Days 71-75 - 15 thru 19 February

We are still at Lake Worth, having arrived here almost a week ago. Initially, we were waiting for a weather window to open up which it did and we were poised and ready to head out for the Gulf Stream on Friday, the 15th, but as we all know...Murphy Lives! My Destiny developed a leak in her high pressure fuel injector pump that we all decided should be addressed before getting caught in the Gulf Stream with no engine. So we moved from the Lake Worth South anchorage back to the Lake Worth North anchorage while My Destiny pulled in to the Old Port Cove Marina nearby. After a nice day laying quietly at anchor, we also moved to the Marina and have been here for the past several days while the repairs were completed in a Palm Beach injector diesel repair shop nearby.

Greg reinstalled the injector pump and successfully tested the engine. Meanwhile, some problems began showing up with My Destiny's new refrigeration system and house battery bank...did we say, "Murphy Lives?" So here we are at the Marina, watching the weather and getting the mechanical and electrical work accomplished.

Since we've lost almost a week, we've collectively decided not to head for the Bahamas. The $300 cruising permit would be mostly wasted since we only have a limited amount of time to cruise before heading home for a date with the IRS in April...what's wrong with this picture?

However, both Team My Destiny and Team Windreka have complicated income tax returns this year. For our part, we have income and owe taxes to two states...Ohio and Virginia; we retired; we sold a house in Virginia and purchased a retirement home in Ohio; we began drawing social security income; we rolled over our 401K retirement funds to a new financial manager; etc. So, we don't know how to complete our income tax returns without the assistance of a tax accountant.

So, we've decided to defer Bahamas cruising until next winter. Instead we plan to spend the rest of this cruise in the Florida Keys. We haven't been there and all reports say they are the equivalent of the Bahamas without a cruising permit and without the internet access gaps we expected in the Bahamas.

If all goes well...and if Murphy has had his share of fun with us...we'll head south on Thursday morning. The good news is we have almost achieved the conditions described by the title of our weblog...Hauling for Better Weather. The mid-70s temperatures and sunny, warm days make us believe we are nearly there. When we think about the frigid, stormy weather back home, we think we've succeeded...and hopefully, the best is yet to come. Stay with us!

Day 70 - 14 February

More quotes from the log of Windreka: Thursday, 14 February. Temp @ 6:30 AM is 45 degrees. Barometer 2975 rising. Underway @ 7:30 AM. Wind E <7

Lake Worth North is a large anchorage with a depth of 10 to 15 feet. Convenient to dinghy to nearby dock for shopping and sightseeing. There are many interesting boats anchored here and the one we anchored nearest to was a yellow steel boat named Essential Part from Wilmington, Delaware. We didn't see anyone on her until a day or so ago and she was still in the anchorage today.

Tomorrow, we plan to move to an anchorage near the Lake Worth Inlet and head off shore at approximately 10 PM for an overnight crossing of the Gulf Stream and arrival in vicinity of Memory Rock, Bahama Islands at dawn, then on to Great Sales Cay (pronounced "Key") by midafternoon; anchor for night and then on to Walkers Cay to clear through Bahama customs, purchase cruising permit, and become legal visitors to the Bahamas.Our general plan is to move slowly south toward Marsh Harbour in the Abacos, then work our way slowly back to be back in Florida near the end of March. After tomorrow evening, we will be internet deprived and the weblog will be kept offline and uploaded as may be possible

While we may continue to be "hauling for better weather," this week our weather has been considerably better than the freezing rain and bitter cold and wind chill numbers reported to us by family and friends back home. We wish you could all be here with us and we wish we could share some of our "better weather" with you.

Days 68-69 - 12 thru 13 February

Quotes from the log of Windreka:

Tuesday, 12 February @ Fort Pierce City Marina - N 27 degrees 27.044 minutes, W 080 degrees 19.348 minutes. Rainy, windy night with gusts to 35 knots from east, Temp 70s, showery all day, wind moderated to <10 knots by evening. Lunch at Java Charlie's nearby. Added 56.9 gallons of diesel fuel @ $3.48/gallon = $177.59. Dockage for 3 nights @ $76/night. Total = $228. Shopping at Publix and West Marine for misc items.

