Marsh Harbour

Monday, 1/21/13 Marsh Harbour Pulled into Marsh Harbour Marina fuel dock to top off the liquids and dispose of the garbage then picked a place to drop the hook not far from Snappas. We would all meet on ‘Que Sera Sera’, Lois and Don from Sandusky, OH who have gone around the world in their boat, for happy hour.

Tuesday, 1/22/13 Marsh Harbour Laundry day. We pile laundry into the dink, motor over to the bouncy dinghy dock and tie up with the other bouncing dinghies, lug our laundry to the large Coin Wash Laudromat where ¾ of the machines have ‘out of order’ signs on them. One woman takes it upon herself to help us out, telling us to put coins in the slots of machines that will finish soon claiming them. We get quarters from the woman in the office, claim our machines, 3 in all at $2 each, and wait to load them. Then we run over to Price is Right grocery and pick up fresh produce, etc. Ken heads back to the boat to unload the groceries and I wait for the laundry to load into one large working dryer for 25c/minute. After $4, the clothes are dry and we lug them back to the dinghy, making a quick stop at Bristol for rum. The boat looks great: I’d cleaned it earlier, the laundry was done, and we got some provisions. I fixed a great spaghetti dinner with a fresh salad for supper. A good afternoon to stay on the boat with the wind kicking up and the leaden skies. And the wind blew like stink all night. Wednesday 1/23/13 Marsh Harbour Tried the oii (Out Island Internet) on the boat and was able to connect, although a somewhat iffy connection, and spent much of the day getting caught up on emails, etc. Finally, needing a break, we headed into town leaving the dink at Tupp’s dinghy dock, walking to the Chemist Shoppe to pick up some more Stugeron, a great anti-nausea pill only available here and the UK. We met Don and Lois (Que Sera Sera) as we were headed back to the boat and they have decided they need to get south and are planning on leaving tomorrow. We would meet them at Snappas for happy hour and we went to inform ‘Carolina’ and ‘Astar’. Ken and I debated whether to go with them, and would wait to hear weather in the morning.

Sunday, 1/20/13, Fishers Bay, Great Guana Cay

A beautiful sunny day. ‘Carolina’ headed out about 8:15 and we followed. It was one of those rare perfectly calm days and Ken took advantage of it to recalibrate the compass, doing slow revolutions in the middle of the Sea of Abaco. It worked and now the little boat on the chartplotter is headed the right way. We hailed ‘Astar’ to say we were on our way, then ‘Carolina’ hailed us to say they were heading back, that the waves in the Whale passage were huge and wild. We thought we’d go look, then someone hailed us to say no one would rescue us if we went out. We were just going to look… We, along with ‘Carolina’, thought we’d anchor at Munjack, a privately owned island and the owners like cruisers so we could walk their trails. We hail ‘Astar’ to tell them the change of plans and just as we get off the VHF, ‘Carolina’ hails us again to say they just talked to a boat that had come thru the Whale and they were turning around. Change of plans again! We are like the wind: one minute one direction, the next another, and we’re all fine with it….we are sailors, afterall. As we get closer to the channel the rollers get bigger. ‘Carolina’ makes it through okay then we go: huge rollers but nothing breaking. We pull into Fishers Bay, drop the hook, and jump in the water. Later ‘Astar’ and ‘Que Sera Sera’ converge on our boat for happy hour. ‘Carolina’ went on to Marsh Harbour.

Saturday, 1/19/13 White Sound

A lazy day with rain in the morning. Our salon hatch and a porthole leak. The v-berth hatch was pouring water onto the bedding with the water whooshing under the dinghy on the foredeck and underneath the hatch when we sailed from Great Sale. All the bedding would need to be laundered due to the salty water. One can never get away from the salt here and no matter what, we bring it down below. I debated taking it all into Green Turtle Club Laundromat but we went for a walk on the beach instead and I found a hamburger bean and a heart bean. The word was to leave and go around the Whale tomorrow.

