November 10th, Monday .... Ft. Pierce, Florida


I slept like a log and was back in true form by 7:30 am. Kathy decided that we were going to do nothing today and for the most part that's what happened. I read a book that "Veranda" had slid our way last summer. I also logged into Cruiseheimers again today but didn't seem to have as good a signal as yesterday. Propagation was not so good but I am not as sure that we have fixed the problem. I worked on the ground plane a little, attaching our foil ground to the dynaplate (I know I've lost a few of you...sorry) and hope to improve on our transmissions. Time will tell if we are making progress.

Tomorrow we will move a couple of hours north to Vero Beach for a few weeks of boat work, bus rides, provisioning, and visiting friends before moving toward the Bahamas again.


November 8 & 9th.... Cumberland Island, GA to Fort Pierce, FL

Sapphire and Fine Lion were underway at daylight, which these days is about 6:15, and made our way out of the Fernandina Inlet. We had wind enough for sailing for a few hours but all too soon were forced to motor sail as it clocked to the north. Once again the seas were very moderate with waves in the 2 foot range.

We set a way point off Cape Canaveral 150 miles away and got out our books.

As a few of you are aware, our new SSB radio has never really worked as it should. One of my tasks in the next month here in the States is to get it working up to speed. We have been able to receive, but when transmitting we've always had a very week signal forcing others to relay messages for us.

One of the possible problem areas is the connection between the antenna and the tuner which is on the deck and in the weather. On our trip down from Charleston the water was so quiet that I could work on deck and spent some time tearing apart that connection. Our antenna is actually inside a line which is stretched to the top of our mast using a spare halyard. The core of a � inch braided rope was removed and the antenna wire inserted. The connection at the base of the rope is made by a small plug which is then slid into the rope.

To check things out I had to open a spot in the braided line and work the plug back through. In the process, the end of the plug attached to the antenna came off. After further investigation it was apparent that the plug had never been properly attached. It had been stuck on but someone failed to crimp the plug to the wire.

It took about 10 minutes to fix the problem and get the plug inserted back in the braided line.

To test the transmission side of the radio we had to wait until 8:30 to log into Cruiseheimers which is a loosely knit group of cruisers who keep track of each other via SSB or Ham. I went down and to the Nav station, dialed in the right frequency, and when they got the section asking for vessels underway, logged in without a problem.

Maybe we have things right. A few more tests and we'll know for sure.

Our afternoon was spent listening to the Michigan State Football game and then the Iowa Penn State game. Iowa picked the wrong day for us to pull an upset out of their collective butts... but even at 9 and 3 the Spartans should go to a real bowl game.

The moon was out during the night which is always nice... even though it makes things harder to see. As we approached Cape Canaveral I came on watch after resting for a few hours to see two lights quite close on our starboard side. Kathy didn't know if they were moving or anchored but seemed to be keeping their distance.

As the hours went by and the two light grew closer, I realized that we were not looking at ships at sea but at launch pads on shore.

Before daylight, rounding the Cape, the wind picked up from the north and we were out far enough that the Gulf Stream was affecting us as well. The opposing forces of north bound current and south bound wind make the seas pile up into square choppy waves of considerable height and for a few hours we were in the middle of things. As soon as we rounded the Cape and got out of the edge of the Gulf Stream, the seas calmed down although they still rolled us around all the way to Fort Pierce 56 miles further down the road.

We arrived and were anchored in Fort Pierce at about 2 pm. after a 32 hour trip.

"Fine Lion" went to shore to scout out possible diner sites... but their report was not exciting so we decided to whip up some collective hors d'oevres and call it good. We are heading north to Vero Beach from here while they push on to Bahamas. Steve and Kim have been great folks to travel with and we look forward to finding them again in the winter.