May 11, 2016 – Daytona to St. Augustine. Pulled up anchor at 7:10am. Several boats left anchorage within few minutes of us. The closest bridge, Memorial Bridge, doesn’t open between 7:45am and 9:00am. We all made it on time. By afternoon things got hectic. A barge working on a marker was blocking half the waterway at a sharp turn. Charts on iPad had just decided to go wacko and chart plotter is way off on ICW so no help there. Heard on radio a boat just ran aground hard at Made it through barely. Up next was Matanzas.
May 10, 2016 – 7:00am dropped mooring ball and followed SV Sumer Wind the entire day. 20% chance of rain. By 11:00am we had 100% rain, sometimes heavy, for several hours. Moved slow through the ICW today. Lots and lots of manatees just after Mosquito Lagoon. Slow just like us. Both of us took turns sitting up at the bow watching them. Passed an area where a search & rescue op was going on. Someone spotted a red kayak floating without a person. Did kayak get loose or did something happen to the paddler? We kept a keen eye out but saw nothing. Said a prayer for safety of all involved. By 5:30pm we were anchored again at Daytona, Fl. A good day.
May 9, 2016 – Time to fix water maker. Dingy-ed to marina – no parts store close by. Took taxi to get parts. Continued working on water maker. Then had to take another taxi for more parts. Water maker is fixed. We have water.
May 8, 2016 – Mother’s Day. What fun! Relaxed in the sun and tried out our new paddle boards. Liana almost perfected falling off. Steve did a little better. No stores open so we just enjoyed the day. Facetimed with Ryan & Abigail then Robin and talked with John. We both called our moms. Happy Mother’s Day!
May 7, 2016 – Pulled up anchor about 9:00am and headed back up the waterway to Titusville. A little sad – no Bahamas, yet. Wind blowing at 15-20 kts when arriving at mooring field for evening. Picking up the line was difficult and we nearly pulled out a safety rail. It will need to be carefully look at and tightened back down. Tried making water and high pressure line began to leak. stopped. need parts. tomorrow.
May 6, 2016 – Wifi at library again. Town getting ready for Arts and Crafts Festival. Too bad we won’t be here for it. Researched weather and upcoming hurricane season. Decided not to proceed to Bahamas at this time. Too many negative aspects.
May 5, 2016 – Visited town again. We love the library. Sitting outside on covered porch, using wifi and drinking coffee from the market next door. Walked up to beach on other side and ate at The Sand Bar. Our waitress and her husband want to go full-time cruising when they retire too.
May 4, 2016 – Another stormy day. Stayed on boat.
May 3, 2016 – Storms all night and day. Thunder and lightening.High winds and waves. Checked position several times during night. Secure at anchor. Slept late, ate brunch. Cheesy biscuits, salmon, cream cheese and capers. By evening storm is gone and sky is clear.
May 2, 2016 Dingy-ed over to public dock. Ride was rough and wet. Storms were building. Quaint little area complete with town park and community center. Police, fire, and town council all within one complex. Post office across the street, library (with free wifi) and market just down street. Kids playing, people biking and walking – Mayberry RFD. Stopped at cafe for iced tea and met Steve & Luz. Great conversation. They’re from Oklahoma and in process of buying home here. We’ll keep in touch. Back to boat on a very wet ride.
May 1, 2016 – Titusville, FL to Melbourne Beach, FL. Dropped the mooring line about 11:00am and headed back out on the ICW. Saw lots of manatee and dolphins. Watched small sailboat races as we passed by. Dropped anchor late in afternoon in quiet spot about 300 yards off Melbourne Beach dock. Only two other boats anchored here. Storms coming so put out 120 ft of chain and were secured for coming wx.
April 30, 2016 – Oil in capstan looks like a milkshake again. Changed it again. This time put on plastic cover to keep splash over out. Talked with several cruisers giving us advise about getting to Bahamas. Go south to Ft. Pierce then out to open ocean, cross the gulf stream to Bahama banks. Anchor at Sail Caye. Sail to Turtle Caye then to Marsh Harbor to check in. We’re excited.
