This will probably be our last Blog Entry before we leave
for the Bahamas. It covers our stay in Vero Beach (7 days on a mooring ball and
three days in a slip), including our penultimate provisioning runs, and our
stay in North Palm Beach while we waited for a weather window. After we get to
the Bahamas it will probably take us at least three or four days to get to
Marsh Harbor and find a decent wi-fi connection. I say at “at least,” because,
if everything works out right, we may take an extra day or two and visit some
of the northeastern islands that we haven’t yet visited (a couple of them are
supposed to have good local restaurants). I am telling you all this so if we
appear to have disappeared from the face of the earth, you will know that we
are alive and well living on rum and lobster on some remote Bahamian cay.
Vero Beach
Some of you may remember that Vero Beach has a very nice
mooring field. It is nice because it is well protected from the wind, has good,
strong mooring tackle and costs only $13.87 per day!!! When we arrived the wind
was blowing pretty hard so we tried some of our new mooring techniques. We did
okay, but we need to take our new techniques back to the drawing board. We
intended to stay on the ball for ten days, so we drank a toast, and as we clinked
our glasses we swore not to use too much water, electricity or anything else
for which we might need a marina. It didn’t quite work out the way we planned –
but more about that later.
On 22 November we rented a car and headed to Patrick Air
Force Base so we could visit the commissary and Base Exchange. I think Patrick
is the only military base of any size in central Florida and we weren’t the
only retirees who decided to visit the Commissary on the Friday before
Thanksgiving. I have never seen one so crowded. Anyway, we filed up our grocery
carts – to the tune of about half-of-a-Boat Unit, loaded our rental car and
headed home. We got staples that every cook like Ann needs in her galley and
every eater like Mike needs to have in his chef’s galley!), as well as various
items that are very expensive or difficult to find in the Bahamas. We weren’t
finished, however. Before we got to the boat we hit West Marine pretty hard,
too. We spent a little bit less than there, but not much. The good thing was
this was going to last us for the next several weeks.
I know those of you in Virginia have had some bad weather
while we were down here and folks in other parts of the country have had it
even worse. I just want you to know that we’ve had bad weather, too. It must
have rained for five of the ten days we were in Vero. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t
snow and maybe it was 65-75 degrees most of the time, but we didn’t have it
perfect. In fact … I know you are going to feel sorry for us once I tell you
this … on Thanksgiving Day I actually had to turn on the heater AND get my long
pants out of the closet!!! Yes, for about two hours on Thursday morning it was under 50 degrees Brrr! Ok, so maybe it
warmed up later in the day – to the point where we were very comfortable eating
our Thanksgiving dinner outside – but for one brief un-shiny moment it was cold
in Vero Beach Florida!
Maintenance on the
Mooring Ball
On about day 3 we decided to try all the air conditioners to
make sure they still worked. One of them, of course, did not; it would have
been too much to hope for all of them to work. So, we found a repairman, called
him and told him we suspected it was the R-22 refrigerant. He came, looked,
fixed a leak, put in the refrigerant and everything seemed to work. (I know, I
know, I should have kept you in suspense as to whether it really worked or not
… and here, by saying “it appeared” to work I have given away the conclusion.
But I have more …)
On about day 5 we decided to go ahead and “unpickle” our
watermaker and make a little bit of water. Watermaker membranes are fairly
sensitive in that you have to keep them moist all the time. You can make water with
them every few days, but if you don’t need water that is kind of a waste, or
you can run fresh water through them – but that’s squandering fresh water. The
alternative is to put a pickling solution in the system. This solution keeps
the membrane moist and kills any germs that might want to grow. We pickled ours
last spring. Anyway, when we unpickled it we found out that our watermaker was
on the fritz. I got hold of the same repairman who had helped with our air
conditioner and he came over and helped me re-prime our watermaker.
I know you are all thinking, “Wow, it sure was a good thing
you got all that stuff fixed before you went to the Bahamas!” Not so fast,
folks. The next day I tried to start the watermaker again. It didn’t work.
Since our efforts to start it had used quite a bit of our fresh water supply to
prime the pump, and since it was very loud with the generator running and
almost impossible to hear when the watermaker pump clicked on, we decided to
get a slip before trying to re-prime the pump again. We got into the slip
(about which, more below) and sure enough, the pump wouldn’t turn on, even when
it had been primed. Moreover, you remember that air conditioner? It didn’t work
either. It seems the repairman we called had a magic touch … as long as he was
on the boat. As soon as he left … wham! Things were back to not-working. AARGH!
It is enough to make a man angry!
Pulling into the slip was not as easy as it should have
been. There were three things that caused a problem. First, it was still very
windy – and as I have explained before we have quite a bit of surface area on
the boat which, in the face of a lot of wind, wants to turn the boat in
directions other than those which I want it to turn. Second, when there is a
strong current in the same direction as the wind, this can make the problem twice
as difficult. And finally, when the fairway is only 60’ wide a 52’ boat does not
have much room to be moved around by wind and current before she hits
something. Well, after starting in to the slip twice and feeling the current
take me both times, I decided the only way in was to apply a little more power.
And power did the trick – almost. In the event, our bowsprit kissed the piling
and rubbed the paint and gelcoat off. (The gelcoat is the plastic-like
substance that covers the fiberglass and on which the paint is applied.) I now
have to fix that as well. <Deep Wistful Sigh>
Oh! And one more thing. I finally yielded to myself (I have
been having a discussion with myself for nearly a year) and bought a new
anchor. It is the same kind of anchor (called a Bruce or Claw), but it is 110
pounds as opposed to the old one at 66 pounds. Assuming it works as it should,
I will sleep better at night. We are going to take the old anchor with us and
probably sell it when we get back to the Chesapeake next summer.
