Never ending projects

The boat projects continue.  Joe mounted the solar panel on top of the dinghy davits today.  It was attached to the lifeline on the port side of the boat.  It limited our view while sitting in the cockpit and it was a hazard at times coming into a dock.  We have also finished installing the cleats and painting the anchor.  Teak has been sanded topsides and I am putting 5 coats of varnish on it to help preserve the color and I will probably put a couple more coats on it in September just for good measure.  We have the dinghy on land and Joe has cleaned it up and put some epoxy on the bottom scrapes.  All in all we have been moving right along with the never ending list of things to do on the boat.
Tim, Morgan and Zelda came up to have a picnic with u on the beach at one of the parks just north of here.  It was nice to see them again.  
To our friends and fellow sailors at CSA we hope that the Sailing for Veterans Regatta is a huge success this weekend.
To the A Cat sailors who were in Florida racing Joe has been following your progress online.  Some great shots of the racers.
TTFN

Wild Horses

I am sitting here in the cockpit of the boat listening to music and I was reflecting on the 3 days we spent at Cumberland Island.  Cumberland Island is right on the border of Florida and Georgia.  It was recommended to us to make a stop there on our way back up the ICW.  It was worth the trip.  Even before we got to our anchorage spot we spotted a wild horse out by the salt marshes,  and directly in front of the horse in the water were dolphins.  What a beautiful site that was to see them both together.  They were too far for me to get a photo.  After we got settled at the anchor spot we deployed the dinghy and went ashore, camera in hand.  Stopped at the park office and talked to the ranger.  He told us about all the walking trails that we could explore.  So we set off for a 3/4 mile hike across the island.  We were immediately plunged into the oldest seaside forest in the country.  All around us were live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, fan palms and wild plants growing so thick you had to stay on the path.  It was a peaceful and pristine place to stop.  Very rare theses days to find a spot as untouched by commercialism.  After 5 days on the boat we were ready for a break.  I told Joe I wanted to hike till my legs fell off.  Walking under the shaded canopy of the trees was relaxing.  We past camping spots where you could not see the next camp site as there were so many fan palms.  When we got to the other side of the island it open up to snow white sand dunes some 2 stories high.  We walked on a boardwalk walkway through the dunes and it opened up to a beach deemed a national seashore park.  We looked down the beach and there was a herd of wild horses.  I was so excited.  We hurriedly walked toward them.  They have been exposed to people watching them as they let us get closer I started taking photos.  Most of them were mares and there was a yearling and a foal.  What a treat it was to get to see wild horses ON THE BEACH.   Awesome.
Next day we toured the Carnegie Mansion on the Island. Most of the buildings were still there but the house was a brick skeleton, it had burned down many years ago.  And what happen to be in the yard area more wild horses.  It just could not get any better.   After our tour we went on the boardwalk over the salt marsh and ended up walking through the sand dunes again  then we made our way up the beach and back to the boat.  My legs were pretty tired we had walked almost 5 miles.  Next day we moved the boat to the north end of the island and next day we did some more hiking there.  We were hoping to see alligators that were rumored to be there but no such luck.  But we did see some wold spotted hogs and piglets.  Cumberland Island is by far one of our favorite places we have been to.  If you want to visit there you cannot get there by car you need to take a 45 minute ferry ride.  It is highly likely we will be stopping there again.
We are now in Lady's Island South Carolina.  Doing boat projects and hanging out in Beaufort.  TTFN

Daily stuff

Let me tell you what happened to us in Lake Worth.  Well you know we anchored there for the night. Same spot we anchored in on our way south.  About 2:00 in the morning we woke up and the boat was listing heavily to starboard, 18 degrees to be exact.  We did not panic we sat in the cockpit for a while and decided there was nothing we could do so we went back to bed. Braced our feet across the v berth so we wouldn't roll sideways and went back to sleep waiting for the tide to come up. As you can imagine we did not sleep much.  But we got up early pulled anchor and proceeded along.  There is always something.  It was a beautiful day and we had 8 bridge to go through we headed to Peck Lake.  Wind were high when we arrived we did not even deploy the dinghy.  We were both tired from the last 3 day so we just sat on the boat and read.  Next stop was Vero Beach, we stopped there before too, needed provisions.  But before we got there we turned left at the wrong bridge ran aground, storm coming with high winds,  someone in a dinghy stopped and try to help after we got off the grounding.  Then we went to the next bridge and turned there and moored up in the marina.  Stayed a couple of days, spent an afternoon at the beach,  got ate up buy no see ums, nasty little bugs you can't see coming and the are stealthy to they attack in the middle of the night.  My legs looked like I had pox. 

