Thursday, December 28, 2017

End of 2017 Update

My sister (Larri) in Arizona asked me to write down my basic plans for the remainder of my trip and I told her I'd be glad to.  Of course, my plans WILL change (some) and I DO try to be somewhat flexible.  And, of course, the weather will be a major factor in ALL plans. 

1/9 - fly from Harrisburg PA to Sanford FL.  Take a shuttle from Sanford to Vero Beach.
1/9 to 1/11 - do some troubleshooting of the boat's electrical system (my solar panel is not keeping the batteries charged as I had hoped).
1/11 - leave for Miami
1/15 - arrive in Miami - get staged for crossing to Bimini (crossing is typically a 10 hour motor/sail).
1/15 to 1/22 - weather window for crossing
1/22 - Bimini to Barry Islands
1/24 - Barry Islands to New Province (island where Nassau is located).
1/26 - Sail to northern Exumas
1/28 to 2/25 - Cruise mid  to north Exumas (I don't plan on going south to Georgetown).
2/25 to 3/2 - Friend Jordan Snyder to fly into Staniel Cay.  Sail to Eleuthera.
3/2 to 3/15 - Cruise Eleuthera
3/15 to 3/25 - Friend Robert Vantrigt to fly into Governor's Harbour Eleuthera.  Sail to Marsh Harbour, Abaco.
3/27 to 3/30 - Son and family Mike, Jody, Quinn fly into Marsh Harbour, cruise Abaco.
4/1 to 4/5 - Cruise northern Abaco, stage for crossing to Florida
4/5 - Crossing to Florida
4/5 to 5/5 - ICW from Florida to North Carolina
5/5 to 6/1 - ICW from North Carolina to Baltimore


Although I'm really enjoying being home and spending time with Joan, family, and friends, I do find myself often thinking about the boat and looking forward to getting back and continuing with my trip.  I have a number of things I planned on doing while I was home.  I've done some (filing for tax extensions, etc.) but still have a number to do.  I also have a growing list of items to be done when I return to True Blue on 1/9.  I’m not a person who really likes the cold and knowing that True Blue is waiting for me in 75 degree weather is very tempting.  I would normally have my coal stove cranking out the heat but not this winter.  Instead, I'm relying on my heat pump and keeping the thermostat turned down as low as I can tolerate.  I'm spending lots of time in my bedroom where I have a space heater for comfort.  And, of course, I'm counting the days.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Tuesday 12/12/2017 Back in PA

For those of you who have been willing to endure all my excessive writing, hasn't it been a nice break?  The boat is on a mooring at the Vero Beach City Marina.  I left there on Saturday at 4am (with my friend Fred who just happened to be driving back home) and got home at noon on Sunday.
This is a quick update - I'll try to fill in some of the blanks over the next several days.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Saturday 12/9/2017
It is now 1/16/2018 so this short entry will be from my bad memory.  This was the day of departure from Vero Beach.  Fred had suggested we leave a day earlier than we had planned. It was a good idea for several reasons (driving through DC on the weekend, for example).  I had lots to do to leave True Blue "safe" for a month.  The primary items were to go to my mooring and to bring the dinghy on deck, deflate, and store it.  I was assigned to mooring 20 at the Vero Beach City Marina.  The mooring had a 41' Hunter tied to it and a CS 38 rafted to his port side.  I would be on his starboard side.  Getting tied up went pretty well.  For those of you who would question leaving your boat rafted off another boat for a month, believe me, I had questioned it many times too.  Numerous people on the ICW assured me that it would be all right.  The VBCM mooring field is very protected.  In retrospect, everything was fine.  The second task didn't go so well - the dinghy.  Steve Schroeder came over to give me a hand getting it on board.  What I wasn't ready for was all the yucky slime that had grown on the bottom.  It made a mess of the deck.  But what was worse was getting the floor boards out.  It took the two of us over an hour.  THANK YOU to Steve for his help - I don't think I could have done it alone.  That may be the last time I ever deflate and store it. 
So, at 4pm, Steve gave me a ride to shore in his dinghy.  Fred had been there since about 2pm and was raring to get on the road.  So we did!  We both traded turns driving and drove all night.  Neither of us got much sleep - we had lots to talk about - we both have the same favorite topic - BOATS.  Fred has a Brewer 44 - Wild Oats that he keeps on the Magothy River.

