside view of Nino's

The waitress was no-nonsense and efficient - kind of scary actually on first impression. However, she knew her business and took good care of us and even came close to cracking a few jokes as the meal continued. Throughout lunch she kept an eye on us by peeking out the half-moon shaped "window" shown in the picture above. If it looked like we needed anything or had the credit card out to pay, she was back in a flash.

13 November 2026 - Friday the 13th

When we woke this morning, we found that, yet again, we had no shore power on the boat. Clark had finally put the fan away thinking we would no longer need to monitor the situation. Sadly, the fan came back to occupy its space in the galley. The mystery of what trips the breaker continues, but the 2-4 amps on the house ground wire is a likely problem!

Hoping that we will be pulling in our lines in the next couple of days, I decided that I would use the washer / dryer one more time to get a fresh start for travel. While I was doing that, Clark filled the water tank. He waited until the level got low to get rid of old water and fill with fresh. He had me wait to take my morning shower until he was filling the tank - it must have been pretty low on water!

Also, in planning for imminent departure, I took my grocery list and biked back to the Village Market down the road a bit. They do not have everything I would like to get, so I have to "cherry pick" from the list with what I can get. I got enough to keep me going all the way to Marathon if need be. However, I expect my friend in Pompano Beach will take me out shopping while we are there. Time will tell.

Clark got a phone call update on the injectors. Six of the twelve were ready. Someone planned to drive the 2.5 hours up to collect the ones that were ready and bring them back for install. Then collect the other six later when ready. From that, we knew that someone would be working on the boat this afternoon, so I made an early lunch to get that out of the way. Then it was sit and wait until the work began.   Later, Clark got an update that the remainder of the injectors would be ready shortly, so the person collecting them planned to wait and bring all 12 back on one trip. Yay!

The repair team arrived at 1:30 and got right to work. Clark and the two folks who came to work on the engine disappeared into the engine room for hours. As I laid on the couch reading a novel, I could hear them and occasionally the vacuum cleaner running. Three hours later, the operation was complete and it was time to see if the patient could be revived. 

At 4:40, we took the boat out for a trial run to verify the work was successful. We traveled from Bethel Creek a few miles down the Indian River to check the systems. While the guys worried about the engines and exhaust smoke, I enjoyed the trip and gathered a few pictures. 

As we entered the Indian River, we were haled by a boat, Goldfish, that asked if there was space by the marina to drop anchor. Clark gave him an affirmative answer, and he turned to make his way in towards the Vero Beach City Marina to look for a spot to drop anchor. No sooner did he make his turn to leave the Indian River than a swarm of row-team boats came flowing out of the gap he was trying to enter. 

While he was faced with a multitude of little boats in his path, Clark was haling him on the radio to tell him that he looked to be going over a shoal area. When we came back later, we found him at anchor near the City Marina, so apparently, he made it successfully through the obstacle course he encountered.

Two rowing boats were neck-and-neck moving through the water. I noticed the one closest to our boat had one female rower. I saw no other women in the boats, but I only saw a few up close. 

One woman rower on board!

A few sailboats were out on the river as well. The small sailboats were accompanied by a power boat to assist in case of troubles. 

Besides rowers and sailors, we saw a Tiki Boat on the river with a few partiers on board.

Since we were out on our test run at near 5:00, the sun was low in the sky. By the time we got back to dock, the sun was down. Every time I looked at the sky, the view was better than the last!

Although we saw some thick smoke at high RPM, the repair was given a "thumbs up". More engine work may be required in the future but the injector work is complete, and we can get underway in the morning!

14 November 2026 - Saturday

Depart: Private Dock, Vero Beach, FL 8:35

Arrive: Lake Worth, FL anchorage 4:45

Distance: ~ 62 nm

With clean clothes, a reasonably well-stocked pantry, and a boat that checked out okay on sea trial, we were ready to be underway once again. Hallelujah! 

