Archive | M/V Escapade RSS feed for this section

On Thursday, we sailed on the outside from Ft. Lauderdale to South Beach, Miami, with Kevin and Courtney. We had a southerly breeze, which made the trip a little lumpy. As we approached Government Cut, we heard the Coast Guard warning recreational vessels to keep 100 yards away from a cruise ship that was stuck in the channel. We turned off before we got close, but we were betting that it made the news. We had a great steak dinner onboard and wonderful conversation.
Friday morning from our anchorage, we watched three cruise ships arrive and one depart. We launched the dinghy, rode down a canal, tied up to a traffic barrier, and spent most of the day in Miami Beach. We strolled up and down the Lincoln Street Mall and shopped in many of the trendy shops there. Lunch, courtesy of Kevin and Courtney, was at Van Dykes. We had be best grilled calamari appetizer that any of us had ever had.
We had dinner aboard and watched “Captain Ron” in the evening.

Monday, December 13, 2010, Day 78: We traveled the 6 miles from Pompano Beach to Ft. Lauderdale. The strong winds, 20 knots from the west, made maneuvering difficult. We tied up at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. It was great to see Chris and Joyce (Celebrate, our sponsors here) when they visited in the afternoon. Kathy, an American Express/sailing friend of Linda’s for 28 years, and her friends Priscilla and Robert came for cocktails aboard. Wonderful to see them after Kathy’s many years in Asia. It is unusually cold here — the temperature range was 63/43, which is very cold for Ft. Lauderdale. The wind makes it feel even colder.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010, Day 79: Our Reston neighbor, Ray, who lives in Miami came to pick us up for lunch–a delicious lunch at Seasons 52 in the nearby Galleria. Then the fun really began. We needed to sign up for the Department of Homeland Security’s Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS), that allows us to leave and enter the country with a phone call vs. stopping by in person. I won’t go into all of the details, but this task (which is advertised as taking 15 minutes), actually required a day and a half, a $ 35 cab ride and, because that was absurdly expensive, a rental car. One note for those reading this blog, each crew member must sign up. This is a change. Before, only the captain needed to sign up.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010, Day 80: We finished the effort to sign up for the SVRS and provisioned Escapade. Kevin and Courtney arrived for a holiday visit in the evening. It is so nice seeing them and we look forward to their 10 day visit.

While the trip from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale is relatively short, we felt that with a cold front predicted tonight with strong northerlies, it would be best to go some of the way today and take a slip in a marina. We are glad that we did. While …

Well, today we saw a lot of change from further north. The weather is decidedly milder. We don’t know if it is just a general warmup, our location further south, or a combination. We suspect the latter. We understand that it is forecast to get cooler on Monday.
The wealth is staggering. Our banner photo shows a marina with maybe a hundred mega-yachts, some of them shrink-wrapped (now that’s a lot of plastic sheeting!). Such yachts are rare further north but much more common here. The photo to the right shows tens of beach condo buildings.
We found people that are very helpful here. We stopped for a pump-out since the Vero Beach pump out had not been working as well as many along the way. New Point Cove Marina did not have the correct fitting for our boat. One man drove Ken to a hardware store to find it and, when they didn’t have it, worked for an hour to try to make their fittings work and get out enough to let us continue our journey. There was no charge (though other marinas we called along the way charged $ 15).
On the other hand, the go-fast boaters don’t even consider the damage and the unpleasantness that their wakes create. (See photo right.) We couldn’t even figure out where he was going in such a rush. This photo was taken about two miles from the north end of Lake Worth; there was no place further for him to go. We are continuously thankful for our stabilizers.
Up to this point in our trip, bridge tenders have been courteous and helpful. Not down here. Jupiter Federal Bridge: “If I open this bridge for you, it is going to cost you a lot of money.” (Referring to fines for requesting an unnecessary bridge opening. It was necessary for Escapade.) “What is you port of documentation and your documentation number?” We arrived at the PGA bridge about two minutes after its scheduled opening. He hadn’t opened it because there was no boat traffic before us. He made us wait for a half hour until the next scheduled opening. Yet for a mega-yacht he new (007) he said he’ll just open it when 007 got there. We arrived at the Parker Bridge about 7 minutes before the scheduled opening. Bridge Tender: “There will be a delay like there has been all day.” Ken: “How Long?” Bridge Tender: “One to Thirty Minutes, I have workers on the bridge.” Then later: “We will not open until the next scheduled opening (45 minutes later).” Still later: “We will only open the north span.” When she finally opened half of the bridge, we still had to wait for the oncoming traffic–small boats that could easily have gone under the closed portion of the bridge so that the 4 larger boats that had accumulated there could proceed.
We had planned on a short day. With all of the delays, we used the full day. We are not happy with the prospect of dealing with 20 bridges between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. We hope that the weather permits an outside passage.

