Day 100-101 15-16 March

We knew it was going to be a long day when we left Fort Pierce at 9:00 AM without coffee! Java Charlies near the Fort Pierce City Marina was our first stop of the day since they open every day at 7:00 AM...that is every day except Saturday and Sunday. So all we got out of the short walk to downtown Fort Pierce was a bit of exercise and a walk back through the crafts flea market set up near the marina.

We didn't stay long and didn't buy anything. We got back to Windreka and promptly cast off the lines and headed out. The wind was pressing us against the dock as we left and that's always exciting with the dinghy hanging off the davits and sticking out on either side just enough to snag any dock pilings that are too close...and they're all too close when the wind is holding you against the dock. Nevertheless, we got off without incident.

On the way out the well-marked channel, we scraped once but the brief encounter didn't slow Windreka down at all and we continued on our way.

The wind was south when we started out and shifted to the west which made it an ideal day for sailing except that the Indian River channel is narrow and the water shallow on either side for all but the last 30 miles. By then the wind was a steady 20-25 knots with gusts to 45...too much for us to handle.

We arrived at the Cocoa Village Marina and found our slip. Despite the assurance of the dockmaster, we touched the bottom a second time as we were rounding the corner of the northern bulkhead...again not slowing us down. Nevertheless, after a day of breath-holding as we fought the cross-winds and the weekend boaters who don't seem to understand how to keep to their own side of the channel in a cross wind, touching bottom always is a bit startling...especially after seeing a few boats like the one in these photos!

After showers and a quick bite to eat, we were really tired after the long day of fighting with too much wind, so we turned in. Also, since Joe's son and grandson were coming to spend the day and visit in the late morning, we allowed ourselves an extra hour of sleep before they arrived.

Joe and Andrew arrived just before lunch time. After a short visit, we walked to the downtown Village of Cocoa to look for a place to eat lunch and for Sarah to pick up a few souvenirs. We decided to eat at the local Outback Restaurant just over the bridge to Merritt Island. Bill, our waiter, was a New England expatriate and he immediately picked up on Joe's dialect. After we exchanged details of their mutual New England backgrounds, we ordered lunch and practiced our one-handed drink coaster edge-of-the-table "flip up and catch" skills.

After lunch Andrew practiced his helmsmanship skills and we spent the afternoon talking about family, friends, and what was going on in our lives.

While we were talking we noticed a brown floating log in the thoroufhfare between the marina slips. It turned out the log was really a manatee floating on the surface of the water and munching on the grass and weeds in the water below.

It's next to impossible to sight these creatures in a slow moving vessel...in our case, we don't think the dock was even moving. It must be completely impossible to look out and see these slow-moving creatures from the bridge of a power boat moving at 25 mph...the standard speed restriction in any area where manatees gather to eat and do whatever manatees do for a living. Whenever we see one of these creatures, we can't help think about a song about "Hugh the Manatee" written and performed by a Washington couple who perform under the stage name of Magpie (http://www.magpiemusic.com/). With thanks to our friend Allan who did the research, you can listen to Magpie sing about Hugh and read the lyrics at: http://www.sirenian.org/HughLyrics.html !

Day 99 - 14 March

We left Lake Worth at 9:00 AM and headed out the Lake Worth inlet for the ocean. We arrived at Fort Pierce at 3:30 PM recording an average speed of almost 8 knots.

The wind was supposed to be Southwest at 10-15 knots. Instead it was...where else...on our nose and 5-10 knots. So we motored the entire way. The good news of the day is that the autopilot did most of the work and we were able to relax in the cockpit as we kept watch on our way to the Fort Pierce inlet.

Day 96-98 - 11-13 March

We left Miami Marine Stadium and headed out Government Cut to the North Atlantic. We got to Boca Raton when the engine sputtered. Joe did his usual underway Racor filter changes with little effect except a continually sputtering engine...must be an almost empty fuel tank! Switching fuel tanks only made the matter worse and...uh oh...the water alarm indicating water in the fuel started to sound just before the engine decided its tolerance limits were exceeded and it stopped.

