January 6, 2013 Sunday Marathon, FL

It's been awhile and much has happened since my last entry November 18, 2012!  Bonnie flew home to work at the Country Trunk for the holiday season.  She was quite busy from Black Friday through Christmas Eve.  I stayed with Fiu and tried to work on projects we identified as important!  Important is a relative term!  In any event, The head hoses were replaced.  Even the best of plastic plumbing absorbs odor.  There were immediate results!  I cleaned Fiu and tried to make it a pleasant place to revisit in January.  Lines were rinsed, sorted and stowed.  Fenders were cleaned along with the engine bilge!  An oil and filter change helped to insure the diesel was still happy!

We spent Christmas Day at home with our nephew,Brett. Later in the day our neighbors Mike and Becky and her co-worker and her family from Africa came down to a turkey dinner we prepared to celebrate Christmas and Becky's birthday.  She is the only person I know born on Christmas day.  The conversation was at times difficult since everyone else except Bon and I spoke French.  Oui, my two years of high school French was only slightly helpful.  Si says Bonnie our resident Spanish teacher.

Our Neighborhood Christmas Party was postponed one week due to a windstorm that took down huge trees and power lines.  Some roads near us were closed to traffic.  We had another well attended party and as always it's good to see our neighbors and catch up on the kids and grand kids.

Bonnie and I each got new phones with real keyboards in order for us to learn to text.  Our plan includes unlimited texting and calling so we have one more tool to use to keep in touch with family and friends.  I have been told that texting does not necessarily require a response like a phone message.

New Year's Day was great fun for us.  We boarded the "St. Sacrament," a steamship on Lake George, for a brunch cruise to the narrows and back.  This is our second trip in as many years and the food continues to be the best!  It's as real temptation to over indulge.  Omelettes, fruit, meats, juices and coffee are all cooked to perfection!  The annual Polar Bear Club swim (or should I say "dip and run" for a warm dry towel) took place on Million Dollar Beach just before our return to the docks nearby!  What's wrong with those people!
Tom and Barb, Roberto, Dave and Cindy and Bonnie and I had a great time together!  We look forward to next year.

Our 11:30a flight from Albany to West Palm Beach was uneventful with just the right amount of lay over in Baltimore to get a crab cake lunch.  The connecting flight to West Palm was interesting.  I sat next to a man who was eighty but looked like late sixties.  He was interesting to talk to and he led quite a life.  His girlfriend was picking him up at the baggage claim.

Once on the ground we loaded the rental car and headed south to Marathon.  The one-way car rental sure is handy.  The return was located at the Marathon airport just a few miles from Fiu and a short bike ride back to the dinghy dock.  It seemed like only yesterday I left Fiu for the holidays.  The Damp Rid did its job and there were no problems with mildew or the like!

Friday was a day to clean and freshen Fiu with nice weather we took the bikes ashore and went to our favorite grocery store- Publix!  We filled the new fridge/freezer with fresh food and set the temp to 35 degrees.  The air was calm so the wind generators were slow on output, however, the batteries were fully charged and they supplied enough power to keep things going until Saturday morning.  The temps were in the 80's with high humidity.  These are types of days where it quickly becomes a (3) tee shirt day!

Saturday afternoon we rode bikes to the Sunset Tiki pub and enjoyed beer and wings.  Our new friends we met through Pat and Walt accompanied us and we enjoyed getting to know one another.  Roy and Yazmin have a new 40' catamaran and are hardy sailors.

Bonnie and I went to the Methodist Church in Marathon today.  It's a friendly church and much of the service is singing! People are friendly.

Time to go.
Captain Sid

Sunday, November 18, 2012 Vero Beach, FL

Ken and Marie

Today the winds are kicking up with some whitecaps in the mooring field and speeds between the constant 10 kts to 20+ kts.  The gusts can be unforgiving and everything not lashed down or taken below has a high risk of being blown into the water!  We are using today to hunker down and complete some of the items on our "To Do Lists"!  Bonnie continues to be an avid reader and keeps Fiu spotless!  I have spent time with minor electrical and dinghy issues and overall maintenance of Fiu. 

Mooring Field

This past week here at Vero Beach the weather has been in the 70's with sun and a mix of rain spats!  I'll call them spats because they appear with the wind even on a mostly sunny day.  They keep us alert to the current weather but don't stop us from riding bikes or getting to cross errands off our lists.  We, however, would like to get to the beach more often.  The breezes are uncomfortable at 15+ kts while at the beach.  The winds do make a dinghy ride to the docks a little, shall we say, adventurous!