April 29, 2016 – Daytona, FL to Titusville, FL. Pulled up anchor and underway at 7:30am. Going to be in 90’s today. Hot and beautiful. No incidents on ICW. Thank God. 3:30pm ready to pull up a mooring line in Titusville. Liana pulled up a crab trap instead, complete with crabs. Tried again. This time got the mooring line covered in barnacles. Mooring successful but Liana cut her hand in process. Lesson learned – wear gloves for mooring. Watched a thunder/lightening storm pass south of us. Wx cooled off a bit. Time to relax.
April 28, 2016 – Planned to change gear oil in capstan before leaving this morning. Oil looked like a milkshake because of water getting in through the top of the windless. Need to fix this somehow. Spilled lube oil all over while draining it. Spent 3 hours cleaning mess, so staying in Daytona for another day.
April 27, 2016 – Called the Bridge of Lions for an opening and underway to Daytona, FL at 10:30am. Traveled on the ICW because still stormy offshore. Had to call up several bridges – at first a bit stressful, until we got the hang of it. Our first real challenge was Matanzas inlet-famous for shoaling-big shoaling. Knew this was a problem, still confusing. So by 1:30pm we had run aground at Matanzas. Back up. Ground again. This was in center of channel! A fisherman or an angel appeared and guided us through and into safer waters. When we got to Daytona mid-evening, another yacht captain said he did the same thing. Apparently, this is very common. Exhausted, again.
April 21, 2016 – Pulled up anchor and headed out with the rising tide. The morning was perfect. Sailed back out the inlet on our way to St. Augustine, FL. By noon we reached the buoy for St. John’s inlet. Very glad we installed AIS before we left. Supertankers, freighters, cargo ships, even US Navy and Coast Guard were out here. Turtles sunning their tums and lots of shrimpers. Big swells between St. John’s and St. Augustine. Dipped bow into every 3rd wave, windshield covered in salt spray, white caps, reefed the jib. How fun! Seas became confused and rolled us side to side. When we reached St. Augustine inlet we phoned Tow Boat US to get update on latest channel info. This area changes constantly because of shoaling. They texted a picture of what buoys looked like today so we had best directions possible. Very different than chart. Liana was on deck with binoculars guiding as Steve carefully steered our way through. Stressful to say the least. We made it, no bumps! Hailed St. Augustine Municipal Marina and received mooring assignment. Beautiful spot. Exhaustion set in. Happy & relieved.
April 20, 2016 – Bill from SV Memento More, a dock mate from Brunswick stopped by this morning. He was going shark tooth scavenging off a beach on the southwest shore. A few hours later he was back showing us his treasures. Very cool! Decided we would go “shark-toothing.” Bill’s dingy wouldn’t start so we towed him back to his boat, then went exploring. We hunted for sharks teeth in the white sands and thick black muck of the shoreline and found a few very pristine ones. Liana almost lost a shoe as she sank in a foot of muck. Managed to make it out with shoe still intact.
April 19, 2016 – We dingy-ed to shore. The national park is entrance fee free this week because of National Park Week. Yippee! Picnicked under a magnificent old oak tree covered n Spanish Moss and hiked to beach on eastern shore. Watched a man catch shrimp with a throw-net from the dock. (We need one of these).
April 18, 2016 – First night at anchor went well. Steve got very little sleep, constantly checking our position. 10:30am underway from Brunswick, GA to Cumberland Island, GA. Open ocean transit. Sailed for the first time in blue water. 6:30pm anchored across from the Seacamp dock at Cumberland Island. BBQ’d steaks and celebrated.
April 17, 2016 – Left dock @ Brunswick, GA. Said good-bye to Autti & Sharon on SV Perfect Match, Mike & Kathleen on SV Content, and Hans & Judy from MV Galatea (their previous boats name) not sure of new boats name. Liana got tearry eyed. Sharon gave her a gift of a coffee mug that says, “Mightier than the waves of the sea are His love for you.” We will miss you-guys. All day we practiced anchoring in the inlet. In the evening went back to marina and topped off fuel tank, pumped holding tank and headed back out to anchor for the night.