Sitting at dock for a week with engines inoperable meant we could not leave the dock to go get a pumpout. We used the facilities in our friend's house a much as possible, i.e. not at 3:00 a.m. if the need arose. Given that, a major agenda item for today was to empty the holding tank. For this we had two choices - go 3 miles offshore or stop at the City Marina. 

To  make this decision, Clark considered two factors - the length of time required to pumpout  (offshore versus at a marina) and the conditions on the ocean. Winds from the north west meant the closer we were to the shoreline, the less the wave action. Going three miles out would mean larger waves. The trip would not normally take us three miles offshore, so it would mean going out of our way to dump adding time to our travel. 

Given the ocean-based factors versus the length of time it might take to empty at the city dock, we decided to stop at the City Marina. My only concern with this plan, which I much preferred, was the possibility that another boat was taking up the dock space and we would need to hang out to await our turn. As it turned out, no one was there, and the entire procedure took under 20 minutes!

As we approached the City Marina, I noticed the boat Goldfish, that we had seen fighting their way through a fleet of a rowing team boats, at anchor at the entrance to Bethel Creek. They had dropped anchor, were sitting out on their boat, and waved to us yesterday when we returned from our sea trial. I noticed they had a big dog with them. 

Their dinghy is a real eye catcher as it is square and pink. I have never seen one like it. I mentioned to Clark that is the least likely to be stolen due to its uniqueness. 

Pink, square dinghy

As we arrived at the City Marina and I was getting my lines prepped, I looked up and saw a small rainbow. We had our headsets on, so I commented to Clark and he said, "Oh, a sundog!" It is my first time seeing something like this! The clouds formed a perfect circle around the sun with the rainbow to the right of the sun (from my perspective). 

I looked again a short while later. Two perfect circles adorned the sky, but the sun with the rainbow was no longer visible. One of the most amazing sights I have ever seen was gone in the blink of an eye!

I decided to take that as a good omen for the day!

We stopped at the Vero Beach City Marina on the way into Don's house. The pumpout was agonizingly slow until Clark convinced them to spread the hose out on the dock without kinks in it. That sped up the process immensely. So, today, he asked them to do that up front. In 15 minutes the pumpout was all done and paid for and we were on our way. 

It costs $5.35 at this marina as they charge sales tax. No other place we have stopped at charged change. We have seen from free to $20 but never anywhere else did we have to dig out coins. I just give them $10 and tell them to keep the change.

Clark was happy with our progress as we were on our way heading for the ocean by just after 9:00 - on or slightly ahead of schedule! Our next endurance test would be fighting the current to exit to the ocean at the Fort Pierce inlet. Sure enough, we had a battle on our hands. Clark estimated we had a 3-knot current against us. Traveling at our usual RPM we were seeing 4.7 knots of speed where we would normally see 8 knots or more.

When we finally approached the end of the inlet, I grabbed some pictures along the jetty.

Dredging operation ...

It's Saturday, and folks were enjoying fishing from the jetty.

We could see the ocean waves crashing against the jetty. 

We had strong wave action as we transited the inlet. The waves were hitting us abeam and the stabilizers did not appear to be keeping up.

As I looked back, I could see a wind surfer having a good time on the outer side of the jetty.

Wind surfer having a good time

Once we got out into the ocean and turned so the wind was blowing us south, the wave action lessened. Clark decided to hug the coast to get protection from the wind.  He showed me on the chart where the land bowed out into the ocean and said that we would have calmer seas once we passed that spot. Of course, he was "spot on" with his prediction.

When underway, I have two baskets that I pack with our lunches and we "picnic" on the upper helm as we move along. After finishing my lunch, I decided to lay down on the bench seat behind where Clark sat at the helm. It was my intent to get comfortable. Inevitably, that comfort led to my napping. For me the afternoon passed in a flash (because I was asleep). Before I knew it Clark said we were half an hour away from the Lake Worth inlet where we would go in for tonight's anchorage. 

The scenery was as expected since this is a recurring stop for us. For a place with so many fancy homes and buildings, the structure at the entrance to the inlet looks quite out of place. I finally decided to research the structure to determine its purpose. I learned that this is a sand-bypassing facility located on Singer Island. It bypasses about 100,00 cubic yards of sand annually beneath the inlet to the beaches on the south side to mitigate beach erosion and shoaling. 