Friday, White Sound, 1/18/13 We follow Lois and John to Settlement Creek and Little Plymouth in our dinghy to check in and get a cruising permit. Ken and John filled out the papers and paid the $150 and $300 fees ($150 for boats under 35’, $300 for boats over 35’, and this includes a fishing license) while Lois and I went across the street to The Environment House to hear some local history. Later we meet at The Bluff House for lunch and to get the scoop on their docking special: 90c per foot without food, or $1.50/ft and one can eat the docking fee, plus 100 gallons of free water. A few boats were taking advantage of it but we decided to stay in the anchorage. Stopping to chat with Orland and Carol on ‘Carolina’, we all agree to meet for happy hour later and all but Carol and I have the Tranquil Turtles, 2 for 1, a rum punch with 7 (yes, 7) different kinds of rum!

Thursday, White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, 1/17/13

Up early and see boats heading out of the south anchorage. We have a long way to go if we want to make Green Turtle today, 56.4nm. (Nautical miles vs statute miles, 1 nautical mile equal to 1.1 statute mile) We up the m’sail and we motorsail all the way, sometimes going over 7K and nearly catching up with ‘Carolina’ who do a steady 7K. Our autopilot went berserk yesterday doing a 180 and the little boat on the chartplotter was heading backwards, something that has happened to us other times. We’d need a calm flat day to recalibrate the compass, but the chartplotter worked fine with the boat going backwards, we just had to remember that, or I had to, almost heading the wrong way coming out of the anchorage. It was a great sailing day, and if we hadn’t have chosen to go so far, we could have actually sailed! We furled the jib and pulled down the m’sail and slowly motored into White Sound at Green Turtle, the channel notoriously shallow and it was close to low tide. It was about 5:30 so looking for a sandy spot to anchor was impossible. We drop anchor near the catamaran, ‘Luna Sea’—plenty of room, not very many boats anywhere—and I back down on it and feel it grab. We were in a 360 degree sheltered anchorage for the coming blow, a natural anchorage that pirates used long ago.

Wednesday, Great Sale, January 16, 2013.

3am comes around very quickly. I don’t think I slept much at all, but Ken was the first one awake. We ready the boat, hail ‘Astar’, and pull out into the channel a little before 4am. I see ‘Carolina’ readying their boat as we go past them, and they quickly overtake us when we’re out in the Gulf Stream.

Lights are deceiving at night. We see a long line of lights and debate what they are. Another boat breaks in and says it’s a tug with a 1000’ towline pulling a barge heading to Andros. We give it wide berth only to get closer and have it turn into a cruise ship! Dawn slowly approaches in the east. The wind is SE, nearly on our nose since we need to bear SE to make up for the north current from the Gulf Stream. About half way across we pick up ‘Carolina’ on the VHF talking to another sailboat close to Memory Rock, one of the crossing points on to the Bahamas banks. ‘Carolina’ has changed their plans and opts to go directly to Great Sale due to deteriorating weather. I hail ‘Astar’. They’d heard that transmission also (everyone listens to everyone else on the VHF) and we change our plans midstream, so to speak, and head for Memory Rock and Great Sale, giving us a much better angle to the wind and picking up our speed. We cross over onto the banks around 1pm and the wind dies down. We’re motoring with no help with the sails and pull in the jib and later drop the m’sail so we don’t have to drop it in the dark (which we did last time….see, we do learn). The wind is still SE and to pick up and go more southwards, according to NOAA, which we could still pick up on the VHF. I hail ‘Astar’ and suggest the north anchorage at Great Sale and they agree, knowing either anchorage will not be easy in the dark, although we would have a little moonlight. Close to Great Sale we see the lights of the boats anchored in the south anchorage. ‘Astar’ leads us into the north anchorage and we drop the hook and settle down for the night. A long, but satisfying day, and we’re 1 day ahead of schedule.