We drifted for a while as Joe poured the 10 gallons of fuel in the on-deck containers into the starboard fuel tank, drained the Racor filter bowls to get rid of the water that was already in the fuel lines and started the engine again. By this time the dive boat we were drifting toward was becoming very nervous...although the safety people on deck didn't recall their divers!

Anyway we made it to the Lake Worth Anchorage where we assessed the problem and made plans to take a slip in the New Port Cove Marina in the morning to figure out how to get the water out of our infected fuel tank.

We decided to do it right and let the professionals handle it. We contacted Marine Environmental Services (http://cleanmytank.com/) and made arrangements with John Cafiero to come to the Marina to assess and remediate the damage. John arrived precisely as promised at 11:00 AM...always a good sign...and went right to work. Within an hour we had clean empty but clean fuel tanks. Since he was already set up to do the work, we had John clean and suck the accumulation of stuff from our bilge and after a short time, we also had a clean bilge.

We had at least two inches of water and the attendant dead bug bodies in each tank and when John was finished we had two empty but clean fuel tanks. So Joe took the aforementioned two 5-gallon diesel containers and trucked them back and forth from the diesel fuel pump to the boat and filled the starboard tank with 65 gallons of fuel at $3.95 per gallon...a new high!

This took most of the afternoon due to the lack of accessibility of the diesel fuel pump. The main reason for the inaccessibility is this marina caters to dry stored boats which are stacked four levels high in two big storage locations. The fuel dock is located at the end of a 200 foot thoroughfare that is only about 75 feet wide...more than enough room the small power boats to fuel up, turn around and leave the fuel dock. On one side of the thoroghfare were some of the small power boats. On the other side were two $4,500,000 yachts...you did read that right and the number of zeros is correct...and there was no room for us to turn around once we got to the fuel pumps. We were really concerned that bumping up against these expensive boats might damage our boat so, Joe trucked the fuel 10 gallons at a time.

We decided to spend a second night at the marina and leave early the next morning to head to Fort Pierce. The wind was favorable for sailing and the wave height was predicted to be less than two feet, so we prepared Windreka for an early departure, showered, watched a movie...Spiderman 2...and turned in.

Day 93-95 - 8-10 March

There were welcoming signs posted all over the anchorage and we certainly felt like guests...all we were missing was for the mayor to come out to the boat and offer us the key to the city. Seriously, cruising sailboaters are finding Florida less and less a friendly place to visit and the state and local communities are doing their best to force everyone into marinas which are becoming more and more expensive...similar to what the luxury tax did for boat sales a couple of decades back!

We awoke at daybreak to winds gusting to 40 knots and heavy rain that continued for an hour or so. After the front passed, the sun came out and even with a brisk wind from the northwest, the crews were able to get a full day of racing in. We didn't have a program so we don't know who was racing, who won, or who lost. But it was interesting to watch in between reading, relaxing and just taking it easy.

There are some boats and boaters that probably should be kept out of an anchorage and we noticed about one third of the boats in the anchorage appeared to be legitimate cruisers. The other two thirds looked a lot like this boat. Despite the presence of the Miami Marine Police, the only boats they were herding around were the boats with people on them. They were ignoring the abandoned boats and boats with no one on them...strange...and we have to say that Miami is the only location on the ICW where we were made to feel less than welcome.

Despite the noise and commotion of the weekend at the anchorage, we were protected from the wind and weather and our anchor only dragged once...a first for the trip! We recovered easily and no damage was done either to Windreka or any other boat in the anchorage.

The skyline was interesting both during the day and at night. Note the Florida colors on the building to the right of center!

No, it's not your eyes...the Miami skyline at night is difficult to capture with a slow shutter speed on the deck of a sailboat bouncing around at anchor...at least that's our story and we're sticking to it!

Day 91-92 - 6-7 March

After refueling yesterday afternoon, we reluctantly cast off our dock lines at noon and headed north. We motored all the way to Rodriguez Key and with the late start arrived at the anchorage on the northeast side of the key after sunset. We felt our way between the several boats already at anchor and found a secure and protected place to set our own anchor. We turned our anchor light on and settled in for the night. The wind blew strongly most of the night but our anchor held and we slept peacefully.

