On the Water For Days and Days - Take Too

Wow, I think it has been about 4 days since I was able to make a post, so I have a bit of catching up to do. So, the post tonight is going to be pretty long, I have travelled a long way over the past 4 days....So here we go!

2-16-10

Today was one of those few days where I was able to really get moving under sail, and I mean the boat was flying. To top it off, I was in a fairly constricted water way, but the wind was perfect, perhaps a bit too windy really, and Arden took me south at an amazing clip of 6.5 knots. Ok, I didn't do 6.5 the entire time, but I did average 5.3, and the engine was not used at all today.

I took my time getting going today, I had hoped to see Kevin and watch him get underway, and I wanted to wash up good before I left. There is a nice public restroom in the park by the boat ramp, and they have a sink there with a very tall faucet, and hot running water. That meant one thing to me, time to get my hair washed. So we dinghied in after coffee and pancakes - Spook and I walked about a mile or so, I got a call in to Gary and Alice in Edenton, I stopped in the local hardware store to see if they had bronze wood screws, and then we headed back out to the boat. Once back aboard I made a bit of progress repairing the windvane (again) and got everything stowed and ready to go, washed up the breakfast dishes, and then set about raising the anchor. The holding here in central Florida is excellent, the bottom seems to be a very tough clay like material, and for only the second time ever I had to use the lower geared side of the windlass lever to get the anchor free. The wind was coming from the northwest when I left, and I was a bit worried about drifting in the anchorage once I got the anchor up and before I got underway, so I had the jib up and luffing as I hauled in the final few feet of anchor rode. Arden came free, I had the anchor stowed quickly, and then I sheeted in the jib and we were off and away. I had a bit of a time getting the main up, I really need to work on the gate in the mast - the main sail track slides are always getting hung up as they pass the gate, and I have to repeatedly go up on deck to free the slides before I can get the main sail up fully. No matter, I got the main up and set, and we were headed down the ICW in front of a steady 15 knot breeze, that put us on a good broad reach.

I think I have mentioned before that Arden is at her best on a beam or broad reach. I will further add that when under one of those 2 points of sail, she seems to really perform well in about 15 knots of wind. Much more than that and I usually have to put a reef in the main or the weather helm and her degree of heel gets a bit wild. Today everything was perfect. With a northwest wind I was heading straight down the channel on a broad reach, the boat held just over 5.5 knots most of the day, and every so often we got a good gust in the neighborhood of 20 or 25 knots and this old girl got up over 6.5 knots. Arden will, under the right conditions and proper trim, sail faster than she will motor. That doesn't happen all that often, usually where I want to go, and where the wind is pushing me don't quite equal out, so I compromise and give up speed for direction. Or I lose patience and motorsail, trying to get where I want to go in some reasonable amount of time. Not today.

I suppose I should explain some of the points of sail before some folks reading here get a bit lost or confused. If you sail, have sailed, or have taken a class, please skip this part, unless of course you want to see if I know what I am doing out here. For all practial purposes it is best to look at how boat approaches the wind much like one looks at a clock. Lets say that the boat lies on the clock face with 12 being the bow and 6 being the stern. Now we can go through the various points of sail. For most boats, a wind coming from the 10:30 to 1:30 positions is useless. The geometry of the sails will not let you utilize this wind direction, so you have to turn the boat until you fill the sails and can get her moving. When the wind is coming from the 1:30 to 2:00 position is called Close Hauled, or beating. Alot of folks call this on a beat. From 2:00 to 2:30 is Full and By. Usually most folks still call this Close Hauled, but it is technically Full and By. The position at 2:30 is a Close Reach. Like Full and By, this position is usually combined with and called a Beam Reach. The Beam Reach is from 2:00 to 4:00. From 4:00 to 5:00 is a Broad Reach, and from 5:00 to 5:30 is the Quarter Reach. Much like the Full and By, the Quarter Reach is usually combined with the Broad Reach. Any point of sail with the wind from 5:30 to 7:30 is called Running, or Running Before the Wind. I am including a diagram to give a visual to all of this.

Usually, if you are out for a day sail, you sail with the wind, i.e. you sail to the point of sail at which your boat performs the best. If you have a set destination, as it seems I so often do, sometimes this works out, most often it does not. When it does work out, life is great, and when it doesn't, you tack. Tacking is zig zagging back and forth to head in a specific direction, using the direction of the wind as best as you can. Most of the time when you are tacking you are on a beat or close reach. It often seems that when I am sailing, the direction I want to go in is the direction the wind is coming from, not sure how or why this is, but I am used to it by now, so I spend a good bit of my time tacking. Jack's Theory of Wind Relativity - You can be relatively certain that the wind will not be blowing in a directions that points you in the direction you want to go.  Once in a blue moon I will have a day like today, where the wind is in a favorable positon to push me where I want or need to go.

