3/23/2019 – 3/25/2019
Depart: Jensen Beach Anchorage 9:40
Arrive: Vero Beach Private Dock 1:20
Distance: 28 nm
When deciding
where we should head for tonight, Clark offered the city marina in Fort Pierce
as an option so we could attend the farmer’s market. Since that was the only
reason to stop at Fort Pierce, I nixed that idea. I said, “Including the
dockage fee of around $100, those would be the most expensive zucchini I ever
purchased! No, thank you!” Instead, we decided to go to Vero Beach and stay at
a friend’s dock for free.
The highlight
of today’s travels came when Clark spied a sea plane practicing touch-and-go on
the water.
 |
| Sea Plane in Air |
 |
| Sea Plane Landed on Water |
We met Don
through a mutual friend in New Jersey. Don is a gracious host and great company
with his numerous stories to tell. While here, we had a chance to do laundry,
buy groceries, clean the boat inside and out, and complete various and sundry
boat chores. Besides visiting Don, Clark planned a multi-day stop in the Fort
Pierce / Vero Beach area because he wanted to have a service person come check
out our stiff steering on the upper helm. All day Saturday was spent with the
mechanic on board making adjustments. It helped only some.
Sunday
night, to thank Don for his hospitality, we went out to dinner. Even though we
arrived at 5:15, the first restaurant we tried had a too-long waiting list for
a table. We left there and went to the Plan B restaurant, which turned out to
be closed on Sundays. Don had no Plan C in mind, but after some thought offered
up two choices – Thai Food or a Ribs place.
Clark said
he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Thai, so ribs it became. We ate at “Wilkes
14 Bones BBQ” where they served Southern-style barbeque. With Clark allergic to
port, ribs seemed like a questionable choice, but he was able to get a juicy
steak while Don and I savored the “Signature” Ribs dinner.
3/26/2019
Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 10:00
Arrive: Cocoa Beach Anchorage 4:15
Distance: 48 nm
ICW MM 105 to 982
Clark declared
that it was time to move on. I told Don how much I enjoyed our visit and wished
I could just stay there, but it was time to go. We traveled familiar territory
today. Other than two dolphins playing leap frog next to the boat, we saw
nothing new on this stretch of the journey. Unfortunately, we did not get any
good pictures or video of the dolphins. They did rolls to show us their white
bellies and actually jumped over one another in the water beside the boat.
3/27/2019
Depart:
Cocoa Beach Anchorage 1:00
Arrive:
Titusville RR Bridge Southeast Anchorage 4:15
Distance:
21 nm
Unlike
yesterday’s run-of-the-mill boat ride, today was rather exhilarating. While
Clark went through his normal engine checks and prepare-to-depart activities, I
stood and watched the sky become darker and darker. The wind continued to pick
up velocity. I could tell a storm was brewing and would be hitting us soon. I
told Clark, “I don’t want to leave!”
If we had
gotten out earlier in the morning, leaving would have been prudent. However, with
the storm barreling down on us, staying turned out to be the right course of
action. As the storm rolled in, the winds
picked up, the sky turned black, and thunder rumbled in the not-too-far-away
distance. Two minutes later, we had fog so dense that visibility had been reduced
to near zero. Then the hail started to fall.
Clark surmised
that we were in the midst of a hail storm because of the great splashes occurring
in the water around us. With a slight wind shift, we stood and watched as small
chunks of ice, the size of large marbles, pelted the cock pit. Wind speeds of around
50 mph added to the excitement.
 |
| Hail Hitting the Water |
 |
| Near-zero Visibility |
As the hail
pounded the boat, Clark worried about his newly completed varnish work. That appears
to have survived the storm, but the front panel of our upper-helm full enclosure
did not fare so well. Clark found a golf-ball-sized hole in the panel with the
Eisenglass broken into three pieces. We found two of the three shards of “glass”,
and using “Tear Aid” tape, we patched the whole in the glass.
Although we
had a respite long enough to patch up the front panel, our bad weather was not
over yet. We had two more storms pass through. Each of them brought wind and
rain, but fortunately, no more hail.
When we had a chance to survey the situation closer, we found that we
had more front panel damage. Whether from wind or hail, the zipper teeth had
pulled away from the fabric in a couple of places. We had yet more repairs to
be done.
After lunch,
we checked the radar to see the weather pattern. We saw no more storms headed
our way. I knew Clark was anxious to add to our “miles traveled tabulation”, so
we agreed to pull up anchor and move the two hours we hoped to move in the
morning to the Titusville area. Clark had called earlier and was told by the
Titusville Marina that, although they had no slips available, if necessary, we
could come in and tie up to their fuel dock.
 |
| Stormy Waters underway |
As we bucked
the wind, heading north, I could not imagine trying to come into and tying up
to a dock. We opted not to go for the fuel dock because it was exposed to the fetch of the north winds. Foolishly, I thought anchoring would be the easier option. Had it
not been for an abundance of ill-placed crab pots at the anchorage we hoped to
use, it probably would not have been quite so difficult as it turned out to be.