Near by Housing

We had dinner at the Sunset Cafe on the water near our mooring field with Walt and Lynn, and Ken and Marie last Wednesday.  We managed to get the "Happy Hour" specials and some draft beer for a very affordable night out!  It was bittersweet in that we celebrated all being together , but also Ken and Marie were leaving to get to Ft. Lauderdale for the Thanksgiving dinner with family from out of town.  From there they cross over to the Bahamas later in January for an extended sail to the Exumas!  We expect to meet up again in Florida sometime in April.

Surf's Up!

Other news includes a "no pain" tooth crown falling out with an "E trip" to the local dentist for re-gluing! The bike ride was about 3.5 miles on sidewalks and side streets for a safer trip.  The dentist could be a model and she was interested in sailing stories and consequently, I had no pain while being treated! 

Beach Erosion from Sandy

Summer Weather in Vero Beach

Rafting with Tempest at Mooring

Bonnie leaves from Palm Beach airport for a flight home this Tuesday, November 20th.  She will work at the "Country Trunk" Black Friday and through the Christmas holidays!  I will return December 11 after hopefully completing most of an extended list of "Honey Do's"!

Partial Double Rainbow

Tonight we dine with Lynn and Walt.  Ed and Patty Ann will also drive from Ormond Beach to join us.  We feel fortunate to have met so many friendly and thoughtful sailors during our trips while sailing Fiu.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Captain Sid

Friday, November 9, 2012 Vero Beach, FL

Following Tempest

For the last couple of days we have traveled with a string of sailboats south on the ICW!  It seems we all leave our anchorage at dawn.  The power boats like the trawlers can pass easily.  However, with sailboats it is much more difficult to execute a quick pass if not impossible.  Since we all cruise at about 5-7 knots it can take a mile or more to pass and when the channel narrows it gets tricky since we need to allow room for northbound boats!  I try to move right and cut my speed that way the pass happens more quickly.

IOLAR (Walt & Bob)

Overnight if we have winds constant at 12-15 plus knots then the two wind generators will supply all the boat's power needs.  However, if the wind is less than 12 kts then the draw on the batteries from the freezer, fridge and lights is more than the wind generators can keep up with.  Therefore, the batteries are drawn down and sometimes they get borderline.

Coronado Bridge

Flagger Beach

The anchor came up easily and it was a cool float with a NNW breeze at about 10-14kts.  We saw plenty of dolphins feeding in the Indian River where the ICW is located.  As we passed Melbourne I called Erik and left a message.  The winds kicked up and with the gusting winds and sharply winding river the sail came down near the Wabasso Beach fixed bridge.  Overall it was a great sunny day for traveling down the ICW.

Great sailing

We arrived at Vero Beach a little passed 2PM.  We will stay here for a least a month maybe I'll leave Fiu here through Christmas and come back to Vero Beach January 3!





Captain Sid

November 7, 2012 Coca, FL Anchorage

Fiu and Tempest traveled 67 miles together today.  We are at ICW mile marker 898!  Today's weather was windy and cold.  Even though we are in Florida the morning temps can be in the 40's.  That's okay, but being in the wind on the water, it can be very uncomfortable!

We quickly met up with Ken and Marie a short time later as they turned from their R44 anchorage and we followed Tempest  the rest of the day.  We were part of a 7 sailboat "congo line" of sailboats, sails up, keeping pace and passing through the Coronado Bridge (bascule) in New Smyrna Beach!

We are getting close to Vero Beach which is our first major milestone. Ken called ahead for reservations for tomorrow.  The plan is to share a mooring ball by rafting together.  What happens here is that Fiu puts a port and a starboard line through the ring at the top of the buoy and fastens them to the deck cleats.  Tempest then ties up to Fiu with docking fenders between the boats.  Then Tempest puts a port and a starboard line through the ring as well.  This way either boat can leave without disturbing the other boat's lines.  These buoys are constructed for as many as three boats to raft together!

Back to the day trip.  We had our sails up again today through Mosquito Lagoon.  The entire day we saw dolphins.  And as usual, there are no pics of the 'breathe-holding" creatures.  They are beautiful to watch and next to impossible to snap a pic of them (I have tons of pics of water with no dolphins to be seen)!  We made our cut through the Haulover Canal which takes us to the Indian River and away from Cape Canaveral.  The building used to house the space shuttle can be seen from miles and miles away!

Immediately after turning to port to stay in the channel we came up to the Jay Jay railroad bridge which has always been open every time we have passed by.  Today a railroad worker was sitting in his open-air rail car and waited for all of the sailboats to pass through then closed the bridge.  We watched him cross the bridge then reopen it once he moved to the other side.

We anchored just south of the Cocoa bridge in 10 feet of water!

