SV Sereine

We contnued our stay at Gulfport and practiced being sailors and cruisers. A big part of cruising is meeting people. We met many, warm and genuine folk who deftly added brush strokes to our Gulf Coast canvas.

Eventually, whether because of our desire for variety, or that constant back of the mind need to move beyond the Sword of Damocles , we left Gulfport. We moved closer to the Pass A Grille inlet. That knocked an hour off our next days journey.

It was 0645 when we hauled anchors, and motored out the inlet. It was a glorious day with warm temps, clear sky and an off-shore breeze of 10 - 15 knots. Letting out the genoa, we were able to average over 6 knots. It was an easy day, and we cannot get enough of those. We reached our anchorage east of Anclote Key by 1245h.

Anclote Key is a very natural state park. The southern end is a landing spot for day trippers. There are acres of shallow sandy water with rays, snook and many birds. We tried landing at other spots, but the marshes and mangroes proved impenetrable.

Landing the dinghy on the southern end and tying to a mangrove root, we allowed Pippin and Charlie some unleashed time. I took video that says it all. Charlie running full-bore in the shallows with plumes of water trailing. Pippin was a sprite bounding along. They would wrestle at speed, and both would crash underwater. The would happen over and over. This was the paradise we sought for seven months.

We returned the next day. Shallow, clear, 79 degree seawater and lots of sun. These last few days will be a fitting conclusion to this break from unreality. The plan is to mix time in the water with prepping Sereine for haul out. It is 3.5 nautical miles up the Anclote River to Mar Marine. It is nice to be within towing distance from our destination ;~)

Today is Friday, and we will be at the dock on Monday. The rental car we pickup on Teusday, and Wednesday at 0430h we drive away, leaving Sereine to be hauled and stored by Mar Marine in Tarpon Springs.

The professor and Mary Ann...

We found everything we wanted in Punta Gorda. Rented a car, and drove to Miami Airport to pick up Pippin, another rescue dog from Virgin Gorda, BVI. She and Charlie are like two peas in a pod.

We finally left Punta Gorda with one final souvenier... a crab pot completely meshed into our propellar. This gave us some infinitesimal propulsion. We used it only in emergency situations.

We sailed out of Punta Gorda at a death defying 1.2 knots. It took us nine hours to get to an anchorage outside Pelican Bay, just North of Jug Creek Shoal and near the Boca Grande inlet. Anchorng under sail, obsessing over the holding, and waking to a one mile drag of anchor. Polishes chain very well. Luckily we dragged toward the inlet.

The wind was favorable and we worked our way up the coast, about three miles off shore. We made it just south of Sarasota, where we anchored just off shore in 20 feet of water. Low winds and relatively calm seas, otherwise we would have sailed all night.

The next day we made Tampa Bay via Passage Key Inlet, passed under the Skyway bridge (175 feet), and strove for St. Petersburg Municipal Marina, where I had arranged to meet a diver from Gulf and Bay Divers the next day. It was arduous as the winds were variable and decreasing during the last couple of miles. They were also 90 degrees off of predicted, so we were close hauled. Just to make thigs interesting, the mizzen sail, which we spent 8 hours hand sewing, ripped on both sides of the seam. We eventually made anchorage after a few jibes (can’t tack ths boat without wind and a main), and a last minute emergency use of our crab pot encrusted propellar.

I met Rich at the marina in the morning, while Marilyn did a walkabout. Rich spent a couple of hours extracting the trap from the prop, even using my bolt cutters, and scraped the hull of six months accumulation of barnicles.

We went in the next morning to fuel and water at the marina. This was followed by a “We are outa here” course back to the Skyway bridge and the Gulf of Mexico. The inaugral run of our unencumbered enginge was met with 18 knot winds in our nose and matching three foot seas. Once pass the brdge, our course gradully angled off the wind, allowing for more speed (5.5 knots). When we angled more north after exiting the bay via Egmont Key, we gained more speed (6.8 knots).

After noon, we were working our way through the inlet to Boca Cierga Bay, AKA “Big Mouth”, where we anchored in 12 feet of water just after 1400h. Quiet night at anchor was greatly appreciated.