All that being said, today I sailed 20 nautical miles in just under 4 hours, and by the time I stopped I was cold and wind beaten, as the temps here did not get above 50, and as usual I was out in the wind all day. We stopped just south of a bridge going from Melbourne to Indialantic, tucked in out of the wind, in an unadvetized anchorage. I think we anchored in just over 7 feet of water, but we were out of the wind and waves, and it was a good clear evening.




2-17-10
Another great day of sailing. Today started with a dinghy ride over to Indialantic, Spook got to run a bit in a park by the river, then we took a walk over to the ocean. I guess we walked about 10 or 12 blocks, the barrier island is very narrow here, and when we got to the beach we found it was closed for rebuilding. It amazes me how much money they spend moving sand around, that in another 12 months or so is going to be right back where mother nature wanted it. You would think folks would learn sometime that barrier islands move, and are as close to being alive as geographical things can be.

I think we got underway around 9:00, it was fairly windy out, so I set the mainsail with one reef, and hauled in the anchor. I am more often than not sailing off the anchor now, even when I motorsail I try to do more sailing than motoring, it keeps the skills sharp, and every so often you will get caught in a situation where you learn something new.

The wind was brisk today, this morning we started out with the same 15kt wind we had yesterday, and with the help of the engine (set just above idle to charge batteries) we were going along at about 5.5 knots. That did not last for too long though, pretty soon the wind picked up, and we were cruising along at over 6 knots. I think the wind settled at about 20 knots, with some gusts to right around 27 or so, and that had me sailing as hard as I could, and I think Arden averaged her best speed ever - 5.9 knots over ground for the daily average. Our top speed was over 7.4 knots, and we held over 6.5 for what seemed like forever. When I am in a tight waterway like this channel it is quite a challenge to handle Arden when she is sailing this hard, it would have been slower and easier if I had a few more reef points in the mainsail, but I don't, so I really had my hands full with the tiller today.

We made 43.7 miles in just over 7 hours, and that put us in a really nice anchorage south of the Ft. Pierce inlet. When we got to Ft. Pierce I had to wait on the draw bridge, and that meant I had to stop and wait for a good 5 minutes, not really all that easy when you are under sail. I swung into the wind, and thanks to the high wind speed, I started to drift immediately. I didn't want to lower the sail yet, so I had to keep dipping down to get steerage, and then swinging up into the wind again. Quite an excersize, and I am sure it looked pretty comical from shore, but the bridge tender took his time getting the bridge open, so what are ya gonna do?

So all in all today was a banner day. We made great time and Arden sailed as hard as she ever has. I realized that I do need to get at least one more set of reef points put in the main before I do any serious sailing off shore, I need a bit more flexibility in my sail plan, and one set of reef points just doesn't cut it.

The water is slowly but steadily getting clearer, today I had more dolphins play around the boat, and I could clearly see them under the water before they breached the surface or dove down beside the boat. There were alot of dolphins along the way today, maybe not the most I have seen, but today did rank up there with numbers of dolphin sighted. I also saw what looked like an albino pelican, actually there were a few of them, I am not sure if these were really albino birds, or if there is another species of sea bird that is like a pelican but pure white.

Tonight we are in a little cove tucked in off of the Indian River (the ICW), you can see it on Google Earth just south of the inlet. It is very protected, and ringed with houses. I am dead smack in the center, and feel kind of out of place here in the middle of this neighborhood.

A few numbers to throw out there. As of today, I am 966 miles south of Portsmouth, VA in statute miles on the ICW. I am 192 NM south of Fernandina Beach. 312 NM from Charleston. 391 NM from Cape Fear (mouth of Cape Fear River in NC) 465 NM from Morehead City and 603 NM from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. All of these measuremnts are as the crow flies (with the exception of the ICW mileage) and do not exactly translate into how many miles I would have to sail to get from point A to point B.

2-18-10

Today I started the day as usual by taking Spook out on a walk. We landed at a dock on an empty lot just above where I am anchored. I think the house that was here was a victim of a hurricane, it was torn down for whatever reason, but there is a nice dock here, and that is where we put ashore. We walked about 8 blocks to the beach, and I got a good view of the ocean. It didn't look too bad, so I decided we were going to go outside today, and run down to Palm Beach, which is the next inlet.

I got a bit of a late start, and I was bucking the current and tide leaving, so I was running behind from the get go. Once I left the harbor channel and entered the ocean I found out 2 things. Number one - the wind on the ocean was not from the west northwest like it was supposed to be, and number 2-the swells on the ocean were larger than they appeared to be from shore. So the beginning of the day was rough. Really rough. I was running, not Arden's best point of sail, and I was running in front of the waves and surfing, which can be a very uncomfortable sensation, and can really give you a workout on the tiller. Spook was really not happy at all, and she was tucked into her nest on the port berth and stayed there nearly all day. Unfortunately the wind died off a good bit around noon, made for slower going, but that did mean that the waves flattened out a bit.

