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.

The Sunshine State

The weather has yet to improve much here, even though it is not raining today, it is much cooler and still overcast. So much for Florida being the Sunshine State.

I spent a good bit of time yesterday working on a boat here in the marina,  Sven and I met a really nice out going guy here named Gary, who owns a boat that has inboard engines with outdrives, and he was having problems with one of the drives. That led to me helping Gary out by doing a bit of work on his boat. I made a few bucks, and got Gary back on the water, so all worked out pretty well.

One thing that I have found I do consistently is look at the names that people give their boats. Sometimes I think that a large group of boat owners must go to the same book or list of names when they purchase a boat, I would bet that the number one name for a boat in the US is "Therapy." Therapy is not the name of a boat, it is the name for what you need after buying a boat. I think if I see another Therapy, Serenity, Talisman, At Ease, I think I'll puke. Believe it or not, I just looked for it on the net, and there are actually websites that catalog and make suggestions for the name of your new hole in the water. Sometimes you will get an owner that actually has a bit of individuality though, and you will see a boat named for someone or something of significance to them. Take Arden for example. Gary named her after Alice, as he does all of their boats, and even though I could have renamed her when she became mine, I felt it was only fitting that I continue to thank them by leaving her named as she came to me. In the website "10,000 Boat Names" there is not one other boat listed named Arden. Sven named his boat "JuCa" after his kids, Julia and Carlos. That means something to him, and is original and different. Every once in a blue moon though, you will come across a boat whos owner is not only creative, but also has a good sense of humor as well. Here at the Loggerhead Marina in Daytona, there is one that cracks me up everytime I walk past - Knot@Work.Calm. Quite a play on words, and very fitting in this internet age.

Today I helped Sven go retrieve his dinghy that sputtered to a stop yesterday afternoon at the Halifax River Yatch Club, and we tried to get it going, but it looks as if that might be a lost cause for now, turns out that the engine may have taken a bit of freeze damage while they were in Norfolk, there is water in the cylinders and she won't start. Perhaps later today I may help Gary get his boat pulled out of the water and check out a hydraulic leak on his outdrives. Not a huge problem, but not a good situation, so perhaps I can get a bit more work getting him a bit more squared away. I picked up that new bilge pump at West Marine, and when I get back to Arden sometime tonight I'll install that and get my bilge situation squared away finally. Sven and I might even take a walk up to a ship's chandler's that is another place that has used gear much like Bacon's in Annapolis.

Changes in Latitude....Change in Attitude

My day yesterday evolved much differently than I had anticipated, I had fully intended to get a good bit of boat work done, some maintenance that was highly neccesary, but thanks to good old mother nature, nothing quite turned out like I had planned.

The weather yesterday developed into a very wet and nasty day, warm but with lots of rain. I left Sven and family mid morning and walked down to the farmers market, in search of some fresh veggies. By the time I got there the weather had started to deteriorate, and the vendors had started to pack up. I did manage to find some small tomatoes, ones that fit the fact that it is just me and Spook aboard, but that is about it. So I took my tomatoes and went on walk about again, and I ended up over the bridge and out on the beach front once more.

While I walked the beach, looking to see if I could sight the migrating Northern Right Whales, the rain came in, a few drops here and there, and then, a downpour. So I started to trek back to the boat in the rain, and got completely soaked. I had planned on getting to the boat by low tide, but because of the full moon the tide was running full bore, and the current was running too fast for me to careen the boat. I had to row back to Arden as the dinghy motor must have gotten some water into the fuel thanks to the heavy rain we got. Another lesson learned, do not leave the dinghy without closing the vent on the fuel tank. So against wind and current I rowed back, it was a tremendous workout, because rowing an inflatable dinghy in the wind is like trying to push a car up a hill with the parking brake on. It took a bit to get back, but thank God the rain had stopped by the time I made it to Arden. However,  I was pretty tired after 20  minutes of non stop rowing, so I pretty much decided to take it easy the rest of the day. So I read and cleaned and tried to sort a few things out while I rested, and came to the realization that I really need to stop for a bit and try to generate some funds. The sailing kitty is about empty, and I have a few personal things to take care of as well, so I might just be here in north/central Florida for a bit while I take care of these things.

This morning I was awoken by a brisk breeze from the north / northeast, and the boat was rocking pretty hard. It had cooled down considerably, and was just as ugly out this morning as it was beautiful yesterday morning. Very grey, very windy and quite choppy on the river. So today does not look like a good day to get any boat work done either.

I am not sure if I will stay in Daytona, or venture a bit further south, but today I will run a few errands, get a paper, and look for a job of some sort. I don't have any intention of staying here too long, just long enough to put together a few things, and I will need to start back north in another month or so.

Boat Work and Sunrise

Today is going to be one more day of boat work. Yesterday I had spent a good part of the day walking around Daytona Beach, and then visiting with Sven and his family over on his boat. During my travels yesterday I finally did make it down to West Marine, it is about a mile from where I am, directly across from the anchorage I was going to go to.

Yesterday's boat projects included, as always, more cleaning, but I also took the time to check out my alternator. I have, for the past few weeks, been checking my voltage periodicly, and have found that the alternator was just barely putting out over 12 volts. Most folks might assume that it is a 12 volt system, that should be good, over 12 volts right? Well not exactly. A proper charging voltage for a 12 volt system is actually in the 13.6 to 14.2 volt range, and I suspected that my alternator was going bad. I was relieved when I did a bit of troubleshooting, and found that it was not the alternator that was bad, but the galvanic isolator. I won't go into what the galvanic isolator is, but, suffice it to say, it was stealing 2 volts from my charging system, the alternator was putting out 13.8 which is just fine with me.