Oh and one more thing (on a boat, there is always one more
thing). At Vero Beach, a few days before Thanksgiving I lost a crown from one
of my teeth. We have found a dentist in North Palm and I have an appointment to
get it fixed first thing on Monday
morning.
So, for those of you who were keeping track, we have five
tasks to accomplish when we get to Palm Beach
·
Have the air conditioner fixed
·
Have the watermaker fixed
·
Fix the gelcoat on the bowsprit
·
Have the head fixed (I know I haven’t mentioned
that, but seawater is not flowing into the toilet bowl the way it should.)
·
Replace the anchor
·
Get crown fixed.
One of the reasons we went to Vero Beach in the first place
was to celebrate Thanksgiving with other cruisers. We had heard that the Power
Squadron at Vero bought and cooked a bunch of turkey and ham and invited
cruisers to bring a side dish and join the festivities. I am guessing we had
Thanksgiving with 150, or so, of our soon-to-become best friends. For our side
dish I convinced Ann to make macaroni and cheese. We enjoyed the meal and the
opportunity to meet other folks. We ate with Russ and Lori from Ortolan. We had met and had them over
for drinks when we were all at the Marineland Marina. We also had dinner with
Jeff and Debbie on SeaSparrow. We had
met them, too, at Marineland while they were waiting for the paperwork from
Nassau so they could take their dog with them to the Bahamas.
North Palm Beach
I was going to write more, but it looks like we will be on
our way tomorrow. We have accomplished almost everything we wanted to get done
and there aren’t any good reasons for staying here and spending money.
Moreover, the weather forecast – which initially showed Saturday as a much
better day for crossing – has changed. Now, any day between tomorrow and Sunday
are forecast to be just about the same (the difference between 2-3 foot seas
and 2-4 foot seas). After three days here at North Palm, here is the status of
our “to do” list:
ü
Have the air conditioner fixed. It turns out
that our previous repairman forgot to tighten one of the fittings on the line,
which let the R-22 out.
ü
Have the watermaker fixed. There seem to have
been a several things that were not working as they should have been. The high
pressure gauge and switch have been replaced and the “start capacitor”
(whatever that is) has now been replaced. Also, I have learned that we can add
another membrane and double the output of out watermaker! (Maybe a project for
next year.)
ü
Have the head fixed. Apparently a bunch of “sea
stuff" (barnacles, etc.) made their way into the hoses leading to the toilet. We
have cleaned that out and have added a strainer so it doesn’t happen again.
ü
Replace the anchor. The anchor is just a little
too big for the slot into which it is supposed to fit. We are going to have to
make a few changes in our anchoring process.
ü
Get crown re-glued. Done. Apparently, I have a
small cavity next to the crown that can violate the integrity of the attachment.
I’ll have to get it fixed better in the future, but it will work for now.
·
Fix the gelcoat on the bowsprit. I will work on
the bowsprit later today, but I can also work on it when we get to Marsh
Harbor.
Ann’s Notes: My part of this blog
is going to be short…it is 8:45 PM and Michael wants to get this out before
going to bed…AND…it has been a very busy day for the both of us. So many
details to get done and so little time. I spend most of the day helping the
local pharmacist at the CVS through the maze of Tricare refills. I brought the
refills in the morning when it was light out and biking was not the problem. I
picked up said refills at 7:30 PM and it was very dark while riding the bike. The
good news is we have our refills and should be good for a few extra months.
Our Thanksgiving at Vero Beach was
a lot of fun, our table did lots of laughing and we made some more friends. A
few were just voices over the radio and now we have a face to put with the
voice.
I have to tell you that Michael
more than `kisses` piling, he really is such a great captain so when things go
wrong, I really don`t know what to do. I do, however know that my boat pole or
hands will not stop our boat from `Kissing` a piling so I just have to let it
happen.
The one thing that Michael did not
mention on the day that several items stopped working all at once was…our fresh
water hoses sprung a leak. After several rolls of `rescue tape` that failed to
work, we finally cut the leaking part of the hose and spliced a new section of
hose. We are actually getting pretty good at this since we have done it more
than once.
I had a few important items on my
list for our Palm Beach stay…really girlie ones. I got my hair cut…short and
had a pedicure. I feel like a girl again.
Just one more thing before the
wildlife count and quotes…
The new anchor is HEAVY !!! I will tell you more about that in the next
blog.
Wildlife Count
Thursday 19 Nov 2013
·
2 Dolphins playing for about five minuets…jumping
and showing off
·
Set of 2 dolphins 2x
·
6 single
·
Mom and baby playing on the side of the boat
·
Pod of 6
·
2 Big boy playing at the bow
Sunday 24 Nov 2013
·
Dolphins in the mooring field
·
Pelicans
diving and catching fish
Friday 23 Nov 2013
·
3 Dolphins playing at the bow
·
1 Single
·
3 Playing on the side of the boat
·
Set of 2 dolphins x 2
Quotes from the Water Way
(in this case the shower next
door, a little boy, Franklin, with his mom)
In a little boy voice…no real tune,
just a sing-song tone…
`I live on a boat…mom
said I smell like a goat…
Need to take a
shower…
Hope I get a snack…
Want to go swimming…Where`s
Dad?
There were several
more verses and they all made me smile
Traveling Soul….OUT
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