Heading down the ICW on the way to the Bahamas

Still getting over the bronchitis stuff I was fighting, so this post is a little late.

 This year we are sailing with Martini.  The crew on Martini down the ICW is John Vann and Jack Sterrett. We have sailed with both of them before. We have buddy boated with Jack most every year.  John and his wife Carolyn were on Indulgence, our buddy boat in 2012 and 2013.  When we get to Ft Pierce, John is going home and Jack will single hand across the Gulf Stream.  

Jack and John on Martini.

March 8th Sunday,

We left Brunswick at 9:30.  We wanted to leave at 9:00 but had to wait until the fog lifted. We were to spend the compass to calibrate our autopilot.  However, it would not let us get into the menu.  So here again we are leaving Brunswick with no autopilot.  It is a good thing Instead of a girl in every port George has a mechanic in every port.  Poor George, I am still not feeling well and I only releave him at the helm when he needs a rest. I do still fix lunch and the meals.  I am not enjoying my time in the sick bay and not doing my part at the helm.

Wild horses on Cumberland Island 

We got to Fernandina about 5:30.  We were all tried and decided to eat on the boat.  This is unusual because our favorite restaurant  is 'Espana in Fernandina.  It was at my request that we eat on the boat. Still not feeling 100 percent.

Sunset at Fernandina

March 9th Monday

We left Fernandina about 7:30.  Today will be the longest day we have.  Should take us 10 hours, so I have to step up and take the helm more today. We “parked” our boat just south of Fernandina.  After having to circle for about 45 minutes for the bridge to open, we arrived in St. Augustine at about 5:30.  Of course we had to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, The Columbia House.

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I never get tired of having the bridge stop the cars for us to pass. 

Light house at St.Augustine

March 20th Tuesday

We left St. Augustine at first light.  The morning was beautiful, with a little ground fog on the land.  This made for beautiful pictures. 

Light house in the Morning ground fog.

 Then about an hour in we could see fog up ahead.  I told George I was driving blind.  I could not see anything. I gave him the helm. 

This was Martini leading the way until she ran aground, or as we like to say parked

The sun was pretty high in the sky but still heavy fog.

 It happened so fast it was eerie.  In fact to add to the mystique of the moment we saw what we referred to as a white rainbow.  I guess we should call it the fogbow. 

This was sererously eerie. 

We could not see the green marker 400 feet ahead of us.  We were trapped. Of course we had our radar but I still went to the bow to look for other boats and crab traps. George did not like me being there.  We did not have a track from the previous years but Martini did so they took the lead. We were literally inching along. Then Jack  'parked" his boat.   I thought staying put was a good thing.  George was circling between crab traps, which at least gave us a reference of our position.   After about an hour the fog lifted as quickly as it hit.  The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful.  Thank goodness! We got to Halifax marina in Daytona about 6:30.

It always looks like we are going to hit.

Dolphins always like to play beside the boat in the wake.

March 11th Wednesday

We again wanted to leave at first light but we were a little concerned about the fog that seemed to be rolling in.  As we prepared to leave the fog got worse.  So we decided to wait until the fog had cleared. I made egg omelets because it looked like it was going to take an hour before the fog lifted. This was another long day and the next stop was going to be an anchorage just past the NASA Causeway Bridge. A few miles before the bridge John called back to us to tell us there was a rocket on the launch pad.  I got the binoculars and looked around to find the find the rocket.  It was to be launched the next night.  

The rocket on the launching pad.

The Coast Guard's warning came over the radio for all vessels to be a out if a certain range during that time, if not $250,000.00 fine and jail time.  They don’t play!!!!   We had to get the bridge to open around 6:00.  They will not open between 3:30 and 5:00 because of rush hour. We anchored just passed the NASA Cause Bridge. This would have been a perfect place to watch the launch but time did not allow another night on anchor.

Martini on anchor at NASA bridge.

March 12th Thursday

Today was another 10 or 11 hour motor to our next destination, Vero Beach.  We were hesitating to leave due to another heavy fog but we made the decision to leave anyway.  The fog lifted as soon as we got our anchor up. It was an easy " weighing ", or pulling up the anchor.  Yes you guys, we did not have to do the anchor dance.  

