Saint Augustine

As stated in the previous post, we are on a mooring ball, that means we must use our dinghy or wait on the marina shuttle's two-hour interval for transport to and from the actual marina. We dropped our bikes off at the fuel dock when we first arrived so that we'd have them available on shore, it would be too cumbersome to transport them in the dinghy.
Tuesday we took a tour (Pete with his 8 person golf cart bus) of the area, ate at Catch 27 (Deviled Egg BLT w/ Southern Fried Oyster, Cuban sandwich w/ salad – Kim had Fish Tacos and salad - very good!), went to the fort (saved $40 for our group of four with my national park's Senior Pass), then a wine tasting tour.
Wednesday we rode bikes to the lighthouse (14 stories, single 1,000 W bulb visible for 25 miles).
Thursday we took a dinghy ride to Winn-Dixie and Hurricane Patty's (okay, but nothing special). Lots of marinas on San Sebastian River.
Friday we woke to 15 mph winds with 30 mph gusts and the associated waves, we were rocking and rolling on this mooring ball along with all the other boats, it's a sock-hop for boats.
Wind laid down at 8 am. Uber'd to Walgreen's, walked to Walmart then uber'd back.

Kim’s Korner:
Things you take for granted… groceries. When you are living on a boat, getting groceries can be an obstacle to overcome. We brought our bikes and we have used them numerous times to get groceries. We have used the dinghy when a dock is close by and available. Walking is fine but carrying too much stuff back is not. Before we got into Florida, many of the marinas had courtesy cars which we could sign up for and use. Once we got into Florida, courtesy cars no longer seem to exist. At times, fellow boaters who have a car at the marina will offer to take you for groceries which is always a very welcome and much-appreciated gesture. Whenever we have a car available, we always load up on the water and heavy stuff since biking is difficult with heavier items. Friday, we uber’d over to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions, walked ½ mile to Walmart, loaded up on all the heavy stuff and uber’d back. It’s always a good feeling to get that done!
We have enjoyed St. Augustine immensely. This city still has points of interest such as Fort Matanzas and the Mission of Nombre de Dios which have not re-opened due to hurricane Matthew. I think my favorite thing was the St. Augustine lighthouse where we could see 25 miles of spectacular views.

Kim's Pictures!
David's Pictures!

Daytona to Saint Augustine

Kim piloted Overtime away from the Loggerhead dock at 7:30 Monday morning into the ICW which runs through the Halifax River at this stage, the wind was calm and the water smooth. Our northerly direction took us by some beautiful estates, especially in the Palm Coast area. We arrived at St. Augustine's municipal marina's mooring field around 3:00 and had no problem attaching a line, in fact, we moved to a ball closer to the dinghy dock the next morning and had no problem attaching; I think we've got this mooring ball thing down pretty good now.  We'll spend about a week here doing the tourist thing.

Daytona Beach

After arriving at Loggerhead Marina last Monday (3/20/17) I spent a few hours cleaning salt off the boat and working on a domestic water problem. We had run the water tank down to the sludge level and had rusty brown water spurting out of our spigots. I filled the tank, installed a new filter, cleaned the filter housing and opened all taps till the water ran clear; we don't drink it, just wash and bathe. Tuesday we rode bikes with Maurice and Renee (le Marie Sofie) over to the beach, took a walk along the shoreline and ate ice cream. Wednesday we went back to the beach but this time we rode bikes along the shoreline rather than walk. The sand is packed so hard that it's like riding on pavement, we rode for miles and miles enjoying every inch of it. On the way back to the boat we stopped at Publix where Kim loaded us up with groceries, my saddlebags were bulging as I once again popped a five-mile wheelie all the way home. Thursday was overcast, cool and windy all day, we opened the back doors and enjoyed some relaxing downtime with a comforting breeze rolling through the cabin. We enjoyed riding on the beach so much that we did the same on Friday and Sunday. We are pulling out of Loggerhead Marina in the morning (3/27/17).

Kim's Korner:
Riding a bike on a beach is absolutely wonderful!

Pictures!

