Dec 9
We did get a good night's sleep, as the wind and waves calmed down more than expected. We awoke to a clear, calm, cool morning. We watched the Today show, and at the end of the Today show, at 10:00, they announced that the shuttle launch for tonight was scrubbed. They said there was only a 30% chance it could go tonight, so they were not even going to try. We were very disappointed.
Rob from Milano Myst called to say he had his rental car for a couple more hours and wondered if we needed anything from the store. I rode with them to the grocery and liquor store, and we all bemoaned the fact that the shuttle wasn't going tonight. We spent the afternoon aboard, and then got a call from Carl & Debbie on Diva. We arranged for them to meet us at 15:00 for a late lunch/early dinner.
Carl & Debbie got there right at 15:00, and the gang from Milano Myst joined us as we walked to S.F. Travis' hardware store before eating. While the others were looking around, I accidentally found something I had been looking for the other day when we were here. I wanted a large machete to carry for last resort self defense, since we do not carry firearms aboard. We did have to be careful about explaining to the kids from Milano Myst as to why I needed this huge knife. I ran my purchase back to the boat while the others figured out where they wanted to go for food. I figured wherever we went, it wouldn't be cool to walk in with a machete in my hands.
When I rejoined the group, they were just making the decision to go to Murdock's. Even though we had been there twice, we didn't object at all since it had been quite good. We got there and ordered drinks, which came pretty quickly. We then ordered our food and enjoyed chatting. After all our drinks were empty, and a few already refilled, we realized the food was taking way longer than either of our previous visits. We were just about to complain when the food arrived. It was as good as before, and personally I didn't care about the delay since we had nothing better to do than share time with good friends.
At dinner, we overheard people at the next table talking about the launch tonight. We were confused, as we thought it was scrubbed. We walked back to the marina, commenting on the fact that the weather was perfect for a launch, and whoever made the call to scrub it was probably wishing he hadn't. At the marina, we found that there were people up in the office, where they have Direct TV which carries NASA TV. We went up and found a private party in progress, but they were kind enough to tell us the launch was definitely on. It was now about 18:30, and the launch is scheduled for 20:47. We bid farewell to Carl & Debbie. We probably won't see them for quite a while since they are not going to the islands this year. We'll miss them.
About 20:30, we walked back up to the second-floor balcony outside the marina office. They still had NASA TV on the big screen, and the countdown was proceeding. We had our binoculars and camera ready. I had set the camera to not use a flash, and to take continuous pictures as long as I held the button down. Being a point-and-shoot camera, I know I'm not going to get any award winning shots, but this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us, so I want to try to get what I can. While looking through the door at the countdown, we saw it was T-minus fifty-four seconds. We could clearly see the beam of light to the north that was the spotlights illuminating the launch site, and we were watching. Suddenly, there was a bright glow on the horizon. I then realized there was at least a fifteen second delay between the TV and reality. The glow grew brighter, and then the yellow flame of the rockets was clearly visible. The crowd we were with all were yelling similar exclamations of excitement at the sight. Some had seen launches before, and some were virgins like us, but all were amazed and cheered. After a minute or so, I gave up on the camera, and Barb yielded the binoculars to me. I clearly saw the booster rocket separation, as two small yellow dots diverged from the now white light of the main engines of the orbiter. All in all, it was only a couple of minutes before it was all over. But we all were left with a sense that we had seen something special. Our friends Brian & Tammy from Another Road called while it was all happening, as they were watching from Tampa. We had been looking forward to the noise and vibration, but we didn't hear that much. We heard it a little, and did feel the vibration a little, but we were almost twenty miles from the launch site, and the crowd was making quite a bit of noise themselves. All in all it was great. Staying the extra day was worth it, especially since it turned out to be somewhat of a surprise when it all happened.
GPS N 28-21.442 W 080-43.456 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7499.
Dec 10
On the road again. We were underway a little after 07:00, with Milano Myst in our wake. We head south for the almost-fifty mile ride to Vero Beach. The trip was pretty uneventful. The wind was blowing over fifteen knots from east and Milano Myst put up their foresail. I just don't like sailing in the ICW, even when it is probably ok. Milano Myst actually passed up under sail alone and took the lead. Most of the trip was a no-brainer but there were a few spots of skinny water, under seven feet.
