January 3, 2012

1.2.12 and 1.3.12

Had a good night’s sleep. Up early….got coffee made and prepared to haul anchor. We didn’t raft up because of boat traffic…but could have. The big Catamaran was the last big boat and he didn’t put out any wake to speak of. All in all….a quiet night.

Up early, coffee made and we prepared to haul anchor. Larry had his up first and was circling to cross under the bridge, when I mentioned that we needed to drop our antennas. He checked his chart plotter…it said he was in the middle of the channel so he stepped outside and dropped them….and proceeded to run aground. This is when it’s good to have a “boat buddy”. Not only is it more fun when rafting up …it’s nice when you have a problem.

I have a long line aboard…tied most of it into a wad …Jim nosed up towards A Dollar More….I tossed it….Larry caught it….we cleated both ends off and Jim backed up and pulled him off the bar. Then we were on our way. Stats so far:   Slow Motion aground once( not on this trip…but still counting it)….A Dollar More Twice…he’s always trying to out do us….I hope this time he wins.

Saw several Dolphins…no pictures…they are up and down too fast for my camera. I did get some video.  If you listen you can hear one expel air from it’s blow hole. The boat that passed caused some wake and I had trouble standing on the deck and holding the camera still.

This tour boat passed us and later we saw it on this sand bar. Must be familiar with the tide and knows he’ll be floating before long. There were several people hiking around the island. We also saw people digging in the sand bars…possibly for clams?  Don’t know for sure.

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This is a cute little boat….

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After listening to the weather report and their prediction of high winds…even gale force…we decided to head for Titusville Municipal Marina. Jim did some figuring…it would be over 60 miles…but he felt we could be there before sundown.

There are strips of sand with vegetation along the channel. I would guess that most of them have been made from the sand dredged from the channel. They make good wind breaks, and places to camp.

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We had a push part of the day, but the current changed the last few hours and we lost almost a mile an hour. Still…with the wind at our backs we were able to do 5.5 most of that time.

The Indian River part of the ICW widens out and then we have to cross thru Haulover Canal. We’ve just entered it from the L side of the picture…Larry and Diane are right behind us.

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I don’t know how long the canal is…perhaps a mile. It is rocks and ledges on both sides. There is a bridge about half way thru, and it’s a popular spot for fishing. There were people along both sides. they are narrow but there is a path. People with chairs, tents and coolers come and spend the day fishing.  I couldn’t believe how many people there were…this is just one small group.

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Approaching the bridge, you can see the sun is getting low in the sky and we still have several miles to go.

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We’ve crossed under…

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We still have this bit to go to get out of the canal. What a difference when you look west. You can tell there is bad weather on it’s way.

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I wonder if the white tops on the rocks are bird deposits.

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The direction we had to take (staying in the channel) to cross the next part of the ICW was a westerly run….that put the waves almost broadside to us. Not a nice ride, but only about 45 minutes and then we swung South.

We were just pulling into the anchorage just outside the marina as the sun touched the top of the trees.

Jim had called and reserved 2 slips. Gale winds and temps in the 30’s expected tonight…so we’ll splurge. Normally we just anchor out…dingy in for showers or laundry….think we’ll skip the dingy trip tonight.

We did hike into town, a cold walk, but the wind hadn’t picked up yet. Had dinner and walked back. We plugged in….heaters running…nice and snug. Sometime during the night the wind really started kicking up and we were bobbing around like corks…even at the dock. I stepped outside to check lines etc and the wind was howling thru the sailboat rigging.

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It was still bad this morning. One look at the anchorage and I knew we’d made the right decision. We were warm and didn’t have to worry about dragging anchor. Had we picked up a mooring instead of anchoring there would have been no trip in…the water was too rough for a dingy. It didn’t let up until after noon…and even then it would have been a wet ride.

Jim and I had nice hot showers in their facilities and I did the laundry this morning while Jim worked on the bilge pump. The 4 of us  walked up to Dock Dude looking for an anchor light to replace our broken one…didn’t have any…but I did get a nice anchor rode (for our stern anchor) for a good price. Stopped at CVS and picked up some goodies and a half gallon of milk…that’s enough exercise for the day.

Jim ordered an anchor light from the Marina. It will be here in the morning around 8. We filled our water tanks this afternoon….we’ll fuel tomorrow on our way out.

The air is starting to get colder and the wind is picking up a bit. I am sitting in the V berth with the heater on. The cockpit is warm with the sun shinning thru the vinyl side curtains…but as soon as it goes down the other heater will be on and the curtains up.

We are going to watch a movie on A Dollar More, this evening, then off to bed. Great sleeping…like being in a rocking cradle.

It’s supposed to be nicer tomorrow and start warming up.