The next morning we arose and got started early to make the entrance to Angelfish Creek when the tide was high. We were able to motor sail most of the way and took down the head sail within a mile of the Angelfish Creek entrance. As soon as we got through the passage, we were able to raise the head sail again on a comparatively smooth Biscayne Bay. Within a mile of the Rickenbacker highway bridge, we lowered the sail and motored into the anchorage at the Miami Marine Stadium.

As soon as we lowered our anchor, a Miami Marine Police boat approached and told us we couldn't anchor where we had on the way south...it was clear and reasonable once we asked and were told. There was an intercollegiate crew regatta and crew races scheduled for Saturday and the crews were practicing on Friday. We moved Windreka to an approved location and had a ring-side seat for the practice sessions and the races the next day.

Day 89-90 - 4-5 March

While we were back at Marathon, planning a cruise into the key area north of Key West and Marathon, we listened to the weather forecast and it looked as if we should remain at Marathon for another several days. We also received a call from Sarah's daughter about the wet and snowy weather at home. Tiffany also sent some photos that gave us serious concern about the continuing lack of ground water drainage around our house. While there was nothing we could do immediately about the accumulated water, it's clear we have to do something more than what has been done so far to alleviate the problem. At least the high water alarm in our sump pump hasn't gone off indicating that the problem appears to be under control. What we don't know is our margin of safety. So we considered our options:

1. Wait several days for the incoming front to pass so we could head into the area of the keys we hadn't visited yet and hope the weather window stayed open long enough for us to get back to Marathon and leave a comfortable amount of time remaining to head back to Beaufort, SC and return home to file our income tax reports and deal with the lack of ground water drainage.

2. Start heading back north and find an anchorage where we could wait comfortably for the incoming front to pass and open a weather window for us to get back into the ICW with a comfortable amount of time to stop at some of the places we missed on the way south before heading home to deal with taxes, water and local government bureaucracy.

Since there were too many uncertainties associated with the first option, we decided on the second and will leave Marathon on Thursday, 6 March. Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the water problem we have to face when we return home to face what keeps us awake at night while we try to enjoy retirement. The photos on the left were taken a few days ago. The photos on the right were taken a year ago.

This photo looks even worse than a year ago when ground water completely filled the south and west side of our property to a depth of more than a foot. The water was prevented from flowing downhill following the natural grade of the land (to the southeast) by the lack of a drainage ditch along the township road on the south side of our house (foreground of the first photo), the lack of a culvert under the township road and the lack of a drainage ditch along the county road to the east of our house (left side of the first photo).

When the problem first appeared, we contacted the township and the county authorities whose first reaction was it's not their problem. After several meetings with the township and county, both agreed to support development of a road project to improve the drainage, but only because ground water had risen to cover the township road. Of course in keeping with a government bureaucracy, the county insisted on a study and we were told that without such a study, the project would be disapproved, but might be approved the following year if adequate justification (e.g., the aforementioned study) was included.
We volunteered to assist with development of the project documentation. However, our offer to assist was ignored, the deadline for submission of the project passed and, to our knowledge, the road project was not developed adn submitted. So, after over a year of discussion, there has been nothing done to solve the problem!

This isn't completely surprising since local governments tend to ignore ground water problems. Years ago, when farmers had a ground water drainage problem, they installed clay pipe...so-called "tiles"...to drain their fields and let them plant crops. Local government were quite happy to let the landowners deal with their problems...especially since they weren't prepared to deal with them.

Fast forward to the present and these same local governments still operate the way they did 50 years ago and are still not prepared to deal with water drainage problems. Instead they rely on the old, broken drainage systems installed by the farmers years ago. There aren't even any records of where these drainage systems may have existed and many farms have been broken up into local government-approved house lots. In our area, one house can be built on two acres.

To exacerbate the growing water drainage problem, local governments issue permits to build houses and permits to occupy houses and levy taxes without addressing the increased water drainage problems resulting from the houses they have approved. On the other hand, they collect real estate taxes without setting aside some portion of these taxes to address the lack of a drainage and sewage infrastructure.