Our visit to Vero Beach was very enjoyable. We had the opportunity to socialize with dear old friends, meet new ones, and think about our future land home. And we are glad to be underway again and excited about meeting Kevin and Courtney in Ft. Lauderdale in a few days for the Holidays.
The morning was very foggy, and believe it or not, the fog seemed to thicken as dawn broke, portending a warmer day. Ken (Rusty – Slow Dancin’) towed us in our dinghy to pickup the repaired dinghy engine. Once installed we made our way around the mooring field to say good by to new and old friends: Ken and Joy (Slow Dancin’), Jim and Nancy (Solitaire), Corey and Linda (Live Wire II), and Jim and Beth (Mad Cap). We will all meet again soon in the Bahamas or on our way there.
We prepared Escapade for travel, including putting on 387 gallons of fuel (!), filling up with water and hosing down the cockpit. We then set out for Stuart in the warmth of the sun. What a glorious day! Everyone enjoyed the change–a dolphin cavorting in the bow wake, pelicans splashing in to catch their prey, cormorants flapping their wings for lift off, seagulls swarming schools of fish. The water became that aqua color that speaks of the tropics. Huge cumulous clouds billowed on the horizon but were not threatening.
On the way we passed the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. This was built in the late 60s-early 70s by Bechtel, one of Ken’s former employees at the same time Ken was working on Turkey Point. The plants are very similar designs, and Ken had a lot of interactions with the folks at St. Lucie.
We turned north into the St. Lucie River and anchored off the channel for the night. We’re in a huge panorama of homes and trees. The anchorage was a little rolly at first, but as soon as passing boats went home for the night, it became very pleasant.
We enjoyed our evening at anchor, and even watched our favorite Friday evening news show – Washington Week.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010, Day 66. Well, we only thought yesterday’s scenery was boring. From Daytona to Vero Beach, with the exception of the Space Center Area, there is very little of interest along the ICW. We set out from Titusville with the intention of anchoring at Dragon Point near Melbourne. We arrived there before noon and decided to press on to Vero Beach. There was little scenery on the trip from Melbourne to north of Vero Beach. Then, in Wassabaw, beautiful homes began to appear along the waterway. We are told (and we will see and report) that Vero Beach is the beginning of what is referred to as the Treasure Coast — The stretch of Florida from Vero Beach through Miami.
We went into the first protected anchorage we’ve seen in a long time, the Vero Beach Municipal Marina. One of the many mooring ball rafts in Vero Beach contained a Nordhavn, a Korgen, and a Selene (Live Wire!) (see banner photo). Corey from Live Wire came to greet us in his dinghy–we finally get to meet! We’ll see him and Linda soon. The weather is a bit chilly with a high of 75 and a low of 44.

Thursday, December 2, 2010, Day 67. We launched the dinghy in the morning and picked up a rental car (Enterprise weekend special $10/day). We went to Jim’s and Nancy’s beautiful home, which Linda was seeing for the first time, and marveled at their layout, space and new pool and pavers. They’ve found a great place. We had lunch and enjoyed driving around some neighborhoods, getting a bearing on the town. We are considering this town as a possible land home when we get back from the Bahamas. We both like it and house prices are compelling, and we feel that not much will change before May. We had drinks with Jim and Nancy, then dinner on the beach at the Ocean Grill.
Temperatures are really cool today for southern Florida with high of 68 and a low of 43. Locals are dressed in their winter clothes. Typical daytime temperatures should be in the mid-70s.

Friday, December 3, 2010, Day 68. The dinghy engine failed. This really put a crimp in our plans; since we’re on a mooring, we have to hitch rides every time we needed to go ashore and back. The wind and current was so strong that rowing was impossible. The good news is that it failed here rather then in the Bahamas or later when Kevin and Courtney are with us. We tried to row the now engineless dingy back to Escapade with the wind and current in our favor but sailed right past Escapade and had to get a tow back!
We had to cancel our dinner plans with Jim and Nancy, as they had no way to get to Escapade. Temperatures remained cool in the morning but warmed up into the mid 70s by afternoon.

Saturday, December 4, 2010, Day 69. We got a ride to shore and provisioned. Ken and Joy (Slow Dancin’) arrived in the afternoon. With the aid of their dinghy ferry service, we got to shore and went to a cocktail party at friends of Jim and Nancy, then dinner at Jim and Nancy’s. We met their great neighbors and had lively discussions and a great time.

Sunday, December 5, 2010, Day 70. We began to commission the water maker without much success. Flooding the system is a challenge.
With Ken and Joy, we drove to Stuart, provisioned at West Marine, had lunch at a great little shack in Ft. Pierce called 12A Buoy, and picked up the floorcloth that Linda commissioned from Judi Knight Goldfarb, an artist we met in St. Marys. In the evening, Corey dinghied us to Live Wire for drinks, appetizers and good conversation with him and Linda. We enjoyed their years of knowledge–having done this eleven times!–and seeing how they’ve provisioned their Selene. We hope to see them again many times in the Bahamas.

