Reconnecting

Tuesday, March 26

Chuck and Maria Claypool are dear friends originally from Madison that
moved to Dallas 16 years ago. We have sailed together in Greece and the
British Virgin Islands and spent many years together on a church praise
team. However we have not seen each other in five years but were able to
spend two days together in St. Augustine. They drove over from St. Pete
where they now live and we spent the weekend together which was special.

 After five days in St. Augustine, a favorite place of ours, we moved on up
to Jacksonville Beach, staying again at Harbortown Marina. It was a nice
walk up to Fresh Market for a few groceries. We tied up here because of the
high wind advisory which fortunately never materialized.
For tonight we plan to anchor off Cumberland Island at the southern end of
Georgia so by this afternoon we should be out of Florida. The overnight
temps now are near freezing so we are not feeling too rushed to move very
far north for a few days. Heather and Tim will be meeting us in Savannah
next Wednesday so we will make it to there by early next week.
Cumberland Island is the special place we had hoped to visit on the way
down but bypassed because of nasty weather. We look forward to seeing
the wild horses and enjoying the many trails on the island, planning to
spend several days there. We'll be anchoring out at different places for
the next week, without internet but connected by phone and iPhone email.
Carol so enjoys having her phone back.

Chuck and Maria Claypool with us outside one of our

favorite places. That's Iggy in Maria's pack, a tiny Scotty.

Important Projects

Sunday, March 17

One thing we missed while in the Bahamas was our cellphones, especially
the iPhone with the important weather and navigation apps. Carol's phone
had totally crashed when we got to the Abacos and several attempts to
resurrect it failed. We figured we would deal with it when we got back to
the States. Arriving in Vero Beach our major goal was to once again get
the phone working. After long frustrating conversations on the phone the
company agreed to send us a new phone so we waited in Vero Beach until
it arrived and we took it out to the AT&T store where Kyle was very helpful
and gracious, making us both happy as we once again have a working phone.
The other big project involved finding the proper hose and fittings to be
able to fix our refrigerator/freezer whick had given us fits for the last three
months. The owner of the company in California talked me through the
recommended fix, I was able to find the parts locally, and we once again
have a working system. I can once again buy ice cream to keep onboard
so I'm happy.
Vero Beach is a great place to stay, with free bus service, lots of sertvices
and shopping available and a wonderful farmers market on Saturdays we
were able to visit. Staying here for five days was enjoyable.

Working on the refrigeration unit.

 

Carol, with a phone once again, a happy girl.

 

Monday, March 18

Titusville and Heading North

Sunday we headed up to Merritt Island and had a chance to connect with
my cousin, Nancy Barnett and her husband Dan. They have a home nearby
and picked us up to go back to their new beautiful home for a lovely meal
and a great visit. It had been a few years since I had seen them.

Monday was spent motorsailing north to Titusville to spend the night and
pick up some packages I had ordered upon returning back to the U.S.
Coming in to the harbor we discovered friends we hadn't seen for a month,
a nice surprise. I think we will find that happening often as we head back
up, bumping into people we've met along the way.

Back in the Good Old U.S.

March 11,2013

Fort Pierce, FL

We worked our way from Marsh Harbour to Munjack Cay anchorage after
anchoring at Green Turtle Cay for three days, one of our favorite places. The
staff and facilities at the Bluff House are always great and we go there for happy
hour and to use their internet. The wind was pretty strong from the northwest
for a few days so we weren't able to anchor off of some of the islands we had
hoped to visit. "Kankita", friends from Annapolis we had met in Marsh Harbour,
was heading back to the States at the same time so we were traveling together.
There has been a lot of wind day after day so the seas have been running high.
We chose to aim for a weather window of Sunday -Monday and traveled to
Great Sale Cay and anchored to stage for our crossing.
Another boat joined us and we actually took off with five other boats, leaving
at 8:30PM shortly after dark. The night sail was beautiful, dark with lots of
stars out. We left the Bahama Bank at 7:00AM just at first light after 52 miles
continuing out into the ocean. The seas were as forcast, With 9-12' swells and
8-10' waves from a 90 degree angle to the swells. We had a rolly ride all the
way to Fort Pierce,FL handsteering the whole way, motorsailing. We didn't feel
in danger but it was a little intimidating being in the bigger seas. We couldn't
sleep at all on the crossing so by the time we got to Florida we were exhausted
from the 20 hour trip. We got into Fort Pierce right at maximum ebb tide which
is not recommended so we had an exciting entry. They have strong currents
at the inlet.
After tying up at the City Marina we walked downtown to a nice Italian place
for pizza. We hardly had the energy for the short walk back to the boat where
we crawled into bed and died, sleeping soundly for ten hours before waking.
We loved Fort Pierce, enjoying the bakery nearby, the marina area and the
downtown. We watched three manatees in the marina near our boat.
We loved the Bahamas but it's great to be back in the U.S.