Titusville to Daytona Beach

For our last full day (3/19/17) at Titusville, we decided to dinghy to the marina with Maurice and Renee, walk over to a restaurant for lunch then shower at the marina before returning to our boats. However, after showering we noticed that the wind had picked up considerably and the waves were too large for the dinghy loaded down with four people, so we waited in the captain's lounge. After a couple of hours, we decided things weren't going to get any better anytime soon. In preparation I asked the dockmaster for some large garbage bags which we turned into custom-fit rain-gear then we piled into the dinghy and headed out to the mooring field. As soon as we left the protection of the small harbor we encountered waves considered too dangerous for our tiny ship and thanks to the courage of the fearless crew we turned around and headed back to safety. We are now considering the fact that we might be sleeping in the lounge and I'm secretly feeling sorry for everyone that will be kept awake by my snoring. But hark, luck prevails, another couple comes by the lounge just prior to heading out to their boat, they agreed to take Kim with them since they would be going right by ours, so Maurice, Renee and I jumped in our dinghy and followed them. The waves were between two and three feet and we were taking a cold spray with each crash. The lead dinghy pulled alongside Overtime and the guy started to ask Kim how she planned to climb aboard but before he could finish his sentence she popped up and out of the dinghy landing squarely on the aft deck; that gal's pretty spry for a retiree. Next, Maurice pulled up and I handed a couple of bags to Kim and scrambled aboard myself, it was nice to be home although we were rocking and rolling something fierce.
By early the next morning the wind had settled down and we were able to leave the mooring field at 8:00 and head north to Daytona Beach, our next stop. We soon left the Indian River by-way-of the Allenhurst Cut, a canal which led us to the Mosquito Lagoon. The lagoon soon gave way to much narrower waterways and Manatee Zones. These zones are an effort to protect these creatures from boats and their propellers, most Manatees have scars on their backs due to close encounters. It's hard to believe my 8 mph is considered too fast but it is, I slow to about 6 mph in these zones, and there were several long zones on this passage. At one point I saw a manatee in the channel right in front of Overtime, I had to take evasive action in order to do my civic duty and save a sea cow.
We arrived at Loggerhead Marina around 2:30 and tied to a long dock right next to the hot tub, swimming pool and restrooms. This is a very small marina with few if any liveaboards, therefore there's not much foot traffic in the area. We plan to stay here until next Monday (3/27/17).
Pictures!

The Rocket Launch

We have been looking forward to seeing a rocket launch, it's the main reason we have stayed in Titusville for several days. We are tied to a mooring ball at the city marina and the launch complex is to the southeast 16 miles away. We have a clear view except for a long 65-foot high bridge about half a mile away. In order to have the best view possible, we dinghy-ed over to a small island about half a mile on the other side of the bridge at 7:15 for a 7:43 pm launch. We were surprised to discover that someone was living there, an extremely nasty looking hobo type with a tent and collection of junk scattered around. We also discovered several horseshoe crabs making whoopee. Additionally, we noticed sandhill cranes flying over the cape by the thousands (no exaggeration), being several miles away I could see them best with the binoculars, numerous flocks moving north with a swirling fluid-like grace; totally awesome! With launch time approaching Maurice, Renee, Kim and I stood on the island's small beach with our cameras and binoculars at the ready... waiting... waiting... waiting; after several minutes our arms were getting tired but we feared missing something if we relaxed. We slowly started getting fidgety and after about 10 minutes I called my uncle to see if he had any news. He texted a message that the launch window was open until 8:59 but no new time had been announced, however in my haste, I only read the last part... “no new time had been announced.” Maurice spoke with someone else who said they probably wouldn't launch tonight, so we climbed back in the dinghy and headed back to the boat. About five minutes after climbing back on Overtime I heard someone on shore holler woo-hoo so I looked up and saw the rocket and called for Kim. We were expecting something bigger brighter and louder, it was dark out and we saw a flame rising in the sky followed by some dim glimmering lights drifting away then a short time later the flame went out. We never heard the roar of the engines which we had been looking forward too.

Pictures!
Video!