Monday, December 6, 2010, Day 71. We returned the rental car in the morning. Ken worked with Customs and Border Protection to signup for the Small Vessel Reporting System. Jim and Nancy, and Ken and Joy came to Escapade for dinner. We had a great time, filled with lots of laughter. And we made a cruisers’ pact together.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010, Day 72. It is really cold here, with a morning low of 32, an afternoon high of 62, and another cold front coming in on Sunday. The Mobile Marine shop is still working on our dinghy motor. First, they thought they might return in on Monday, definitely Tuesday. Now, they are predicting Thursday. It seems that the carburetor is so badly clogged that they couldn’t be clean it and it has to be replaced.
Nancy drove us to town, where we shopped for groceries and liquor as this is one of the last opportunities to provision before we cross. Linda got her snorkeling equipment. Ken got his watch repaired, and got a wetsuit. We took the free Vero Beach bus–a great amenity of the town–back to the marina where there is still no WiFi or pump-out. Had a quiet afternoon here on Escapade, the first in many days. We heard from neighbors Gail and Bruce on Orient Express that there hasn’t been a good weather window for crossing since the second week in November and there are only three boats anchored in Hopetown Harbor in the Abacos. Another very strange, cold season…..

Wednesday, December 8, 2010, Day 73. It is cold. The temperature in the salon when we arose was 50, 37 outside. But temperatures began to warm through the day. We are hear waiting on our dinghy engine. Ken and Joy hosted Jim and Nancy, and us for dinner aboard Slow Dancin’.

Thursday, December 9, 2010, Day 74. It was noticeably warmer in the morning — low 50s, but it rained. The two Kens helped Jim put new batteries aboard Solitaire. Linda and Joy went shopping. In the afternoon we got the call that we have been waiting for. The dinghy motor has been repaired and will be delivered tomorrow morning at 8:30. We’ll get the dinghy aboard; get fuel, water, and a pump-out; and be underway by noon. (Knock on wood)

Daytona to Titusville. This had to be among the most boring days of the trip so far. The current was against us all day. (How is that possible?) The scenery was sparse, albeit, there were a few interesting places. For most of the trip, there was little to see but broad expanses of shoal water and low marsh lands. Although, the Florida ICW is better dredged and wider than further north making steering easier, we still had to hand steer all of the way. Note for the future: This is a good area to go outside.
There are many good anchorages around Titusville, and we did find an excellent one directly off of NASA’s Cape Kennedy complex and the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB, see banner photo). When it was built in the late 1960s, this was the largest building in the world (in terms of interior volume).
We are told that this is an excellent anchorage from which to witness space launches. Unfortunately, there are no launches scheduled this week, and no shuttle launches scheduled for a month. Maybe, we’ll be able to see them from further south.
We learned that fellow Selene 43 owners, Linda and Cory (Live Wire II) are anchored about 500 yards from us, but we can’t see them because of the causeway in between. We’ll investigate tomorrow.
Ken and Joy (Slow Dancin’), friends from Herrington Harbour North are about a day behind us. We plan to meet up with them on Saturday in Vero Beach.
For our friends up north, our high and low temperatures were 81 and 70. It was overcast most of the day, but no rain. It is supposed to cool off a little tomorrow.

We cruised from St. Augustine to Daytona, where we stayed at the Halifax River Yacht Club, guest of Carl and Susan’s friends and neighbors Ben and Marilyn. The trip was mostly through long, straight, narrow channels, but wider and deeper than those we experienced in North and South Carolina. Carl and his friend Vito picked us up, and we had dinner and spent the night at Carl and Susan’s beautiful home.
On Sunday, the four of us went to a Classic Car Show. Carl is interested in buying a Street Rod. We came back to Escapade, lounged around, read and took naps and, later, had drinks and appetizers on board Escapade when Ben and Marilyn arrived. We enjoyed dinner with them at the Yacht Club bar.
On Monday, we hung around, did a few errands and chores, and took naps. What a delightful day. This is what Ken wants to do when he retires!
For those interested in our weather; It was a bit cooler on Saturday, with Highs and Lows of 68 and 53, skies were overcast with no rain. Sunday was a beautiful clear day with a high of 76 and a low of 45. Monday, the high was 74 and the low was 65 with a few afternoon drizzles. We’ll be leaving for ports further south in the morning.