I was making decent time, but not great time, no where near as good as the 2 days previous. I pretty much figured out sometime in the afternoon that I was not going to make Palm Beach by nightfall. So then I toyed with the idea of just keeping on, and sailing straight to Ft Lauderdale. IO toyed with that idea for a good bit, on and off all afternoon, but in the end I was too tired from fighting the tiller early on, and I decided to head in when I finally got to Palm Beach.

On the way down the coast today I did see all kinds of interesting things though. I saw alot of dolphins, but the seemed to congregate near the inlet, so I didn't see too many of them as the day wore on. I did see a whale off in the distance, it was too far away to get a picture, but it was about 700 yards away and I could see its back in the swells. I also saw these fish jumping out of the water, I wasn't sure what they were, so I called Bill up in Port Canaveral, and he said they were probably what they call spinner sharks. Now I have no idea what species that really is, but as I got closer, sure enough, they were sharks. They would fly out of the water, spin and twist, and then splash down. I must have seen 30 or 40 of them leap from the water this way. I also saw a sea turtle, I almost ran him down, so I didn't get the camera out fast enough amd I was running behind, so I didn't turn around and get his picture.

I finally made the inlet to Palm Beach around 9pm, and I was beat. Luckily for me the channel was really well marked, and not all that long, so I was in, and off the ocean pretty quickly. The anchorage I was going to was just inside the mouth of the harbor, so I was in, anchored, and throwing together dinner just minutes after leaving the ocean. I was tucked in and safe, and bushed, so it wasn't long before I was in the sleeping bag and passed out.

2-19-10

This morning when I got up I peeked out and got my bearings, and looked for a place to walk Spook. I was off of a slew of very swanky marinas, I am sure they would not have wanted me landing there and letting Spook do her thing, so I looked over to the west and saw Peanut Island. I didn't know it from the chart, but Peanut Island is a park, so we rowed ashore, landed on this nice little beach, and after pulling the dinghy ashore, we went for a walk, sans leash. I made use of the bathhouse, washed up and washed my hair, and then we headed back to the dinghy. Remember I said I pulled the dinghy well ashore right? Well, one of the 2,000 sportfisher boats that went by and waked us out must have put out a big enough wake that the dinghy got washed off the beach. So there it was, bobbing around 50 yards off the beach. So off came the jacket, the pockets got cleaned out, and in I went. Luckily the water was pretty warm, I later dipped the thermometer in and found it was 70 degrees.

 I swam out, got the dinghy, and towed it back to shore. My first swim in Florida water! As I rowed back I couldn't help but notice how clear the water was. I was anchored in about 10 feet of water, and I could see the bottom. Not only that, but I could see the entire bottom of my boat, I think the first time I have seen all of it since I launched her back in October of 2008. Looks like the bottom paint is holding up well, I plan on diving on her here in the next week or so and giving her a going over, so I will see just how well it has worked then.

I changed clothes, and got underway, and we left the harbor by 8. Once we got out in the ocean I knew it was going to be a long day, there was almost no wind at all, so I motorsailed all day. The goal was Ft Lauderdale, and that was 47 miles away. The ocean was flat, no wind, and I was putting along, not much going on at all. I suppose the only saving grace was that the tiller lock was doing its job, so I was able to do a few other things as I sailed along. I did some reading, whipped the ends of a few lines (wrapped them in sail thread so they don't unravel) and replaced the ampmeter.

I also saw more interesting wildlife - another turtle, this one I got pictures of  - and more spinner sharks. I saw quite a few jellyfish that had blue sacks above the water, they were small, but my guess is they were Portugese Man of War. There was a ton of seaweed floating around, and some debris as well. Most of it looked like stuff that had washed out of a channel or river. A few dolphin, not many, and a huge school of fish being nailed by terns and sea gulls.

I saw the Goodyear Blimp today, and more boats out on the water than I have seen this entire trip. Most of them were fishermen, and most of those were sportfishing boats. I reached a conclusion today - most of the guys that drive those sportfish boats are assholes. I was the victim of 3 different high speed drive bys, and was waked out bad. These guys have 3 zillion square miles of open ocean to cruise through, and they have to get as close to me as they can. I felt the twinges of road rage, and if I wasn't hanging on to the tiller and fighting their wake, I can't honestly say that I wouldn't have gotten out the pistol and put a few rounds in their water line. Seriously.

I got down to Ft Lauderdale around 5pm, and made it into the Port Everglades channel, at the same time everyone else did. My God it is a busy inlet. I passed 2 outbound frieghters, a cruise ship, 3 HUGE yachts, and a slew of those pesky sport fishers. Got waked out again - by the sport fisher. I called Sven, he was up the New River a good bit, and I headed that way. I wound around and up and down, past all the canals and grossly extravagent houses. Sven had said something about 3 or 4 draw bridges on the way up the river, and sure enough, the first one didn't open from 4:30 to 6pm. Great. It was 5:45, I was in a very busy little waterway, boats docked on both sides, and a current running. A guy in a boat on the bulkhead popped out and said "hey, need a hand docking?" I asked him who I needed to call to tie up, he said he had no idea, they just tied up, and were going to head up stream in the morning. So, not to turn down a free hand docking, I motored over to the bulkhead and tied up.