The next day we decided to dinghy with both dogs to Gulfport. It has been a few days since they have been ashore and they were getting anse. This was a bad decision. The dinghy dock had beeen destroyed in a recent storm, so we had to wade to the beach. The dogs loved this. once ashore, I had two dogs pulling in opposite directions. While I was on base, Marilyn was cleanup. Pippin has little dog syndrome, and here barking at other dogs is something we will work on.

The ride back to the boat was wet, as there were 18 knot winds in a large bay with shallow water. On the bright side, the water was 78 degrees. Rocky boat, then the thunderstorm arrived in the evening with 28 plus knot winds. Our two anchors dragged for almost a fifth of a mile before the winds died.

Next day, today, we grabbed our mooring #25. This will be home for the next week. We took advantage of the calm bay to dinghy over to the municipal marina to do laundry, get the lay of the land, and take advantage of the wifi. The dog are back on the boat, where I am sure Pippin will continue chewing on the woodwork...

We left Salty Sam's Marina early on March 22. We kept our speed under 5 knots, averaging less than 3.5 knots. This is our new normal. There was the usual traffic along the ICW, including the usual wake.

We anchored along the main waterway a short distance from Cabbage Key, and just east of Useppa Island. This made for a short dinghy ride (0.3NM) to the restaurant on Cabbage Key. It also gave us that much desired closeness to the daily wake competition. This is very exciting when the unlimited class tries for a new record. That's when I lash myself to the mast with a cold beverage.

We stayed here for three days. We had breakfast at Cabbage Key, took Charlie to an unnamed small key (I will call it Punta Football) with an even smaller beach, attended a virtual funeral, finalized a car rental that will take us from Tarpon Springs to Hyannis after putting Sereine on the hard.

On the fourth day we traveled the 3NM to a familiar Pelican Bay. This is a difficult navigation due top the narrow and shallow spots. Marilyn took us the whole way, refusing to give up the helm. I relented when she agreed to navigate with at least one eye open. She is sooo competitive. Upon completing this feat, she informed me that I now need to refer to her as "Bad Ass Pirate Marilyn". This trip may be getting to her. I, on the other hand remain unfazed, and seldom wear the eye patch.

We enjoyed four days at Pelican Bay. Went ashore at Cayo Costa, where Charlie was concerned over the dryness of the trees, and tried to water every one. I spent some enjoyable time reading John Grisham's "The Broker". We also have been working on arranging travel for Pippin, a Charlie clone from Virgin Gorda. She could very well be his sister.

After Pelican Bay, we motored with the Genoa out across Charlotte Harbor about 17 miles to Punta Gorda. Low wind, sunny and hot day. We anchored just south of the SR41 bridge, and about a half mile west of the Punta Gorda Boat Club with their free dinghy dock. We will remain here until after we pick up Pippin. This is scheduled for April 9. We will rent a car for a day and make the 6 hour round trip to Miami International Airport. At the end of the day(2330h), it will be an interesting dinghy ride Marilyn, me, Charlie and Pippin in a crate.

In the mean time, Punta Gorda is ours to explore. The second day we hiked the mile to the center of town. This took us from Gilchrist Park where we docked the dinghy to the historical section and finally downtown near the SR41 bridge. It was a humid, 88 degree day. Fearing severe dehydration, we stopped at Shorty's bar and grill. Who could pass up a place with a sign, "Free drinking lessons". I was over qualified for the lessons, so I grabbed a draft and a Corona for the Bad Ass Pirate. Charlie received a large dog bowl filled with water and ice. Boy howdy, Floridians love dogs!

While drinking our medicinal beeyah's, we met a couple who showed a picture of their daughters rescue dog. She looked just like Charlie with a little more white. They were from Kennebunkport, ME, although he was originally from Revere, MA. We had a great conversation, while the R's headed to the bar for a drink seeing they were not needed.

Another day we headed to Fisherman's Village Marina. They have a long dock complex where by some divine province we discovered the Village Brewhouse. Again, while we hydrated and had lunch, Charlie was given special attention by the bartender. This was outdoor seating and a beautiful day.