Captain Sid

November 6, 2012 Daytona FL Halifax Marina

Our current location is mile marker 831 of the ICW.  The 54 miles traveled today was in cold AM winds and slightly warmer winds in the PM.We met IOLAR again today.  Walt and Bob are heading to Vero Beach where Walt and Lynn purchased a condo.  We first met in the Bahamas at Man of Cay where we were just two slips from them!  We met up again in Vero Beach last May and Walt kept IOLAR at Osprey Marina at the same dock as FIU.  We left Comachie Cove at about 6:30AM and made the 7 AM opening of the St Augustine Bridge of Lions, which has undergone recent improvements.  Since it connects the outer islands with the city of St Augustine it is restricted in the AM and PM rush hours and is closed to boat traffic for an extended time to assist workers getting to their jobs on time.

The trip past Matanzas inlet was better even with the recent shoaling!  The extra buoys made it clear where to go.  The other bridge to get clearance to pass was the Cresent Beach Bridge.  This bascule bridge opens at the center of the span with both sides lifting into the air to an almost vertical position.

Winds were steady at about10 knots with gusts up to 20kts.  We put up the jib, on roller reefing, to about one half.  This much extra sail gave us an additional  1/3 of a knot more speed!  It may not sound like much, but over 8 hours it adds up significantly.

We called Ed and Patty Ann, our Bahamas "buddy boat," at their Ormond Beach condo to let them know where we were.  Ed drove a short distance to the LB Knox bascule bridge near his home.  As we passed through the opening Ed was waving and talking to us from the shore!  We would later meet up with him and Patty Ann for dinner at DJ's for some seafood.

We made a reservation at the Halifax marina, Ed's home base for the Patty Ann sailboat he keeps there.  It was good to get together and be with sailing friends once again. Tempest would anchor a short distance south of Halifax Marina where we would meet up again in the AM.

Captain Sid

November 5, 2012 St Augustine, FL Comachie Cove Harbor

Eight hours and 60 miles later we arrived in St Augustine and spent two nights at the Comachie Cove Yacht Harbor.  We are currently at mile 717 of trip.  We were on the water for (8) hours.  The weather was windy and cool most of the day.

My Boat US membership expires next week and since this includes unlimited towing it is essential to renew.  I now am current with a Gold membership!  Sounds highbrow but the cost is moderate and like so many other insurance policies you hope to never need it.  I also added a maintenance dose of biocide to the diesel fuel.  Since it is organic there are some special things to consider when using diesel.

South Amelia River, Nassau Sound, Saw Pit Creek and then Amelia Island were interesting places.  Our problem is we are usually on somewhat of a time constraint when heading south on Fiu.  We need to slow down and stop to visit some of these fun places. We have decided to hike on Cumberland Island on the trip back north to Osprey.

Crossing the St John's River between the ocean and Jacksonville can be quite difficult.  I liken it to crossing a six lane highway with tidal currents that make it seem like you are floating in a washing machine!  The harbor traffic can be busy and the cut to the ICW is narrow especially at low tides.  The currents are very unsettling for the next (5) miles downstream.  Patience and concentration are good qualities to exhibit here. There were dozens of dolphins in this area of the ICW.  Again, those mammals torment me with their breathe holding abilities and therefore, a lack of good pics!

Comachie Cove has a loaner car and if you sign up for the last slot in the afternoon you get to keep the car all night instead of two hours!  We drove to town, parked and walked the streets on the pedestrian walkways with the many shops and eateries!

We have pics of a manatee at our dock.  It seemed extra slow and had some parallel healed cuts on its back.  I will include those pics on this page.

Captain Sid

November 4, 2012 Fernandina Beach, FL

Tempest and Fiu were rafted together in Wally's Leg anchorage.  We always enjoy Ken and Marie's company!  There were plenty of "no see ums!"  After a good night's sleep we Weighed anchor at 7:15AM and were on our way to Fernandina Beach, FL.  A pump out and some diesel at the Jekyll Harbor Marina and then we were on our way again!  We past Little Cumberland Island, beautiful by the way. We past the submarine base in Georgia with a guard speed boat right there to cut us off if we strayed too close.  The buoys here are very confusing.  This is partly true because larger ships come in from the sea, including the subs.  In this case the red bouys are on the left as we head south on the river toward the ocean.  However, the ICW has red on the right when heading south.  The change over can be confusing.

The last couple of miles past the sub base in Georgia is the entrance to St. Marys.  This river separates FL from GA.  Just past the inlet is Fernandina Beach, FL.  The town is quaint but the two factories run 24/7 with their smokestacks belching out a foul smelling smoke.  The anchorage is on the river and if the wind direction is just right it can be a long night trying to sleep!

The 51 miles traveled today were easy except for a little bit of work sorting out the channel markers near the sub base.  At this point we are at ICW  mile 717.  Osprey Marina, where we started is mile 373.  We are 344 miles into our trip of 579 miles to Vero Beach and 821 miles to Marathon and Boot Key Harbor.

Will attached pics later, come back to these postings without pics.

Captain Sid