Monday, February 15, 2016

Brunswick to Vero Beach 2016

Thursday, January 21 thru Friday, January 29, 2016

We flew back to Brunswick on Thursday, January 21.  We spent the next week getting the boat ready for this year’s trip, provisioning and finishing several projects.  We had shipped some stuff to Brunswick including materials for a new antenna for the cell booster and a new 2 person inflatable kayak. 

Outbound is also here (Steve and Deb).  We had dinner with them on Saturday at a new place called Southern Table in Brunswick. We had dinner there when we were here last November and the food is excellent. They left on Monday, January 25, headed to Miami to meet friends.  They then plan to cross over to the Bahamas.

Wild Goose is in the slip next to us, Rich and Linda.  They have been traveling the Caribbean and the west coast.  They are staying in Brunswick until May.  We went to dinner with them at BJs in Darien (best shrimp in Georgia). Very enjoyable.

On Friday, the weather has cleared, the boat is loaded and fueled and the rental car returned.

Saturday, January 30, 2016.  Off the dock at 9:45am.  Linda and Rich are there to help us off the dock.  It is sunny and 60 degrees, no wind.  At 10:45am we are entering Jekyll Creek.  The jetty we ran up on in 2012 is here.  It is underwater, as it was in 2012, and the tide is running hard, but we manage to make it past and through the creek at Jekyll Island. 

At noon, we are south of Jekyll Island and the wind is still calm and it is sunny.  At 1:30pm we are at Cumberland Dividings.  This area has been a problem because of the changing channel.  It has now been remarked and we passed easily.  High clouds, wind south at 5.  We have had a fair tide since entering Jekyll Creek.  We continue to have a tidal push the rest of the day.

We managed to aground in the mud at the entrance to the Fort George River.  You should be very close to the red marker and the south shore where the deep water is.

Anchor down in the Fort George River by Kingsley Plantation at 6:10pm. Clear and cool 55 degrees.  60SM 48NM today.  MM 735.  36°26.61’N  081°26.51’W

Sunday, January 31, 2016. Anchor up at 8:30am. Cold, 45 degrees. Very chilly overnight.  Hazy sun, a little wind from the north. Fisherman are out in small boats – brrrrrrrrr.  Sisters creek bridge at 9:15am. New bridge about half done.  St. Johns river at 9:30am.

New warship at the shipyard, a trimaran that looks like something out of Star Wars – our tax dollars at work. 

It is dead low tide, so hopefully we will have a tidal push as tide comes in.  2:30pm, we are at the Bridge of Lyons in St. Augustine.  We had a nice tidal push all the way from Jacksonville.  On the dock at Rivers’ Edge Marina at 3:30pm.  Greenstone (Bob and Judy) is here with guests (Matt and Jeff).  Saber Tooth is here also (John and Nora).  Dinner at O.C. Smith’s on the waterfront with the group.  Very nice evening.  49SM, 41NM, MM780. 29°53.13’N, 081°19.37’W

Monday, February 1, 2016.  Beautiful morning, cool but sunny and bright. Today we gave the boat a bath, and we got showers, too. We cleaned and waterproofed the dodger and bimini.  Worked on the never ending list of boat chores and projects.  The knot meter is still not working, even though the sending unit was replaced in Brunswick.  Phil, from First Coast Marine Services, who had done the original replacement, drove to St. Augustine.  He arrived at 3:30 and worked until 7 trying to get it working.  In the process, three sending units later, we discovered that the control head was bad and was shorting out the sending unit.  I will order a new control head tomorrow.  There is a guy on ebay that reconditions these things at about ½ the price as Raymarine.  I have already ordered a control head for the auto pilot from him.

We had dinner with John and Nora (Saber Tooth) at Hurricane Patty’s.  The place has a new owner and has had a facelift. The food is still good. Nice evening.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016. We put another coat of waterproofing on all the canvas. Nora and Lisa went shopping.  We walked over to the farmers’ market next door for fresh fruits and vegies.  Installed a new fresh air blower for the diesel (the old one “screams” when you turn it on). Also installed new hinges on the hatch cover for the engine.  This cover is also the stairs leading from the cockpit to the main cabin (aka companionway).  The new ones sent from Catalina are a tiny bit smaller than the originals (one broke, hence the replacements), so what should have been a straightforward replacement turned into a two hour job of trying to make them “fit”.