So here I am, its in the upper 60's still and I am in a tshirt and WARM. There is still a ton of traffic on the waterway here and I can hear cars going by over the bridge just in front of me. I am right in the middle of downtown Ft Lauderdale, and it is kind of cool. I have had folks stop by and ask about my boat, had a ton of folks take pictures of her. One girl - Linda from Arizona - and her boyfriend actually came aboard and we chatted for quite sometime, they were really impressed with the fact I have lived aboard for 18 months and this is my home.

Its time to make dinner, not sure what it will be tonight, but I suppose I better get off my butt and make something. Maybe tonight is a spaghetti night, Linda noticed my collander (actually it is now part of the internet antenna) and that started me thinking about spaghetti...

How Fortunate Am I - And Moving On

This post was originally published 2-14-10, and updated 2-15-10.

Ok, that was meant as a rhetorical question, but one I am going to ramble on about a bit on here. I suppose that this trip has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me - financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are times I have been at extreme highs, and there have been times I have been at desperate lows, with all manner if experiences spaced somewhere in between. I think overall I have been very blessed and extremely fortunate with how things have worked out on this voyage of mine. I have met folks that have helped me along the way, made new friends, had people go out of their way to make sure I was ok and doing alright as I made my way along.

I suppose in more ways than one I am doing so much better than so many folks out here on the water. There are of course the average and standard snowbirds that sail south every winter - the monied folks with their big yachts, the big trawlers that plow south through the ICW drinking incredible amounts of fuel. They hit every marina along the way, staying overnight plugged in and having every convenience aboard their boat that they have at home. Then there are what I now call the boat people. If it weren't for their boat they would probably be homeless, and they occupy anchorages all over from South Carolina all the way down through Florida. I have met alot of these folks along the way, every anchorage has a group of them, and they form a community of sorts. Today I met a guy , actually a few guys, here in Cocoa like this. One fellow has been living aboard for 11 years, and has been in Cocoa for most of them. I am sure they do not view themselves as less fortunate, this is just how life is for them.

Me, I am somewhere in the middle. I have my boat, which is my home, my dream, and my magic carpet. If it weren't for the cold, and my emotions, I'd probably be doing quite well. In fact, if I could get my emotions under control, I'd probably say I am doing great. It isn't warm here by any stretch of the imagination, this morning it was unseasonably cold again - I think that is now how it is for everyone all over - but everytime I start to complain about how cold I am in the mornings, I think that where I am now is much warmer than where I came from. I still have plenty of food, that is not a concern, and I don't think it will be a concern before I make my return trip. I have refueled and have a full tank in the boat, and 15 gallons on deck. Once I get back to the boat today, I will be as well stocked on kerosene as I ever have been, the tank for the stove is full to the point of overflowing, and I will have 2 gallons in the refill jug. So I am not doing bad. I am still going to push a bit further south,and then in 2 or 3 weeks I am going to turn around and head back.

I think on the return trip I am going to do more sailing and less motoring. I also think I will probably do a bit more of the trip on the outside than I did on the way down. I know that this will not make alot of folks overly happy, but I feel it is what I need to do to challenge myself and my skills as a sailor. It will also serve to make the return trip a bit shorter than the voyage down. The weather will be getting warmer (I hope) and if I play it smart I bet I can make it back to North Carolina in 10 days or so. As it stands I am 893 miles from where I want to be, and that translates to 223 hours under sail at an average of 4 knots. I think I can do it, and I think I am going to try and find out. If it gets to be too much, I will duck back inside and motor a ways, but if I pick the weather right, I am banking on the fact that I'll be able to pull it off. I may make a stop or two along the way and anchor off the beach, dinghy in and have a day on the beach with Spook. Something I have wanted to do but have not been in a position to do yet, it has been too cold to spend much time on the beach, and everytime I was offshore I have had to duck in before nightfall. Hopefully it will all work out the way I envision it, and I will have positive adventures, and not adventures brought about by bad weather or boat problems.

Now it is the 15th, I am in a coffee shop in Cocoa. (there is a great pun in there somewhere I am sure) and I am heading out sometime this morning. Kind of vague I know, but there are no marinas or anchorages marked on my chart until I get down near Vero Beach, which is more than a days sail from here. So it would not matter if I left at 5am or noon, I would not make a charted anchorage anyway. Besides, I kind of want to get a chance to talk to Kevin about his schooner again before I leave. I am going to play it by ear, and I will find a spot to anchor this evening, and hopefully I'll be able to get Spook ashore and walked. No telling if I will have internet or not, I have no idea how populated this next section of the ICW is. So until I can tune in and write, well publish, again - fair winds and following seas.

Cold In Cocoa Florida

Yesterday I published a post detailing my sail from Daytona to just west of Cape Canaveral. I did not have a reliable enough connection to write a new post describing events of the past 2 days, so I am doing that now.

