Sailing South: Sailing through Florida |
Monday, December 7, 2009St Augustine, FLBefore going to Canada, we had depleted our supplies, used up all of the perishable food and turned off the refrigeration. We were waiting for the new glass to be put into our dodger and bimini top and ordered spare parts for our Westerbeke engine. With empty cupboards we used the opportunity to practice provisioning for the Bahamas. We had another 4 weeks in Florida with ready access to almost everything, but would not have the same luxury in the Bahamas. One day we rented a car and made a run to Wal-Mart to get bulk goods – things with long expiry dates that we could put into the holds (every nook and cranny on the boat). Wine was a major thought. We like our wine. On our Thousand Island Cruises we used tretra pak wines. We could not find the same brand here and settled on the Black Box variety – Merlot and a Cab-Sauvignon. We played with taking them out of the boxes and storing just the plastic bags. In the end we had a large space forward that could hold 6 or 7 4-litre boxes. Enough for a week or two? Some of the Wal-Mart brands were actually very good. Some will never see the light of day again. We have read many cruising guides and books on different ways of provisioning and we found they started making sense when we understood the author’s cruising intent. Some cruisers have to have ‘their’ brands and do an overabundance of provisioning. Others want to save as many pennies as they can and buy the cheapest. We started to work backwards from what we knew we could get easily and at a reasonable price in the Bahamas. Not in any particular order were:
Things that were not as plentiful or reasonably priced:
By the end of the week we were stowed and ready to head out. We paid our bill on Thursday afternoon and went to the old town of St Augustine one last time before we set sail the next day. We looked at a family owned restaurant on the waterfront. The place looked a little run down as we walked out onto the wharf. One of their signs said “Feed the fish while you eat dinner.” We wondered at that. When we sat down, we observed a small hatch on the window ledge that opened to the water below. Outside the window was a noisy flock of sea gulls – grabbing the morsels tossed out by the table behind us. The ruckus caused by the scavenger birds was something out of Hitchcock movie. We got up and left. Walking back through town we went into a pub with 2 for one drinks and happy hour appies. It turned out the pub fronted on the waterfront looking out at the old fort. A rainbow appeared over the fort and then a bit of a second one. The drinks were good, the appetizers delicious and we said goodbye to St. Augustine. We planned on heading to the Florida Keys for Christmas and then crossing over to the Bahamas between Christmas and New Year. Friday, December 11, 2009St Augustine, FLAt sunrise, the current was slow and the wind was light. We backed out of our slip and headed down the San Sebastian River.
We made over 54 miles and the boat handled well. The work we had done at the marina seemed to be paying off. The engine mounts were finally back the way they should have been. Our plan was to anchor as many nights as we could. We anchored at Daytona Beach for the night. Saturday, December 12, 2009Daytona Beach, FLThe mud in the river at Daytona Beach was thicker and stickier than anything we had seen since the Chesapeake. Both the deck and I were covered in it by the time the anchor was secured. This was when I started my “If we do this again” list with – install a deck wash. We had to navigate Ponce De Leon Inlet mid day. The ICW actually runs behind an island in the inlet, but there are north and south accesses to the inlet. The guide tells you there will be buoys to mark your way but they are not on the charts because they are moved so often due to the shoaling from the constant movement of the sands. We only touched once but we were getting concerned that our boat speed was dropping. It felt like we were dragging something. Just before we pulled into the Titusville City Marina, we swung the boat in a circle and reversed hard. Whatever was slowing us down fell off and we entered the marina in full control. We needed diesel because we were at our lowest threshold – ¼ tank. We found we used about 1/8th of a tank each day for about 50 miles. We established the safety threshold so we would not be tempted to ‘push’ and run the risk of running out. Unlike many of our fellow travelers, we decided not to carry extra jerrey cans of fuel. We also pumped our holding tank. That was a task that just wanting to live on the boat dictated. Just up the dock from us was another CS36 from St Catherines, ON. We met them on the dock later in the afternoon and they invited us to an impromptu cocktail party with all of the other Canadian boats traveling the ICW. There were 4 other couples there from Ontario and Quebec. It was interesting finding out about their adventures, the ‘running aground’ stories and the different theories on what is best – Florida or the Bahamas; and if so – where. Sunday, December 13, 2009Titusville, FL
