We did it. We got up, took Fuzzy ashore, lifted the engine off the dinghy and the dinghy onto the foredeck and LEFT VERO BEACH at 7 AM. We took the ICW down to Fort Pierce. The bubbles were bubbling in the Racor, but the engine was running fine so we decided to head outside and try to make the run down to Lake Worth. The photo is Earendil going out the inlet at Fort Pierce.

There was almost no wind today, we never put up the sails, but we ran the engine hard and made it to the Lake Worth Inlet before 3 PM. I took some photos as we came in the inlet, I'll put them in the gallery. We came back to the marina where we stayed last year, Lake Park Harbor Marina. The log read 59.63 nautical miles.

We were concerned because there seems to be a lot of vibration from the engine. Also, the stuffing box, where the propeller shaft comes in through the hull, is dripping probably more than it should. That can be adjusted, but the drips were getting spattered up onto the oil pan and leaving a salt deposit there. We were afraid the spatter was because of the vibration and the vibration because of misalignment. We called the Yanmar technician who sea trialed with us in St. Augustine. After leaving a message with him we called the Yanmar dealer that did all the work in Vero Beach. They assured us that the alignment was fine; the stuffing box just needed adjustment.

After we were here at the dock the Yanmar tech called back. He concurred that the stuffing box alone could be causing the spatter, but said an easy way to check the alignment was to turn the shaft by hand when the boat is stopped and in neutral. It should turn. Once the engine cooled a bit I tried that, I couldn't turn it. Bud couldn't turn it. It was 4:55 PM and I called the Yanmar dealer again, no one answered. I called the tech back, and thank goodness, he answered. His diagnosis is that the alignment is out but it shouldn't really hurt anything and we should go.

So we're going, but I can't say that we're really happy about the state of things yet. I'll feel much better once we cross and make it to Nassau. Tomorrow we will cross to West End. That should be 10 hours or less. Sunday we'll try for the Berry Islands; that will leave us one or two short hops to Nassau. Here's hoping!