Melbourne to Titusville

We left our anchorage heading into a 15-20 mph northerly wind a 9:00. With the temperature in the upper 50's we were bundled up for another cold bumpy day covering about 40 miles. We are now tied to a mooring ball at the city marina hoping to see a rocket launch on Saturday (3/18). Our plans are to stay here on the ball until Monday (3/20) when we'll set sail for Loggerhead Marina at Daytona Beach. We modified our plan for catching the ball from our Sarasota attempt, rather than grabbing it from the bow we tied a 50 ft line to the bow and walked it back to the lower aft deck where Kim could reach the ball. Well, it's not actually the ball she grabs but a short line with an eyelet that she runs our line through. She then handed the line to me on the upper deck and I walked it back to the bow and tied off.
Some of the pictures show thick smoke off in the distance, we believe this to be sugar cane fields burning as was witnessed on the Okeechobee Waterway.

Kim’s Korner:
It’s amazing how many derelict boats we’ve seen along our journey. The one in my picture has been spray painted saying it was “OK” – I don’t really know what that means but I’m guessing that the USCG has investigated, we were told that many of these boats were damaged from a hurricane. I’ve also been amazed at the number of calls we hear over the VHF to the USCG for help – boat went aground, sinking boat, sinking Seadoo, man overboard, and several boats that appear to be abandoned which of course leads you to wonder if someone went overboard. I hope we never have to make one of those calls.
It’s neat being able to see Cape Canaveral from our mooring ball. Just being here makes me think of my Aunt Corky and Uncle Ed. 😊  Ed was an aeronautical engineer working for Boeing and worked at the Cape for many years. I remember visiting them here as a child but never witnessed a launch before.

Pictures!

Vero Beach to Melbourne

Woke up to semi-high winds and cool temperatures this morning, 15 to 20 mph and 52º. At 11:00 am we headed north to Melbourne, about a 30-mile trip, even though it was not the best traveling weather. We were headed directly into the wind and waves dropping our speed to just a little over 7 mph rather than our normal 8. Our pilothouse is open but since we were going into the wind we were well protected by the windshield most of the time. This was the first time either of us had long pants on in months, even vests and jackets were pulled out of the closet; the wind was cold. We are rafted with Maurice and Renee tonight and headed to a mooring ball in Titusville tomorrow.

Loggerhead Marina at Vero Beach

Kim’s Korner:
Loggerhead Vero Beach Marina is the prettiest marina we’ve been to yet. The marina is located within Grand Harbor which is a luxury waterfront and golf community. The golf courses are interwoven with small ponds and waterways lined with mangroves which the birds flock to. We’ve seen dolphin shows several days from our boat as well as lots of fish and manatees. One fish I have never seen before is about 10 inches long and very skinny – a trumpet fish - I found a photo online to include since my camera was not capturing its image well.
David’s uncle and aunt, Harry and Dana, live about 25 miles away. We enjoyed visiting two days with them. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays, had a delicious breakfast at Mulligan’s Beach House, walked the beach and had dinner at Marsh Landing – all very good. We enjoyed meeting their friends Don and Sue and got to see Harry and Dana’s house which is very nice. It was a great two days and so good to see family!
We took a dinghy ride with friends over to the Vero Beach City Marina and beyond. We found a place we could land the dinghies, cross the street to Jaycee Park and enjoy the ocean and beach. After that, we ate at the Riverside Café which was very good. There were fishermen cleaning their catch and the pelicans were just waiting with anticipation for the spoils and they were not disappointed! I took one picture of a pelican with an 18” fish in his beak – the tail was hanging out one side and the rest of the fish was bulging in his pouch – I’m not sure if I was more disgusted or amazed. So I had to do a little more investigating and found that a pelican’s pouch can hold 3 gallons (24 pounds) while his stomach can only hold 1 gallon (8 pounds). If a pelican catches more that he can eat at one time, the excess is stored in the pelican’s esophagus. The following is a famous limerick I found amusing which was written by Dixon Lanier Merritt in 1910:
Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican! His bill holds more than his belican. He can take in his beak Enough food for a week. But I'm darned if I know how the helican.

Pictures!

