Friday whatever date it is...
Jan came over ths AM looking for boiled water for their "on the road coffee", I did a kettle full. Reminds me I have not had a coffee since Reg went back to Canada over a month or more ago, guess I do not need
coffee to keep me going. Tried to rent a car for the weekend, there were none available, the weekend rates are $19. per day instead of $40. guess
that is why they do not have any! I will try again in the AM.
Talked to Bunny and June Gillis this AM, they are on the way to Orlando to visit Marvin and Marla. They may have room for my stuff when they return to
Canada. Have to call them Monday evening again. Still no sign of the NS boat, �No Justice�, but all kinds of talk today on the VHF about the BAD trip across from Mangrove Cay during the next window after I crossed, �No Justice� apparently was in that group, and also �Muskoka Moon� who was in Marsh Harbour. There were 7 boats, Chris Parker, the weather guru they
all adore and stake their lives on, predicted a good crossing for last Sunday.
Well it did not happen, thunder storms, rain and squalls with high winds (50 + kts) came, the same storm we had here in the marina. One boat bent his boom, tore all his sails, another was abandoned and the rest all had other problems. It lasted 4 hours apparently it was not a fun trip. Glad I was alone, then I had no one else to worry about, and I did not know enough to be scared. Guess it proves the old adage, �the only day a sailor picks his weather is the day he leaves, after that, he takes what comes�.
This afternoon, I walked to the �mile away each way�
Publix, bought a 20 lb bag of ice, and they had shrimp on sale again so I bought 2 more lbs. Mary will be pissed off all that chloesterol, ah! but they are some good!!!
I checked the office this morning, they still have me scheduled for Monday morning haulout and pressure wash, then direct to �dead storage�, that means no electric., in other words the boondocks. So I have to get my ass in gear to get all the stuff to repair out soon, and find a way home.
Am missing a GPS cord, the one that has 3 terminals: one end that plugs into a cig lighter, another has the 4 pin plug for the Garmin GPS and also the third end has a 9 pin serial connector to plug into the computer. Is it at home? I have looked everywhwer on the boat no luck, and there are just so many places it could have been stored.
The inside of the boat is starting to look like no one is living here anymore. I am sleeping on the Stbd vee, but the rest of the front cabin is piled with stuff. The 4.2 is now under the dinette table, with all the instruments and life jackets that come home with me. The pilot berth cushion in fwd and the berth has all the sheets, fans, some sails, extra pillows in the original plastic and bagged clean laundry. When I finish up, all the cushions will go on top of the table covered with a sheet or something.

Two inflatables with hard aluminum bottoms arrived here today each one on a flatbed trailer, they then unloaded them and their 3 axle trailers from the flatbeds then the tractors hooked on and hauled them away, leaving the flatbed trailers behind. Someone said they were "Homeland Security" boats. The motore were 250HP and each had 3 motors attached

WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS? Arrived finally at Piercy Beach in southern Georgia. Getting lots of things cleaned up on board, the dinghy has been deflated, placed on top of the cabin, covered with a plastic tarp and strapped down to the handrails. Does not sound like a big job, but it
took me a total of 3 days considering I had to walk 3 miles each way to a hardware store to buy the tarp and the tie down straps! I think I will
require a new pair of CROCS before summer.
The mid cabin hatch glass is removed and I will cut a replacement this summer. The hole is covered
with plywood that is turnequed to a 2 x 2 inside and then of course the dinghy is upside down on top of that. There should not be any leaks there! Cam and Jan returned Tuesday morning from visiting their daughter in Melbourne for the weekend.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I helped Laurie and Francis while they were craning �Glory Days�, their 48 ft catamaran, to her storage place on the hard.
The crane was 120 ton, seems excessive for a 15,000 lb boat! Laurie took 5 years to build her, the hulls are built of cedar strip monocoqued. There are no ribs, only bulkheads. I went to �Te Amor� for dinner last night, fish again, and I brought wine and some of my
shrimp which were on sale for $3.75 lb at the �mile away each way� Publix, I could not resist, so I bought 2 lbs. Something I ate or drank, whatever it was, I did not wake up until 05:30 this morning.