As usual, we were passed by several motor yachts along the way. The trick to getting a slow pass from a power boat is to slow down. If the sailboat is moving at six or seven knots, the powerboat has to go a little faster to get by. Well, most powerboats trying to do eight knots, will make a worse wake then if they went by at full speed. So, when a powerboat approaches us from the rear, I slow to idle speed, so they can slow to idle speed and pass us with no significant wake. One of the problems with sailing in the ICW is that you can't control your speed. When a powerboat passed us with no wake, it then had to pass Milano Myst who was sailing at seven knots. He couldn't slow down, so he had to deal with a big wake. Just one of those things that comes down to personal preference. In one place, we were in skinny water and two power boats passed us going the same way as one passed going the opposite way. The resulting washing machine of a wake made us bump the bottom.
We arrived at the Vero Beach Municipal Marina about 14:45. Vero Beach has a small marina and a bunch of mooring balls. They raft up to three boats per mooring ball in the busy season. We knew we had a number of friends here, so we were looking forward to the stop. We entered first and were assigned to raft up to Second Wind. Milano Myst went to the fuel dock first and then came and rafted to us. Since the mooring field is well protected from the winds, the maneuvering was no problem, even though it was blowing hard out on the open water.
Once secure, we launched the dinghy to go check in. We were happy to put the dinghy in the water since it has not been in the water since we left NY. We wanted to make sure that the gas had not gotten gummy from nonuse. It started right up and ran fine. We were warned though about the dingy police here in Vero. Apparently, Florida is allowed to have laws that are more restrictive than the Coast Guard rules in every other state. One of the things that are different, is that you must have the dinghy registration on you. No place else requires you to carry the registration. That's why the registration numbers are on the boat itself. The other thing they are nailing people for is for not having a red/green bow light. The Coast Guard requires "a light" on a boat the size of a dinghy. That means everybody has a white light that you stick on the stern at night, but almost nobody has a red/green bow light. The store at the marina and the West Marine in town are both sold out of bow lights. We don't have one, so I guess we won't be out after dark.
After checking in, we went to find our other friends that are here. We found Barefootin', Smiles, and Cheetah II, rafted together at the very north end of the mooring field. We boarded Barefootin' and visited with all of them for a couple of hours. We should see them all again in a few weeks in the Bahamas. At sunset, we boogied back to MoonSail before we got busted without that bow light. We had a nice evening aboard with a left-over dinner.
GPS N 27-39.583 W 080-22.310 Nautical miles traveled today 47. Total miles 7546.
Dec 11
Today we are going a whopping twelve miles to Fort Pierce. So, there is no reason to be up at COD. (A new acronym - COD is Crack Of Dawn). We were up about 08:00 anyway and enjoyed a leisurely morning. A little before 10:00 we got underway. Getting underway today is a little different than usual. We are in the middle of a three-boat raft. So, with both other boats staffed on-deck, we untied all our lines that were securing the boats, and lastly dropped the line we had to the mooring ball. I then backed us out from between Milano Myst and Second Wind, and we were underway. They naturally drifted together and tied back up to each other. As were we leaving the mooring field, we spotted Moony, a boat we know from last year and up in the Chesapeake. They didn't appear to be aboard as we passed.
Once out in the more exposed waters of the ICW, the wind was blowing over fifteen knots, pretty much on the beam. We were heeled over a bit even though we weren't sailing, and we seemed to be one of only a handful of boats out at all. In just under two hours, we were at Harbortown Marina. We spent a month here last year on our way to the Bahamas, and it is a great marina. We got secure, took showers, picked up a couple of packages we had shipped here and then made a list of what we have to accomplish over the next week.
One of the packages we had shipped here was supplies for the Soda Machine we bought in Morehead City. Somebody pointed out that we never commented on how the machine was working out since we bought it. Well, it works great. If we have a complaint, it is that the machines and the supplies are only available at Boater's World stores, or online. We wanted to stock up on enough Co2 and syrup to last while we are out of the country for this trip, so we have hit every Boater's World we could since we left the Chesapeake, and could find almost no Cola syrup. Fortunately, since we are stopped here at Harbortown, we were able to order some online and have it shipped here.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 12. Total miles 7558.
Dec 12
One of the important things to have fixed here is our high-output alternator. The engine has two alternators, a small one that recharges the battery that starts the motor, and a large one that recharges the house batteries when the motor is running. We noticed a few weeks ago that the high-output one did not seem to be working. This could be a problem with the alternator itself or the voltage regulator. I replaced the regulator up in New York a few months ago, so hopefully that's not the problem. I am not an electrical wizard, but I thought I knew how to test the alternator to isolate the problem. I got my test meter out and bypassed the voltage regulator and did not seem to have any output from the alternator. I remove the alternator and then went up to the boat yard office to see if there was an alternator shop nearby. Luckily there is. It is about a mile away, so I loaded the alternator in our roll-behind cart and headed out. It seemed like more than a mile, but I found it with no problem and dropped the alternator off to be rebuilt.
