Hard to leave our buddies in Marathon but it was definitely time to move on. Well we left Marathon on Monday March 30, less than a week ago and it feels like it’s been a month! We traveled hard for 4 days because we had good weather. Marathon to Rodriquez Key, Rodriquez to Miami (Stadium anchorage), Miami to Lake Worth, then Lake Worth to Vero. The first 2 days in the Hawk Channel because the ICW route is too shallow for us, then offshore in the Ocean for the next 2 days. The offshore days involve transiting inlets- always tricky to play the tides and wind just right for your arrival and departure. This time the tides were right for us and all went well. Well…. A lot went well. Well…. Most went well but we did have a few hiccups.

If talk about hoses and water leaks and oil buzzers bores you just skip this, but if your curious about the things that can go wrong on a sailboat stay with me! Luckily, none of these “incidents” happened at critical times- no wild rides thru the inlet, no huge winds, just a little excitement followed by the crew of Seeker sorting it out.
Incident 1- our intermittent fuel issue reared it’s head again. Cruising down the Hawk, alternating between engine and sail, the engine died. Earl bled the line, all was fine, has not re-occurred.
Incident 2- Left Miami to time leaving the shipping channel at slack tide, no problem this time, gave a container ship lots of room! We picked up the edge of the Gulf Stream heading north and cruised at 8.5-9 knots speed over ground- really fast for a sailboat! We were on track to get to Lake Worth inlet/Port of Palm Beach earlier than we’d expected, Since we were >3 miles off shore, we decided to empty the holding tank, but it wouldn’t dump. We messed around with that and Earl discovered that as long as the waste cap was really screwed down tight it emptied. Great! While that was been taken care of Pierre’s Buzzer Sounded. Thanks for convincing us Pierre!!
Incident 3- We had lost oil- oh my! The engine had to be shut off. Earl discovered that the brass tube leading from the oil sending unit had broken off in the engine. Must have had a crack because when he touched it it fell off. Not Good! Now we have an engine with a hole in the side with no oil. Luckily we had a bit of east wind and great current, so while he was below, I threw out the jib and sailed at 6 knots towards Lake Worth. For the next 3 hours. Our estimated time of arrival was 5pm – Good! The tide would be going in and it would still be light. By 2 miles from the inlet, we still could not start the engine because part of the tube was in the engine and none of our extractors were the right size to get it out. Tow Boat US to the rescue. They towed us in the inlet to the anchorage, we dropped the dinghy, Earl went to shore to the nearest auto parts place, bought more extractors and more oil, returned before dark and spent the next 2 hours doing repair. By 9, everything was back together and working. We’re still cleaning up oil. That was a 36 hour day!
The next day, high tide was at 8am so anytime after that the tide would be slack and start to ebb which would be good for leaving the inlet and going offshore. Seas were 1-2 feet and winds light. While double checking everything, Earl noticed some unidentified fluid which he identified as coolant and tightened a clamp to stop a small leak and added more coolant. Good! He also tightened a clamp around the water hose going to the mixing elbow because it was slipping from a fitting. Not Good! We finally got under way with a bit of trepidation but continued out the inlet after first checking with the Coast Guard to be sure we could get in Ft Pierce inlet. The inlet was open! Good!
A barge sunk in the inlet a month ago and there has been intermittent closures, open with an escort and a safety zone established. The debris has been cleared but the barge has not been raised yet. I read a harrowing account of sailboats going through around the safety zone during an ebb tide and an east wind which made big waves, a grounding and a near miss. Not Good! But we went through an hour after low tide, we still had some current against us, but no problems. We had made such good time, that we continued on to Vero, arriving a bit after 5pm closing but had a mooring ball assignment so we tied up at one of our favorite stops. After dropping the dinghy and heading to shore, we got great hot showers and headed to Riverside for supper. What a treat! The restaurant was packed with an hour wait a table but we could go to the bar and order food there. We got drinks and food in no time and had front row seats to live music with Dos Locos Amigos- Chris and Steve. They were great- we’d heard them before at the farmer’s market and Chris plays 2 guitars, flute, harmonica, sax- so talented! So we hung there through their sets, talked to them at breaks and finally made our way back to the boat. Another 36 hour day!
Things can slow down now, we don’t have to make a certain number of miles, we can stay “inside” on the ICW if we need to. A slow start to the next day, buying more oil and catching up with a few friends then motor sailed on to Melbourne. We could tell it was a long holiday weekend by the number of boats on the water- especially around the sandy beach islands near Sebastian. A day without incident. This morning we watched the partial lunar eclipse over the Indian River and picked up the anchor from Palm Shores. Earl’s customary routine is to check the engine after 20-30 minutes of being underway and then about once an hour after that. Everything looked good until the second or third check when he spotted a drip that at first appeared to be from our PSS dripless shaft but then turned out to be from the water hose that goes to the mixing elbow. When he touched it, it broke apart. Damn. We had lots of water, no wind, we drifted to the side outside the channel and he had a new portion of hose attached in 15 minutes and we were on our way to Titusville. We’re stopping early before anything else happens! Looks like time for a complete hose change.

What do you expect? As Dean says- “Take your house, put it in a caustic environment, turn it 20 degrees on its side and shake it violently! Things are bound to break”

We’re anchored in Titusville, where we saw the International Space Station flyover last night. It was the brightest thing in the NW sky. The wind is already picked up to about 15 and more tonight- makes a rolly anchorage here but a good day to stay put. We might take the wet slog in and see my sis, Brian and Sheila over at Westland and Scott and Bernice, our dock buddies from Brunswick will arrive here this afternoon. They just crossed from the Bahamas and have their two sons on board. The day is early, it’s a beautiful but windy Easter. Spring is definitely in the air and we are homeward bound.