Stuart to Vero Beach

We pulled into Loggerhead Marina in Stuart on Thursday just ahead of the 20 to 30 mph winds which lasted from Friday through Tuesday. This is a nice marina in a decent location but the service was not the best we've experienced. As we approached we couldn't raise anyone on the radio so we called on the phone and were placed on hold. Once we were in touch with them they changed our slip assignment at least two times. One of the original assignments would have had us sitting on the bottom at low tide. I eventually tied to a “T” dock because I had trouble backing into my latest slip assignment, first time I've had to bail. Anyway, once we had the lines adjusted and the power connected Kim began researching places to go and things to do. She located the tourist trap area just across the St Lucie River from us about 1 ½ miles away, so off we go. We were joined by our friends Maurice and Renée from "le Marie-Sophie", a beautiful 36 foot Monk trawler. They had caught up with us at one of the locks on the Caloosahatchee River and were part of our flotilla on the Okeechobee crossing. The tourist trap was very nice, old buildings resurrected as boutiques and restaurants with people either shopping, eating or just milling about. Afterward, we walked the docks at the Sunset Bay Marina where we admired a hoard of beautiful yachts worth millions of dollars, but when it comes to comfort and economy we still feel our little Kadey-Krogen Manatee is tops. Speaking of Manatees, we saw two more at this marina bringing our total to eleven so far.
Everyone talks about the social aspect of this adventure, of meeting people and making friends, some lifelong. We have met some very interesting people and we run into Loopers we've already met at nearly every stop. One day a friend of a friend stopped by the boat, introduced himself and invited us to join him and his wife on an excursion to the Jupiter Lighthouse. Jim and Lori travel aboard a 42 foot Jefferson called Second Summer and she has an affinity for lighthouses. We enjoyed their company and the lighthouse made for an interesting afternoon but I mentioned it as an example of the kind of people we continually encounter.
Kim does not like to sit around, so she came up with a trip to a refuge house and a marine rehab center. We ubered (I guess we can use that as a verb these days) to the refuge house and noted the ancient artifacts uncovered over the years, toured the house as it appeared in 1875 and examined the rocky terrain which caused so many shipwrecks long ago. The next leg of our trip involved walking about two miles to the rehab center so we set off walking down a semi-busy road which had no sidewalks and eventually reached a neighborhood which, according to Google Maps, appeared to provide access to our destination. However, the road we were on petered out and we were left staring at a golf course on our left, condo's on our right and a 10-foot high fence in the direction we wanted to go. The road picked up again just about 20 yards away but there was no way around or through the fence. I saw a foursome of older ladies waiting at a tee-box, explained where we wanted to go and asked if they had any suggestions to which they replied: “not really.” Since the only alternative was to walk about a mile around the golf course I asked if they'd call the police if we climbed the fence to which they replied: “no, but I'll call 911 if you get stuck.” So, I looked at my beautiful 56-year-old wife and said “do you want to climb a ten-foot fence” to which she replied “sure.” I love this woman. With the ladies watching we found a good spot and Kim scurried up and over with no problem, I followed and must say that I did very well for a 63-year-old man wearing a backpack. When I reached the other side I did the Rocky salute, hands in the air while jumping up and down, and the ladies all applauded with admiration. We continued on our way and after climbing one more short fence-rail we reached our destination. The rehab center was very interesting and I'm sure Kim has gone into the details on her blog.
The winds finally died down late Tuesday so Wednesday morning we slipped the surly bonds of our shallow “T” dock and made way for Vero Beach with our friends aboard le Marie Sophie a short distance behind. It was very overcast, so dark at times that I turned my navigation lights on. A light mist continually made seeing through the windshield a challenge, my windshield wiper consists of Kim and a squeegee. We made good time and the traffic in these narrow channels was light, mostly sailboats moving slower than us. The six-hour tour covered about 46 miles with no locks or bridges to slow our progress, we did see a 27-foot boat sitting in about 2 feet of water; the owner was walking around checking it out. He must have hit the shallow area, which was marked on the charts, at a high rate of speed because there was a lot of mud behind him. We could see that help was on the way so we continued onward.
We reached Loggerhead Marina at Vero Beach where the good service was much appreciated, we got pumped out, tied-up and plugged-in just in time to unwind. We plan to stay here until 3/15.