On our way to Titusville we had to come up the Indian River near NASA we encountered small Islands along here that we named Flamingo Flats,  pink flamingos everywhere, Pelican Perch.  Also we saw at least 14 Manatee on our way through too.  Some were right next to the boat playing.  That was most excellent to see them.  Onto to Titusville Municipal Marina for night just to get a break from the winds.  We normally would have grabbed a mooring ball but with NNW winds 15 to 20 you do not want to be in the mooring field.  Staying at the marina was a treat we had electricity for first time in 8 weeks, we have a small inverter to charge our cell phones and computer on the boat.  It is amazing what you can adapt to when needed.   So we got out the cofee maker, toaster and even the microwave worked. Joe needed internet to work too.  Winds were still strong the next day and storms were expected we pulled into New Smyrna Municipal Marina early the next day and again we have electricity two days in a row. Woop! woop!  Good thing to as it was 92 degrees and we needed a fan to keep cool.  Went out for Pizza, Panheads,  yummo! Next day we are waffling back and forth wether to leave or stay, storms again.  We check the radar 20 times and we decide to leave.  we waited until one storm cell passes we cast off and get ahead of the weather.  We got rained on once it cleared up and was a nice travel day.  Anchored up in Daytona Then to Fourt Matanzas Inlet.  We saw a bobcat on the beach when we arrived,  I took photos.  Next day we toured Fort Matanzas something we did not do on our way south.  It was pretty cool.  Now we just left St. Augustine and we are anchoring out tonight.  Saw a pod of dolphins near one of the bridges they had a brand new baby wit them it was sticking it's whole head above the water, so cute.  Dolphins have been plentiful on our travels. Tides were against us this morning so progress was slow.  We pulled over and anchored up for 2 hours to wait it out had lunch now we are under way.  Our next major stop will be Cumberland Island it is on the Florid Georgia border.  Meeting up with Mike Pitzer and Tom Baker on Diva.  We hope to jump outside and sail up to South Carolina and buddy up with them.  I will let you know how that works out. TTFN

Bobcat at Fort Matanzas Beach

Hot Pink Tank

We are In Vero Beach Florida. Decided to stop here again on our way back north. We like the mooring here and it is quiet and peaceful.  Went to beach yesterday, city bus comes right through here and picks us up and then drops off is right at beach front.  It is nice when you don't have a vehicle.  After the beach we went in search of ice cream.  Found an ice cream shoppe, it was delicious, my second cone was anyway.  I was trying to juggle stuff around in my hands when my cone fell out of my hand and landed upside down on the floor.  I hadn't even had a bite yet.  Man did I laugh it was hysterical. Joe just looked at me and said Mary Mary Mary. The wonderful clerk at the counter made me up another one free of charge.  There isn't a day goes by that something happens.
While provisioning yesterday I came across a scuba shop.  Now if you remember I got a red scuba tank for Christmas.  But we needed another one so we can dive together. I found one at a good price I called Joe and he said to go ahead a get it.  Well you see my scuba equipment is pink and the red scuba tank just clashed with my stuff so I bought a hot pink tank.  Have to look stylish even when diving.  I think I will let Joe have the red one.  Joe just shook his head that I got the pink one.  Oh well!!!  He also said that if his tank was empty he was not going to be seen using my hot pink stylish tank and that if that happened I would have to scrape the bottom of the boat.  We will see if that will happen.