Wednesday, 13 February @ FPCM. Clear, light wind NW <5 knots @0700. Rain at noon. Coffee at Java Charlie's. Install MOB (man overboard) strobe purchased at West Marine yesterday. Purchased new 6 volt lantern battery at local building supply store. Waiting for overnight USPS delivery due yesterday, but not delivered by local post office. Called local post office and promised package would be delivered today. (NOTE: USPS only promises overnight delivery costing $20 to "many" locations...guess Ft. Pierce is one of the "few" locations USPS can't get to in one day!) Alternately rainy and sunny all day. Wind SW 10 - 15 knots. Barometer 2957 rising. Temp 64 degrees in evening.

Day 67 - 11 February

It was a liesurely start to a long day that took us from the Cocoa Village Marina to the Fort Pierce City Marina. We got a delayed start because we had to fax some financial paperwork to our retirement fund financial manager at Morgan Stanley. We finally departed at 0830 and headed for Fort Pierce. It was another windy, blustery day and we arrived at the Ft. Pierce City Marina with a strong east wind blowing at 25-30 knots.

There was a new, well-marked channel leading from the ICW to the Marina. We passed the Ft. Pierce Manatee Center as we approached the entrance to the City Marina. Once behind the marina breakwater, Joe had to make a U turn to approach the fuel dock on our starboard...or right for all landlubbers who may be reading this. Our friend, Greg and Freddy from the marina were right there to help with our docking lines as we topped off our fuel tanks.

After refueling, we let the wind slide Windreka back as we aimed her across the thoroughfare to tie up behind My Destiny. It turned out to be three rainy and windy days and nights at the Ft. Pierce City Marina to wait for less wind and better weather. The good news is we had "all-you-can-stand" hot showers and great internet access...and if we could have found our misplaced coaxial cable...free cable TV. Of course, there was no place nearby where we could buy a new one. We did take a local cab to the nearest West Marine store to make what Sarah calls, our daily West Marine deposit. We also replenished groceries and perishable food items at the local Publix grocery store.

After our stay at Fort Pierce, we reckon we may be one more day on the ICW before heading off shore!

Day 66 - 10 February

Today began earlier than usual. We had to get through the New Smyrna Beach Highway Bridge before it closed for the day at 7AM. Like many of the ICW bridges, this one is also going through a reconstruction. In this instance the bridge was being repaved and once the paving crew began work, that was it...the bridge was closed all day until the workday ended at 5PM. So we rose early and got the anchor up by 6:15AM and departed before sunrise to make the 6:40AM opening of the bridge. We made it although Windreka "found the bottom" briefly at a temporary unlighted mark at a bend in the Ponce de Leon Inlet. Once again we were grateful for a large diesel engine and a big 3-bladed screw to back us out of the mud. We were also grateful for our bow thruster to help point the boat back into deeper water and keep us from ending up like our friend on the right!

After we cleared the bridge we experienced increasing wind over the course of the day. It was a windy and blustery day with gusts to 40 knots from the south....right behind us. It reminded us of the true value of "following seas" as in the term "fair winds and following seas" that many folks use to wish someone well. Anyone who has sailed or steered a sailboat in following seas knows how helpful it is when the wind and water come from directly behind. It makes the person at the helm and the crew feel a little like Dante in The Divine Comedy as he goes from one level and terrace to the next. By the time we reached the end of the day, Joe was pretty tired from fighting the rudder and trying to keep Windreka on course through the narrow and shallow channel. We didn't touch any more today, despite the following seas. So, by all means, don't hesitate to wish your friends "fair winds" but please...no "following seas"...unless you really wish them bad luck!

We motored past Cape Kennedy where we could see in the distance the launch complexes and the space shuttle vehicle assembly building. It was the first time Joe had been back in this area since the early 60s. At that time the Mercury Atlas was the launch vehicle of choice and the Mercury Astronauts had yet to begin their space flights. Of course, there were so many changes to the area that the old Cocoa and Cocoa Beach were impossible to identify. Nevertheless it was nostalgic...despite the following seas!