Today I am going to run Arden aground just before low tide, so that I can replace the zinc anode on the propellor shaft. I have been meaning to do this for the past month, but have not had the zinc, or a good place to do this. So, around midday, I am going to beach her about an hour before low tide, and then she will refloat about 2 hours after that. This is called careening, and is an age old, time tested and proven manner of performing work on the bottom of a vessel. Believe it or not, a few hundred years ago, they would do this with some of the larger ships, and for alot of boatmen, without access to a boatyard, this was the only way to get this work done. So my first foray into Florida water will be to do a bit of maintenance work.

As for the sunrise comment in the title. I had a close friend of mine that is a fan of the blog once tell me to watch every sunrise and sunset. This I do, religiously, except of course when cloud cover does not allow for a sunrise or sunset. So

that is one of the reasons there is the "Sunrise, Sunset" gallery on the main page. Every rise and set is unique and uniquely beautiful, no matter where they are, but from personal experience I have to say that they seem to be more beautiful at the coast or on the water. There are so many variances in color- from the blues and deep purple shades, to the yellows, orange and red tones that seem to dominate.There are also the different cloud formations that work to create an evolving, living work of art. The other really impressive thing about the rise and set on the water is how the water reflects and compliments what is going on up in the sky. So, I hope I am doing my friend's sentiments justice, and I hope you enjoy the beauty that I attempt to capture with my little camera. The pictures are tied to a map that also shows where the photos were taken, so again, I hope you enjoy.

Stuck In Daytona

Ok, so I'm not really stuck in Daytona, but I thought it would make a good headline. Yesterday afternoon though I was kind of stuck, the last draw bridge before the anchorage I wanted to go to could not open (it eventually was fixed) so I dropped the hook and here I am.

Yesterday morning Spook and I went for our morning walk on the beach, she had a great time chasing birds, meeting other dogs, and just flat out being a dog. She was so intent on chasing birds that a few times she found herself in the path of approaching waves, and quickly scrambled back towards the beach and the safety of dry land. That didn't always work, and once or twice her paws got wet, much to her surprise. Definitely not a water dog, but she is great fun to watch, and she definitely loves the chance to get off the leash and run.

While out walking we came upon a gentleman out surf fishing, reminded me of stories a friend of mine used to tell me about her friends surf fishing, and he and I struck up a conversation. Turns out Lou is retired from Pennsylvania, and comes out in the mornings to fish for whiting. According to his observations, whiting is better than orange roughy (I'll take his word on that, I am not much of a fisherman. I enjoy it, but am not overly successful at it) and that is all he really fishes for. He does catch other species, but those he releases. Apparently whiting prefer what Lou called "sand fleas", those little crustaceans that burrow in the sand right at the tide line, when I was a kid at the beach I would spend hours digging for them, and I knew just what he was talking about. So we said our goodbyes and headed back to the boat, quite a long walk, I would guess we have been walking just at around 3 miles a day.

After our beach adventure, we returned to the boat and got ready to leave for Daytona. I had to haul in 2 anchors, the aft one without the benefit of the windlass, so it took a good bit of time and effort to get off the anchor. We left Flagler Beach behind at around 11:45, and headed down to Daytona, a short trip of about 15 miles. There isn't a whole lot to say about this section of the ICW. I would guess the most interesting thing about it was the drawbridges we had to pass through, and there were only 2 of those. We did see just a few dolphin, not many though, and then I was back to reading as I motored along. The view is not much for most of this stretch, it is marsh and low land on one side, houses and bulkheads on the other. Not alot for scenery, and the channel is straight as an arrow, going from one marker, to the next, to the next...I need to get back offshore and sail.

Once we got down into Daytona, as we passed a small marina on the starboard side, I saw the Schooner that my friend Jon had ferried down to St. Augustine, now it was piloted by the new owner, Sven. Just after passing Sven's boat, I came to the Main Street Bridge, and requested an opening, as I was headed to an anchorage a mile or so further down. No luck, the bridge master acknowledged my request, and then must have tried to open the bridge 15 times. The alarms would sound, the gates would drop, traffic would stop, and nothing. The alarms would go off again, and the gates would raise, and traffic would pass over, and then he would try again. Nothing, not even the noise of machinery trying to open the bridge. I circled for about 20 minutes, and then eased towards the west bank of the channel, and anchored for the duration. After a good while the bridge finally did open, but I informed the bridge master that I was now anchored,and I would be here at least over night. Spook and I went ashore at a small sand bar at the base of the bridge, and then hiked up to visit Sven and his family. Sven is, if I remember right, German, via Bahrain (he worked there for a few years) and lately New Zealand. He has a really nice boat, I have forgotten the make, but it is well appointed and very nice inside. We had a few Heineken's, and then I had to return to Arden, as darkness was falling and I needed to turn on the anchor light. Sven offered me use of his shower pass, and hot coffee this morning, so shortly I will dinghy over and join them for breakfast.

This morning came with a beautiful sunrise, I had actually thought that sunrise in the city might be a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn't, it turned out to be one of the more colorful sunrises I have had yet.

The day before yesterday marked a milestone for Sailcloth, we had 30 visitors stop by the blog, which is an all time daily high. This morning I checked the stats again, and yesterday was not a bad day either, 20 visits, which had been the previous high water mark. So to all that visit and read, I want to thank you for stopping by and visiting with Spook and I, we do appreciate the company.