I got home on 12/10 and returned to True Blue on 1/9/2018.  My blog will resume on 1/9.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Wednesday 12/6/2017 Vero Beach Layover

Made the drive over and back to Spring Hill again today - boring but uneventful.  Fred is almost 90 and I'd say his hearing is about 20% (normally) and about 5% when in the car (due to background road noise, I believe).  That mean even yelling was barely an option.  That was unfortunate since I was hoping to catch up on things while in the car.

I got back to the boat at around 9pm (after a quick stop at the Walmart).  The dinghy ride out in the dark was a little nerve wrecking (like many other parts of this adventure).  But as I approached True Blue, I was somewhat unnerved when I saw two masts instead of just one where the MY boat should have been.  As I approached, I realized another boat (with no present owner) had drug anchor and it's bow sprit was up against True Blue's aluminum rub rail.  I had seen the boat several times on my way to and from the marina.  It had a large For Sale sign displayed above the boom.  I spent the next half hour trying to get the boats apart and finally moved True Blue a short distance away.  I had notice during the day (when driving) that there had been a significant south wind but I doubt that it would have been enough to make the other boat drag it's anchor.  Also, the direction didn't seem right (south wind making a boat drag to the east?). 



Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Tuesday 12/5/2017 Vero Beach Layover


I had arranged several months ago to have my step uncle Fred visit me while I was here at Vero Beach.  My step cousin Robby and his wife Brenda were going to bring him over (from near Spring Hill - on the Gulf coast).  Unfortunately, both Robby and Brenda have both had major heart problems over the last 2 months and giving Fred a ride was no longer an option.  So I rented a car and drove over to pick Fred up.  It was a long drive (200 miles each way) over and back, two days in a row but I was glad I made the trip and I know Fred was too.

Uncle Fred


Monday, December 4, 2017

Monday 12/4/2017 - Vero Beach Layover

I woke just before 5 to a breeze.  I checked the weather and rain was in the forecast -  to start around 6:30 and only last an hour or so.  So I took  my time getting going.  But 6:30 came and went and the skies didn't look too threatening.  So I decided to go into town as planned and took my light rain jacket and umbrella - I love the water but not when it comes from above.  I caught the 8:10am bus into town.  They have a great bus system here.  They have downloadable maps online and great coverage.  They have 10 or 15 routes and a main hub where you can transfer.  Best of all, it's all FREE.  I think this is one of the reasons some call this "Velcro" Beach.  The downtown part of Vero is nice but is a little dated with lots of very small businesses.  It is very spread out - no buildings above 2 or 3 stories and most a single story.  At the West end of town is a huge mall.  Also at the west end is a huge Home Depot, a huge Lowes, a Target, a Sam's Club and a the biggest Walmart I've ever seen.  This part of town is a little newer and seems nicely laid out to minimize traffic congestion.  On the way back to the marina, the bus made a loop around the beach area.  It looked very nice with a lot of high end stores.  I like the fact that the area has lots of parks and open areas.  It is very spread out.

I rode the bus to the west end of town with a fellow cruiser Tom.  He and his wife have been here for about a week.  They are on their 1985 53' Pearson "Dalmation".  They were at Osprey for a week when I was there waiting for Joan to arrive.  It's funny how you will meet someone and just make a quick introduction and have a brief conversation.  But then you see them a month later, several hundred miles away, and it's like reuniting with long time friends. 