This morning, I climbed into the port aft hatch and tackled the refrigeration system, of course I had to climb in and out several times for tools, and finally I went over and asked Cameron to give me a hand to
lift the compressor out. That took until 14:00 and I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning it up to get ready for repair. A shower this afternoon seems in order, the sulphur smell in the local water is a bit
overwhelming here, but it is better than being stinky and sweaty.

All the bagged sails are on the foredeck drying in the hot sun, it is 85 F degrees here today. I do not want to stow them away wet.
The Georgia Coastal RR is directly behind where I am tied up. The trains go by, at 60 miles per hr, heading south all night every night every hour,at exactly 6 minutes past the hour, and they blow the horns for each andevery street they cross. During the day, they reverse direction and head north. Even with the boat in the water, everything shakes! Jan dropped
by this afternoon, they are ready to head out tomorrow morning early, heading to Iowa to visit another daughter fopr a few days on the way back
to Annapolis Royal. There is another single-hander Nova Scotian sailor on his way here, Jan thinks he has a vehicle here and may want company for the drive back.
That would be too convenient!

Tuesday March 1, 2008 Alarm rings off at 06:00 Looked out, ah! this is
too early to start out, and it is blowing, the wind in the rigging sounds onomus and the sun is not up yet, and I only have 52 miles to go. Back to get another � hour or more of sleep. But got to get moving, Cam calls, no
change in the weather either from Chris Parker or NOAA, I cannot get either on my radio. Weigh anchor at 07:30, roll out jib and speed sets at 6.5 with the motor idling at 1200 RPM for the batteries. Winds are at 20+ from the SE and I am sailing W, a nice broad reach, not another sail in sight, the only thing I see for the next 7 hours are 2 sea ducks and they
were not even together, nothing but water 14 ft deep. My option, if I change my mind is Mangrove Cay, but I decide to push on for White Sand Ridge about 10 miles north of Memory Rock where the plan was to anchor and rest until �Te Amor� comes by on their non-stop run across to Florida.
The forecast for the Gulf Stream today is for 15 � 20 ky SE winds, 6 � 8 ft seas diminishing on Wednesday to 10 � 15 with 2 � 4 ft seas, when I plan to make my crossing. When I arrived at White Sand the seas there
were 6 � 8, not a good place to anchor for a few hours sleep. Mangrove Cay was no longer an option because it would now be 28 miles upwind, the only alternative... at 16:00 was to keep on going, there is still 4 hours
of daylight and then another 5 or so and I will be somewhere in Florida.
Hester is not working so I have to hand steer! The most comfortable course directed me towards St Lucie Inlet, the Fort Pierce course would not let me carry the jib it kept collapsing and filling, so St Lucie it is. Then the fun started, I am in the Gulf Stream, the seas are not that bad, 8 ft swells and no square ones or breakers. Big black clouds appear to the south and an hour later the rain came down and down, for over an
hour it poured. Then it stopped and a while later another or the same one came back and it was worst than the first. An hour later it cleared, I have 30 miles to go speed 5 kts, if I head further north along the coast speed picks up to 7.1, but I am committed to St. Lucie by now, getting tired have been on the wheel since 07:30 it is now 20:00 my arms are tired my shoulders ache and I have blisters on the palms of my hands from the wheel. At 20:30 I witness the most beautiful light show I have ever seen, it lasted three hours or more and danced all around me, scary I
swear each flash was talking, There is another boat out here, I suspect it is Coast Guard, no running lights and it keeps moving around probably watching me. By 02:00 I find the outer flashing red sea bouy #2, and see a green flasher in the entrance (or so I thought!), roll in the jib and slowly creep in to what I thought was the channel, the green flasher disappears,, OH OH make a quick 90 degree turn to port to go back out for
another look, just then a breaking surf hits broadside, everything goes flying in the cockpit, computer goes from the cockpit seat to the floor but is still running. I give the throttle a push to the bottom and another 90 to port and on my starboard I see the rocks from the south breakwater not 10 feet away and no light on it. Return to flashing red #2 , it is obvious again I see the inside green flasher, so I take another slow run at this narrow entrance, this time just in time I see the rocks