Tuesday, South Lake Worth, January 15, 2013

Tuesday morning did not look like the day Chris Parker and the other weather gurus predicted—windy with a dark grey sky in the west. West End sounded like a much better destination. We left the anchorage around 11am to go to the south anchorage, the jump off point to cross the Gulf Stream from here. Pulling into the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina fuel dock, we topped off our liquids, and I put the boat in forward but Ken had a hard time fending us off their rubber wrapped pylons and the rubrail buckled (and is still buckled). We head into the designated anchorage area and hear ‘Astar’ on the VHF. I hail them and we anchor beside them. ‘Carolina’ anchored closer to the inlet. We confer with ‘Astar’ and agree that West End sounds like the better option. John thinks leaving between 3 and 4am would be the ideal time…..sheesh! I thought we’d get a good night’s sleep! I hail ‘Carolina’ and tell them we’ll be heading to West End with them. Later we meet on ‘Astar’ for happy hour and to discuss our trip.

North Lake Worth, Monday January 14, 2013

We left Peck Lake around 8am to get an early start on the 7 bridges we needed to traverse. The first one, Hobe Sound Highway Bridge, was on demand and easy. The next, 707 Bridge, which was called Jupiter Highway Bridge in the Waterway Guide we have, was not as easy. First of all, VHF 09 is the channel for bridges in Florida and can get fairly busy if there are a lot of bridges in close proximity, and there were 3 bridges right close together in Jupiter. I hail the bridge saying, ‘Jupiter Highway Bridge, Jupiter Highway Bridged, come in please. This is southbound sailboat Plumpuppet.’ All I could hear was all this gibberish, other boats calling other bridges, other bridgetenders answering, and this loud, low growl. Finally after hailing the bridgetender a couple of times and only getting a loud barking snarl, another boat says, ‘Quit yelling at her and help her out.’ I figure the snarl must be ours and tell Ken to pull ahead. The bridge slowly opens and we go through as I hear the boat behind us calling for the 707 Bridge. Then I realized that was what the bridgetender was yelling at me: ‘It’s the 707 Bridge, not Jupiter Highway.’ Sheesh! The middle bridge, Jupiter Federal Bridge, and it is Jupiter Federal, not some other name, is trickier, as it’s right around a blind corner just past the Jupiter Inlet so one can be swept quickly down towards it with the current, and it opens very slowly. Right after I hail the bridgetender and he says he’ll open right away and warns us about the current, the 707 Bridge tender hails him and said he has another boat coming, so we have to wait for the much slower sailboat behind us. It’s no problem as Ken turns the boat into the current, and usually the bridgetenders are fairly considerate. We go through that bridge and make another blind corner to the Indiantown Road Bridge, which opens on the hour and half-hour, slowing down to time our approach. After the Indiantown Road Bridge, we put the pedal to the metal to try to make the 3.6 miles to the Donald Ross Bridge that also opens on the hour and the half hour. Then 2 more bridges, the PGA and Parker Bridges and on into the North Lake Worth anchorage, a protected anchorage with a large marina, condos, and large houses. We get positioned and Orland and Carol from ‘Carolina’ stop by to say they are heading to West End Wednesday, while we are thinking of going all the way to Great Sale, leaving about midnight. We check with a couple of other boats as we head into town to stop at Duffy’s Sports Bar and Grill to check the internet. No one seems to be going to Great Sale and we’ll be on our own. Maybe we’ll change our plans and head to West End, a much easier and shorter trip. The weather still looks good and the crossing is still a go.

Peck Lake, Sunday January 13, 2013

Sunday didn’t look like the nice weather predicted….blustery and cloudy and few boats were leaving the marina. We waved at ‘Carolina’ as they motored past us. Ken dinked in to pay the mooring bill, $12.40/day. We motored out of the marina and onto the Indian River, a fairly straight shot until St. Lucie Inlet. I waved at Bob and Jan’s condo when we passed Jensen Beach. Going past the inlet was very blustery and wild with gusts up to 19K. It was Sunday and Florida boat traffic was fairly thick, motorboats full of young people speeding past us, huge trawlers crowding us. Once in Peck Lake where it was fairly protected, we anchored in among a group of sailboats and listened to the partying on shore. At sunset the partiers dispersed and the place quieted. Awww…..