Greenstone (Bob and Judy) and Guests (Matt and Jeff), Saber Tooth (John and Nora) and Lisa and I went to Pizzalies in old town St. Augustine for dinner.  If you have ever walked through old town, you know Pazzalies.  They always have someone out front with pizza samples.  Lisa and I split a dinner of veal marsala (marvelous).  Afterward, we went to Café del Hidalgo for gelato.  MMMMMMMMMMMMM!  A good time was had by all.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016.  Off the dock at 10:30am (low tide).  We waited until now to leave because Saber Tooth’s stern was to the current and they could not back out of the slip until slack tide.  Greenstone is also off the dock and we all begin the trek farther south.  Beautiful morning – 78 degrees, mostly sunny, wind SE @ 10-15.  11:30am there is a strong wind from the SE (20+ kts) and the current is on our nose, so it is slow going and we are burning more fuel than usual.  1pm we pass Matanzas Inlet, but the tide is still running against us.  2pm, winds gusting to 30.  5:30 pm, anchor down just north of the Seabreeze Bridge in Daytona.  We fought wind and current all day – making up for the favorable wind and tide on Sunday.  51SM, 41NM, MM829.  29°14.09’N  081°01.40’N.  This is a very noisy spot (traffic on the bridge, trains, music from the club across the waterway, sirens). Our tachometer has quit working again and we only hear faint signals and static on the vhf.  There is also a sunken boat in this anchorage that was not here last time we passed through.

Thursday, February 4, 2016. Up early.  Wind died over night.  We put 20 gallons of fuel in the tank from the jerry cans we are carrying.  Not only is the vhf still acting up, one of the portable hand-held microphones (aka WHAMx4) is dead.  When we try to charge the battery on the mic, nothing happens.  Put in a new lithium battery, still nothing.  Good thing we have a portable vhf radio as a spare.  Tach still not working.

The anchor is up at 8:30am. We pass through the Main St. Bridge at 8:45 and Memorial Bridge at 9am.  By 9:30, the wind is freshening.  By 9:45, it is 25+ right on our nose.  We tried to use the spare WHAMx$ mic and it seems to be working, but reception is sporadic.  10am Ponce de Leon Inlet and no issues getting past this section of shinny water.  10:40am, Greenstone, who is leading the group, is aground by the infamous “red/green” south of the George Munson (ala Coronado Beach) Bridge in New Smyrna.  It is low tide. Several power vessels, including the Coast Guard, pass her by, but none assist.  Finally, Greenstone is free after using all the crew (Judy, Matt and Jeff) on the rail to tip her a bit to port.  Saber Tooth (who draws 7 feet – maybe a bit more fully loaded like she is now) elects to wait for the tide to rise a bit and will meet us in Titusville.12:30pm, past the bridge and into Mosquito Lagoon. Wind still 10-15 from the south and there is still a strong current on our nose.  Normally, there is little current here, but the strong south wind for the past 3 days creates a “wind tide”, where the wind is driving the water to the north.  It has been cloudy all day and there is a line of thunderstorms on the radar to our west.  At 5pm, we are on the gas dock at Titusville Municipal Marina and take on 33 gallons of diesel.  With the storm on the horizon, we decide to stay here tonight, rather than venture farther south to Cocoa.  Saber Tooth makes it in at 6:30pm.  At 7pm, the rain comes.  But at 7:30 it has let up, and the whole group troops over the Sweetwater for their fish tacos.  A walk back to the marina dodging puddles and raindrops and to bed.  Long day.  49SM, 40NM, MM 878.  One scheduled bridge, 3 on request bridges today.  28°37.23’N  080°48.59’W

Friday, February 5, 2016.  Windy, sunny and cold this morning.  We decide to remain here for this round of bad weather.  We will see Lisa’s Uncle George and his wife Bev today, and another uncle (Franny) tomorrow.  We spent some time working on the vhf issue.  Removed the radio from the console at the nav station and checked all connections.  Cleaned and greased the antenna connection at the back of the radio and the base of the mast. Ordered new remote microphones.  Still getting a lot of static.  New antenna should be here tomorrow. 

We made a Walmart run with George and Bev and then had dinner at Dixie Crossroads.  They specialize in “Rock Shrimp” that look like little lobsters and taste very similar also.  Very good!
The Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the restaurant were out of “Smoas”, so we made a donation to the cause anyway.

Saturday, February 6, 2017. Today begins calm and 60 degrees. Saber Tooth and Greenstone leave for Vero Beach. Virginia (Franny’s wife) calls to say he is really not feeling well, so maybe we should skip this visit.  We worked on the Nauticloud (wifi booster) to get it up and running.  The wifi signal in the marina is weak (as many are), so we think this will be a good test.  The unit is all self contained and mounted on the new antenna mast, but when we check it, the waterproof unit has ¼” of water in it – not good.  I called the manufacturer and we got the unit working, but they are sending a new one to Vero and it should be there when we get there.