of the north breakwater on the nose, snap a very hard turn to port and just squirt by the end of the rocks!!! WOW twice in 25 minutes, someone is looking after me. I am now in the harbour, I cannot see the chart on the computer and no time to pick it up, but the waves are gone, there are
condos on stbd, and scrub looking land, the island park, on port, the
green flasher is ahead about a half mile, I take it to my port side and promptly go aground in mud with the depth sounder showing 13 ft. I back off, try again further to the right, aground again. There are no red
flashers anywhere near. After several more tries and misses, I simply drop the anchor and 60 ft of chain, pour a good shot of brandy and go to bed, it is 03:15, I have been at the wheel for almost 19 hours, have not
had food or liquid of any kind since Sunday evening when I had the rest of my Fricot. And my ice is all gone. I set the alarm for 06:00.
Tuesday March 2, 2008. 06:00 It is still dark, but everything is OK on deck. Water depth is 12 ft, and we are floating free just to the side of the channel, I go back to bed. At 08:00 I have toast and an over easy
egg, while I sit in the cockpit and peruse the cruising guide, it says �St Lucie Inlet not recommended in darkness without local knowledge�!!!!! and
there is an aerial photo of the entrance showing the two rock breakwaters and the missing channel. Now I have local knowledge... from experience.
And just for the want of a red and a green flasher on the channel ends
those two breakwaters. Not an experience I want again for sure, in retrospect, Fort Pierce Inlet would have been a better choice. I wonder where �Te Amor� has got to? I take down the Bahamas courtesy flag from the stbd spreader and raise my yellow �Q� flag with the US flag underneath, I am not allowed to go ashore except to contact US Customs.
08:45 weigh anchor, in daylight the channel I painfully looked for last night is now obvious, it lies all along the park island, where I thought it was I just did not go close enough. Where I anchored last night is
�spoil bank�. I head for the ICW, and turn north towards Melbourne.
09:50 A sailboat �DeLaMer� coming from astern, calls to tell me he wants
to pass on my port side. When he comes alongside, I ask if he has a cell phone, and if he would be so kind to call Mary to let her know I am across and safe a day earlier than expected. I give him the phone #. They make the call, so Home knows where I am again. Have not had contact since Manjack cay by WiFi 5 days ago. A short time later �DeLaMer� calls again on ch 16 �just a few miles up ahead there are high power lines overhead and a nuclear power
plant on Hutchison Island to stbd, one of only 103 in the US, a bit of trivia for the day he tells me. I respond that PEI is going strong for
windmill power, It was a big surprise to him, I could not contact him later he was out of my range. They had just spent 2 months in Key West and want to do the Bahamas next year.
12:30 Arrive at the bascule bridge in Fort Pierce, Jan is on the radio calling �Whitecap�, they just arrived at 07:00 this morning. I ask her to please call the bridge for an opening, they do not answer my call on
either ch 16 or 9 which is what the bridges operate on here. A few minutes later the bridge opens and I power over to and into a narrow channel to where Te Amor� is tied up, I was able to get a slip for a few
days. We went out to pizza with an English couple Terry and Margaret on �Bonnie� a Gemini Cat, which they are sailing to Gibralter, next winter, they plan to sail Greece. Margaret told me about their problems with US Customs, when they sailed into Palm Beach Inlet to Lake Worth to check in.
Because they were travelling on British passports, and had not obtained a prior visa for entry to the US they were subjected to an automatic fine of $1,100 each... cash only! (Now, how could a couple arriving on a 30 ft sailboat from the Bahamas obtain a visa? Or even carry $2,200 in cash?).
The fine had to be paid in cash, no VISA and no questions!!! Terry had to go to an ATM for the cash while Margaret stayed at Customs (hostage?) Not
the proper way to be welcomed to the land of the free...

It is blowing very hard this evening, would not want to be out there tonight!