Two Weeks in Florida

Two Weeks in Florida, no Three, make that Four and a Half Weeks in Florida – November 13 to December 16, 2010

Once we crossed into Florida it should have been a matter of days before we would be back in the Bahamas. The weather, a change in our cruising plans and the gods of all things mechanical conspired against us and it was starting to look like we might be celebrating Christmas in the US.

Back in Deltaville we had replaced the starboard rudder bearing with a new one that we had picked up during our trip home to Ontario. It was a little snug but we expected it to loosen up with use. The exact opposite happened. By the time we reached Florida it was getting more and more difficult for the hydraulic steering to work. Another haul out was in order to drop the rudder and refit the bearing. St. Augustine Marine looked like a reasonable place to do a quick haul and with some help from Randy off Mutual Fun, Polar pacer was back in the water in an hour. Thanks Randy! The haul also gave us an opportunity to check the intake for the raw water system as the engine was still overheating. 

Next on the list was to have the 80 amp alternator converted back to original so we could have it as a spare. The alternator shop told us that it couldn’t be done so we put in an order for a new one. That meant waiting for a couple of days for it to be delivered. When it arrived it was damaged and a replacement had to be sent.

Did I mention that the outboard motor for the dinghy was acting up? Not a good thing when you are out on a mooring ball and need to get to shore. After taking everything apart and cleaning it plus installing an external water filter with no improvement Tom came to the conclusion that the gas that we picked up in Washington DC was contaminated. 

Will St. Augustine be the next Ve(lc)ro Beach? With the new and reasonably priced mooring fields complete with shuttle and free mobile pump out services a cruiser can get a little too comfortable. For $1.00 per ride the Sunshine bus system will get you around once you figure out the routes and schedules. There are not many official bus stops but you can flag down at bus and get on at any intersection along the route where it is safe to do so. There is reasonably good access to all the Big Box stores for stocking up with provisions and a good range of entertainment within a few blocks of the marina. We definitely spent more time there than we had intended.

  This boat came in and anchored next to the mooring field. One of a kind.

Another lighthouse to climb.

How to solve the decorating challenge.

We were determined to make up some lost time by going offshore from St. Augustine to Fort Pierce and backtracking up the ICW to Vero Beach. The ride out of St. Augustine was choppy with four foot waves coming straight at us. The wind was light from the northeast and once we got out past the far sea buoy the waves flattened out for a while. Unfortunately by that time the effects of the previous night’s pub crawl with Sanuk (Tequila shots, Guinness, double Crown Royals) were starting to disagree with the Captain. Then the wind shifted and was on our nose creating sloppy, choppy waves which just made matters worse. Time to abandon the offshore overnighter and head inland. We entered Ponce Inlet just as the sun was setting. Thanks to Salty Paws who hailed us with anchoring advice when they heard us coming in. We did not have to fumble our way around in the dark looking for a place to drop the hook.

 Sunset at Ponce.

 Yes, pelicans do sleep in trees.

Cocoa Village was a brief stop again this season. We were too early for the annual festival of lights but just in time for the bikers “Critter Run”, a fundraiser for the local humane society sponsored by the Dog and Bone British pub. We had gone ashore to dispose of our garbage and stretch our legs a bit. A few blocks in from the dinghy dock we heard the familiar beat of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” coming from around the corner. Being children of the 60’s we had to check it out. The scene we came upon looked rather like a late Halloween party for the over 60 crowd with all costumes required to include a Harley Davidson symbol and a ‘do-rag’. A donation of any size qualified for all you could eat hotdogs and fixin’s.

An added bonus to our stop in Cocoa was the satellite launch scheduled for precisely 5:58 PM on November 21 from the nearby air force base.  We were able to see the blast from the initial take-off before it was hidden from view behind a high, thick cloud cover. It was still pretty spectacular. It would have been amazing to be that close with a clear sky!

 It was almost Thanksgiving when we reached Vero Beach and we were starting to talk more seriously about heading to Cuba for part of the winter.  That would require a little more planning and preparation than if we were going to the Bahamas only. First of all we needed some paper charts of the area. And we would feel more comfortable having some additional safety equipment on board. Probably a few more provisions wouldn’t hurt either, not knowing what would be available when we got there. Blue Water Books in Ft. Lauderdale couriered the chart kits to us. We found a drougue for sale posted on the bulletin board in the cruisers’ lounge and another cruiser had a one year old, 6 person life raft for sale at a fraction of the price of a new one. The EPIRB was ordered from Defender and some additional flares and a 44 pound Bruce anchor put on hold at West Marine in North Palm Beach. After almost two weeks in the mooring field waiting for packages to show up, we were ready to move on.

On a more positive note, Thanksgiving dinner was a huge pot luck with enough turkey and fixings to satisfy over 100 cruisers; Sanuk taught us to play a mean game of Mexican train dominoes, Ortolan hosted numerous happytizer gatherings we discovered bucket drinks at Waldo’s, had a wonderful surprise visit from Mo (one of last year’s travelling companions) and Mutual Fun and Reves D’Oceans (who Iron Jenny will remember from Deltaville’s 2009 deepfreeze) caught up to us. 

 

 Enjoying a great meal with great friends

Pot luck.

  It was a serious game.

  You had how many buckets?

Last stop – Lake Worth where we would do the last bit of provisioning, reconfigure the anchor hardware on the bow and fix whatever was causing the engine to overheat. We really did not want to head for the Bahamas with that issue still unresolved.  It was looking more and more like there was a connection between the hot water system and the overheating. Finally after some long distance coaching from Charles at E&C Marine in Toronto and a few more parts from West Marine it really does seem to be fixed this time. The new heavier Bruce style anchor was installed and the old Delta got a new bow roller just beside it. The original bow roller was moved to the back deck in case we should have a need for a stern anchor.

  Just 22 days until Christmas

While waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream we entertained ourselves with more shopping, replacing the broken water pump in the outboard, watching the annual parade of lights on the water and singing Christmas carols in the dinghy as we went around the anchorage in freezing temperatures. We split our time between the anchorage and the marina at Old Port Cove where we could plug a heater in on the nights when the thermometer dipped below freezing. 

 Rudolph - Florida style

There really is a boat in there.

 Tiger Woods was just next door – well his boat was..

Finally, on December 8^th it looked like we would have a good window to cross. The collection of boats in the anchorage had been growing daily and the captains were getting restless. We left with the crowd just after lunch time. Within half an hour it was obvious that we had another mechanical problem. The engine was running just fine but we were not making any headway. After confirming  that we were not dragging  anything we turned around and limped back to the anchorage and rafted to Sanuk for moral support while we sorted out the cause of the latest disaster. 

It wasn’t the transmission nor the drive leg. It was a spun propeller, probably as a result of being pulled off the sand bar at the Shalotte inlet back in October. The Sea Chest had a used propeller that fit and soon we were ready to go again. By this time the weather window had closed and it would be at least a week before the next crossing opportunity. 

They say everything happens for a reason. Sure enough, as we waited the last couple of days at Lake Worth we made contact with our friends on Ajaya who had been gradually catching up to us and the day before we left they pulled into the anchorage and dropped their hook behind us. We had a wonderful but much too short reunion that made up for the forever long pass through Florida.

033 The End.