The morning of February 12th came very cloudy and over cast, no sunrise to speak of, just a gradual lightening of the sky, which revealed itself to be very grey, promising rain and a cool day. As I heated up my morning tea and had a bit of toast for breakfast the rain came, a slow steady rain that lasted the better part of a half an hour. I did not have far to go today, just 13 miles or so from Addison Point down to the anchorage in Cocoa, Fl. As I started the engine and let it warm up the rain abated, and then I was out on deck raising the anchor. The holding here must be very good, it was a tough job to haul in the 5 fathoms of chain I had out, and the anchor did its best to hold fast as I cranked away at the windlass. Finally the anchor broke free and I hauled it in. The wind had picked up a bit, it was blowing a steady 15 knots out of the northeast, and occaisionally gusting to over 20. I motored out to the channel, and turned due south, bearing 180 degrees. I raised the working jib, and motor sailed down to Cocoa.

The sail was uneventful, I passed under a few more bridges, no drawbridges today, and I was making good time, holding a steady 5.5 knots, sometimes breaking 6. I made it to Cocoa in 2 hours 15 minutes, and had pulled into the anchorage by 10:15. Dropping the jib, I motored in to the anchorage, which was quite crowded, and got as close to the public boatramp and dinghy dock as I could, but that was at least 1/4 mile away. As I came in I picked a spot just ahead of a very nice looking schooner - very traditional lines, obviously a steel hulled boat, with a fresh red and white paint job. I set the anchor, paid out a good 5 fathoms of rode (I was in a maximum of 8 feet of water) and then got Spook into the dinghy and headed to shore. I plced a call to the friend of a friend that was supposed to meet me later in the day, and Spook and I set off into town.

The downtown of Cocoa is quite nice, a small waterfront park and boardwalk, that fronts a small old fashioned downtown area. Spook and I walked about a bit, she did her thing, and I did a bit of sightseeing. Then it was back to the dinghy, and I ran Spook back to the boat. As I was heading out to Arden I was following a small dinghy that was being rowed out to one of the other boats in the anchorage, and I was glad to see it headed to the schooner I had previously mentioned. I had the opportunity to speak to the owner, Kevin, and he was glad to tell me about his boat.

Kevin's boat is a Colvin design that he had spent the last 5 years welding up in his backyard. He and his family were preparing to make their first voyage aboard her, down to the islands for a few months to wait out the winter. He was more tha n glad to talk about his boat, as all of us boat owners are, and I was more than willing to listen. She is 36 feet on deck, and about 50 feet over all, and she has is a gaff rigged schooner. Kevin went into more detail about her construction than I have room to write about here, but suffice it to say that the boat he built looks quite well made, with pleasing traditional lines, and she does look very sea worthy and salty. He build his dinghy as well, a Bolger designed Nymph, and it appeared to row quite well and was reasonably quick through the water.

After dropping off Spook I went back in to meet Bill, and as I got back to the dock the skies finally opened up. And I mean it rained, by the bucket full. Bill is a really interesting guy, has lived in Brevard County most of his life, with various stints spent away working and travelling. Currently Bill runs a fishing boat out of Port Canaveral, making his living catching King Fish (King Mackeral) and other seasonal fish here along the central Florida coast. Fortunately for me the season for King Fish is closed, the limit has been met for the season, and it was blowing too hard for him to go out on the off chance that he might find Cobia. So he had time and was nice enough to take that time and run me around. Bill showed me the Canaveral Barge Canal and locks, that would take me from the Indian River out to Port Canaveral, should I decide to go outside from here instead of going down the ICW to Ft Stewart. Right now the way it is blowing that is a coin toss, if it is still blowing over 20 on Monday I think I will sail down the ICW instead of running outside. We spent the rest of the day bumping around the area, Bill took me to lunch at the smoke house there in the dock area, and then we went and visited a friend of his, Johnny, that lives on his 42 foot ketch. We sat around on Johnny's boat, glad to be out of the wet, sharing sea stories and then we went up to the bar. After an hour or so there Bill took me back down to the anchorage, and we made plans to meet this morning.

 I got soaked trying to get the outboard started, for only the second time this trip it failed to start, and luckily the wind was blowing out towards the boat, so I did not have to row overly hard to get back to Arden. It was raining steady as I rowed out, and by the time I got to the boat I was soaked. Once aboard I stripped down and dried off, and got the oven and stove going, yet one more batch of tea. I did what I could to get internet, but it was very spotty and would turn off every few minutes. I settled in to read, made corn muffins and baked beans, and spent the evening curled up on my rack reading. Overnight it blew hard, winds of at least 30 mph, and a hard driving rain. Every so often a gust would hit Arden broadside, and she would heel over hard and swing around on the hook. This went on all night, but luckily it seemed to blow itself out by morning.