We did a few other boat chores today an caught up with a couple of the other liveaboards on F-dock whom we met last year.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.
Dec 13
Today was spent doing a few minor repairs and Barb spent the better part of the day inventorying our food and planning what we need to get for our major provisioning before we leave the States.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.
Dec 14
Today the rain that has been threatening for a couple of days finally got here. We have had little showers each of the past few days, but today it is supposed to really open up. As it turned out, we had off and on moderate showers, while just south of here, they had up to nine inches of rain over the course of the day. Our friends on Milano Myst had moved down to Lake Worth a couple days ago, in the hopes of crossing, but they are getting hammered in these squalls that we are missing, so they probably won't go yet.
I got a call from the alternator shop that the alternator is ready. I learned since I walked down there the other day that the marina has bicycles for loan for free. So, I got a bike with a basket and pedaled down there. It didn't seem nearly as far this way. I had the shop rebuild my original alternator, and build me a spare. A new alternator of this type costs about $600. I got mine rebuilt and the rebuilt spare for $550. I peddled back to the boat and installed the original alternator. It works great. One more thing off the list.
While installing the alternator, our neighbor's cat Spazz came to visit. He is known for roaming the marina and not being shy about getting on other people's boats. He came right in and sat n the top step of the companionway ladder and meowed at me. Bimmy was sound asleep in the chair and didn't notice the intrusion until I woke him up and tried to introduce them. To nobody's surprise, Bimmy hissed and made a very loud and ugly howl, at which point I shooed Spazz back out and off the boat. He seemed to not understand why he was asked to leave, but he went on his way.
In the rain, we took the anchor off the bow and laid it on the dock. We then pulled all three hundred feet of chain out of the locker and stretched it out on the dock. The point of doing this was two-fold. One reason is to get the twist out of the chain. Over time, the chain has gotten twisted and I want to straighten that out. The other reason is to clean the chain that never gets deployed, and clean out the bottom of the locker. Several times this summer, we have weighed anchor and brought lots of mud aboard. I don't have a washdown on the bow, so that mud ends up in the locker. Each time this has happened, I have hosed it out in a marina within a day or two, and seen lots of muddy water come out the drain, but I want to be sure the drain isn't getting clogged up. Once all the chain was out of the locker, the drain was draining, but slowly. I laid down on my belly on the deck so I could reach the bottom of the locker and stuck my hand down there. I found lots of small debris and a few mussels growing. I could feel that there was a significant amount of stuff in the drain hose itself, so I rammed a coat hanger down it to push the stuff through. After a little coercion, the drain was flowing freely and the locker was clean. We then reloaded the chain, paying close attention to not getting any twist in it.
Our friend Mike will be coming to visit for the weekend tomorrow, so we got things ready inside for having a guest. This primarily means moving a few things in the v-berth. It will be interesting to see how this works with our new shelf in the v-berth.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.
Dec 15
We got a call from Mike about 08:00. I was expecting him to say he was about to board the plane in Houston, but instead he was calling to tell us the flight was cancelled. Turned out they had fog in Houston. That almost never happens and they don't deal with it well. There was also fog in Newark, NJ, which is Continental's other hub, so their schedule was very screwed up. So, Mike won't be here until tomorrow.
We did a few other things to get ready. One was in the security department. We have never worried about security in the States or in the Bahamas, but further south we need to be a little more cautious. The boat has never had a way to secure the companionway when you are inside. I bought to barrel bolts - the sliding locks that you might find on the door of a bathroom stall - and installed them on the inside of the companionway hatch. I then drilled two holes in the fiberglass for the bolts to slide into when the hatch is secure. I also have purchased some pepper spray as a defense if somebody did board the boat. I fashioned a Velcro mount for that just inside the companionway where it would be easy to reach in the event it is ever needed. I also have purchased a very loud motion detector type alarm which I plan to put in the cockpit. I still haven't figured out exactly how or where to mount it though, so that will be another day.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.
