Tuesday 3/13/12.     The sun rose in an almost cloudless sky.  The wind died down to just a whisper.  It was a perfect morning on the Indian River. 

Just after taking pictures of the sunrise I heard a quiet “whooof”.  I turned just in time to see the nose of a Manatee, and then the back and tail disappear under the water. I rapped on the window for Linda to come out, but by the time she got on deck it had already made the second surfacing and disappeared again.  They are pretty good at that.  So that ended my cynicism about all those Manatee Zone signs.  There really are manatees here.

We pulled anchor and were back into the channel at 8:40A.  Before we went a half mile we started seeing manatees surfacing between the channel and the spoil islands just to the west.  In the next half hour we must have seen over a dozen of them.  Some as close as thirty yards others as far as a hundred.   As the channel narrowed at Edgewater, the manatees were right in the channel.  This proves Linda’s hypothesis that manatees don’t really read the signs allowing you to go faster in the channel than outside the channel.  I believe Edgewater, FL must be the manatee capital of the world!

 

Just after noon we stopped back at Inlet Harbor Marina in Ponce Inlet, FL for fuel.  We were greeted by Cory, who was our dock boy at Christmas time.  He recognized us right away.  In about an hour we were headed north again.  Now we will be on the Halifax River.

As we entered the Port Orange area a pontoon boat with FL registration overtook us on our starboard side.  Then he suddenly made a circle back behind the boat and came up again real close. There were two young men onboard.  The one yelled, “Are you from the Sassafras?”  I yelled back, “Yes we are.”    He said, “I’m from Rock Hall.”  I gave him the thumbs–up and they were on their way.  Apparently the Georgetown, MD on TwoGether’s name board caught his attention.  Rock Hall is about thirty miles south of the Sassafras River on Chesapeake Bay. 

Passing through Daytona Beach Linda shot some pictures of her favorite bridge.  The pictures I took on the trip down didn’t get the detail of the ceramic tile murals real clear.  She got some good shots.

 

As we reach Ormond Beach we saw a sailboat on its side just west of the channel.  It appears to have broken loose of its moorings during the high winds of last week. 

Cruising north of Daytona Beach there are very few, if any, places to anchor.  We decided to pull out of the channel at marker Green 13 and drop the hook.  We anchored here on the way down it should work on the way home. 

Green 13 (Ormond Beach, FL):     N29° 18.813              W 081° 03.787

Monday 3/12/12.      Through the night the overcast gave way to a mostly sunny morning.  The breeze remained strong and the forecast for Melbourne changed from 15-20 back to gust of 30.  But Linda checked the weather further north and they forecast 15-20 and were not calling for gusts.  So we decided to head north.  Indian River is over two miles mile wide and more than four miles in places.  With an east wind we rocked and rolled most of the day.  It wasn’t uncomfortable; you just had to use your sea legs.

 

It wasn’t long until the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building came into sight.  It shows up on the horizon about 25 miles out.  On our way down there was a morning haze on Cape Canaveral and the pictures were a bit fuzzy.  This morning the sun shone bright on the Flag and NASA insignia.  It is an impressive sight to see.   The channel is eight miles from the VAB so the pictures are telephoto zoomed 42X.

 

Passing the Titusville Marina brought back memories of our trip to FL back in the early 1990s, and the great visit we had with Bill and Pree Bell aboard their sailboat “Nightwind”.

 

As we crossed through Haulover Canal we spotted two Manatees.  “Spotted” means there was a ring on the surface of the water followed by the flip of a tail.  If you blinked you missed it.

After entering the Mosquito Lagoon we turned north and were on the Indian River North.  Just a few miles south of Edgewater, FL we set anchor for the night.

Indian River North anchorage:      N 28° 49.517             W 080° 48.304

Sunday 3/11/12.        We woke up to rain and wind.  Visibility at times was less than ½ mile.  I checked the NEXRAD Radar and saw a line of rain from just a few miles west of us (the rain we already experienced) and the rest streaming out into the Atlantic about 100 miles headed our way. 

