Adventures of S/V Interlude

15 April 2018 | Southport, North Carolina
11 April 2018 | Fernandina Beach, Florida
03 April 2018 | Titusville, FL
27 March 2018 | Biscayne Bay, No Name Harbor
19 March 2018 | Naval Air Station Key West Marina at Boca Chica
13 March 2018 | Key West Garrison Bight Mooring Field
10 March 2018 | Key West Mooring Field
08 March 2018 | Boca Chica Marina, Naval Air Station Key West
28 February 2018 | No Name Harbor in Biscayne Bay
24 February 2018 | Fort Lauderdale
12 February 2018 | Lake Worth
08 February 2018
01 February 2018 | Boynton Beach Harbor Marina
26 January 2018
20 January 2018 | Fernandina Beach FL Mooring Field
16 January 2018 | Charleston City Marina
04 January 2018

Sempre Gumby – Always Flexible

24 February 2018 | Fort Lauderdale
Sempre Gumby – Always Flexible, is a play on the official motto of the US Marine Corps, Sempre Fidelis, “Always Faithful”. When cruising you must be flexible and on this trip we are exercising our flexibility.

Tuesday, February 11, 2018 – Friday, February 16, 2018

Still at anchor in Lake Worth, which is surrounded by the Village of North Palm Beach. We continue to see boats come and go from the anchorage. One of the boats, is Meredith with Bob and Connie from Ontario. A very nice couple who have been cruising since 2004. They’re on their way to the Bahamas. They are experienced cruisers who have sailed to the Mediterranean and back. We are impressed. I told them about Lynn’s retinal tear and Bob (from Meredith) is quick to tell the story about a detached retina that he had treated in Casablanca. Again, we are impressed. Another boat that’s just weighed anchor near us is Vivo. A very nice Island Packet 445 with Steve and Linda aboard who sold everything to live on the boat. We first ran into them in Ft Pierce, FL on the way down. Steve and Linda are waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas. I mentioned to both Meredith and Vivo that Lynn was running low on reading material, and before we knew it, they were both pulling up to our boat in their dinghies with books for her. Once again, boaters helping boaters. Lynn’s eye is doing really good and she’s excited to get off the boat in the next day or so. On Valentines Day, I treat Lynn to take out pizza and a movie from Redbox. Thursday afternoon I return the movie and run into Aaron and Joann at the dinghy landing. They are from Quebec and have the same boat as we do named Déjà Vu. As we dinghy back to our respective boats, I notice that they are having problems. I head over to their dinghy and it appears their engine is overheating. I tow them back to their boat and advise them that their telltale is slow (cooling water) and they may have a water pump issue. I recommended that they get a new impeller for the pump from West Marine and told them I could pick it up for them because I plan to head there myself tomorrow.
On Friday we weigh anchor and head over to the Old Port Cove Marina about 500 yds from the anchorage. It’s time for us to pump out our waste tank and fill a fresh water tank. After returning to the anchorage I head out to West Marine (only a short 10 minute walk). Before I head out, Joann calls from Déjà Vu and tells me that they are uncomfortable working on the motor and asked if I would help. After the West Marine run, I head over to Déjà Vu with the impeller. Unfortunately, there were no good instructions online on how to change the impeller, but after a while we manage to get the foot off and replace the impeller. Their motor hadn’t been serviced in quite some time and really needed a new rebuild kit because the gaskets were very dry and brittle. After putting the foot back on we could not get the motor to shift into reverse. All else seemed to be okay. On Saturday, Déjà Vu is leaving for Port Canaveral and I suggested they get the motor serviced since the pump really needs to be rebuilt. They were happy for the experience but I was frustrated that we didn’t get the problem fixed.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

This is a very exciting day for Lynn. It’s her first trip off the boat since arriving at the anchorage. We still have to be careful of her eye. We dinghy very slowly ashore and walk a couple of blocks to Duffy’s Sports Bar for dinner. We enjoy 2 for 1 drinks, some good pub food and get to watch some of the Olympics on one of their hundreds of tv”s. After getting back to the boat we realize that our bodies aren’t use to eating such big portions after being on the boat for 2 months. We barely get through a show on Netflix before hitting the rack.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

