We spent another long, hot day motoring to Titusville City Marina. The last time we were here was in the winter of 2007. After the marina was hit by a hurricane, they rebuilt their docks but otherwise it looks the same. We are pausing here for about 2 weeks.
Don is flying back to Texas and will pick up his car from his mom's house, swing by Houston to see friends and do some business and head east. Why do we need a car, you ask? We are cruisers....we should relish long, hot walks to the grocery store and laundormats!
Well, here's the plan: we plan to head from here to Jacksonville. New friends (Bruce and Gina on Dreamcatcher) we met in the Bahamas had their galley refit by a yard in Jacksonville and were very pleased. So we will head up there and get a quote and see what happens! Exciting stuff. You don't get to change much on the interior of a sail boat and we have put the 'cosmetics' at the end of our refit list. So the fact that it is time to spruce up the 25 year old galley is tantalizing!
After Jacksonville we will head up to Myrtle Beach, SC to work with the irascible but talented guy who crafted our bimini and enclosure. It's been six years and, well, it's just worn out.
So, we will have a productive (if expensive) summer and if we are lucky will get these important refits finished in time to do a little cruising on the east coast before heading south in the fall.
|
Comments [3]
Miss you guys!
After a long HOT day of motoring up the ditch and getting attacked by tons of love bugs we arrived at one of our favorite stops--Vero Beach City Marina. AND we found our old friend Harry Wheaton there. Harry is a retired mounted policeman from Nova Scotia. We met Harry in 2007 and made fast friends. He is the nicest man who has a very colorful past (and present!).
He is a singlehander who takes his 32 ft boat to the Bahamas most winters and spends hurricane season in Vero Beach. He had just come back from Belize and Mexico this past season.
Harry had an illustrious past as a royal mounted policeman and is quite famous in Canada and Nova Scotia. He rose to the rank of chief detective and solved a murder many years after it happened. He got an innocent man (a Native American) released from prison. The result of his work and techniques resulted in a major overhaul in how the judicial system works in Canada to this day. They even wrote a book about him.
You'd never know it though, Harry is humble and self-effacing and a real charmer.
Anyway, I was so excited I forgot my camera so you'll just to take my word for it. Definitely worth spending an extra day in Vero Beach to go to lunch with Harry! Meeting fascinating people is a major reward in this crazy lifestyle of ours.
|
After entering Lake Worth Inlet, we cleared Customs and Immigration via phone (first time we didn't have to shlep to an airport) using the new program called Small Vessel Reporting System. What a breeze!
We made our way north to the Old Port Cove Marina in Lake Worth on a recommendation from our friends Drew and Stephanie on LaVita who had recently stayed there. All the many times we anchored just off the marina, we never thought to stay there, thinking it was cost prohibitive. Come on, Tiger Woods keeps his mega yacht there and there were 25 Nordhavns there (really high end trawlers)! But the price was great and the marina complex is located in the middle of a cluster of high rise condos. The photo shows a few of them but after the peace and serenity (and flatness) of the Bahamas it was a reality shock to be in a concrete canyon.
|
After spending a few days in Exuma Land and Sea Park and Highborne Cay recovering from William's passing we headed to Nassau. We intended to spend a few days there, catch up on boat chores and be tourists but the weather was dreadful. Walking on the muddy streets in the rain was a dreary affair. The marina we stayed in was surrounded by razor wire (as were all the area businesses) and guarded at night so we didn't go out at night. And we didn't get any siteseeing in either. The photo is of the famous Atlantis Hotel Complex...this is the closest we got to it!
I had boycotted Nassau for the last 38 years and upon arriving I immediately remembered why. The harbor was filled with fast moving vessels of all descriptions throwing monstrous wakes at all hours. We rolled in our slip at all hours of the day and night. It was great to walk a mile to the big grocery store and resupply all the foods we had been missing. Don was even able to score some NA Beer....something he had been searching for since we got to the Bahamas.
After about 4 days we were ready to go but TS Alberto was heading up the East Coast. One morning at 6:30 AM I spoke with Chris Parker (marine weather forecaster) on SSB radio about the next suitable weather window to South Florida. He said "if you don't go now you may be stuck in Nassau for 1-2 more weeks." Even though it was not our ideal weather window in both type of conditions and duration, we made the boat sea ready and left an hour and a half later! The photo is of the famous Atlantis hotel...this is the closest we got to it as we passed. by exiting Nassau harbor
The first 2/3 of the trip were benign, although a motor sail. About 3 AM we exited the Great Bahama Bank and entered the Gulfstream. For the next 3 hours it was a little rolly from the 3 ft northerly swells that the Tropical Storm, hundreds of miles away, sent our way. Not enough wind to sail but enough seas to roll. Ugh! Then the winds built to about 25 kts from the southwest and a cross sea started up.
Soon we had about 3 ft seas from behind us and the northerly rollers had built to 5 ft. THEN the squalls started. It was raining quite hard for the last few hours. So much so that even though we could identify an 883 ft north bound freighter on AIS he could not see us on radar due to the rain clutter. Good thing we talked to each other on the VHF radio and missed each other.
We arrived at Lake Worth Inlet around 10AM. Total trip was 187 nm, our average speed was 6.9 kts, total time underway was 26 hours. It was a wild ride but at least the uncomfortable part was over quickly.
Welcome back to the US. :(
|
William grew up aboard Don's boat Copacetic and circumnavigated the U.K. with Don and his wife Margery. He had more adventures than most people do in their entire lives! Nearly 7 years ago I met William and so did my cat Velcro. William immediately and forevermore established himself as Alpha cat. He deserved it--he was clever, smart and charming. My mom even called him "the great seducer."
William and I had our certain routines living aboard Straight from the Heart. Each evening, for example, when he thought I was getting ready for bed he would jump up on the bed and ask to play. Even though he was a proper British cat with a stiff upper lip who possessed high intelligence, each day he briefly turned into a kitten and chased the laser light around and around in circles on the bed then up and down the hallway till he was tired out. We would also "box" paws until one of us would get ticked off or wounded, usually me.
Most importantly, his loving bond with Don was so amazing to see. To see them nuzzling each other and watching William rubbing against Don's beard was so very touching. Don loves him very, very much. So do I.
We buried William this afternoon on an uninhabited island on a sand beach looking out at a small island called London Gin Rock. Don said it seemed appropriate because he was a sea-cat and he was born in London. We will miss William greatly.
Say a prayer for Don---he is having a tough time with this loss. And we all have a large hole in our hearts
|
I'm so very sad for all of you, especially DOn.Our hearts, & kitty hearts go out to you.
t
Nikki and I are so very sorry to hear of William's passing. We are pet lovers and know all too well the feeling of great loss when a member of the family with 4 paws is gone. No doubt Velcro is feeling out of sorts as well. If one has to go (inevitable), it's hard to imagine a better place to be than paradise. Know you are in our thoughts and hearts. Raise your glasses to toast Sir William, and we shall do the same.
Be well and be safe, dear friends.
Fair winds,
Randy and Nikki
Take care, and fair winds.
Des and Betty
I know Wills is in kitty heaven hissing at someone. Much love to you all - Whitney
William was born in London, where Don bought him from a Rastafarian in the projects who was on the dole and sold kittens, puppies and ganja. Certainly an auspicious beginning. He did exhibit a British stiff upper lip and Cat-itude.
Over the years whenever Don met people who showed an interest in cats, he would proudly show them William's baby picture. He was a beautiful baby (kitten)! And turned into a handsome Tuxedo cat.
|