Our month in St. Marys was fun. We visited both Linda’s and Ken’s families. We thoroughly enjoyed all the activities and camaraderie of the Cruiser’s Thanksgiving, and met a lot of friends, both new and old. And it is good to be underway again.
The trip from St. Marys to St. Augustine was a long day. We had considered going outside but wanted to visit friends in Daytona (the Daytona inlet is not good) and the winds were blowing from the south — wrong direction. We traveled with Slow Dancin’–friends Ken and Joy from years ago at Herrington Harbour–and enjoyed the trip. The St. Johns river was a little squirrely, but we really enjoyed looking at the homes and their docks along the ICW, especially Palm Valley. Once moored, we had drinks, pleasant conversation, and dinner with Ken and Joy.
The Florida ICW (so far) is considerably wider and deeper than the portions from the Chesapeake to St. Marys, making it much easier on the helmsman. For those of you in the northeast, our high/low temperatures were 81 and 57. We had a mainly overcast day with a few light sprinkles in the mid-afternoon.

Out longest sail of the trip (From Beaufort, SC to Cumberland Island, Ga) was immediately followed by our second shortest. We are now anchored St. Marys Harbor awaiting a slip, which has been promised for Monday. It is nice to just relax. When we arrived, the current was from the east and the wind was strong from the west. Boats were lying in every direction depending on how much they were influenced by the wind and the current. A boat dragged into another on a mooring. Levity couldn’t deal with it and moved to the town dock. Later everything calmed down.
Sunday, October 24, Day 28: Everything is calm now and we enjoyed being on the hook. Levity re-anchored and we had lunch together aboard Escapade. Later, we went to town and enjoyed the Halloween decorations of the local businesses.
Monday, October 25, Day 29 through Wednesday, October 27, Day 31: We remained at anchor while Nat (Lang’s Marina) tried to arrange a slip. The weather was hot and humid with daytime highs approaching 90. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, Lang’s found us a mooring and we moved there, tied-up, and plugged in. During the day, we went to Cumberland Island.
Thursday, October 28, Day 32 through Sunday, October 31, Day 35: On Thursday we took a trip with Bill and Rosemary (Levity) to the West Marine in Jacksonville and had lunch at Jacksonville Landing. Friday we attended the “unofficial” yacht club breakfast where cruisers get together every week to meet each other and talk–no agenda. There’s also an official yacht club that meets on an old houseboat in the “basin” every Saturday evening. In the evening, we attended the St. Marys Haunted History Tour where local folks acted out ghostly stories at various haunts in the historical town.
On Saturday, Smokey departed this world. (See Story) I am sure that she is in a better place, but we will miss you, Smokey. Rest in Peace.
Monday, November 1, Day 36 through Thursday, November 4, Day 39: Linda left for Sarasota to visit her mom. Ken did the needed periodic maintenance including changing the fuel oil filters on the gen-set and the lube-oil for the main engine. He also replaced the Bullet (WiFi amplifier). During this week, they were filming “Eye of the Hurricane” (working title, see right) in St. Marys.
Friday, November 5, Day 40 through Wednesday, November 10, Day 45: On Friday, Ken joined Linda in Sarasota for the Barker family reunion and Winnie’s (Linda’s mom) 106th birthday celebration. Linda stayed on until Wednesday. Ken left on Monday to visit friends Jim and Nancy in Vero Beach.
Thursday, November 11, Day 46 through Wednesday, November 17, Day 52: We are ready to leave — too long in one place, but a few things prevent us from leaving. We have to stick with our original plan. Thursday and Friday we looked around Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine as potential places to move. We felt that they were too crowded. Saturday, we went to the St. Marys Yacht Club Party. Sunday, we just hung out all day. Linda scrubbed the boat. On Monday we visited a home builder to understand the cost of building in St. Marys, and drove to Brunswick to look at housing. Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning we visited Ken’s dad in Leesburg.
Friday, November 18, Day 53 through Thursday, November 25, 2010 (Thanksgiving Day) Day 60: On Friday, we attended the “unofficial yacht club” breakfast. On Saturday, Linda went to the “Official Yacht Club” cookout and ran into an old American Express colleague, Maryanne. On Monday, Tim and Susan (Whaleback) and Ken and Joy (Slow Dancin’), both friends from Herrington Harbour North, joined us in St. Marys. Tuesday: Linda took some cruisers to the airport in Jacksonville and shopped. Ken and Joy rafted with Escapade. There was another cruisers cocktail party. Bob and Maryanne joined us aboard Escapade for late snacks. On Wednesday, Thanksgiving activities went into high gear. We started the morning with the daily Turkey-net, followed by a seminar about anchoring in Florida. In the afternoon there was a Painkiller party, then an oyster roast. On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, We attended a seminar on anchoring in the Bahamas in the morning, followed by the cruisers Thanksgiving dinner. There was over a hundred boats, and we heard, 270 people including locals. We had a great time with lots of fun conversations. Later we visited Maryanne and Bob, and dropped off our cars for storage. Linda washed the decks. Ken prepared the engine room. We are ready to go. While necessary and fun, we’ve been in one place tied to a dock too long. It is time to move south.