A lazy day at anchorage turns into an exciting day very quickly. While relaxing in the cockpit after lunch, Lynn says to me, “hey, is that dinghy drifting?”… Sure enough, there’s a perfectly good 9 foot dinghy and motor drifting down the anchorage with no one aboard. I jump in our dinghy, race over and tow it back to Interlude. The dingy has no registration number or any other identifying markings. We survey the other boats around us but none look like they’re missing their dinghy, and no one appears to be looking for one. I put out a call on VHF 16 and no one claims the missing dinghy. I also post on a couple of Facebook boater groups. After a while I call the Florida Wildlife Commission and find out that I can keep it if I want and that all I need to do is put an ad in the paper for a couple of weeks as a public notice before titling the boat in my name. Crap! I don’t want to haul this dinghy around for the next couple of months even though it looks relatively new and the motor is as well. I decide that on Monday morning I’m going to call West Marine and see if they can contact the original purchaser (it’s a West Marine brand dinghy) using the boats serial number. By now, it’s getting close to cocktail hour, and Lynn and I are expected on a neighboring boat for sundowners. I met Greg and Jodi (Moon Pie ll, from Washington, NC) on Friday and they offered to share their Bahmas experience with us since they’ve just returned the day before. Greg’s retired Air Force and Jodi’s a veterinarian. As we’re swapping stories, Greg see’s that someone is towing away the rescued dinghy from Interlude. It’s about sundown and time for Lynn and I to leave anyway, so we jump in our dinghy and race over to see what’s going on. Long story short, a charter sailboat had been in the anchorage and decided to go sailing. They tied their dinghy to a friend’s boat and it had come lose, so when they returned, their dinghy was gone. They had left a nice note on Interlude and offered to have us over for dinner. We politely declined and were just happy the dinghy had found it’s owners.

Monday, February 19, 2018

We prep the boat for tomorrow’s transit back down south for Lynn’s follow up eye appointment. Then dinghy into town for lunch and a quick stop at Publix. We’re having Greg and Jodi over for sundowners on Interlude so we need some nice snacks. We enjoy another great visit with them. Very personable people who live on their boat full time. We’re not interested in being full time live aboards. We like having a house to return to after cruising.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

We’re underway at 0800. Our destination is the Delray City Marina which is about 4 miles south of where we were in Boynton Beach. It’s going to be a long day with 9 bridges. We dock around 2:30pm. We get right to work changing the engine oil since the engine is still warm from a hard day of running down the waterway. You need the engine oil nice and warm because unlike a car where it drains out the bottom through a plug, on a marine diesel, you suck the oil out the dipstick tube using a vacuum pump. After the oil change, we really don’t feel like doing much else… it’s cocktail time after all. And, more importantly, time for our first long leisurely hot shower in over a week! Sure beats the quick, every-other-day barely lukewarm showers aboard! This is a really nice marina. Set in an old historic section of Delray Beach surrounded by old bungalows. It has a nice bath house with laundry, showers, ice machine (free) and a book exchange. There are only about 25 slips and they only keep one open for transients so we are lucky to be here.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Pat and Tom are picking us up at noon so we get to work early on remaining boat chores. Lynn helps me wash the boat and then we pump out our waste tank. Then we get our gear ready to go to Pat and Tom’s condo. After they pick us up, we head over to the beach for lunch. They are really excited to show us their town now that Lynn can walk around. We have a great lunch at The Sand Bar. We then head into downtown and stroll the streets. Downtown Delray Beach is very hip with lots of cafés and bars. We manage to stop a few times for a refreshing beverage. On the way back to the car we bump into a local drum circle setting up. Lynn is bum’ed that she doesn’t have her drum with her. It was a great afternoon anyways.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Lynn’s eye appt isn’t until the afternoon so we do some provisioning with Pat and Tom in the morning. It’s also a good time to update my chart plotter software and my charts and download a couple of Netflix movies. At the Dr’s office we’re seen quickly and it’s good news. Lynn’s eye is healing perfectly and she has no further tears. The doctor does want to see Lynn again in another month so we will alter our plans and head to Key West vice the Bahamas. It’s never a good idea to go to the Bahamas with a schedule over your head because your departure and return are very much determined by the weather. We are okay with this and really expected that we probably wouldn’t be going to the Bahamas this year. We will rent a car and drive back up to Delray Beach for the appointment later in March. Spirits are high and we are in Florida in our bathing suits! After the appt we say good bye to Pat and Tom and look forward to seeing them again in March.

Friday, February 23, 2018

We had planned on leaving at 0800 because we have 11 bridges on our way to Ft Lauderdale. But I left my credit card at West Marine yesterday when we stopped there to return a part. No biggie, I pull my bike out and ride on over. It’s a short 15 minute ride and I’m able to get my card and get back to the boat in time to get underway at 0930. It’s a long day on the waterway with lots of weekend boaters already out and about. We take a mooring ball at the Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale about 3:30. We have a difficult time with the mooring ball this time, the pendant is jammed in the ball and we can’t get it with our boat hook. After about 10 minutes, we finally get settled. Time for a refreshing beverage! We plan on being here through Monday. We’ll have the boat’s hull cleaned under the waterline and have our zinc changed. I had planned on having done those items myself by now in the clear waters of the Bahamas. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to getting the bikes ashore and exploring Ft Lauderdale.

Comments
Vessel Name: Interlude
Vessel Make/Model: Catalina 380
Hailing Port: Southport NC
Crew: Bob and Lynn Menches
About: Follow us as we make our way from Southport, NC to the beautiful Abaco Islands in the Bahamas!
Interlude's Photos - Main
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Created 20 January 2018