So today Bill picked me up, I did laundry at his house, got a shower, we went and filled up my diesel cans, and then went back to check on his boat. It is good to be off the boat for a bit, especially after the way it blew and rained last night. We met his brother Joe and his dog out in a field near Bill's boat, and Spook got in a good romp and run playing with Stella.

So after a lunch of good, hot greasy pizza, we are back at Bill's, my laundry is about done, and I will be back on the boat soon.

On The Water Once Again, Southbound

This post was written yesterday, 2-11-2010, while on the hook after a long days sail, I have very limited connection now, so I cannot upload pictures. I will update the post tomorrow, and probably add a new post as well.

Today was one of those days, one of those very few days, were everything seemed to go right. I made 49.3 nautical miles, just over 55 statute (regular) miles. Today started early enough though, I was up at 0330, I rolled out of bed into a freezing cabin. I checked the thermometer, and it was a very brisk 45 degrees in the cabin. I peeked out of the cabin, set the thermometer outside and checked it soon after, 36 degrees on deck. I fired up the stove, put some tea on, and wrapped back up in my sleeping bag. Since I finally got the entire cabin clean and soot free I am extremely hesitant to fire up the heater, so I have come up with a new solution, I put my cast iron skillet on the stove top and crank it up. The stove uses the same burner as the heater, and the skillet has close to the same surface area and more mass than the heater, so I think I am getting about the same heat output without half the mess. I think when I get some money saved up I am going to design and build a new heater for the boat, either that or I will break down and get a new stove/heater combination unit.

So once I got warmed up, had read another hundred pages or so of my book, it was heading towards 6 am. I decided to brave the cold and the security crew at Carribean Jack's, and head in for a shower. Luckily for me another sailboat had come in during the night and tied up at the end of the dock, so my dinghy would be camoflaged by this new arrival. I grabbed towel and shaving kit, and dinghied over and tied up. Down the dock and into the bath house I went, and the pass card still worked. Thank God for minor miracles. I don't think they change the passcards out at the marina, so no telling how long this one will be good for.I took a long lingering shower, and then headed back out to Arden. Spook was ready to go when I got back, she is always ready to go to shore, and so I took her in for an early morning walk.

When we got back to Arden I heated up some of the ham bicuits I had made last night, and had a couple of warm biscuits and tea. By 0730 I was ready to go and weighed anchor, underway again. Today has been the day for bridges. In all, 7 drawbridges, and probably another 4 fixed bridges, and the first draw bridge was 100 yards from where I was anchored. The bridge tender saw me coming, and began the lift before I even got on the radio. The tender on the next draw heard me talking to the tender of the Mainstreet Bridge, and as soon as I cleared that, he raised me on the radio and told me his next lift was at 0800. I gave Arden a bit more throttle, and got to the bridge with a minute or two to spare. I could not have timed it any better, because the next scheduled lift was at 0830, and I would have had to set anchor to wait.

After I got through that next draw I checked the wind, and it was out of the north/ northeast just as forecast. I raised the jib, and off we went. I cut back on the throttle and I was still making 5 knots. I picked a bit of tidal current after a while, and I was making just over 5.5 knots over ground. Not too shabby. I motorsailed with just the jib for about 3 hours, until I was down past Ponce de Leon Inlet, and through the Coronado Beach Bridge. 15.8 NM in just under 3 hours. I was doing well.

When I passed through New Smyrna Beach I saw a very sad sight, a pelican was thrashing about in the water with a broken wing. I have never seen that before, I dont think I have ever seen an injured seabird, and I paused for a second thinking about the options I had. If I was further away from civilization I probably would have shot it and ended its misery, but I was right across from a residential area, and no telling what the good folks of New Smyrna Beach would have thought about that. So I got on the phone and called back to Daytona, gave a friend of mine the location, and asked them to call animal control. Hopefully someone went out and helped that poor bird.

As I sailed out of New Smyrna Beach I raised the main, and cut back on the throttle even more. In this section the ICW is straight as an arrow, but the channel is pretty narrow. I was on a broad reach and Arden balanced out so well, that I was able to lock the tiller and kick back a bit. Sometimes things just work out really well, and she will sail herself. I broke out my book and would read a few pages, check for traffic and then check my position in the channel. Not a bad way to spend the day. The sun was out, it was warming up, and I was making good time. Spook even came out on deck and got some sun, something she has been doing more and more as the trip has gone along. It was good to be moving again, and even though it was still a bit cool, it was comfortable and I was making great time.

I think I saw more dolphins today than I think I have so far in this trip. One thing I did notice though was that a large number of the dolphins today were smaller, I wonder if dolphin calve during this time of year like the Right Whale does. If anyone knows, write me and let me know.