Afterwards, there were the shops (oh, so many...). Eventually we left the dock and headed inland to the dog park. True to our luck, the park was closed due to re-sodding. We continued on another mile or so to Publix for some select provisioning. It was another 1.7 miles back to the dinghy dock in upper 80's weather. It was good to get back to the boat and cool off.

I had dropped the second anchor during the night in anticipation of a couple of days of 15 - 20 knot winds. Today being Friday, we have experienced 24 hours, with another 24 to come. Huge change in temperature also. We woke up to 51 degrees. Ran the space heater while the generator was charging the batteries.

We will spend the day on the boat rather than fight the wind and waves. Tomorrow I hope to explore the public marina on the other side of SR41 bridge looking for a water source to fill the two five gallon jugs. It will take about four trips to refill the front water tank. This should last us until we decommission.

Until we leave, we will try to make the most of Punta Gorda. We will prep for the 19 days of sailing after we leave, support the local restaurants, give Charlie as much land time as we can, and start the wind down from a trip that started September 26, 2020, brought Gilligan's Island and Stephen King together, supported a thriving maritime repair industry, allowed us to meet with great people both old and new, and explore the many facets of what make a good relationship.

We left the southern end of Sanibel Island back tracking up San Carlos Bay, and running NE along a stretch of the ICW to the Caloosahatchee River, which delivers us to the Sanibel Causeway Bridge. This is how we made our way to Fort Myers Beach. The mooring reservation came through and we enjoyed two days of carefree time. Going ashore for walks about town, laundry, lunch and showers. The much needed pump-out occurred literally less than an hour before we left the mooring.

It was a 10 minute motor to Salty Sam's Marina. The fuel dock was at the inner end between C and D docks. This required a slow pass there, then spinning Sereine on a dime using a hard to port wheel and forward and reverse to greater angular momentum. Of course while you are doing this, the current and wind are moving you to the side. This reminds me of the early computer game in college where you apply thrust to slow the lunar lander to place it on the moon's surface without damage and before you run out of fuel. We eventually backed into the fuel slip without loss of life or sense of humor. Topped of both fuel tanks with diesel.

I keep a spreadsheet of the hours the generator and engine are run from either the port or starboard tanks. The goal is to come up with a fuel burn rate for engine and generator to use for estimating. Since I do not have separate fuel meters for each, it is necessary to fall back on a technique from college,

Let E stand for engine fuel rate in gallons per hour, while G stands for the generator fuel rate. I do not know either, so this is how we discover them.

First here is what we know:

Total fuel used is 61.4 gals, and by watching the pump,
47.3 gal in the port tank
14.1 gal in the starboard.
The engine was run
26.07 hours from the port tank
15.26 hours from the starboard tank
The generator was run
59.75 hours from the port tank
9.83 hours from the starboard tank

This gives us two equations, neither of which can be solved because they have two variables each:

47.3 gal = 26.07 hours X E gph + 59.74 hours X G gph
14.1 gal = 15.26 hours X E gph + 9.83 hours X G gph

At this point, we rewrite on equation so that either E or G is alone on one side of the equal sign.

G = (14.1 - 15.26 X E)/ 9.83

So now we substitute this equation for G in the other equation:

47.3 gal = 26.07 hours X E gph + (59.74 hours X (14.1 gal - 15.26 hours X E gph))/ 9.83 hours

Now we solve for E (I will skip the tedious math), and it is 0.58 gph.

We can now replace that value for E in the other equation and solve for G. It is 0,54 gph. Congratulations, you are using simultaneous linear equations.

I now have two numbers I can use to estimate the fuel usage based on hours of running time from each tank. This is a hugely useful planning tool when spending five weeks at sea with 120 gal in the two fuel tanks and another 10 gal in Jerry cans.

We also are carrying 200 gal of water in two tanks, as well as another 10 gal in jugs. These will last five weeks only through careful conservative usage. We will not be using the hot tub.