Starfish

We are out on the Atlantic today sailing north in the Gulf Stream outside Miami sailing towards Ft. Lauderdale.  It is sunny and 80 winds are about 5 to 10, we could use a little more.  Joe just informed me that our depth is 875 feet.  We have been in Miami and Key Biscayne for the last three weeks enjoying the wonderful weather and spending time with our sailing friends on Spindrift.  They left Monday to go back to Virginia Beach where they both live.  We miss seeing them in the mornings. Did I mention they had a runaway dinghy too.  Yes it ran away from their boat.  After that they could not tease us about rescuing ours after it ran away.  Had some good times with Rick and Sandy we plan on getting with them next fall and heading out to the big blue yonder.

Spent most of our anchored time in No Name Harbor, a popular cruisers stop going to and from the Bahamas. It was a nice calm anchorage but there was always one boat partying and playing their bang bang music way toooooo loud!  Last night was no exception. The beach in the park here is nice there is a shelter here, restrooms, a washer and dryer and an outdoor shower ( cold water, activated by a pull chain) refreshing after snorkeling or hiking. Park contains the original Cape Florida lighthouse, which we got to go up inside and get a birds eye view from the top.  Quite an amazing sight from 90 feet in the air.  It was 109 steps to the top,  good work out.  We did some snorkeling and found some conch and giant starfish, I will include pictures.  Mostly sea grass beds not too much coral but some small pieces and some sponges.  We did spend 2 and 1/2 days at Dinner Key Marina where we had the awesome experience (sarcasm) of being on a mooring ball there,  it was like being on a 36 foot rocking horse on springs.  Key Biscayne is not very protected on that side of the bay from any direction.  We endured only because our mail was being sent to the marina, and we were off the boat as much as possible.  Dinghy rides in were wet and rocky.  We will not stay there again.

 Internet has been non consistent here so it is hard to post my blog.  

We began to replace the starboard stern cleat but due to limited space to get our drill in the lazzarette we have put that on hold until we can get a smaller drill.  So we are without a starboard cleat right now.   All other boat project are on hold until we get electric to run power tools. 

The other morning we were sitting in the cockpit reading and our boat neighbor on their Beneteau 48, Buoyant, Lee and Heidi from New Jersey, Lee was tring to get his motor on his dinghy we were not paying too much attention but we heard a splash.  Joe looks up and says is that what I think it sounded like.  And yep Lee dropped his dinghy motor in the water and it sinks to Davey Jones locker.  Lee went and sat down didn't say a word.  About 10 minutes later Joe goes over and offers to dive down and recover the motor.  He gladly accepted help and Joe was successful in recovering the motor about 1/2 an hour later.  They offered to take us to lunch which we accepted and had a wonderful time over wine, beers and good food.   We have decided to put a lifting bridle on our own dinghy motor so this does not happen to us.  

TTFN

Day of the Iguanas and horses

Let me back up a minute from the last blog post.  When we Left Lake Worth Joe decided to change head sails from the normal 120 to the 150 jib due to the lighter winds.  Well the jib is buried in the v-berth under our bed and is a pain in the ass to get to.  But Joe was determined to use that sail so he tore up the bed and the entire boat he was also digging into the quarter berth for something I do not remember.  While we are underway he takes down our 120 and proceeds to put up the 150.  Well as all things go it did not go smoothly.  He pulled it up then it would stop and twist the track. Then he tried again and again and again and again etc.  A few choice words were floating back to me at the helm while this process was going on.  He was traipsing back and fourth from bow to stern trying different things to raise the sail.  He took a break in there somewhere to get water and cool down both his body and his temper.  He finally switched something around and forced it up and then it was too long.  We had never put this particular sail up on the boat before.  He then had to take it down again and remove the cables.  I think he had it up and down a total of 8 times but he finally succeeded. And I was not too happy about the mess he had left the cabin in so he cleaned that up after we stopped for the day and he made the bed too.  I was not going to do it I did not make the mess!!! 