Lake Worth Transfer Plant

Small number of beach goers today

I saw a woman taking a picture of the transfer plant so I took a picture of the woman taking a picture!

Besides beach activity, we saw numerous small sailboats out enjoying the waters. 

Out in the ocean, approaching the inlet lots of little sails in the distance

In the inlet

Beside us in the inlet (bird in picture was by accident - not by design)

Besides being known as the Lake Worth inlet, this is also referred to as the West Palm Beach inlet. As I observed the palm trees decorating the properties of the extravagant homes, I made the connection of the name of the area with the landscape. So many palm trees ...

We entered the inlet approaching 5:00, so the sun was low in the sky, Coming straight in the inlet meant straight into the sun. When I take pictures into the sun, I guess where to point the camera and hope for the best. I get a few good silhouette pics this way. 

Fortunately, the anchorage was not overly crowded as we have seen on occasion on past stops here. We plan to go out the Lake Worth inlet in the morning, so the closer we can drop anchor to the inlet the better. Sometimes we have had to go way in to find a spot. Today we got a space quite close to the inlet. 

As we looked for a spot, I noticed a house with a tall, green wall to one side. Talk about privacy from neighbors ...

Well-manicured green wall next to  this house

This anchorage is interesting as we see mega-mansions on one side of us and more cranes than I can count on the opposite side. 

After anchoring, the sky kept drawing my attention. I would think I had gotten a great sunset picture and then the sky would show me some more artistry. The "show" was spectacular tonight. Unfortunately, I have not mastered the technique for taking a panoramic picture. I tried but quickly gave up the idea for lack of skill!

2026 November: Hanging out in Vero Beach

 

Reflections on Bethel Creek
Vero Beach, FL

6 November 2026 to 10 November 2026

So, life for the last couple of weeks has been "rinse and repeat"! Clark decided that, since we were here anyway, it would be a good opportunity to get some work done on the boat. After consulting with our boat manufacturer's mechanic experts, he learned that our diesel engine fuel injectors might be the reason that the boost and the fuel numbers between the two engines are different by a factor of 2. Apparently, some sister boat owners saw similar issues when the injectors were installed with the standard washer and not the thinner Yanmar washer! Funny (not funny) how less than a millimeter of width on a washer can cause issues!

Anyway, while we hang out here at a friend's dock to get the engine work done, we are keeping busy - Clark more so than myself. Our friend, where we're staying, installed a new power pedestal on his dock. Our boat has not been happy with this new pedestal and has repeatedly let us know of its disapproval of the power it is receiving from it by tripping the EPD circuit breaker! Because our friend's boat has a galvanic isolator, he does not have the same issue that we are experiencing with our boat.

 A couple of times Clark found that the shore power tripped the breaker, and we were without power for a period of time, e.g. overnight! No matter how many tests Clark runs with his trusty meters, he cannot find the reason for the power tripping. Folks familiar with Clark will understand that he is obsessed with figuring out the solution to this power puzzle. 

I cannot count the number of times he has opened up the power pedestal to examine the wiring with his meters. Most times I am called in to assist with the opening of the pedestal as he takes care of the wires while I carefully lower the pedestal to a resting position on the dock.  

Most likely place to find Clark 
over the past week
(or at the circuit breaker panel in the garage)

We have one outlet in the galley that Clark installed for me for convenience purposes that, unlike all the others in the galley / salon, is driven by shore power only, i.e. not inverter power. He plugged a fan into this outlet and has it running. If the fan stops working, the shore power has failed. It is the only way we can tell without looking at the circuit breakers. It is annoying to have to move it back and forth from one place to another in the galley depending on what I need to access while cooking. Still, it is serving a useful purpose, and thankfully, it won't be sitting there forever!

The most frustrating part of this problem is that it is not obvious what causes it to trip the breaker. Clark speculated that it trips at high tide, but that doesn't seem to be born out. I noted that it tripped when it rained overnight. He disconnected two wires to diagnose the problem, and the tripping stopped for a couple of days. Then he reconnected them and, voila, it tripped again. 