Kim’s Korner:
Stuart is the Sailfish Capital of the World. The old historical downtown area of Stuart is very nice and offers a Riverwalk, restaurants, boutiques and gift shops. We ate at the Boathouse, Duffy’s and the Riverwalk Café while there – all very good.
We were invited and went to visit the Jupiter Lighthouse with Jim and Lori who are on “Second Summer”. Lori loves lighthouses and is on a mission to visit as many as she can. We bought tickets but were disappointed when they had to reimburse half since we wouldn’t be able to go to the top of the lighthouse due to wind gusts over 50 mph. We did enjoy the tour of the grounds and learning the history as well as a small museum on the grounds.
The wind howled at 20-25 mph almost constantly from Thursday night to Monday night – Tuesday was a definite improvement. “Overtime” was constantly in a state of movement due to the wind. David periodically checked her lines and the cleats on both the dock and boat to make sure all were secure. “Second Summer” was located closer to the ICW in the marina and received a spray whenever they get on or off their boat.
Tuesday we visited the House of Refuge which turned out to be very interesting. It was built in 1875 and was used to provide shelter and food for shipwrecked victims. Houses of Refuge were built every 30 miles for this purpose along the Florida coast and this is the only one that still stands. These eventually were taken over by the US Coast Guard. This one stands on a very narrow slice of land facing the Atlantic Ocean with the Jupiter Lagoon at its back. Check out my pictures if you are interested in learning more.
We also visited the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center – a 57-acre marine life nature center containing a huge game-fish lagoon, stingray touch tank, nature trails and educational sessions. I felt like a kid again! We learned all about sea cucumbers, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, stingrays, sea turtles, oysters and various fish. I got to feed a stingray – really neat! We learned about self-sustaining fish that were “ok” to eat like Cobia and Tarpon versus fish that took years to reproduce such as orange roughy and Chilean bass that they asked us to refrain from ordering in restaurants so that they didn’t become endangered. They educated us on the law changes they are asking for so that the algae in Lake Okeechobee is eliminated. It was very interesting. We had a very good day!

David's Pictures!

Kim's Pictures!

Franklin Campground to Clewiston to Stuart

Kim’s Korner:
After leaving Franklin campground, we started our way across Florida. Beautiful homes turned into rural farms and citrus orchards. As we neared Clewiston, the surroundings became a marsh and all kinds of birds were everywhere. The Clewiston lock was open, meaning the water levels were the same so we didn’t have to “lock” through. On the other side was the Roland Martin Marina which is a long dock in a very narrow canal. Exhausted and starving, eight of us went to the tiki hut where we enjoyed fish and gator tacos. This was the first restaurant I’ve ever been too that had bug spray readily available – and we definitely used it!
We awoke in Clewiston to the sounds of many different birds as well as fisherman everywhere. We were traveling across Lake Okeechobee with four other boats (Maurice & Renée on le Marie Sophie, Dick & Phyllis on Wye Tug, Kent & Jan on Follow That Dream, and fellow Chattanoogans Kent & Jane Overbeck on Rising Tide). Lake Okeechobee is a shallow lake and winds can kick up some pretty rough water so we wanted to pick a good weather day to cross. We could not have asked for a nicer crossing – it was perfect! The waterway itself reminded me of the Tombigbee at times as parts were basically a manmade ditch. The bugs were out in numbers but thankfully, they weren’t biting – just annoying. We also had ash all over the boat – someone told us that came from farmers burning sugar cane fields; smoke can be seen in some of the pictures.
We had originally planned to stay at the Sunset Bay Mooring field in Stuart but high winds were predicted over the next 4-5 days. Since we didn’t want to dinghy to land in these high winds, we decided to stay at Loggerhead Marina which is about 1.5 miles further from town but no waves involved in getting there. Also, if you remember our first mooring ball incident, it was not pleasant and I still have one finger which is still painful even after 7 weeks. Needless to say, I wasn’t too upset about postponing my next mooring ball attempt.
We are looking forward to exploring the town of Stuart!

Pictures