Run Aweigh Home

It’s 5:00 and I’m coffeed up. Weather looks possible today. Rain is subsiding and the winds should not be a big factor traveling south. Sun doesn’t rise until 7:30ish so maybe about 8:00 we’ll shove off. It’s 51 degrees this morning.

Still not smoking……really really want to….no I just need another cup of coffee. I can do this.

The day turned out great. The skies cleared and the wind subsided. We stopped at a small marina on Nettles Island just west of the Jensen Beach area. Nettles Island is man made from dredged material. It was originally developed as a trailer park. Over 1,300 lots. Many of the trailers are being replaced now with stick built residences. Neat stuff.

After another one of Susan’s great meals, we found our way to the beach and found Shuckers.

Weather windy, rainy and cool. Captain decides we sit still today…….bar opens at 11:00.

Tried to find a leak around the vanity in master…. Can’t find the source. No patience.

Still not smoking…..

 

Leaving Titusville Municipal Marina around 8:30 headed to Melbourne area. After searching prospects, we are finding a lot of facilities are too shallow for us to visit. We are choosing between places that are too close and places that are right at the limit of what we can travel in a day. I make tentative reservations at Melbourne Harbour Marina. About a forty mile run.

Weather is overcast, cool and winds are 15knots+ from the north. There is very little tide and current in this area and we make decent time and realize we could probably make Vero Beach, another 35-40 miles down the ditch. I find one that appears capable and call for reservation……nothing available for the night. So we must settle for Melbourne Harbour Marina…

Tight entrance but easy enough to negotiate. Tidal range of only a few inches (really) and more depth than we were cautioned.

Tied up at the fuel dock….as usual and found a great bar at the end of the dock. Ichabods Bar and Grill.

……and day two of not smoking. I just need to go to sleep early to miss the worst withdrawal symptoms.

So I wake to living in the aftermath of my three hour “boat yoga” in the generator room. Stiff and sore. Started the coffee pot, checked email, fixed my coffee and reached for a cigar…….that’s right I am supposed to be quitting for the new year. In fact I cleverly doled out my remaining stock so I would not have any available today. Ok I can do this. I need to stay busy today. I need to to eat something….no I don’t.

Ill write more later….

Leaving Jacksonville headed to a spot to ring in the new year.

Arriving at Beach Marine we receive docking instructions. “Enter the Marina and go to the eleventh “T” dock and staff will assist you…..”

So I am creeping down through the marina, as the travel way became narrower and narrower……. wondering how in the hell am I getting out of here in the morning. I sometimes wonder if the marina folks do this on purpose as some kind of challenge. Deep in the bowels of the marina, I find the 11th “T” and there are at least 5 staff members patiently waiting to assist us….. or maybe it takes that many to keep us from hitting anything….

After we let the generator room cool off a bit, Mike and I decide to take a closer look at the water pump on the port generator. The leak is not a loose fitting…..which is too bad……which means I’m going to have to take something apart….which usually means trouble. The leak seems isolated to the pump itself, does not leak when not running, and doesn’t seem to reduce the cooling water flowing through the heat exchangers. I will consult my Virginia mechanic for guidance before I start removing pieces.

In the process of this examination, I notice the bilge water level is fairly high……bilge switch not working and the pump is not responding to the manual switch. Great another project……in fact this bilge was the only one that was working correctly when we bought the boat. Oh well, I’ve got spares and I’ll attack it tomorrow.

Debbie arrives and gets settled in. Susan will have a female to hang with now (I know she was getting tired of hanging with Mike and I).

Another visitor was Mary Beth, she was a northern necker that moved to Fl. We used to hangout with her when we kept our previous boat at Port Kinsale Marina. Lots of memories and alcohol. Nice reunion.

 

Today we are planning a short day to Jacksonville to pick up Mikes Fiancé Debbie.

Before that, we get to see my son Winn, his wife Julie, and granddaughter Temperance, and grandson Anderson.

We had a nice visit this morning before we left. I got a USS Wyoming hat…..we gave Anderson a Pirate necklace (sharks tooth) and Temperance  a dolphin necklace with a pearl in it.  I got to take the kids around the boat. Even the generator room…..

Generator room…

The trip to Jacksonville was uneventful with the exception the port generator was leaking around the raw water pump. Every morning when I start the generators, I have been switching between starboard and port generators each day. Today the port side generator was leaking around the water pump assembly. I’ll need some extra time to diagnose the problem. We ran the starboard genset for the day.

Today we plan the trip to Fernandina, Florida. After 2 1/2 weeks on the trip we finally make Florida. Short day. We take on fuel and water before we leave Lanier Island.

The route today took us through two ocean inlets. One of them took us very exposed to the ocean. Winds from the southeast created some mild wave action for the passage. We encountered more south bound traffic. Several boats have been “with” us for the last several days. The tides were with us for the  most part and we made decent time. Today is my youngest daughters birthday…..

Fernandina is a cute little town.We found the oldest bar in Florida. It has an active railway that runs through the town.

The town was all lit up for the holidays.

Tomorrow we get to see my youngest son, his wife, and two of our grand children…… Can’t wait.

 

This morning I woke to my morning ritual…..5:30 wake up. Coffee. Morning trip to the head. Then pour over weather and tide information. Our goal today was Lanier Island, Georgia – 85 miles……at 8knots that’s about 10 3/4 hours of travel in ten hours of daylight. We needed to pass through Hells Gate well before high tide at 10:24am.

We cast lines off at 7:30 and headed out and made the Gate by 9:00. Plenty of water (though we did find several areas of 12′ water depth which meant at low tide we would not have been able to make it through). Glad we waited for a rising tide.

The rest of the day was just long. We fought currents and tides most of the day. Susan’s seagulls were back in force.

One of Susan’s favorite picture of Mike and I in the pilot house. Me at the wheel and Mike on a step stool to see over the fenders on the foredeck.

We made Morningstar Marina at about 5:00. Enjoyed the sunset.

This part of the waterway is windy, has a huge tide range (8′), very fast currents and areas that have little water depth at low tide. Here if you run aground on a falling tide, you can loose your boat quickly. Our boat draws 5′. If we ground on a falling tide of 8′, we will be laying on our side in the mud at low tide…..

As we studied charts, tide data, and currents for the next leg, an area titled “hells gate” came into focus. All and I mean all recommendations were to transit the gate at mid tide and rising. From our starting point on Hilton Head this morning the “gate” was 45 miles south. High tide was at 9:35am, and by the time we could get there the tide would be falling…… I decided not to risk it and we chose a marina 10 miles north of Hells Gate. Isle of Hope Marina. That way we could reach the “gate” the next morning on a rising tide.

The morning started out rainy and a little foggy.

The day was short (only 35 miles) and uneventful. The weather cleared and turned sunny and warm. Once at the marina, we walked to a local seafood joint and had a great meal (even though the marina gave us a courtesy car to use just cause Susan wanted to walk) The town was interesting….

the restaurant had an aquarium