Just south of New Smyrna Beach is Mosquito Lagoon, a large body of water that would probably be called a sound anywhere else. It is behind a long barrier island, but I am not sure if here in Florida they even call the coastal islands barrier islands. Anyway, this body of water is very large, and very shallow, probably a mile wide or more, and about 10 or 12 miles long (maybe more) and the only deep water is in the channel. The rest of it is about 4-5 feet at most. The channel markers just stretch out into the distance in an unending chain. So I read more, shed a layer or two of clothes, fixed lunch, and sat back and watched the miles roll by. At the bottom end of Mosquito Lagoon I could see the towers and the shuttle launch pads of Kennedy Space Center in the haze. I had to make a hard turn to starboard and cut through a canal and over into the Indian River, so I snapped a picture really quick, and headed into Haulover Canal. Through yet one more drawbridge, and then I was south bound again.

I went through 3 more draw bridges on the first short stretch of the Indian River, and then I was at my preplanned anchorage. This anchorage is just south of Addison Point, and is directly west of Cape Canaveral. I got the boat anchored as the sun started to set, and then Spook and I went ashore. She did her thing, we got a bit of a walk in, and then we headed back to think about dinner. I heated up more tea, turned on some blues (Stevie Ray Vaughan is great boating music) and made a batch of popcorn, the snack food of preference on board. I have found recently that Spook loves popcorn. So she got her little bowl of it, and I had my much bigger bowl, and I still had to think of what to do for dinner. I finally settled on tomato soup and buttered bread - simple, warm and filling.

As I write evening has fallen, the boat is warm, and there are great tunes playing from the computer. Tomorrow is going to be a short day, 13 miles until I get to Cocoa, and a fisherman that is a friend of a friend. He has volunteered to take me around if I need to get around, hopefully I can get some fishing tips from him, and I might hang around long enough to watch the Daytona 500. I need to check the charts, see where another day or 2 of sailing will put me, but I am not too far behind Sven, so I may try to catch them by Tuesday or Wednesday, looks like they are going to be in Ft Lauderdale for a week or so.

To Be Sailing Again

I spent yesterday getting soaking wet - first it was trying to fit the new zinc on the shaft, and then I was caught up in a down pour that lasted through the afternoon, and then into the evening.


The day began as planned, I watched the tidal flow and took Arden aground around 0930, just at about the middle of the low tide ebb. That part went off without a hitch, I was pointed into the outgoing flow, and was able to put out an anchor fore and aft. After waiting a few hours it seemed that the tide was as low as it was going to get, unfortunately the temps did not reach as high as they were supposed to, so I knew that I was going to get plenty cold trying to get that zinc on. I got everything set, hopped into the dinghy and tried to put the zinc on the prop shaft, only to find that the zinc I thought was 1 1/4 inches was really 1 1/8. Damnit. So I grabbed my foul weather jacket, closed up the boat, and headed to shore to walk down to West Marine and exchange it. No worries. Well I am glad I grabbed the jacket, because just as soon as I hit land, it opened up and began to pour down in buckets. I got soaked on my way to West Marine, and then even more soaked on the way back. And it was a cold rain at that. About half way back the phone rang, and after pulling it out of my pocket, I realized it was getting wet in the waterproof pocket of my foul weather jacket. Great.


So I ducked into the nearest shelter, pulled out the battery and wrapped the phone up as well as I could, and headed back to the dinghy. By now the dinghy had 2 inches of water in it, and I was starting to get cold. Nothing like having to stand in 2 or 3 inches of freezing water and trying to get the dinghy going. I was praying that the outboard would start easily and I could get back to Arden sooner than later. The outboard suprised me and I didn't have to mess with it too much, and I was back on Arden in no time. I stripped off the foul weather gear, put the phone in the rice bin (yes rice does dry out a wet cell phone, trust me, it works) and I went back out into the rain to try and get the zinc onto the shaft. No luck. The water had started to rise, I could barely touch the shaft now, and it was extremely cold on top of all that. I was more out of the dinghy than in, and I was getting wetter by the second. So back onto the boat I went, to dry off, change clothes and try to get warm. It seemed like it took hours for me to warm up, I had hot tea going, the stove on, and the cabin temp was near 70, but I was shivering for the better part of an hour. I don't think I really shook that bit of cold, I was still very chilled when I woke up this morning. So overall, yesterday was a bust, but I did careen the boat and get her back off the shoal pretty handily, so at least that all worked out.


I got my spare phone out and working and then I started to recieve birthday calls from all over. Thanks to all that called, wrote, emailed and texted, it really just seemed like another day, but it was good to know I was thought of. Liz did a great job with the revised Irish Blessing, I definitely got a kick out of that.


I also received a few emails regarding the decision I have to make as far as going north or south, and by bedtime last night I had come to the conclusion that I need to go south. I heard from my buddy Jon Bergman back up in Solomons, he went to school here and his boat was built in St Augustine, between Jon, my sister and another reader, they really got my head back on straight and I am going to finish out this trip with as much fun as I can have. I have about 6 weeks before I need to be back in my neck of the woods, and I might as well have some fun, and get a bit warmer while I can. I know that when I head back it will still be cool in NC and VA, not to mention MD, so I better enjoy the warmth here while I can and maybe finally get to working on my tan.