We believe the water drainage problem is the tip of just one of the icebergs facing these local governments. However, with the exception of a few open-minded people, most of the local officials we have met and talked to, are not even willing to consider that there might be a common problem. Meanwhile water is impeded from flowing downhill by the lack of a proper drainage system.

Day 88 - 3 March

The Dry Tortugas are legally an unincorporated part of Monroe County, Florida and the Lower Keys. The Dry Tortugas National Park consists of seven islands, or keys and the surrounding reef. Located on Garden Key is Fort Jefferson, the largest 19th century American coastal fort. The fort is surrounded by a moat which now serves to protect the walls of the fort from weather by breaking the waves before they reach the walls. The light that was built on Garden Key just visible in the center picture above the walls has now been replaced by a lighthouse on Loggerhead Key, the largest island of the Tortugas which can be seen in the map on the right and in the photo below.

We left Marathon and headed for Key West at 6:00AM to get on one of the two ferryboats to Dry Tortugas National Park at 7:30AM. The ferry we took was the less expensive and was run by Sunny Days (http://www.drytortugas.com/) and advertises itself as the fastest ferry and the name of the boat name is Fast Cat. The cost was $120/adult with a $10 discount for seniors (over 62). The other ferry was Yankee Freedom II (http://yankeefreedom.com/) and cost $149/adult. It advertises itself as the largest, most stable and comfortable way to get to the fort. Both vessels were there today. The tours advertised by the ferry services are actually run by a Park Service Ranger who conducts a guided tour of Fort Jefferson.

We would have preferred to sail Windreka the 70 miles from Key West to the Dry Tortugas and pictured her in the natural harbor in front of Fort Jefferson. However, the weather conditions weren't right and we were concerned about getting stuck for several days while we waited for the weather to clear. So, the second best thing was to take a ferry to the Dry Tortugas. As it was, the trip back was a bit rough and the Fast Cat wasn't as fast as it was advertised to be. In fact it frequently had to slow down to avoid bashing into high waves and deep troughs on the way back to Key West...but that was all right with those of us who value safety and comfort over recklessness and discomfort.

Bush Key is the closest to Garden Key and is not open to the public for several months of the year. It's the habitat for Sooty Terns which nest during the restricted months (September thru April) and we could see many of them flying above the island. The shoal area to the left of Bush Key is part of the channel into the harbor at Garden Key which is just visible at the lower left of the photo on the right.

Frigate birds are another winged inhabitant of the Dry Tortugas. These amazing birds have a wing span of seven feet, yet only weigh about three pounds soaking wet. Hundreds of them can be seen soaring on the thermals above the fort. Except for flapping their wings to climb into the air to find the thermals and to land, they seem to glide effortlessly overhead enjoying themselves and not making any sound that we could hear. What a life!

In addition to the birds and the lovely water, Fort Jefferson is the main attraction at Dry Tortugas. The Fort was built as part of the system of coastal defenses built between 1817 and 1867. Within a half mile of Fort Jefferson is a natural anchorage bowl of approximately 50 feet deep and two miles in diameter...the only anchorage between Chesapeake Bay and the Rio Grande deep enough to host the battleships of 1898. The guns of Fort Jefferson commanded the anchorage and with a fleet of battleships berthed in the anchorage and scouts spread out over the navigable waters nearby, naval control could be exerted over the Gulf of Mexico and the nearby islands of the Caribbean and the Bahamas.

Construction of the fort was never completed and during the Civil War, it remained in Union hands and became a military prison for captured deserters. You can read more about the Dry Tortugas at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Tortugas and enjoy the photos we took while we were there. The official National Park Service web site for the Dry Tortugas is: http://www.nps.gov/drto/

The big powder magazine is depicted on the first photo. There were several powder magazines planned or built and this was the largest. If it's readable on the weblog, the plans for the powder magazines is outlined on the next photo. The third photo shows the bins where the powder was to be stored inside the magazine.
Inside the fort looking north toward the US Park Service rangers' apartments and the foundations of the officers' barracks. The big magazine would be just behind the fort structure on the right hand side of the photo.