Now back to the marina. We were directed to E19 Thankfully, this slip is on the end of the dock. We had to back into the slip with a 0.5 knot cross current. This is how you meet many interesting people. They grabbed the thrown starboard stern line, but the current was too strong to pull the stern to the dock, I also through the starboard bow line with the same effect. Thanks to Joe who who worked his third line on the stern as a spring line, we were able to inch Sereine closer to the dock by going forward and reverse. This created slack in the farthest stern line and bow line. It takes a village.

Once we were secured, we had one more task, i.e. bolt to the Green Parrot for a cold beer! Of course, Charlie enthusiastically embraced shore leave.

The remaining week was filled with:

renting a huge van (cheaper by the day)

touring Sanibel Island

Visiting with Levi John who produces his own music (think Lou Rawls) tours around the world, and authors his own small batch vodka "IslandJon Vodka". Incidentally, I do not like vodka, but what Levi is producing is excellent sipping vodka that I thoroughly enjoy neat.

Visiting another old friend of Marilyn's, Jean. A truly enjoyable visit listening to tales of Virgin Gorda.

Trying the local cuisine

laundry

Finding the elusive marina wifi

and lastly, disassembling the propeller shaft coupling to verify that the coupling and lock nut are fine, but the transmission rear seal (replaced in Key West) is leaking. Nothing left to do but close the incision and tell the patient they do not have long to live.

I purchased a few jugs of 15W-40 and a couple of roasting pans. The plan is to minimize engine use over the next five and a half weeks until we bring the boat to Mar Marina in Tarpon Springs. She will spend the summer there on the hard. I will need to replenish the transmission fluid (15W-40) every couple of hours of engine use. The roasting pans will catch it, keeping it out of the bilge, and make it available for reuse.

So why am I dealing with a leaking seal that was replaced 34 operating hours ago in Key West? Well, in short, the problem with the 2019 bell housing crack has been greatly under estimated by myself and every mechanic that has worked on the boat since then.

The last repairs in Key West, addressed the symptoms (leaking seal and bad lock nut), but did not address the disease, i.e. what caused the leaking seal. By expensive process of elimination, it is apparent that the transmission has at least worn bearings that allow the shaft through the rear seal to move/vibrate enough to affect the seal. At the very least a rebuilt transmission is in order. I would not replace the bearings only to have something else break later on.

Once she is on the hard, I can facilitate the transmission replacement, purchase a mizzen and main, and complete some other projects.

But first, we will attempt to enjoy some weeks on the water.

It was a calm and sunny morning on March 1 when we hauled anchors and said our goodbyes to Marco Island. The outgoing current was significant despite being within 2 hours of low. I set the throttle to the lowest possible, and we were traveling at 5.5 knots. Itw as good to get outside of the shoals and set course for the southern tip of Sanibel Island. As usual, I set the throttle to cruising speed (1780 rpm), which is set by ear, since th alternator does not have a rpm sender. These conditions of wind and wave allowed us to make the trip to anchorage about 2 miles East of the northern tip of Captiva Island's Redfish Pass in a little over 8 hours.

The anchorage was in the middle of the bay in 15 feet of water. The calm night provided comfort and contrast to the 130 foot swing at anchor in Capri Pass at Marco Island. We called Marilyn's long time friend John at Culebra. This island is 19 miles east of Puerto Rico. John lives on his sailboat, does a lot of solar oven cooking, and more importantly has travelled alot. That travel has brought him through these waters. He was generous with his experience, and opened my eyes to possibilities had had forgone. One was water depth, in particular Pelican Pass, wher depths at Mean Low Water are 5 to 6 feet. We draw 5 feet. I had written this off, but with the upcoming winds, Pelican Bay offered a very protected harbour. We would make the attempt the next day.

Pelican Bay is just east of Cayo Costa. This island is north of Captiva, and has a state park. Very rudimentary, sandy, shelling, alligators, etc. My kind of place. We came through Pelican Pass with John's instructions in our heads, the Navico chart on the ipad, and no real depth readings. The MFD decided this was dangerous and critical, so no better time to act up. We were seeing depths around 55 feet, despite the actual depth around 6 feet. I often say that bad ideas should get air time, so we pressed on.