We crossed over from the Mosquito Lagoon and into the Indian River and the wind kept blowing! We eventually got to Cocoa where we parted company with Greg and Judy on My Destiny for the rest of the day. They motored on to Melbourne and we turned into the Cocoa Village Marina where Bill, the Dockmaster responded to our request for a slip and guided us in to the privately marked channel leading from the ICW to the marina. Bill also met us at the assigned slip to help with our lines and get us tied properly up for our short stay. After a short while, Joe's son and his wife met us for dinner and a pleasant visit. Joe and Gretchen live in Orlando which is about an hour from the ICW and Cocoa and they drove over to meet us at the Marina and go to dinner with us at the Cocoa Beach Boardwalk.

After dinner Joe and Gretchen dropped us off at the marina and we got ready to catch up with Greg and Judy at Fort Pierce tomorrow. It looks like we'll be at Fort Pierce for several days while we let the weather pass over us.

Day 65 - 9 February

Our route today took us past Daytona and NASCAR Heaven! We passed through in the middle of speed week culminating in the Daytona 500 later in the week. The DirectTV blimp was all over the area along with airplanes dragging huge banners beind them advertising a number of different things. We were amazed at the sudden increase in the number of power boaters we encountered today, but then we recalled it was the weekend. Obviously, everyone was enjoying the brief spell of nice weather. We got as far as New Smyrna Beach and stopped at a small anchorage at Rockhouse Creek just north of the New Smyrna Bridge...also under reconstruction. This time the nature of the reconstruction was repaving and the bridge would not open after 7AM and earlier than 5PM! Yes, that's not a typo...the bridge was closed all day and only opened early and late in the day. It's a good thing we knew about the extremely restricted hours...and it was the first time we ran into this situation.

We noticed some fancy artwork decorating the supports of one of the bridges today. We also noted the large number of condos.

We found out that NASCAR events aren't the only competition in town. Or maybe NASCAR also sanctions sailboard races and Optimist races which we passed on the ICW

The anchorage at Rockhouse Creek was small, tight and buggy, but we lowered our anchor at the entrance to the anchorage and it was a quiet and uneventful night. The next day we awoke early and got underway in the dark before sunrise.

Day 64 - 8 February

Seacamp Dock at Cumberland Island looked like an interesting place to anchor and go ashore. However, we decided to defer a visit to this Park and National Seashore until a return visit since it was late and we were tired. It was a chilly evening...temperature in the mid-40s...and we got the anchor up and got underway by 8AM. The plan for the day was to motor to St. Augustine, FL and anchor near the Bridge of Lions which was undergoing extensive reconstruction. We entered Cumberland Sound behind one of the tugboats pushing a barge from the Kings Bay Submarine Base. Shortly afterwards we turned into the Amelia River, near Fernandina Beach and were in Florida.

Passing the mooring field and anchorage near Fernandina Beach, we noticed a mast sticking up above the water and presumably a sailboat resting on the bottom of the Amelia River beneath it. There is always a story behind each of these sightings and we were left to wonder about what might have happened. Occasionally, there is a boat hard aground on the shoreline or on a sandbar. Some of these boats will be rescued and sadly, others are abandoned and will just fall apart where they came to rest.

There are some BIG houses in Florida along the ICW. Presumably, there are also some BIG mosquitoes since many of the houses have screen enclosures around the swimming pools. Others have private marinas where some BIG power boats are kept and maintained.

Later things got a little more exciting for us as we encountered some strong tidal currents that pushed us along at up to 11.5 miles per hour...considerably faster than the 8.5 miles per hour we are used to on the ICW. As we approached the McCormick Highway Bridge near Jacksonville we observed a barge occupying about half of the channel under the bridge. As with many of the older bridges, there was reconstruction work going on with this one, but a barge in the channel was a new twist. The photo gives you some idea of the excitement as My Destiny passed through ahead of us with about 10 feet of clearance between the barge and the port side and 10 feet of clearance between the bridge abutment and the starboard side. Fortunately we both made it through without incident.

We arrived in St. Augustine and anchored at the Bridge of Lions across from the Castillo de San Marcos after 9-1/2 hours of cruising. We covered nearly 70 miles. The weather was very pleasant with a temperature in the 70s and a light east wind. The Bridge of Lions takes its name from the statues of the lions guarding the bridge.

The Great Cross at the Mission of Nombre de Dios near the site of the first Mass in North America