Fort Jefferson was constructed with arches everywhere. The coral limestone foundation for the fort was inadequate to support the heavy weight of the fort walls and the installed weapons and the arches helped reinforce the walls. In addition, well over a hundred cisterns were built into the walls all around the perimeter of the fort to catch and hold rainfall as the only source existing source of fresh water without having to import it.



Arches were also a strategic engineering plan to help deflect cannon shot from an attacking vessel and if the shot hit the fort and did damage, the arches helped ensure the walls would not collapse.





The old lighthouse on top of the fort is another example of the heavy weight the walls of the fort were asked to support.








Looking toward the west with the foundations of the officers' barracks and the Park rangers' apartments in the background.










The casement windows all around the fort were once protected by iron shutters that opened when the cannon was moved into firing position. After the cannon was fired, the recoil pushed the cannon back into the casement and the shutters closed automatically to protect the crew of the cannon until they were ready to fire the next shot. Unfortunately, the shutters were made of iron and didn't last long in the salt air. Neither did the bricks and mortar surrounding the casements. There is currently a three-year project going on to repair and restore the shutters, brick work and mortar around the casement windows.

Still another heavy item located on the top of the fort walls were the huge parrott rifles. The parrot rifles were an innovation that improved the accuracy, range and lethality of artillery. Grooves were cut into the barrel of the cannon to impart a spin on the artillery shells that stabilized them in flight and enabled them to travel further and do more damage (compare the range of a football to a basketball). Interestingly, the development of the parrott rifle also made the series of forts that made up the defenses of the coastal United States obsolete. That's one of the reasons Fort Jefferson was never finished.

The building on the right is a "hot shot" furnace, where cannon shot was heated to cherry red color before it was fired at enemy vessels. The idea was to set the enemy ships on fire. What's not clear is how the hot shot was to be moved to the cannon for firing...or maybe I missed a key part of the concept!





During its role as a Civil War Union prison, probably the most famous of the "residents" at Fort Jefferson was Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of four men convicted of complicity in Abraham Lincoln's assasination. These prisoners were housed in one of the casements and the walls were bricked over except for the narrow "gun slits" at the top of the walls. These slits represented the only ventilation the cell had. In addition, rainwater was collected by the prisoners by digging trenches and catch basins in the floor of the cell to catch the rain that leaked into the cell from the roof of the fort whenever it rained. It doesn't sound like life was pleasant for these prisoners! When the fort surgeon was stricken with malaria and died, Dr. Mudd volunteered to treat the soldiers and prisoners at the fort. For this action, Dr. Mudd was later pardoned.

Spiral staircases were the means of getting from one level to the next of the fort. The steps were large rectangular granite stones set into the walls of the fort around a central vertical axis. This technique of constructing steps was a common way of making strong stairwells. One other example of this construction is the Old Executive Office Building east of the White House. The steps in the OEOB were much larger and wider and just as strong. Neither steps moved when you stepped on them!

After the return trip to Key West, we ended the day at Mallory Square for one last viewing of the sunset and the various street performers. We didn't actually watch the sun set since it probably looked like it did the last time. We did catch a neat shot of the sun as it sank low behind the sailboat on the right. There are many opportunities for such interesting photos and if you don't have a camera, there is no shortage of street vendors who will sell you a photo they have on display. One act we wanted to see this time was the Great Rondini who was a Houdini-like "escape" artist. We never saw Houdini perform, but the Great Rondini was both humorous and successfully "escaped" from a strait jacket and chains that volunteers from the audience wrapped around him. The volunteer in this photo was named Anna and her role was to be embarassed as Rondini cracked his jokes. All in all, not a bad act and we left a tip for him. It was interesting to see his children laying behind the green platform playing with their Ipods and ignoring their dad's performance...probably heard it one too many times.

After leaving Mallory Square, we decided to have one more meal in Key West and stopped at the Turtle Kraals again for a light dinner. On the way we passed another key lime pie factory and couldn't resist taking another pie back to Marathon with us...after all a boat without a key lime pie is like a day without sunshine. This one would last us until we got back to Miami...now that's discipline!