Brilliant's Log 1-10.

Various boat and health issue made for a rather dismal year of cruising for Brilliant's crew. But we did manage to get away from the dock a couple of times. It was certainly not what we had planned on for 2010 season. After spending the winter at NAS Jacksonville, we got away on March 7th and headed south.

Here is a summary.


7 March, NAS Jacksonville to Pine Island

Departed NAS Jacksonville 0745. Finally away from the dock! Stopped for fuel at the River City Brewery Marina. 45 Gal diesel @2.80 and 5 Gal gas @3.20 (no ethanol). Very light wind motored down the St. Johns to the ICW then motored to Pine Island (about 10 NM north of St. Augustine).

Log 46 NM


8 March 2010, Pine Island to Daytona Beach

Long day of motoring in very calm conditions. Anchored just north of Daytona Beach at the Seabreeze Bridge.

Log 56 NM


9 March 2010; Daytona Beach to Titusville.

Another zero wind day. Had trouble near Mantanzas inlet. Hard bump on a shoal at full speed with the jib up... ouch! Took a bit of maneuvering to work our way around the shoal. We had a great passage through the Mesquito Lagoon. 20 miles of amazing bird life and views of Cape Canaveral. Arrived at Titusville and anchored north of the bridge. Good spot to anchor after a long day. We did not get ashore.

Log 43 NM


9 March 2010, Titusville to Melbourne

Beautiful morning zero wind. Lots of birds and dolphins along the way. Wind from the south started picking up in the afternoon. On the nose of course. We motored 5 NM south of the Melbourne causeway hoping to anchor behind a small island, but it was a bit too shallow for us. So we turned back to the north and had a super sail for the hour it took to return to the Melbourne causeway where we anchored for the night.

Log 47 NM

Sea Gulls in our wake south of Melbourne

10 March 2010, Melbourne to Vero Beach

The winds came up during the night. In the morning we discovered our anchor had dragged during maybe 50'. With that news we quickly got underway at a bit after 0800. Boy are we tired of the Delta anchor dragging. Wind was forecast for 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 kts from the south (on the nose) with thunderstorms in the coming through in the afternoon. What we got was steady wind on the nose that increased to a steady 20 with gusts to 30 kts. Along the way we passed "Curiuse" and "Cats Cradle" two boats we know heading in the opposite direction. We waved, then chatted on the VHF as we continued on our way. About an hour and a half out of Vero Beach USCG reported a severe thunderstorm warning with a high wind alert from Melbourne down to Sebastian Inlet. We were just passing by Sebastian so decided the press on for Vero Beach. The winds were getting serious and the storm was threatening as we arrived at the Vero Beach City Marina and took a mooring. We were safe and secure when the storm arrived. One of the strongest cells hit us around 1700 very with heavy rain (we filled our water tanks in 15 minutes) and wind gusts up to 43 kts by our indicator. Our mooring held fine; and we rode the storm well. Our main concern were the boats that were heading north into the worst of the storm. We hoped our friends going north were OK. The only casualty was our wind generator, in a strong gust we hear it make a funny noise. It turned out an over speed had fried its circuit board. Nothing money won't fix. Basically a very nasty weather day.

Log 30NM


11-15 March 2010 Vero Beach

Spent almost a week at Vero Beach. Walking on the beach, taking care of minor boat projects and just catching our breaths as we relaxed in on a safe mooring.

Log 0NM


16 March 2010 Vero Beach to Stuart Florida. Easy motor with the current to Stuart Florida. Took a mooring at the Sunset Bay Marina.

Log 38 NM

16-23 March 2010 Stuart Florida

A Cruisers BBQ, Pete & Stephanie with Bill, s/v "Myosotis"; Jage, s/v "Simplicity"; Don and Maryann, s/v "Straight from the Heart"

We had a very good week in Stuart. Met up with some cruisers we hadn't seen in quite awhile. It was a good week that reminded us of why we are full time cruisers.

Log 0 NM


24 March 2010, Stuart to Vero

Uneventful motor to Vero Beach. Greeted by Barbara Ann and Harry from s/v"Our Dream" and George and Kim s/v"Adagio". Filled the diesel; 45 gals at $3.33 per, OUCH.

Log 38 NM



25 March 2010, Vero Beach

Spent two nights on a municipal marina mooring. Had a lovely SSCA Cruisers Breakfast at a local restaurant that's on the free bus route.

Log 0 NM


26 March 2010 Vero Beach to Eau Galle

Motored to Eau Galle and anchored north of the Mathers Bridge, just past Dragon Point.

Log 34 NM

Tern AICW

27 March 2010 Eau Galle to Titusville


Motored for two hours then set the sails as the wind filled in. Hoorah! Wind veered NE to ESE finished on a broad reach with 15-20kts. Had a good sail once comfortably reefed. Anchored north of the Titusville causeway and enjoyed a quiet night. Still didn't get ashore in Titusville... maybe next time.

Log 32 NM


28 March 2010, Titusville to Daytona Beach.


Another blustery day, but following winds helped us make good time with a reefed jib. Arrived at Seabreeze moments before threatened thunderstorms arrived.

Log 44 NM


29 March 2010, Daytona Beach to St. Augustine

A nasty morning greeted us, with rain and thunderstorms. We hauled the anchor and got underway at first light with VERY low visibility. Slowly the weather cleared through the morning. It seemed that we manage to catch all the tides right and the currents were working for us; we made very good time. Our concerns about going past Mantanzas Inlet again (where we grounded coming south) were unwarned as we made our way safely around the shoals at G81C. We made it to St. Augustine in time for the 1430 Bridge of Lions opening and anchored north of the bridge. Bridge is closing for the next week, so really needed to make it though today.

Log 44 NM


30 March 2010, St. Augustine

We spent a lovely day in St. Augustine, one of our favorite cities. Found a great little Cuban restaurant off the main street for lunch.

Log 0 NM


31 March 2010, St. Augustine to Blount Island

An unevent motor over a very familiar ICW water. We decide to anchor at Blount Island, just off the main channel on the St. Johns river for the night.

Log 45 NM


1 April 2010, Blount Island to Jacksonville Landing


We rode the flood tide to Jax Landing and decided tie up to a free docks in downtown Jacksonville. It's kind of fun talking to people walking along the waterfront and answering their questions about cruising.

Log 14 NM


2 April 2010, Jacksonville Landing to the Ortega River

Waited for the flood tide and motored to the Ortega River. We made our way to Sadler's Point Marina where we'll leave the boat while we take our annual trip to the west coast to visit family.

Log 4 NM