This morning I was in no shape to leave, I was still a bit chilled from yesterday, and the wind was blowing at around 20-25 knots here on the river. I figure with the windchill I was looking at about 35 degrees, and despite the sun, I would have been in for a long cold day sailing. So I canned the idea of leaving for today, and took Spook in for a walk after a big pancake breakfast. We hit the used book store, even used books are more expensive here in Florida, and I called around to some marinas to check on fuel prices. Way too expensive here at $2.97, but there is a marina down in Port Canaveral that has diesel at $2.55 a gallon, so I guess I am going to top off there. Once again the water tanks are full, in the 2 weeks since I left St. Augustine I used just over 15 gallons. I also got a call today from a guy I know of in Port Canaveral down by Merritt Island, so it looks like that will be my next port of call. Maybe get in some fishing, and hit the beach again, start to enjoy my trip once more and get out of the funk I have been in for the past week. God knows I could use a bit of fun after the roller coaster I have been on, and I definitely can't get warm enough.

There are some days when I really miss the 115 degree heat of Iraq.

birthday on the hook

yo bro.  happy birthday from all of us in huntingtown!  We want you to know you need to get back here and layer up.  here is a little adaptation birthday wish, origins attributed to St. Patrick, but modified to fit your context:

May the water stay out of your cabin and the tides take you where you need to be or places that Spook can get on land,

May the wind be always at the perfect point of sail,  to avoid tacking or heeling over so far that you fall off the boat.

May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rest of you so you can finally not be cold.

May the rains fall soft upon your foul-weather gear.

And, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Time for decisions....

Last night I dinghied over to the bar and watched Superbowl 44 (I am not sure I can do 44 in roman numerals, I won't even attempt it) and after watching the underdog New Orleans Saints have a great victory, I headed back out to Arden. Unfortunately in my haste to get back to the boat and get warm (it did get quite cool here last night) I ran aground on the same shoal that I had warned another sailor of the day before. The dinghy ground to a halt, and I tried to push off with one of the oars, and SNAP, the plastic blade broke right in half. Talk about having nothing but bad luck. So this morning Spook and I set out to Surplus Unlimited to see if they had oars in stock, and I soon found that their surplus supplies were limited - no dinghy oars. I did get a replacement ampmeter, and then I headed down to West Marine, where I found a set of oars just like the one I broke. They come as a pair, so I had to get two, but I suppose now if I ever pull a no brainer like that I will at least have a spare oar. Like I really need more stuff aboard this boat. The upside to this is that Spook and I did get a really long walk in, at least 4 miles, so I can't say I am lacking for exercise.

I have found myself at kind of a cross roads today, there really is no work here in Daytona, and it seems that the longer I stay shore bound, the more I spend, the more I spend the less I can do, etc, etc, etc. I know I need to get moving, but the question is - in which direction?

I have been in this same position a few times along this trip, most notably with my decision to leave Manteo. In hind sight, which according to urban lore is always crystal clear, it occurs to me that I probably should have stayed, and tried to work on things that were there. And it occurs to me that the reasons I did leave, and the prompting I got to get my butt back in gear and to go south, may have been advice given for reasons that I didn't understand until I had already weighed anchor and moved on. I was definitely on the fence about leaving, and, to be honest, with the oncoming cold, and the terrible weather that had set in after I left, I would have been physically miserable, but just perhaps my mind might have been a bit more at ease then than it is now. I wavered several times about continuing, and came close to turning back more than once. I think if I had, I most certainly would not be where I am geographicly, but I would also not be where I am inside myself.

I think in the eyes of some, and at times in my own eyes, I have done what I set out to do, and that was to reach Florida. I have done that, and I have gotten to warmer weather and warmer waters, but I have not yet made it to the Abacos, or to the Keys, and I am thinking at this point that those goals may be unattainable with my current state of affairs. I have seen and experienced a lot so far in this trip - I have seen dolphins and quite possibly whales, I have seen amazing sunrises and sunsets. I have seen great flocks of water fowl and birds that I have never seen before. I have sailed by some really interesting boats, and stopped in some very interesting places. I have met nice folks along the way and have been helped out by some really great people, and I have made some new friends. But I think in the end, if I was trying to find a slice of paradise, and peace in my own mind, I think I might just have passed it somewhere around Statute Mile Marker 115 on the ICW.

So what to do now. I can weigh anchor, and head south again, get a few more miles under the keel, get to a bit warmer water and hang out for just a few more weeks before I head back. Or I can begin the journey north again, taking my time, trying to wait out the worst of the cold that I know is up north, and make it back to the place where I think I should be. I am going to take a day or so mulling this over, get a few more boat projects done, and then I will leave, in one direction or another. No matter what, on Wednesday I will be leaving Daytona. I would be interested to hear reactions to this post, and to get a different perspective or views on where the readership thinks I should go. If you have an idea or comment, please send it my way at ardenvoyage@yahoo.com Perhaps I will get out the dart board and hang the chart there....