Tossed
the Lines: February 11 2015
The rental car has been returned so the last minute fresh fruit and veg run was done by walking across the bridge to the Publix supermarket. The center of the bridge provides a great, bird's eye view along the ICW from the ocean to the center of St Augustine. I take my camera along in the hopes of being eye-to-eye with a soaring pelican. Additionally, there is a nice boardwalk trail along the water's edge complete with viewing stations.
Holy
cow – it was a sprint to the finish; including a full day of windlass
re-assembly…and a mad dash to First Mate Yacht Services for a tube of
life-caulk mid-assembly, “Run fast, Erin, before this kicks and hardens.” (Feb
9). Thankfully, everything was back
together and there were no “extra” bolts or screws. The anchor was back aboard thanks to a purring
windlass - we were knackered and, clearly, our fatigue showed. As we closed up for the day we got a knock on
the hull from neighbors on m/v Anastasia (Michael and Steve). They saw how hard we were working and offered
a dinner of pizza and cocktails…pizza delivered from the marina piazalo –
Vinny. Perfect - it is great to have
friends nearby to help with our equilibrium.
We unwound aboard Anastasia and shared more stories and plans for the winter. Hope to see you guys down the road!
The
day before departure was spent policing tools and materials as well as stowing
food and provisions (Feb 11). There
was a ton of work completed but most visitors to the boat won't notice
because it's under floor panels and behind observation ports. But
that's okay because we will know and will feel even more confident
about the functioning of the boat. We marked
the end of our work drudgery with a sunset dinner at Cap’s on the Water
thanks
to the use of the marina courtesy car.
Departure
was blissfully uneventful on a calm, crisp morning (Feb 11). We passed through the Bridge of Lions bridge
opening and were off to the Marine Supply and Oil Company for a fuel
top-up. We are on a first name basis
with these guys (Ray and Ben and on and on) after numerous visits for parts and
supplies throughout our various projects.
This supply store caters primarily to professional fishermen so the
“store” is more of a warehouse…and the fuel dock is a scene out of Deadliest
Catch (one of Erin’s favorite shows).
Offshore conditions were not good so many fisherman had stayed in
port. This meant we needed to raft-up to
an 80 foot longline fishing boat, Sea Hawk.
Sea Hawk, incidentally, was rafted to another boat and many others
were ahead and behind us. It was a
fisherman’s parking lot. Erin loved the
industrial feel of it and was positively giddy as she scampered across the two
boats and into the office to pay. Price
was right at $2.71 per gallon. Off we
went with full water tanks, full fuel and a full larder. Yippee!
We
did not go far the first night and stopped on the side of the road at Terrapin
Crossing. Current was strong in this
river-like spot but the anchor stuck and we were out of the marina and on the
move south. A funny thing happened just after
the anchor went down The Customs and
Immigration go-fast boat came alongside and asked why we were anchored amongst
derelict boats…the views were better five miles down at Matanzas?! We mentioned seeing them at Camachee Cove and
said we were happy to be where we were – anchor down and out of a marina. No problem they said and were off. Sundowners on the top deck felt great! And we even spotted a rocket launch from
Cape Canaveral further south – cool. Dinner
was a new recipe but a big hit – Chicken Enchilada Meatloaf.
We
moved along the next few days with hops along the Florida ICW in quiet
anchorages: Rockhouse Creek with its views to the ocean breakers (Feb 12); Titusville
with its open flats and fishermen tossing lights off the boardwalk as they
fished in the night (Feb 13); and Melbourne where we met up with fellow globe
girdlers Tom and Suzie (s/v Priscilla).
We tied our dinghy to the back of docked Priscilla and picked up right
where we left off (Feb 14). We
wandered around Melbourne, talked about future cruising plans and
capped off the day with a sunset view over the ICW and a grilled salmon
dinner in their backyard. Wonderful to
spend time with these guys.
The
subtext to this visit ashore is that Chris and I took the dinghy off and back onto the
boat…with the crane. It is a new process
for us and we had not done it for three months…and that was only once. Eegads – just as we were feeling on top of new
systems and new routines we had to dive into yet another new one. Geez, the crane and its metal cable winch
makes a horrible bunch of creaks and snaps and jerks throughout the process. We took it slow and all went pretty well;
however, we think a smaller dinghy is in our future.