Vero Beach Marina January 3-12, 2013

Ken rowed me to the dock Friday so I could meet Jill for Mexican Train. We set up a cardtable outside in the parking space reserved for “Official Marina Business Only” and this started our routine for the days we stayed at Vero: we’d get up early, dink to the dinghy dock, catch the first bus into town, internet at Panera, shop at Publix or Wally World, be back in time for lunch and spend afternoons playing Mexican Train with Jill (and whoever else we could coerce) while Ken did something on the boat. Evenings we stay on the boat or meet friends for supper: John and Lois on ‘Astar’ one night; Katja and Geoff; Jill and Parker; happy hour at the pavilion on Thursday. Ken spent most of his time dealing with the dinghy. The inflatable floor had a leak in a seam and Ken was debating whether to chuck the whole thing and buy a new dinghy when he thought of just replacing the floor. We looked at the Defender site and found one, ordered it on Thursday the 10th, and it arrived the next day. We were ready, finally: dinghy looking like new, fully provisioned, boat in shape. And good thing because one never knows when a weather window would pop open and one would the week of the 13th! One last game of Mexican Train with Jill on Saturday. One last run to the Saturday farmers’ market at Humiston Park.

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013, Take Two

Launch time: 8:30am. Finally at 10:30am Plumpuppet was hoisted from the workspace and slowly brought to the launch site. All seemed well. Ken started the engine and was told we had one hour. One hour? One hour to ready the boat and ourselves with no where to go but out. We rushed around, unloaded the car, prepared the car for the 3 months we’d be gone, paid the bill, and jumped aboard. No time to put up sails. Katja and Geoff were ready to hand us our lines when Ken checked the engine temperature gauge only to find it registering off the gauge! I turned off the engine and he rushed below to check it. It felt cool and he decided it was an electrical problem and must be connected to the tachometer he removed. We would leave anyway. Katja and Geoff threw us our lines, Ken slowly backed the boat almost into the trawler behind us, forgetting to put it in gear (how easily we forget). I fended off the boat on the side and we were on our way. It was one of those glorious Florida days, sunny, hot, with no wind. It was wonderful to be on the boat and on the water! Almost to the first hi-rise into Vero Beach, we hear on VHF channel 16, ‘Caution near red 152, we are aground.’ I look up to see we’re almost to red 150, look ahead and see a sailboat coming towards us. We hail them and they said they saw 2 ½ ft at 152 and could they follow us. We slowly crawl past red marker 152 seeing no less than 8 feet, where they were seeing 4 ½ feet. We never talked to them afterwards to find out what was going on. Arriving near the marina we pull up to the fuel dock to fill up with water, register, and get our mooring number, #9. I prepared deviled eggs with the intention of joining the cruisers for happy hour at the pavilion. Ken changed the transmission fluid and charged the starter battery. We put on the dinghy motor, only to find it leaking a black fluid. No happy hour tonight. Later he installed the tachometer which corrected the gauges. We were ready to party!, or I was.

Take One

Our hiatus with the family over Christmas was a delight. We both reveled in the enjoyment of being with our granddaughter and children. Cameran, Nova, and I made it to the beach every day but one, when it really was too cold and windy. Jeremy joined us that last week. We'd build sandcastles for Nova to destroy, walk up to Mulligan's to watch the skimboarders and water, once coming upon some fishermen that had hooked a 4 foot shark! We watched until they'd successfully released it, to probably be snagged again. The sandpipers would dart in and out with the waves, quickly feeding on what?, we could never determine. Terns with bright orange beaks would stand in groups, the wind ruffling their neck feathers. The weeks sped by and before we knew it, the condo lease was up and we moved to the boat on the hard at Riverside Marina in Ft. Pierce. Katja and Geoff arrived from snowy Quebec, having driven thru snowstorms to arrive on the 31st. We were ready to launch. D-day would be Wednesday, the 2nd, bright and early, marina time, 8:30. The travel lift appeared, Plumpuppet was lifted and moved to the water only to find one through hull leaking. Out she came to be repaired and take two would be this morning. I'll go see if we're launched....I'm at McDonald's enjoying a coffee and updating this blog....no pictures, yet. Taking advantage of the day, we joined Katja and Geoff at their condo and swam in their pool, later all of us meeting Jan and Bob at Archie's for supper.