Upon getting to our most rocky and lumpy anchorage in Miami we headed out in our dinghy for a look around they have canals here through the city so we could dinghy close to the grocery store or even get closer to the beach.  It is really cool, did not know that about Miami.  Next day we go to this small Island, Bell Island we found out later, near our anchorage I take my camera because we see a monument there and we are curious.  We beach park the dinghy get out and start to explore.  It has a nice beach area and paths that go into the palm trees and sea grapes.  We are just walking along and Joe is in front of me well I see something dash out of a hole in the ground and run up lickety split up the nearest palm tree.  It scared the shit out of me but I got a look at it it was a green iguana about 25 to 30 inches long.  I guess the live on the island and they have grown huge.  After I yell at Joe about what I saw we look up in the palm tree and we can just see his head.   After a few minutes we hear another one.  We then start walking slowly and stopped talking so loud.  I break into my australian accent about us stalking and finding giant iguanas about 20 minutes later Joe sees an iguana kicking sand out of it's den so we sneak up on it and I have my camera ready,  it's a big one about 30 inches, I get some great shots till he runs away into the bush.  Crique it was fun mate, that's a little Australian lingo, lol.
About an hour later we go to get a few provisions, we dinghy up the canal,  across the street from Publix walk across and shop walk back across the street and we are done.  Easiest provisioning we have done yet. we see more iguanas laying on the ledges of the canal getting some sun we even see one coming out of the drain pipe.  Later that day we are going to dinner and we show Rick and Sandy the iguanas near the canal.  When they went to Bell Island they did not see any.  We have since seen more, even today we moved to no name harbor and they are running all over the place.
We took one afternoon and walked down to the infamous South Beach with Rick and Sandy.  Wow were there tons of people there.  Could have been that it was Easter week?  HMMMM. We were also privileged to see part of a Grand Prix horse jumping event that was being held right there on the beach.  They set up a big arena right on the beachfront it was free to watch.  There were horsemen and women from all over the world participating even former Olympians.  What a great thing to happen upon during our stay in Miami.   I will post pictures of Iguanas and horses later.  TTFN

Rocky days

It has been a busy week for us.
First we got Draco ready to leave Stuart.  We are  heading for the keys.  The weather window is good so we are taking off.  Leaving with our buddy boat and now good friends on Spindrift.  Rick Flack and Sandy Parrish (and dog Twinkles).  First stop was Peck Lake a good anchorage, we have been to before, about 2 hours away.  We anchored here for afternoon and evening.  Joe and I went and walked on the beach looking for turtle nesting sites and the DNR had several marked out no hatching's yet. Left next day early and headed for Lake Worth still on the ICW, about 30 miles.  Had to go through 6 bridges and some pretty tight quarters with some very large boats.  Some of the boats were headed home from the West Palm Beach Boat Show. We anchored for night and took dinghy over to Peanut Island, took a long walk around the Island.  Found out later it used to be an emergency bunker for President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis.  Went back to boat and Joe put on his snorkel gear and went under the boat.  While we were at Peck Lake we heard a scraping sound under the boat and though we may have caught on something but the underside of the boat was clear.  Joe scraped the barnacles off the prop and we were good to go.  Next morning we left at 7:15 A.M. and headed out the Lake Worth cut to the Atlantic Ocean we were finally going to get off the ICW and do some ocean sailing.  Sun was coming up on the clear horizon as we motored Draco out into the blue green ocean the winds were about 5 out of the north but we hoisted sail anyway.  Put a preventer line on the main and turned south.  As the day went on the winds got a little better and clocked around to the ENE but we got rocked buy some pretty serious wakes from bigger boats.  Things below went flying but we found out what we needed to stow away. We went about 50 miles at 4 to 6 miles per hour it took all day, motored into Ft. Lauderdale into Lake Sylvia.  OMG you should see the huge mega yachts and homes around the canals in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a long rocky day.  Looked at charts cooked dinner and went to bed early.   Didn't have the energy to launch the dinghy and look around just drooled in passing.  Next day got up left at 8:00 A.M. headed for Miami.  No winds today so we motored the entire way.
Going to bed will finish the rest of story which gets better tomorrow.  TTFN.