Around noon there were three sailboats traveling close together headed south outside the channel.  It appeared they were headed for the shelter of the Banana River which joins the Indian River about a mile south of where we are anchored.  While the Banana would be a little better sheltered than where we are, I would imagine the anchorage there was pretty full.  If someone’s anchor drags it can become quite tense while a runaway boat is headed to who knows where. Plus, it is rather narrow and there is a swing bridge only a half mile up river.  Once the wind reaches about 25 mph a lot of bridges don't open for fear of stressing the structure.  We might rock around a bit more, but there is nothing to run into for a mile.  That gives us plenty of time to respond to the anchor drag alarm and take corrective action.

By evening the rain was over but the wind continued.  Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny with temps in the mid 70°s, and wind 10 - 15.  At least that is what the weather lady says it will be.

Saturday 3/10/12.     It was sprinkling a very light rain as we pulled anchor and headed back to the channel.  There were a few clouds in the sky but the water was perfectly calm.  The only waves to be seen were the wake off TwoGether’s hull.   

After about a half an hour I found it necessary to engage the variable speed windshield wiper.  In no time the windshield was crystal clear!

Just as we were arriving at the Route A1A Bridge Linda notice what appeared to be a patrol boat sneaking along the pilings on the other side of the bridge.  It turned out to be a pilot boat clearing traffic on the ICW, because there was a ship coming in from the Atlantic via the Ft. Pierce Inlet.  The inlet canal parallels the far side of the causeway so the ship was hidden until it was nearly ready to cross the ICW.  We stopped until she was well within the turning basin of the Indian River Terminal.  Since this is a Slow Speed Manatee Zone we had time to watch as the "Christopher Dean" was backed into her slip.  There always seems to be something interesting going on at the terminal.

The sky remained heavy with clouds much of the day and it looked like we would get caught up in the rain any minute.  But we seemed to remain fairly dry except for a few light sprinkles.  The afternoon wind put a light chop on the Indian River. 

 

We watched a NAVY P3 shooting practice approaches into Patrick AFB.

Late afternoon found us anchored at Merritt Island, FL.  There is good water right up to the shore line.  Just before sunset the breezed calmed down and the water returned to flat.  But this won’t last long.  We hope the trees on the shore will break up the 30 mph easterly wind gust forecast for after midnight and tomorrow.

The cook whipped up a meal of fried ham and scalloped potatoes.  The captain has a happy tummy!

 Merritt Island anchorage     N 28° 10.463 W 080° 37.467

Friday 3/9/12.            The idea this morning was to leave the slip, refuel and pump out the holding tank, then get back on the canal eastbound.  But Indiantown Marina seems to have a habit of tying up the next few boats to be hauled out, at the fuel dock.  Linda and I walked to the office to settle up and I heard the captain of the sailboat in front of the gas pumps tell the lady in the office, it would be an hour until he was ready.  With 105 gallons of fuel on board and the holding tank not quite half full, we paid for the slip and got underway eastbound at 8:40A. 

Less than a mile east of the marina there is a railroad swing bridge.  When Linda called for an opening the tender radioed back “It’ll be 'bout ten minutes… I gotta train com’n.”    This was expected since we could hear trains going all hours of the day and night.  Some times as close as twenty minutes apart. So we patiently waited, easily holding station on glass smooth water, with no wind.   In a few minutes another boat, coming westbound, called the bridge… The tender said it will be a few minutes.  The captain answered back “Is there a choo-choo train coming?”  That one made Linda laugh out loud.

Around 10:30 we entered the St. Lucie Lock for a thirteen foot drop.  St. Lucie has the friendliest crew.  He had the lines rolled up and threw it to Linda and told her "This is for the bow".  She had us tied up and ready for the ride in seconds.

We arrived at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL around noon and got fuel and pumped out. Heading out the St Lucie River we passed the sternwheeler “City of Stuart”.  She is really propeller driven so the stern wheel just spins like a millwheel but it looks cool.