Manatees at Fort Pierce Marina

 

 

 

 

Transitions

Tuesday, March 5

It is amazing how time flies. Apparently we have lapsed into the Bahamian
lifestyle. Recent visitors asked us about our typical routine. The best answer
we had was, "you'll see, the days slip by, there are few plans. We plan the next
few hours, not the next few days". Much time is spent getting to know new
friends, we are less project oriented, a big change for both of us "productive
people".
We spent ten days up around the northern end of the Abacos, visiting Green
Turtle Cay which we had enjoyed when arriving in December. We had an
enjoyable time, even though we got weathered in for a week. We had intended
to anchor at some of the small deserted islands up here but the weather didn't
cooperate. Instead we took a dock for five days and got acquainted with some
great people staying here at The Bluff House Marina. This is one of our favorite
marinas, with a great, friendly staff and good prices right now.
From Green Turtle we headed up to Manjack Cay to anchor in a protected bay
and were joined by four other boats we had befriended in Green Turtle. We
invited the other four couples to our boat for Happy Hour and a potluck dinner.
"Last Waltz" provided fish that had been caught by Jason, the dockmaster at
Bluff House and I grilled the mutton snapper which was fabulous and enjoyed
by all. The evening was one of the highlights of the trip for us. Of the five couples
present we had two Canadian couples, an Australian couple, a Texan couple and
us. What a great group.
Carol and I were discussing what makes the cruisers we've met so enjoyable
and we figured it is the fact they are doers not just talkers, they are positive in
their outlook, don't gossip and realize how special it is to be doing this. Nearly
all have them have had to deal with maintenance issues with things on their boat
but take it all in stride.
Our friends, Doug and Pat Reichenbach spent a week with us and it was fun
visiting some of our favorite spots with them. The weather dictates the itinerary
but we had fun. Pat got to experience snorkeling for the first time as we snorkeled
off of Nippers on Guana Cay. We saw a few fish and a lot of beautiful fan and
brain coral.
We recently become aware of a serious broken weld on the arch of our boat,
which carries the heavy loads of the sail and needed to address its repair so we
decided to stay at Mangoes Marina in Marsh Harbour to find a welder to repair
it. We nwere fortunate and blessed to be able to take care of it qickly with help
from some of the staff, one of which had a truck to carry the 12 foot, 150 pound
arch in the bed with four of us sitting on it to hold it down. CJ's Welding
graciously welded it the day we called them, fitting us in, and we had it remounted
by dark.  The disassembly and remounting required me to crawl into a very
small compartment to access the backing plates and nuts. Glad to have that
done!
While at Mangoes we enjoyed the daily fresh donuts made by the new chef. I
got spoiled quickly and have been suffering withdrawal since leaving.
Presently we have traveled around the Whale Passage and will enjoya few days
of anchoring at small islands waiting for a weather window to cross back over
to Florida. We plan on crossing with Kankita from Great Sale Cay maybe Monday
night and Tuesday. It will be a 20 hour crossing. When we get back to Florida
communication should be easier.

Crawling in to attach the arch

 

Broken weld at base of arch.

 

Desmond going under a lit limbo bar. How's

that for low, he's in his 40's.