At 3:30 or
so, when we attempted to anchor among numerous sailboats and an equally large
number of crab pots, the wind blew steady at 35-to-40 knots and gusted to around
45 knots. We had the anchor down and it grabbed hard. Then Clark saw a crab pot
way too close to the boat and aborted the process. Suddenly he wanted the
anchor up and, although it worked hard, the winch was no match for the force of
the wind.
I was at the
helm and put the boat in forward but still the winch was not up to the job.
Finally Clark pushed up the speed on the throttle to compensate for the wind
and managed to pull the anchor back on board. Having had no success at this
choice of anchorage, Clark decided to try another one a little further along. I
expect the man watching our maneuvers from his nearby sailboat was happy to see
us leave.
Reading the
reviews on wind protection on Active Captain, we chose the Railroad Bridge East
anchorage as opposed to the west anchorage. Although we tucked ourselves in
behind a chunk of land, we still had some rocking. We had spent almost an hour getting
anchored for the night. Given the rocking, Clark did not like the apparent lack
of protection. I, on the other hand, thought it was just fine and much better
than the first, crab-pot-infested, choice. We had no sailboats here. Ours was the only
boat in this anchorage for the night.
3/28/2019
Depart: Titusville RR Bridge Southeast
Anchorage 9:15
Arrive: Palm Coast Marina 6:00
Distance: 64 nm
As we
traveled today, we had gusty winds of 30 to 40 knots. On the VHF Weather, we
heard high-surf advisories for the day. Clark decided to head for the Palm Coast
Marina today as we needed to add water to our tanks, find a pump out for the
holding tank, and take long, hot showers.
Our travels took
us under Haulover Bridge and along the Haulover Canal. As we approached the
bridge, I noticed dark patches in the water that I assumed were dolphins. Once
we entered the canal, I realized that those dark “lumps” were actually manatees.
We saw too many to count in the canal waters.
Today’s
sights included some familiar scenes.
 |
| Lighthouse at Ponce de Leon Inlet |
 |
| Daytona Beach |
 |
Sunken Sailboat near bridge
(why don’t they remove this obstacle!!) |
 |
| On the grounds at Palm Coast Marina |
When we
finally docked at the Palm Coast marina, I could not have been more ready to call it quits
for the day. Traveling nine hours today made up for the short day yesterday,
but I had had more than enough for one day. I planned on throwing together a
quick dinner, taking a hot shower, and calling it a night. How quickly I changed
my plans!
We had a
very pleasant surprise shortly after we tied our lines. Robin and Charlie, (“The
Lower Place”), whom we met at Faro Blanco this winter, came knocking at our
boat to invite us to join them and several other “Loopers” for dinner at a
nearby restaurant - Mezzaluna. Forgetting all about all the chores we needed to
attend to, I immediately said, “Yes!” We had another surprise when we got to
the restaurant where we found Dana and Doug (“Misty Pearl”), whom we also met
this year at Faro Blanco, were included in the gathering. That is an amazing
part of boating – you don’t know who you will see or when you will see them on
the water. We met Kathy and Steve on “Red Pearl” tonight also.
 |
| European Village where we ate dinner |
 |
| Mezzaluna Pizza |
 |
Loopers at Mezzaluna Restaurant
“The Lower Place”, “Red Pearl”, “Sunset Delight”,
"Gammel Dansk" and “Misty Pearl”
|
After
dinner, we walked back to the marina. Robin, Kathy, and I stood and talked for
another 30 minutes or so before heading off to our boats. When I got back to “Sunset
Delight”, I found Clark preparing to fill the water tanks. I had completely
forgotten this very important job still needed to be done. I helped him get
setup and then headed off to grab that hot shower I so looked forward to. After
he filled the water tanks, Clark hosed the excess salt off the boat. After all
that hard work, he too got that hot shower he craved.
3/29/2019
Depart: Palm Coast Marina 8:25
Arrive: Jacksonville Free Dock (Sisters
Creek) 3:30
Distance: 54 nm
Because we
were tied up at the fuel dock at the Palm Coast Marina, we were told we would need
to leave by 8:00. However, since we needed to get the holding tank pumped out,
we did not depart until 8:25. “Red Pearl”, “Misty Pearl”, and “The Lower Place”
had already left to continue their travels by the time we pulled away from the
dock.