Tomorrow, I plan to rent a car and drive across the state to pick up my step Uncle Fred.  He has always been a wana-be sailor and I know he would love to see True Blue.  It's a 3 1/2 hour drive over, the same back and then I'll do it over again on Wednesday.  Considering that I haven't driven a car in 2 months, I hope I can remember how to do it.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Sunday 12/3/2017  Vero Beach Layover

Since I'm usually asleep by 9pm, I'm usually up by 5.  And that means I'm working on getting the dinghy in the water and the motor as soon as daylight arrives.  I devised a sling and a block and tackle that I hang from my spare halyard.  It works pretty well but I'm sure I'll get better at it.  I would not have wanted an audience for today's performance.  The motor was another challenge.  I had a combination lock on the motor, mounted on the stern rail.  I had a piece of tape on the back of the lock with the numbers 6 24 22.  I spent almost an hour trying to get that lock off before I realized I had written it backwards.  Why do I do things like that?  At least I didn't have to cut it off with a hack saw.   Getting the gas into the tank on the motor was the next major feat.  I do love the new "spill proof" gas cans.  Between the gas leaking out of the spout fitting and the nozzle plugging the motor fill hole, I only lost about a pint of gas. 
My other task for the morning was to get the my two 50 watt solar panels set up and connected.  These are flexible panels and they lay on top of the bimini.  I have an older 65 watt panel that sits on the cabin top aft of the mast.  Getting the two 50s set up and running the cabling only took a short time.  However, I wanted to do some testing of the new controller and that took another couple hours. 

So, at around 11am, I took the dinghy to shore.  The engine started right up and ran great both going and coming back.  I spent about an hour at the marina but they make it hard for non paying cruisers to use any of the facilities so there wasn't much to do.  Tomorrow, I'll pay for a mooring (but stay at anchor) just so I can use the facilities (dinghy dock, lounge/wifi).

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Saturday 12/2/2017 South Melbourne to  Vero Beach

I've been waiting two months for this day.  It's 25 miles to Vero Beach - my destination for traveling home for the holidays.  Like usual (finally), it was warm and sunny by 7am.  It's sure nice to be in the warm weather.  I haven't had any bad weather for a couple weeks now.  I could get used to this! 

As I approached Vero Beach, I was looking out for a small channel just north of the City Marina where I was planning on anchoring while I waited the 9 days.  I had lots of plans and catching up.  Active  Captain shows two anchorages in the channel and I was hoping no one would be there.  Boy, was I surprised when I passed the channel and spotted a large group of sailboats lining the channel. My heart sank!  Where would I go??  I motored south to the marina and then back up through the mooring field.  There were LOTS of BIG boats in the mooring field - over a hundred.  And almost every mooring ball had two or three boats on the mooring.  I sure hope they will have room for little True Blue!!  Luckily, I found a "vacancy" in the anchorage and dropped the "hook".  It was still pretty tight and after a couple hours I raised the anchor and moved west about 75'.  This was perfect.  Very secluded, no waves, very little current, 7' deep, less than a foot of tide.  Paradise!!  I spent the next two hours dragging the dinghy out of the quarter berth and getting it up onto the fore-deck.  Then I inflated it and assembled all the parts.  Having the dinghy in service was my next milestone that meant I'd be "cruising"!!

Friday, December 1, 2017

Friday 12/1/2017  Eau Gallie (Melbourne) to South Melbourne

I took on water, washed down the boat, and went out to breakfast with Fred - who was on his way out of town to visit his sister Ann.  She and her husband live on the water in the Fort Myers area.  Fred has kept his boat there numerous times in the past - but not THIS time.  I've spent several hours trying to resolve my email troubles and I'm currently reinstalling my Outlook email programs (with all 27+K) emails.  I keep telling myself I need to clean up all those old emails and now I'm paying for not having gotten around to it.

I left at around 2pm (with 6,000 email still left to go).  I motored about 10 miles and anchored on the south side of a causeway/bridge.  Like many, it wasn't a great anchorage but the wind finally died down and I got a good night's sleep.

The decorations at some of the marina's are really putting me in the "Christmas Spirit"!