there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this Momma said"
OK, we've been having a great time, but just so you don't think it's all pina coladas and sunshine I'll get all the mini-disasters over in one post.
First, midway from Vero to Fernandina, my Verizon broadband card quit working. I had dutifully renewed my virus software and in the process upgraded to the 08 version. It apparently took a dislike to my card and no more internet. Bad news for a computer junkie like me.
Next, in Vero Beach we were putting the dinghy down and my job is to do the lowering. It's an easy job, except when you lose focus. For some reason I took the halyard off of the winch before lowering it, opened the rope clutch, and instant rope burn. Owwwie. No damage to the dinghy but my palm had a bad case of road rash.
Couple of days later we had to make the transit through Jacksonville Beach which can have very strong currents so we carefully planned to do it at slack tide. The currents reverse strongly there so slack doesn't last long. It was the weekend and there were many relentless sportfish and big wakes everywhere. Just as we were in between bridges, the engine died. Probably a clogged fuel filter. We changed to our second tank and filter. Within a minute the engine died again. Yikes. We got it to restart and nursed our way to the dubious little anchorage by one of the bridges where we changed both primaries and the secondary. By now the current was running strongly but we were able to get the filters taken care of and get on our way with no further trouble.
Ok, so now we're almost out of Florida and headed towards Fernandina Beach. It's dead low tide and the wind and current are pushing hard. As we're snaking through the Amelia River we get a little out of the channel. You guessed it. Hard aground. The tide is rising but it's the end of the day, we're tired, and the wind is pushing us closer to shore. Heck, that's what that towboat insurance is for anyway. In the 20 minutes we waited not a single itty-bitty wake was thrown our way and that's all we would have needed to get off. Where's a dastardly sportfish when you need one.
Now we're in Fernandina Beach waiting for the north wind to clock around and licking our wounds. It's a surprisingly pretty little town with a great pizza shop. Pizza is always good for reducing your stress level.