We were away at first light again, heading for Fort Pierce. The thought was to anchor near the Fort Pierce inlet and go outside for a day, something Mary had been hesitant about. One of the couples recommended an anchorage on the Indian River – behind a spoil island. A spoil island, in this case was where they had dumped the material dredged from the bottom. Over time trees grew and a small beach had formed. We pulled into the anchorage an hour before sunset. There were 2 other boats there and we were joined by 2 more within the hour. It was a beautiful calm, warm evening and we decided to commence Mary’s dinghy lessons. We had towed Hudson most of the way (except the time he spent on the deck) but had not used him much. That would change as Hudson became our primary mode of in port transportation. The lesson went well with Mary landing Hudson on the sandy beach. It was a first for her. We walked the beach, chatting with a young couple who had come in before us. With the lesson half finished, we returned to Sojourn and grilled dinner. The evening was quiet, the anchorage protected and we both slept well. Monday, December 14, 2009Rocky Point on Indian River, FLFirst light we were off. Again the dolphins came out to play, this time swimming under our bow. I was bale to get some video footage of them. Wow! Mid afternoon, the bilge pump went off. Occasionally after a lot of rain the bilge pump will engage. There had not been a lot of rain. I checked the bilge and it was almost empty. The auto bilge pump shut off. About 20 minutes later, the pump went off again. I opened the engine compartment, expecting the head exchanger cap to be off. It was still in place. The engine sump had water in it. I stuck my finger in it – warm. A little taste – salty. It could only be the heat exchanger or something connected to the raw-water cooling system. A closer inspection showed a small leak in the heat exchanger cap. I was able to reduce the leak to a mere drip with mast collar tape and a hose clamp. We immediately decided no “outside” sailing until we replaced the heat exchanger cap. In hindsight, we should have replaced it when we picked up all of the spare parts in St. Augustine. Oh well. Hindsight is 20:20. We had picked up a Florida boating directory in St. Augustine and looked up Westerbeke (our engine make) dealers along the way. There was one in Fort Pierce. I phoned and they could order the part in the next day so we placed the order. We anchored just off the Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce late after noon. We dinghied ashore to confirm our order, only to find the part order did not make that day’s shipment, but would be in the following day – 10ish in the morning. A bit disappointed we went up to the local grocery and marine stores for some replenishment. We could not find any sea food stores. Back on the boat we were amazed at the activity of the dolphins. We watched them play in the anchorage. There seemed to be 2 or 3 engaged in a lot of rough-housing. We learned later at the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon, that dolphins are a fusion/fission mammal. They form into pods. Babies stay with a female pod where dolphins without children act as nannies. Males form bachelor pods usually with a best friend for life. The males mate and then go back to playing with the boys. (I decline to comment on this point). The various pods hang around together. We think we saw both bachelor pods being ruckus and female pods with a baby. We were able to get a little video of each. As it was, the part did not arrive until late the 3rd day, so it was Tuesday before we were on the water again. Tuesday, December 15, 2009Fort Pierce, FLThe weather was not promising when we left so we opted not to go outside, as was our plan. Our next stop was Lake Worth, another area with a good inlet. Two hours later, we decided this was not the place to be. We had just passed a marina at Nettles Island and turned the boat around. The Marina did not monitor the VHF (we found out later) so we could not confirm whether they had room for us. We made the decision that the worst that would happen is we would tie to their fuel dock until the storm passed. The channel was well marked and signs all the way in said we had at least 8 feet of water. More than we were used to. We came up around the end of the island. It was square – not natural, definitely man-made. Towards the end of the island we saw the marina and made a turn at the next corner. The next part was not pretty as I felt we were going into the wrong area and attempted to turn around downwind in a very narrow channel. After 3 tries and slipping sideways into the last slip way, I decided to stop fighting mother nature. Just then Mary saw an open slip and said something like “There!” I swung the bow in the slip. Hit the throttle hard in forward and then reverse and we came to a stop almost as if we knew what we were doing. Many of the locals congratulated us on such a fine landing in tough conditions. We just smiled and said, “Thank you.” Nettles Island is an old pig farm. It was a more natural island at one time. The owner would drop the pigs off to let them graze and pick them up in time for market. Security was simple. It seems pigs can’t swim. Since then a seawall had been build all around the island. The channel was dredged and used to backfill the seawall. This was actually a gated community of mostly modest homes, trailers and RVs. There was a restaurant, laundry, showers and a rather well stocked convenience store. The dockage was low, so we signed on for 2 days. We added a day when the wind continued out of the south. We wandered over to the ocean side, walked the beach, watched the waves pounding the shore and felt thankful for our sheltered dock. We found a pub, at fish sandwiches and sauntered back to the