Guess who we met on the way!! The Nina and Pinta!!!

This is not our favorite part of the trip.  There is a lot of open water and the markers are not that close together.  There is a train trestle or track that is open unless there is a train coming.  We also had made some notes two years ago about how to navigate the area just before Vero Marina.  We got to the docks around 7:00. Therefore, no docks hands were there to help us dock.   Not only did we have no one to help us, the T head where we were to be had no cleats, just post.  Having to lasso a high post took me by surprise but we did a pretty good job of docking.  

The railroad trestle bridge in the open position.

George had been looking forward to a black and blue hamburger he got at the Riverside Restaurant near the marina two years ago. 

We all wanted to stay up until the rocket launch at 10:44 in spite of being totally exhausted.  John, Jack and George took a shower.  I took a nap.  We all meet on our dock, which was going to be a great place to watch the rocket.   The only problem was the clouds. We watched the launch in real time on my phone but saw nothing in the sky that night.  Everyone slept well.

March 13^th Friday

We had to be in Ft. Pierce by 9:00 on Friday.  Remember those mechanics George has in every port.  He has three in Ft Pierce!!!

The first mechanic was to fix the oil sending unit. The next technician was to fix the autopilot.  The third is to fix the engine driven compressor for the  refrigeration.  If need be, we have a generator to keep our freezer going on anchor.

 The first two technicians came and both gave not so great news.  We are getting a new sending unit and a brand new state of the art autopilot.  The autopilot will not be here until Wednesday.  This means we missed our weather window Saturday.  We will have to wait for another one. John left today to go home.

This big boy had to blow his warning horn at us because he was hidden around a bend .

March 14^th Saturday

We had breakfast on Martini.  Jack fixed pancakes and eggs.  That's right Greg - no salmon in a bag!   Jack and George rode bikes all the way to the old cannery site.  He even took jack by the house where George called me during tomato season while we were dating.  They then rode to the city marina for a brew.

What did I do during that time? I slept!  All this, " at first light " has taken a toll!!

I had seen a Marine surplus store a few years back.  I looked it up on the map and it was only a mile and a half away.  We rode bikes to the store.  It was huge!  The guys were like kids in a candy store!

Ponce Inlet Light house in Daytona

March 15^th Sunday

Today is wash day so I will not bore you with those details, expect to say that I met this really nice lady in the laundry room.  As we were getting to know about each other she told me that she had lived in Milledgeville.  In fact she had gone to West End school. This is the school my children attended. She was a live aboard and was working in the public schools here as a psychologist.  When I told her I worked in the schools as a SLP,  well needless to say we talked, as my family calls it “psycho babble”,  during the washing and during cycles.

George called Stan, a good friend and our yacht broker. We invited he and his wife Sylvia for dinner on Celebration the next night.

March 16^th Monday

We went to Wal Mart to buy an antenna for the T.V.  We were expecting the oil spending unit to be installed today, so Jack waited for the mechanic.

A few months ago a barge sank at the entrance into the Ft. Pierce inlet.  We had heard they were going to close the inlet while raising the barge. We were concerned because we were trying to get out on Wednesday afternoon. While waiting, Jack talked to the people at the Marina and of course they were raising the barge on Wednesday and Thursday.  Now we need to go out the St. Lucia inlet which is shallow.  We are beginning to wonder if we will be able to meet the kids in Marsh Harbour.

The highlight of our day was of course Stan and Sylvia joining us for dinner.  They are so interesting!!! It would take a book not a blog to write just a few of their stories. Great people!  The only regret was not getting pictures of them for my blog.  I’ve got to do better.  Greg and John are usually our photographers. 

Wine and Cheese before dinner

Tuesday March 17^th

Breakfast again on Martini!!!  Jack is really becoming a good chief!  Egg omelets even! 

We got our oil sending unit installed.  After Bill the mechanic left the boat, we starting taking pictures of the boat to post on yacht world.  We are still looking for a weather window and hoping to leave on Wednesday or Thursday.