One nice
thing about having a slightly faster boat is that we can catch up to the slower
folks. On our way to tonight’s spot, we passed all three of those boats (saying
hello as we went). “Red Pearl” and “Misty Pearl” dropped off at St. Augustine
while we and “The Lower Place” continued on to Jacksonville.
 |
| “The Lower Place” |
We were in
for one more surprise boat encounter. At Faro Blanco this year, we met Eric and
Jen on “Slow Lane”. Surprise, surprise! We found them along the way today –
also headed for a free dock in Jacksonville just not the same one we targeted.
 |
“Slow Lane”
approaching Jacksonville |
We even got
a picture of our boat out of the deal as Robin on “The Lower Place” took our
picture just after we passed them.
 |
| “Sunset Delight” |
As we came
into the Jacksonville, in addition to Looper / pleasure craft, we saw a lot of
industrial / worker boats in the area.
 |
| Freighter near Jacksonville, FL |
 |
| Tug at Work |
As “The
Lower Place” and “Slow Lane” carried on further down the St. John’s River, we turned
into Sisters Creek to look for space at the free dock situated there. Several folks
currently on the Great Loop were there to help grab lines and tie up our boat.
When we were done, we had left room for one more boat if one happened to come
in later.
After securing
our lines, and while I prepared dinner, Clark went off the trade boat cards and
names with these new acquaintances. Among the boaters he met were two,
very-new-to-boating and the loop boaters, Nina and George on a catamaran named “Breathe”.
They were two of those that helped catch our lines. Besides meeting people,
Clark managed to get a couple of pictures for the blog.
 |
Cruise Ship Leaving Jacksonville
passing Sisters Creek off St. John’s River |
 |
| Sunset as seen from the Jacksonville Free Dock |
Later, when
I was washing the dinner dishes, Nina knocked on the boat to give us their
boating information. She and George joined Clark and I on board “Sunset Delight”
for a delightful chat that lasted until way after “looper midnight” – a lovely
way to end the day.
3/30/2019 - Florida to Georgia
Depart:
Jacksonville Free Dock (Sisters Creek) 8:50
Arrive:
Crescent River Anchorage #2 (near Doboy Inlet in Georgia) 6:10
Distance:
54 nm
Nina and
George on “Breathe” waited until we left this morning to throw off their lines.
That way we could avoid having to pass them along the way.
 |
| “Breathe” docked at Jacksonville Free Dock |
Shortly
after leaving Jacksonville, the view changed drastically from freighters and cruise
ships to marshland.
 |
| Into the marshes we go |
Although it
is not very clear in the picture, Clark actually saw and photographed an
alligator crossing the river today.
 |
Only the alligator’s head is visible in the water
as it makes its way to shore |
In the
Fernandino Beach area of today’s travels, we saw some interesting sights.
As we
approached St. Mary’s Inlet, Clark decided we had seen enough sights on the
ICW, it was time to take it “outside”.
 |
Heading out St. Mary’s Inlet
into the Calm Waters of the Atlantic Ocean |
As we approached the St. Simon's inlet, Clark saw a
tug and called him on the VHF radio to inquire about passing. The
tugboat captain said, “Pass on the ocean side. I’m just traveling in a circle waiting for
another boat to get here.” Clark inquired about the two barges in the
area and was told by the captain, “Yeah. I’m towing both of these barges around with me.”
 |
| Tugboat with two barges in tow going “in circles” |
After way too many boring hours of nothing to look at but water and one (it had to have lost its way) trap four miles offshore, we turned towards land and headed back to the ICW at Doboy Inlet in Georgia. Clark has a
book on the inlets along the coast. Doboy Inlet was not included in the list.
Some inlets are no longer navigable. Although not in the book, Doboy Inlet is
usable.
Clark read the do’s and don’ts on Active Captain and we made our way
in. It got a little “dicey” for a short while as we started seeing depths near
the two-foot mark. Moving closer to the green markers brought us back to deeper
water and easier breathing. After that we had no other issues.
 |
| Lighthouse at entry into Georgia at Doboy Inlet |
As soon as
we got off the ocean, I went down to the galley to start cooking dinner. Clark
said we had about 7 nautical miles, i.e. about one hour, for me to use my electric
cookpot before we shut the engines down. An hour later I had dinner prepared
and eggs cooked for egg salad sandwiches for tomorrow’s lunch.
It took two
attempts to get the anchor where Clark felt comfortable. We anchored in 16 feet
of water which, because of Georgia’s huge tide swings, will drop to 8 foot at
low tide. The problem – behind us we had
lower water that, at low time, would only have us a couple of inches off the
bottom. That being too close for comfort, he decided to reposition the anchor
so we don’t find ourselves sitting on dirt at midnight. I told Clark I would
much rather move the anchor now than at midnight.
Once again
we are anchored with no WiFi and way too many pictures to upload to make use of
my cell phone hot spot. While I worked on the blog sans WiFi , Clark played his
guitar. We plan to be at a marina tomorrow night, so I hope they have good WiFi
and I can get caught up on blog updates.
 |
| Sunset at Crescent River Anchorage |