Dinner on board and a movie – “Perfect Storm”, maybe not the best choice for a boating trip.  Rain started at 5pm and continued all night.

Sunday, February 7, 2016.  Super Bowl Sunday.  Cloudy, cold, wind howling from the north once again.  George and Bev invited us to their house to watch the Super Bowl.  George came by to pick us up.  We made the cream cheese ball, (see below) and cookies.  Bev had a whole variety of food including some excellent pulled pork.  Of course the Patriots are not in the game, but Denver was unstoppable against Carolina.  Maybe this was Peyton’s swan song.  If so, he goes out in style. A very nice day.

Party Spread

4 green onions chopped small
1 4 ounce jar dried beef
1 package cream cheese
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Cream ingredients together.  Chill.  Serve on party rye.


Monday, February 8, 2016.  Off the dock at 7:30am.  Cold, 40 degrees this morning.  Wind West @ 5-10.  No dew. Sunny.

8:40am Nasa Causeway Bridge (aka Addison Point Bridge).  Bridge is have maintenance done and only ½ of the span opens.  A bit tricky getting through.  Also, the bridge tender wanted to wait until there was more than one boat to pass through, so we waited about 40 minutes for an opening. 11:30am already made 30+ miles today. Sunny, cool, 55 degrees, wind west 5-10.  12:45pm Melbourne, wind west 15+, gusting 25+.  Foresail out, making 7+ knots.  Wind gusts coming South to North West, very flukey wind.  4:40pm, turn under Wabasso Bridge (north Vero Beach) and douse the sail.  5:30pm, on the mooring 29 rafted with Seeker (Earl and Kathy).  The mooring field is full, so new boats get to raft up with ones already moored. We met Seeker in Marathon in 2014 and Brunswick in 2015.  There are eleven boats here that we have met in our travels (Autumn Borne, Seeker, Bare Foot’n, Saber Tooth, Greenstone, Summer of 42, Elle and I, Double Exposure, Adventure, Flying Pig, Troika). Nice – like a home coming. 74SM, 59NM today.  MM 952. Long day.  One on request bridge.  27°39.61’N  080°22.30’W
Dinner on board tonight, but Dean and Susan on Autumn Borne come by to say hello.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016. Cold and clear.  40 degrees overnight.  Maybe this really isn’t Florida.  We attend a captains meeting on board Summer of 42.  They may leave tomorrow  if they think there is a weather window to cross to the Bahamas on Friday.

The outboard for the dingy (2-stroke Yamaha 15), which ran great in Brunswick, now refuses to.  It will start, and you can rev it up, but when you put it in gear, it dies.  Changed the plugs, cleaned the carburetor, no change.  Bob (on Greenstone) suggested it might to “sucking air” in with the fuel.  We tried his fuel tank (a genuine Yamaha, as opposed to my “West Marine”).  It runs better, but not a lot.  We tried Bob’s fuel hose and that seemed to make a difference. Earl has a car here, so we trek over to the Yamaha store and get new spark plugs that we are sure are the correct ones, a new fuel hose and a new fuel tank.  We also checked the fuel and it seems ok (no water or junk in it).  Enough for today.

Kathy and Earl come over for dinner (spaghetti).  Nice evening.  Kathy is leaving in the morning to go take care of her elderly mom and give her sister (primary caretaker) a break.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016.  Clear and cold.  38 degrees last night.  Saber Tooth, Greenstone and Summer of 42 depart for Lake Worth and a possible crossing to the Bahamas on Friday. The outboard refuses to run, even after all the new goodies I bought for it.  The carburetor is taken apart one more.  No it is spitting globules of gas out the exhaust.  Time to call an expert.  One Earl’s and Pierre’s (Troika) recommendation, we call Vinnie at Complete Marine Service here in Vero.  He seems to think it is the fuel pump and offers to pick the engine up at the dock in the morning, diagnose the issue(s), and call me.  Sounds like a plan.  The new vhf antenna arrives.  Earl gives me a dingy ride to the marina office to retrieve the stuff we have had shipped here, including the new vhf antenna.

Kintala (Tim and Deb), whom we met in Bimini last year arrive in the harbor.  We met them in the boaters lounge.  Great to see them again.

We have earl to dinner to finish off the left-over spaghetti from last night.  We promised Kathy we would not let him starve in her absence.