Holding to within 50 feet of the sand spit on the west side of the channel, we inched our way through the pass and into the 8 plus feet of Pelican Bay. Life is good! A little further and anothe low section an we were home, tucked into a tight cove on the northest part of Punta Blanca Island. Surrounded by Red Mangroves, we shared the anchorage with a handful of boats, dolphins, mullet and pelicans. We used just one anchor for the first days, then when the winds picked up, we went to two. Without the current of Marco Island, Sereine was better behaved, barely moving a few feet.

I should probably mention that a day after anchooring, I checked the bilge and found a lot of transmission fluid. If you can get an ulcer in 10 mseconds, I had it. Let's throw in a healthy portion of PTSD as well. Checking the transmission, it was very low.

I called Mark, whose crew performed the latest repairs, and who I really thought were going to finally fill that hole in the ocean. He was mystified. The only plan that surfaced was bringing the boat to a dock, undoing the bolts holding the couplings together, buying a socket large enough to fit the lock nut on the forward half of the coupling, and testing the tightness, This could also be undone to see the rear transmission seal, the likely source of the leak. I held that plan off for ten days until we could travel to Salty Sam's marina, where we have a slip for a week.

In the mean time, we dinghyed over to Cabbage Key for lunch. The cheeseburgers are good, but the potato salad was not up to the standard of my purist tastes. They also have room papered in money. The state that there iss over $70,000 dollars. Ducks amongst the tables, and gopher tortoises on the lawn. Lots of ferrys coming and going.

We also spent time at the state park on Cayo Costa. Charlie on a lead was in seventh heaven. We walked from the dock to the gulf side beach, where we took turns shelling. Charlie was not allowed on the beach. On the way back, I tracked down and captured a couple of mint Klondikes, so gooood.

We also made several trips to the sandy spit we passed on the way in. Charlie could run free here with his electric collar. We even turned it on, which we found works better than when it is off. The headwaters are less salty and contain alligators. Thank god Charlie did not bring one back, I would not want to have to explain that to the ranger.

The rest of the time at this anchorage was little projects, like installing lights, teak oiling the toe rails, fixing door latches, etc. We also enjoyed the sun, and started reading. At least I finally felt I could read after a year or so of not. Chrissy, Marilyn's cousins gave me a Nelson DeMille book entitled "Wild Fire". It is fantastic! Now that it is finished, I have passed it on to the Great White Shark of reading, Marilyn.

It is Thursday, March 11. Tomoroow we will do a 17 mile traverse to the southern end of Sanibel Island near the causeway bridge. The current is strong there, and the bottom would reflect this as a hard clay. This would be like Marco Island, and not something I want to experieence again. There is a little deep spot surrounded by shallow water on the north side of the channel. We will try to anchor there hoping to be out of the strong current.

That provides us with two alternatives, i.e 0.7 NM to the public landng, which may have a place to tie up dinghy's for $20, or 1.7 NM to Dot's restaurant passed the causeway bridge. The public landing is a little over a half mile to a handful of restaurants, while Dot's is the other destination. Not much hope for getting about the island, though we will be able to get food, ice, etc in Fort Myers.

After an overnight there, it is about 9 NM to an anchorage called San Carlos south of Port Sanibel. We will stay there if the winds are from the north. The bottom is described as mud, and our anchors did not do well in the mud of Mile Hammock Bay, NC. Off course it was a microburst that passed through that night...

Our alternative is to push on to the Fort Myers Beach Mooring field. That is about 0.3NM passed The Matanzas Pass Bridge (65 ft). I'll try to get a mooring for two nights. This will give us some time at Fort Meyers Beach, a free pumpout, and strong holding in water know for its current. Pending reservation through Dockwa phone app. Fingers crossed.

Ships Log 210226

I did finish the mizzen sail repairs, and Mondy morning we did tool in to the marina for fuel, water and a pump out. getting out required spinning on slightly more than a dime. We went outside of Wisteria Island and took the Northwest Channel. It is a defacto highway between the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico. Saw a lot of shrimp boats.

Once we were able to turn NE, and into the wind, It was bouncy but not rolly. I think I have this nautical jargon down pat. There were many areas with as many crab pots as we have lobster pots in Maine. Those were dificult sailing as the boat was crabbing due to the wind. It was impossible with a autopilot, so mainly manual steering.