boat for a nap. We were in Florida and doing fine. Friday, December 17, 2009Nettles Island, FLWe got away at first light and felt great about our stop at Nettles Island. Back on the waterway we headed for Lake Worth and past a lot of really nice scenery along the way. In Jupiter, FL we marveled at the colour of the water – a brilliant turquoise. Lake Worth is a commercial harbour with a lot of activity. We found the anchorage and settled in for a windy evening. The wind dropped towards the morning, but I still checked our situation every hour or two. Monday, December 21, 2009Lake Worth, FLAt first light, we were off again, this time out the inlet into the Atlantic Ocean. This was the first time we had been on the ocean since we sailing the coast of New Jersey. Our destination – Port Everglades just south of Fort Lauderdale. The wind was out of the Northwest and strong. We sailed under jib and got to Port Everglades early in the afternoon. We re-calculated and decided we could make Miami by dark and decided to continue. It was incredible watching the Miami and Miami Beach skylines grow as we continued south. The main commercial channel into Miami is called Government Cut. This is where the cruise ships load and unload their guests. Homeland Security enforces safety zones around military vessels, vessels carrying hazardous materials and cruise ships. If there is only one such vessel, they set up a moving perimeter and we just have to keep our distance. With more than one such vessel, they close the channel. Fortunately, there is a second channel going into Miami – branching off the Government Cut – Fisherman’s Cut. We were almost to Fisherman’s Cut when we noticed a wall of white moving toward us. A cruise ship had left the dock and was heading our way, cutting our access to the second channel. We tried to radio the boat (I forgot they monitor channel 13 not 16) and the security patrol that had been chasing errant boats all afternoon. Neither answered. We pulled to the north side of the channel, just inside the channel marker and waited until the cruise ship passed. Passengers heading out for a Christmas cruise waved and took pictures. We smiled and waved back. We were part of their cruise history. The guide said there was an anchorage just south of Fisherman’s Cut. No one else was using it, so we opted not to and called ahead to Miamarina, a place we used to stay back in the 80s. They had a slip so we continued down Fisherman’s Cut. You would think that with such a busy harbour and after all these years, it would have been a fairly straight shot. No! The channel took a jog to the left and a turn to the right. It was now dark and the channel markers were not lit. A TowBoatUS boat stopped to watch to see if we would go aground. Fortunately, my GPS had the marks clearly on then. I aimed to where they should have been until we saw them. The entrance to the marina was just as tricky going between the outer seawall of the marina and a causeway over to South Beach. On top of that the Miami Dade Police boat had a small powerboat pulled over, blue lights flashing, blocking the channel. I guess we looked like we were not in the mood to be sociable and the police boat moved over. We got in and tied up and we were in the middle of a shopping mall: a Hard Rock Café on one end, a food court, a Starbucks and a thousand little tourist shops. But we were out of the channel, out of the wind and we found great showers. We went for a walk in the mall and ended up eating tapas at an Argentinean restaurant. They were delish. Tuesday, December 22, 2009Miami Harbor, FLFirst light, out the channel. It did not look as hostile in the morning as it did the night before. We sailed down the harbour, under the Rickenbacker bridge and into Biscayne Bay. We saw clearly the other anchorage at Stadium Marina. We knew we could not have made it there safely. We decided to head back outside through the other entrance into the harbour at No Name Key. There is an anchorage there that is used by boats waiting to cross to the Bahamas. We had our heart set on Christmas in the Keys so we continued east out into the Hawk Channel, which would take us the rest of the way to the Florida Keys. The sail was excellent. The water was a translucent green. The crab pots were many and not as well organized (straight lines) as the Chesapeake. We watched a couple of boat heading north – banging into the waves and northerly winds. Fortunately we were heading south and then south west along the Florida Keys. We passed Key Largo and found Rodriguez Key, our chosen anchorage for the night. We were in the Keys and would be there for Christmas. We anchored in 8 – 10 feet of water north of the key and across from the entrance to Largo Sound, south of Key Largo. We used to be able to anchor in the sound, but overnight anchoring was no longer allowed. The guide said there were some mooring balls for rent, but we opted for an anchorage. There was one other boat in the anchorage and we took a position north and west of her. We let out about 65 feet of chain on our CQR anchor and kept our anchor watch for most of the evening. It had been my plan to let out more chain before bed, but I didn’t. At midnight, we were still within a few feet of our anchor mark on the GPS. Two hours later, with the wind howling, I woke to check and discovered we had dragged – considerably. When I finally found the light of the other boat, I realized we had moved half a mile. Fortunately, the water stayed deep enough