We were watching a movie around 9:00 at night one night when suddenly Clark noticed the fan stopped running. So, with flashlight in hand, we went out and lowered the pedestal, disconnected the two wires, and raised the pedestal. With the mystery wires disconnected, no more tripping. Are those two wires the "smoking gun" Clark is looking for? It is hard to tell for sure since he still cannot figure out where they go or what they do.

However,  there was an additional factor, our host was away for those days when it did not trip So, did it not trip because the wires were disconnected, or did it not trip because no one was using power in the house!? After more days spent on this than I can count, Clark has declared himself done and advised our friend to call the power company to investigate some "fishy" things he found during his explorations of the dock wiring. 

The main panel with the electrical meter has a wire leading to ground. He found that wire had from 2 to 5 or more amps flowing to ground. Further, even with all the main house breakers off, the line still had several amps of power flowing suggesting that the neighborhood transformer or neighboring houses are using his ground. The current fluctuates quite a bit which may be from various loads in the house or in neighbors' houses turning on and off. The current plan is to have the power company investigate a possible problem on their end.  

When not called upon to lower / raise power pedestals or attach clip leads to a variety of wires in the pedestal, I either take care of my boat chores, read my latest novel (currently a series about women settlers in the old west), or play various computer / phone games. Honing my Mah Jongg skills has become a priority as we get closer to Marlin Bay!

Knowing I get bored easily, I brought some arts and crafts things on the boat. One thing I grabbed as we left home was a couple of adult coloring books. To keep myself busy, I finished one picture and started on another. Of course, it has a nautical theme!

From a coloring Book!

Two inevitable chores that also take some of my time are the laundry and food shopping. Fortunately, staying here at our friend's dock, both are conveniently close by. The washer and dryer are a few measly steps away. The hardest part of doing the laundry is getting the clothes off the boat onto the fixed dock - I have Clark for that job! 

A couple of years ago, my friend Sandy, told me about the food market just down the street from where we stay in Vero Beach. It is convenient and so well stocked! I have gone there by bicycle a couple of times on this visit. The market is 0.5 miles away and a 5-minute bike ride away (I timed it). I grab my backpack and away I go. The first time I went Clark was impressed with how quickly I returned!

 I can only carry so much, so I grab what I consider essential each time I go. The items may not be my usual brand, but all the bases appear to be covered as far as what I need to keep going.

One day, when he could finally take a break from having his head inside the power pedestal, I convinced Clark to bring out his guitar. Since he has not played for a while, his fingers need to be toughened up.  I thoroughly enjoyed his morning-long "concert". 

The boat mechanic came today (11/10) to take the injectors out of the engines. Given that, we will not be moving for a few days. It is pretty hard to get underway with both engines out of commission! The push is now on to give the injectors a spa day. The handoff from one person to another to get the job done sounds like the workings of an assembly line with the goal of having the boat operational once again at the end of the week. 

I noticed that the injectors are due to be returned and installed on "Friday the 13th". Am I superstitious? Ah, no! However, we will both breathe a sigh of relief when we have the engines back in running condition. Until then, it will be, perhaps, more guitar and Mah Jongg.

At least, until later this week, the weather is behaving itself. A cold front with rain is predicted to be on its way. Meanwhile, we have been enjoying mild temperatures (for Florida) and reasonably clear skies. The Florida sun is very hot. I placed canvas covers, that I made a few years ago, on the wooden railings to protect them, and we dug out of the lazarette, and cleaned up a bit, the sunshield we have to keep the cockpit from heating up so much. 

Protecting us and the railings
from the Florida sun

Bethel Creek gives us some pretty views. This is another one with reflections on the water. The brown spots in the water are coconuts. Since the heavy rains, there seem to be a lot of coconuts in the water!

Another reflection on Bethel Creek
in Vero Beach, FL

The sunsets here have been pretty as well. I liked the salmon color that appeared in Monday night's view.