Fort Pierce to Cocoa Beach
Friday, May 13, 2011
It was good to be back underway yesterday. The trip was 58.1 nautical and took about 9 hours through some of the prettier areas along the AICW. We had the pleasure of seeing several sets of large predatory birds nesting along the way to include one really large Bald Eagle. The breeze was nice and from a direction to allow motor sailing. We arrived at the anchorage well before dark but it was time to stop. We were ready to just sit for a bit.
We think we hit the Friday the 13th a day too soon since underway, our engine exhaust fan started to squeal, meaning it is about to fail. Then the anchor windlass decided to take the day off. I should have caught that on the pre sail checklist. Now, old Bligh gets to raise the anchor by hand until I get time to trace the problem. That is a fun start to the day. Next, I lost my spectacles overboard. Thanks to having some replacements, I will not be steering blind. The final gotcha was one of our little solar lights. Seems it cannot take a hit from a deck chair. We had to retire to save the boat.
Fair warning to West Marine. It is on to Daytona today if I can retrieve all that anchor chain before noon.