southbound
12 December 2010 | West Palm Beach
Gary, 75 and sunny
St. Augustine is a great stop. You can still anchor in a few spots but the primary anchorage is now a municipal mooring field 20$/nite, includes dingy dock and hot showers. With watermaker down, the hot long showers beat the limited-water style we employ when in water conservation mode as we are now. Friends up north should be happy to know we lived in snowmobile suits for almost a week. The run south to West Palm (Lake Worth) was on the inside, not our preferred route, but tolerable while we sort out the wind direction/speed indicator the seems to have developed a fever. Works, then doesnt. Give it a rest, works then doesnt. All wires tested at correct voltage, did repeated calibrations and finally yanked it out and mailed it to Raymarine for warranty repair.So, without knowing wind speed and direction, the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean with breaking seas at the inlet did not look too inviting despite the fact we were ready to endure. A quick uturn and down the ditch we came. Two days ago we removed the water maker from its sick location which requires a 2 man Twister team combined with mirrors and flashlight to see around corners to find the many hose and electrical connections. Lisa, being a dental hygentist is remarkably proficient working backwards and upside down while looking into a 3 inch mirror. Wont bore u with the details but suffice to say the 6 hr. job to replace all the O-rings and seals in the watermaker, reassemble, then reinstall unit back to said sick location, then reconnect all wires and hoses upside down and backwards using said mirror went flawlessly except for one small detail. Unit does not now work at all. Seems a pinhole leak in the tiny little 1/4 hose that has to hold up to 900 lb. psi may be the culprit. We cant find its name in the manual so to us it is the "magic tube". So tomorrow we take the bikes and look for that little part and retest. Day in the life....but all good cuz we're here, anchored, settled, have bikes and dingy dock priviledges at the West Palm Beach Sailing Club. Friends Marty and Cal on Carpe Vita are here and yesterday took us out for a great sail. Walked down to the Saturday morning "farmers market" in West Palm and I must say I have never seen such an upscale market anywhere. The route from St. Augustine was long and cold but uneventful with overnite stops in Rockhouse Creek, Ponce DeLeon, Melborne and Ft. Pierce. the highlites were that it warmed up to 50 by 2pm and we saw a rocket launch as we passed Cape Canaveral. The mission for today is take bikes to shore, find a sports bar within 20 miles to catch some of the Bills game, Go Bills, then meet up with Dad and Arlene who live about 15 miles north of our location. Cold front tonite with take us back to freezing morning temps. by Tuesday. Snow suites and down blanket at the ready. I thought it was warm in Florida. Will get fishing license and report on the Snook. Lisa sez hi.