We stayed pretty much 1-3 miles west of the keys in less than 20 feet of water. Eventually we headed East into Johnson Key Channel. Anchoring in the Keys is pretty much like camping in the dessert. You just stop and throw out your anchors. The water was eight feet less than the depth we travelled all day. In Maine it could be several hundred feet.

It was a glorius time at anchor. Light winds, azure water, large swirls in the water that could be Tarpon or sharks. No swimming here. Nighttime brought a crystal clear sky, and temps down into the upper 60's. Flat water aided in a peaceful nights sleep, although I have yet to break the habit of waking after four hours. It is a maritime rule that disaster always waits at least four hours after you fall asleep. I know this is the point that I usaually relate some disaster, but I have turned over a new leaf. It was a pleasant night.

Casual breakfast and the ceremonial black coffee and talk. We still have not outgrown the joy of just talking. This is another travelling day, so we hauled those babies out of the water, and ramped up to 6.7 knots. There was very little wind, and the seas were correspondingly still. This allowed us to cruise at 6.9 knots, when yesterday at the same RPM we were doing 5.5.

Our next stop was Middle Cape, part of Cape Sable in the Everglades National Park. This was outside the Keys, and good old fshioned mainland.

We anchored in some hefty wind and waves, then dinghied in to the beach with Charlie. The beach is several miles long, and littered with sea shells. The only people on it were a father and son camping. They had come in a open fishing boat. The father was fishing off the beach when we arrived. The son loved Charlie, and Charlie responded by digging a five foot diameter hole in the beach with more enthusiasm than a riverbed full of salmon in Anchorage.

He also did his plop into the ocean and lie in the water to cool off. He was home! This was so much like his Savannah Beach in Virgin Gorda, BVI. On our way back to the dinghy, we passed the father still fishing, only now he had something on the line. His 30 pound test line still required a lot of precise rod bending and reeeling up the slack to bring it closer and tire it out. Eventually we saw that it was a ray with about a two foot wingspan. This could be one of the reasons for all the seashells.

We made it back to the boat, and enjoyed another gourmet meal that Marilyn routinely turns out. Anchoring in the Gulf of Mexico, we were counting on the accuracy of the weather report that called for smooth water and less than 56 knots of wind. We had 10 knots, and a very rolly anchorage. Late at night, the anchors dragged and I had to reposition. SHortly thereafter the wind and seas died.

The net day brought a more Northwesterly coast as we were just outside the Everglades boundary and headed for Pavilion Key, about 30 nautical miles. We arrived early afternoon, and anchored in 9 feet of water. This time checking the tides, were were in for a four foot drop to low tide around, 6:30 in the morning. Decisions, decisions...

I woke at 0400h, collected the anchors, and motored at 3.9 Knots into eleven feet of water. I then set course for Marco Island and began the seven hour trip. Was glad when the sun rose, so I could actually see what may be in the water ahead.

Marco is a very precise community. Everything is just right. The people in boats actually obeyed the No Wake signs, which was unnerving after Key "Wild" West. We anchored in the Marco River Oh, the children are above average.

We dinghied into Rose Marine this morning and for $5.35 we were ble to tie-up for 24 hours. This allowed us to walk to shop and deposit some of our ubiquitous trash.

Tomorrow we will do the same, as I need a propane refill, and Marilyn needs to walk Charlie and see the sights. The nerest Ace Harware is 3.7 miles away.

Our medium to long term plan is to stay her for a couple or more days to complete some projects, then travel the 33+ miles to Sanibel, and hopefully make the cut to allow us anchorage on the inside. We will take a leisurely cruise up the inside of both Sanibel and Captiva before circling East to come down Fort Myers and then find a marina to tie up for a week. This will give us the first marina since Moorehead City, NC back in October.

We may extend our time along Sanibel/Cativa, as we don't need to head back toFort Pierce until April. The marinas around Fort Myers are dicey, but set expectations to not be disappointed. Also, how bad can a marina be if all the reviews revolve around rum?

Anyways, have not shoveled any snow off the deck, so could be worse. ;>)