Thursday, February 11, 2016.  Another clear morning, but not a cold.  50 degrees this morning,  Joe (C-Note) gives us a dingy tow to the dock. We meet Vinnie on the dock at 8:30.  He tests the gas and declares it ok.  He takes away the motor. We do the laundry, retrieve more parcels from the office and shower.  I walk 2 blocks to the PakMail store and ship the defective Nauticloud back to the manufacturer.  This afternoon is spent replacing the sending unit for the tachometer and making sure all the connections are good.  It seems to be working – keeping fingers crossed.
 Dean and Susan (Autumn Borne) stop by to visit for a bit after lunch. At 4pm there is a sundowner at the north tiki hut.  It is BYOB, and most folks bring a munchy.  We bring our cream cheese Party Spread.  None left at the end.

Friday, February 12, 2016. Hazy and warmer, but still not warm.  Earl comes to breakfast.  Lisa makes eggs, sausage and home fries.  Today we get the new control/display for the knot meter installed, as well as a new control/display for the autopilot.  The LED on the old display is going bad, and you can only see a portion of the readout. The new remote microphones for the vhf radio are programmed and working.  Earl earns his breakfast by helping crank Lisa up the mast on a halyard.  She changes out the vhf antenna at the top of the mast (unfortunately it took two trips up the mast – Earl and I need a nap!  While she is up there she cleans all the bird poop off both sets of spreaders (compliments of the grackles at Brunswick).  The vhf seems to be working great now.  Getting radio checks at 10+ miles and very clear, no static. Vinnie’s guy rick brings our motor back – and it runs!  We borrow a “trolley” (a folding wagon) from Elle and I and head to the hardware store to buy more 1 lb. Propane canisters for our small Mr. Buddy heater.  Then a stop to send off some parcels. We also pick up the larger propane bottle (10 lb.) we had refilled for the stove.

Saturday, February 13, 2016.  A troop of us trek to the beach area to the local farmers’ market (Seeker, Autumn Borne, Double Exposure, Troika and us).  Beautiful morning, but cool (60 degrees) and a bit of a north wind. After visiting the market, we stop at Craving for brunch (great sandwiches, also ice cream and baked goodies).  We meet Girl Scouts selling cookies and stock up on Smoas.  Some shopping along the beach and then a stop at the hardware store.
Dean and Susan come for dinner.  A nice finish to a nice day.

Sunday, February 14, 2016.  Valentines Day.  We spent time today working on the blog, went in to take showers, and then met Stan on the dock at 3.  We are going to he and Judy’s new home here in Vero for dinner.  We first met Stan and Judy at Hawthorne Cove Marina in Salem, MA when Lisa was pregnant with our son James.  James is now 27. Their boat was Rhumb Runner. Jim Brennan, another “old” friend had his boat (Passage West) in the slip next to ours.  We had a very nice evening, the dinner and the company was great, and their new home is lovely.

We received some bad news today.  Lillian Handley, whom I have known as long as Stan and Judy, passed away today.  Many of our favorite recipes came directly or indirectly from her.  She was the mother of Janet, who was married to Jim Bade, who was our best man and best friend.  Jim passed on five years ago.  Another favorite, wonderful person is gone from us. The following was originally published in our blog in 2013.  We’ll reprint it here for your enjoyment.
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Chicken Lillian

2 medium onions
3 ribs of celery
2 bell peppers
2 cloves fresh garlic
½ lb fresh mushrooms (optional)
olive oil
1 stick butter
6-8 pieces of chicken (6-8 thighs or drum sticks or 4 breasts halved)
1 ½ cups sauterne wine (or a nice chardonnay)
chicken stock
rice

I use an 8 quart pot.

Finely chop onions, celery (including tops), peppers, garlic and mushrooms.

Melt one stick of butter (and add at bit of olive oil).  Salt and pepper chicken pieces (usually leaving the skin on).  When the butter is melted brown the chicken until crusty (usually 2-3 pieces at a time). Remove chicken and place on paper towels.

Put all the veggies in a pot and sauté for sauté for 7-8 minutes.  Add wine.  When it comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer.  Put in chicken.  Cook over low heat 45 to 60 minutes.  If more liquid is needed during cooking, add chicken stock to cover.

Serve over rice.  Steamed broccoli or fresh green beans make a great side dish.

Chicken Lillian is named after Lillian Handley, one of our favorite people and Janet Handley’s mom.  Janet gave me the recipe years ago and we have prepared it many times - and we have had this dish prepared by Lillian and Janet as well.   Enjoy!

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Monday, February 15, 2016.  We spent most of today working on this blog.  Sorry it has taken so long to get it caught up.  We had a lovely lunch with Bob and Deb Martin at Sake (great Thai and sushi next door to Mr. Manatee’s).  Deb and Bob sold their boat River House last year and moved ashore.  We met them on our first trip south and really enjoy our time with them.

Clouds looked threatening all day and at 5 pm, the skies open up and it is pouring.  This is supposed to pass by morning.


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