Dec 16
Today we have an appointment to take the cat to the vet. There is nothing wrong with him, but we need a current health certificate to enter some of the countries we will go to. His rabies vaccination doesn't expire for another year, but we may be out of the States for over two years, so we want to update that too. We originally thought Mike would be here with his rental car today, but since he is a day late I called a cab at 09:00 and requested a pickup at 09:30 for our 09:45 appointment. At 09:20, I was at the main entrance to the marina (by car) with Bimmy in his slick new denim carrier. Just as I got there, it started to rain - again. 09:30 came, and there was no cab. At 09:35 I called the cab company again and was assured they were on the way. At 09:45 I called again and they said he was around the corner. At 09:55, I called the vet and explained the situation. They said to come on in anyway. At 10:05, I called the cab company and told them to go to hell. I then called the vet again and rescheduled for Monday. Frankly, the only reason I waited as long as I did was because it was pouring rain and I didn't want to get soaked walking back to the boat.
Mike got his flight today with no problems and was at the boat about 14:00. Part of the reason for his visit is to make a provisioning run to Sam's, since we are not members. We headed up to Vero Beach and first stopped for a mid-afternoon early dinner. Then we went to Sam's. As most of you know, I don't like Wal-Mart the corporation, and I never shop there. But, as with last year, it's hard to argue with how much we can save when purchasing several hundred dollars worth of stuff. So, I forced myself to go, and as was the case last year, I was overwhelmed by the noise and crowds of the big store since I have gotten out of the habit of dealing with a place like that, and I was pissed off at Wal-Mart the corporation again when I left. The thing that primarily pissed me off was that they exert their buying power might to make deals with one supplier of something. Case in point, batteries. They only carry Energizer batteries. I really wanted Duracell batteries. But, I'm sure Wal-Mart either made an exclusive deal with Eveready to get the pricing they wanted, or Duracell told them to stick it because Wal-Mart wanted to cheap a price. I hope it was the latter. I'd be curious what Costco carries if anybody out there knows.
On the way back to Fort Pierce from Vero Beach, we also hit a CVS for several things, and Staples for printer cartridges. Yes Wal-Mart carries printer cartridges, but they don't have the book to tell you which ones fit which printers. Since I have a new printer, I wasn't familiar with which ones I needed.
We got back to the boat after dark and in the rain, and then Barb worked hard repackaging things and stashing everything. The repackaging was taking things like the huge bag of frozen chicken breasts and putting them in individual Ziplocs. Also, taking everything that comes in a carton and repackaging it in Ziplocs. Yes, we bought a bunch of Ziplocs today too.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.
Dec 17
This morning we went to breakfast at The Captain's Galley, where we had gone last year also. They have excellent omelets and the best pancakes you could hope for. From here we went for a ride out to the beach. We have never been north of town on A1A, so we crossed the draw bridge that is near the marina and headed north. We found the Navy Seal Underwater Demolition Team Museum and considered going in, but it didn't open until noon, so we passed. We took a brief walk over the dune to the beach to see what the ocean conditions were. The weather has been crummy for most of a week, and the sea was still quite churned up. We timed our little walk perfectly as the rain started again just as we got back in the car. We continued north on A1A all the way to Vero Beach, past lots of nice homes and condos.
We went back south to Fort Pierce on US1, and hit the Publix grocery store near the marina. We need to finish our provisioning here, getting things that we can't use the Sam's quantity of. We do have a storage limitation on the boat, so some things just aren't practical to get the large packaging that Sam's carries. A full cart later we were on our way. Overall, we have spent only about 2/3 as much this year on provisions as we did last year. Partly because we have more things aboard already, and partly because we know better what we can get outside the US, now that we have been there once. Somehow back at the boat, Barb managed to stash all the stuff we bought. I don't now how she did it, or where she put it all, but she does.
The one thing we still have to get is cat food. The nearest Petsmart is back up in Vero Beach, so off we went. We got six bags of food, which will last six months. We found last year that the only cat food we could get in the Bahamas was Purina, which he loves, but eats to much of and gets fat. So we have seven months worth of Science Diet aboard, and we'll see what we find further down in the Caribbean next summer.
After the cat food, we decided to take in a movie. We went to the mall right by the Petsmart and checked out the times. Nothing is starting for an hour, so we bought tickets to The Holiday and then went across the sidewalk to Friday's for drinks and snacks. The waitress at Friday's wanted to know how Barb got two guys to go to a chick-flick with her. The movie was good despite the fact that some stupid woman behind us got three phone calls, and answered them, during it.
We spent the rest of the evening just visiting with Mike. He will be leaving in the morning.
GPS N 27-28.098 W 080-19.663 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 7558.