 As we neared the Atlantic at St Lucy Inlet, the waters got a bit choppy.  The tide was going out so we were making good time being pulled along on the St Lucie River.  But when we turned north into the Indian River we were running headlong into the outgoing tide.  It felt like we were dragging an anchor behind.

As we neared Ft. Pierce we noticed the clouds building to the west.  As the cool wind coming from the east off the Atlantic went over the warmer land west of the river, the thermals were quickly building storm clouds.  Soon it was getting darker to the west and after a while there was lightning to the north.   About three miles south of Ft. Pierce we left the channel and went about a hundred yards east and dropped anchor at 4:00P.  While it put down a good shower the two storms split us; one about two miles north and the other two miles south.  This is a good place to spend the night.

 All together it was a pretty good day.  Waited for a choo-choo train and bridge opening; locked through St. Lucie Lock; stopped for fuel; waited for the Roosevelt Bridge to open, and still made 47 miles.

Ft. Pierce anchorage:          N 27 23.976             W 080 17.446

Thursday 3/8/12.      Today was rather a quiet day.  The breeze persisted and there were occasional showers.  The showers upped the humidity and the afternoon was kind of sticky.

It’s been decided to get underway tomorrow morning.  Friday and Saturday should be 10-15 with gust of 20.  That’s doable as long as we don’t have to go into any tight marinas.  Sunday will be the challenge as the gusts are again forecast to 30mph. But we should be in an anchorage and will ride it out.

Much of the afternoon was spent on the internet looking at camping equipment, Mt. Rushmore, Nova Scotia, Montreal and PA state parks.  Oops! I just left the cat out of the bag on what we think our next adventure might be. Then we stowed the bikes, washed down the deck and did some of the last minute chores.

Being in an impulsive mood my beard disappeared.  So now the First Mate has a new (albeit not necessarily improved) Captain.  Although there was no mutiny on the subject, she keeps grinning at me (I think it’s grinning).  I just realized that all of our friends at Cross Keys have never seen me without whiskers…Well it didn’t make me any prettier!

It goes back to a limerick I heard in my teens.

My beauty is not of a star.

There are others more handsome by far.
But my face, I don’t mind it, for I am behind it.
It’s the people out front that I jar!

Wednesday 3/6/12.              Today had been like a typical FL summer day. Clear skies at 8:00; a few small cumulous clouds at 10:00; and almost ¾ cloud cover by noon.  The temps have climbed some and the breeze has calmed a bit.  Although we get the occasional blast to remind us why we stayed put.

 

 

 I caved in…There were some comments about me growing a ponytail during this trek.  I tried.  I really tried.  The pony tail wasn’t happening.  (I guess you need hair) I looked like a wild man with the slightest hint of a breeze and truthfully my hair was working on my nerves. My apologies to those who thought they had talked me into it.   I made a stop at New Image Beauty Salon and a sweetheart named Andrea worked her magic, and now I have a resemblance to a humanoid.  Linda was kind of hinting that maybe it’s time for the beard to go too. I may have to think on that one.  But I must admit I’m growing a bit tired of it.

Since a beauty shop is the place for gossip, I just had to ask about Davy Jones.  He was well respected by the community and a big supporter of the local Catholic school.  He was down to earth and never showed an “I’m a celebrity” attitude.  I think the community will miss him.

Okay… I waited four months to get my hair cut… and… while we’re at the barber’s… they take an 11 foot alligator out of the marina, not 50 feet from our boat!  We missed it!  We saw the truck driving away but had no idea of its cargo. “Stumpy” (he lost a leg somewhere along the way) had to be removed from the marina because they were concerned for the safety of the customers and their pets.  Apparently a gator recently crawled up the boat ramp and went after a customer’s dog.  I can’t believe we missed it!  Grumble, grumble, growl, grumble, shucky darn, grumble.  The gator catcher is to come back sometime and remove the smaller gator that we had to navigate around on our arrival.  We’ll probably miss that too.

Linda went to do the laundry…when I caught up with her…this is what I found. I must admit she has done a great job of keeping everything ship-shape.  She is a first rate, first mate!