and there was no one behind us, so we moved closer to our original position and let out 100 feet of chain. I maintained an anchor watch for the next 2 hours and when confident we were holding well, I went back to bed. Wednesday, December 23, 2009Rodriguez Key, FLMorning came early. Doesn’t it always when you have been up half the night? Another great sail. We were on a run so we decided to fly the cruising spinnaker (Gennaker or DRS). (Actually WE never decide to do it. I want to and ask Mary’s permission.) The sail had not been up since the Delaware Bay when we pulled it down as the winds grew and I had stuffed it unceremoniously in the sail bag. I knew there would be some twists in the lines and the snuffing bag, so I sat on deck and slowly hoisted it, unraveling the rat’s nest as it went up. It was really worth the effort when the sail started pulling us at 6.5 to 7 knots. We carried it until the winds built too high, but this time I took it down under control and repacked it properly. Coming down the Hawk channel we continued in the company of two boats – a larger traditional schooner – The Yankee and a larger sloop – both of whom we would meet again in Boot Key Marina in Marathon, FL. Just off Boot Key, we caught a wave that rounded us up. A second pushed us sideways a bit and it felt we picked up a crab pot or something. I tried to shake it but could not. We steered slowly into Boot Key Harbour ( you should check out their web cam at bootkeyharbor.com. What you will see is up to 226 boats attached to mooring balls rather than anchored or at docks. It actually works out quite well. We went into the marina office and registered for a week. There is a large common room with WiFi and 2 wide screen televisions, an exchange book library and some vending machines. In an attached building are showers, washrooms and a laundromat. On the way back to the boat I was looking at how clear the water was and I noticed something odd about our rudder. It wasn’t there. At least a good portion of the lower rudder was missing. We called around to marinas to see if we could get hauled out and investigate the problem. One marina (with which we have since had two bad experiences with was closing from Christmas Eve until Jan 4. Our son and his girlfriend were arriving on Dec 28 and we hoped to have the boat back in the water (or at least substantially repaired) by then. Marathon Marina and Boatyard could lift us the next day and said they would have someone working on the Saturday. Boxing day is a British for “I am done with Christmas, let’s go shopping and the US does not celebrate that. Thursday, December 24, 2009Boot Key (Marathon), FL
We met some of our new neighbours, also spending Christmas ‘on the hard’. Mary and I baked cookies and handed them out to our new friends. We watched a glorious Florida sunset and went to bed with visions of better boating dancing in our heads. Friday, December 25, 2009On the Hard in Marathon, FLIt’s tough being away from home at Christmas. In Boot Key Harbor, there were 226 boats away from home – probably over 500 people. What to do? The marina management team chose to put on Christmas dinner for everyone there – yes all 500 plus cruisers. They supplied and cooked turkey, potatoes and sweet potatoes enough to feed the who crew (so to speak). Each boat was asked to bring a side or dessert to share and, of course, their own libation. The central Here is the quick version. We were on the hard until Jan 2. Kevin and Julia arrived on December 28 as planned. We rented a car a picked them up at Ft Lauderdale airport. We took the dinghy out to the beach one day and then it got cold and it stayed cold until yesterday, Friday, January 15. The kids went home after visiting Key West, the Dolphin Research Centre and visiting most of the pubs and fisheries in the Marathon area. The seafood here is excellent. You cannot get any fresher than buying at a store where the fishing boats land. We made a big note to never come to Florida in January again. We are simply the southern extension of the weather happening up north. The lowest temperatures were 39F at night and 48F in the day. On the up side, we didn’t shovel snow once. On the coldest days, we just hunkered down under blankets and read. Still not a bad pastime. Saturday, January 16, 2010Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FLThis is the last entry in this first third of our cruise. There is a great weather window over the next 3 days and we are (knock on wood) crossing to the Bahamas. The next third will be Bimini to Nassau, through the Exumas to Georgetown and then back up to Nassau. Mid April we will cross to the Abacos and then back to the US early May. We have to be above Morehead City, NC by June 1. The last third will be the trip home. We plan to video tape much of that as well as the Bahamas for our project – InformedBoater.com. Thanks to everyone for emails and well wishes. We will continue this Journey South from the other side of the Gulf Stream. Rob and Mary MacLeod s/v Sojourn En route to the Bahamas (soon – real soon) Robert MacLeod |
It was a great day. We saw dolphins every day now as made our way south on the ICW.
We were hauled on the 24th and you can see what we saw in this picture. On Monday, a fiberglass expert reviewed the rudder and we agreed to get it repaired. We did check on replacement cost and timing and it would have been mid February and twice the cost.FREE Download
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