Back in 2010, I joined my father on a sailing trip from Virginia to Florida with hope of crossing over to the Caribbean.
The “ditch” as it is commonly referred to is more formally known as the Intracoastal Waterway or ICW.
This is a series of channels running north to south, that have been dug by the Army Corps of Engineers for small boats to traverse the east coast.
They allow for relatively safe passage from New York to Florida, without the need to sail out into the open ocean.
My Camera
I was using a Fujifilm Finepix S700 camera during this trip. It was the same camera I had on me during my trip to Europe back in 2007. The camera specs included 7.1 Mega Pixels, 10x optical Fujinon zoom lens ((38-380\text{mm}) equivalent), and a 2.5-inch LCD.
It took fine photos and could handle different lighting conditions adequately. At some point though it got this burn mark on the digital screen, like when you leave an old monitor on for long periods of time. They don’t do that anymore, monitors I mean. The mark didn’t show through on photos I took, but it did make taking pictures a bit difficult.
Blog Posts
The following text was taken from a backup of my Blogger site, Stone Soup Travels. I had made that site after graduating from the Job Corps Center in 2007. I used it to keep friends and family apprised of the trip.
NOTE: I have lost the photos from this trip. There are numerous references to photos in my journal. Sadly, you will need to use your imagination.
- My Camera
- Blog Posts
- 4 days to go
- Well, I’m off.
- Louise M.
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday 20
- Thursday 21
- Friday 22
- Saturday 23
- Sunday 24
- Monday 25
- Tuesday 26
- Wednesday 27
- Thursday 28
- Friday 29
- Saturday 30
- Sunday 31
- Monday & Tuesday
- Sunday 7
- Tuesday Nov 9
- Wednesday 10
- Sunday 14 Morgan Isle
- Monday 15th
- Tuesday 16
- Wednesday 17 to Monday 22
- Tuesday 23
- Wednesday 24
- Thursday 25
- Friday 26
- Monday 29 Rain
- December
- Stuart (FL)
- Flagler Park, Stuart
- Bad Weather
- North Palm Beach
- Fort Lauderdale
- Tsu-kun
- Homeward Bound
- 3 Days
- Done
- Blog Posts
4 days to go
I’ve got my ticket and one bag packed, I’ll be taking a Greyhound bus. It’s going to be a 7 hour trip but I’ve got a book to read, my mp3 player and laptop loaded with some TV shows to watch. Even so it should be fine I have previously rode greyhound cross country from North Carolina to Oregon and that wasn’t so bad…sort of.
I’ll be arriving at Norfolk around 2:45pm and will get some time to visit with Madeline before she gets on a bus headed back to New York. I am looking forward to it because I haven’t seen her since I came back from England in 07′.
Well, I’m off.
I boarded the greyhound headed for Norfolk this morning. Currently I am on a lay over in Richmond (VA) the WiFi here is pretty slow and the connection keeps dropping but what “free” hot spot isn’t these days. I’ll be here for an hour and a half then off to Norfolk and the boat.
Well after a comfortable ride I have arrived in Norfolk. The first thing I saw was the Naval Shipyards across the water with a couple of ships moored. I expect to get some nice photos of them in town.
I met up with Maikel and Madeline at the Greyhound station and we headed over to a nice little restaurant offering Turkish cuisine, I had a chicken and beef gyro and the other two had Turkish coffee’s. It was certainly a nice change from what I have been eating these past 3 years, the last time I was at a kebab shop was back in France.
After Madeline left for her bus me and Maikel hopped on a bus and went down to the waterfront where the Wisconsin, a battleship, is docked. I got some photos, I’ll post one here and the rest can be seen on my Photobucket page.
After seeing the Wisconsin we headed for the river crossing point. Along the way we passed by the Virgina Wine Festival, it was $10 to get in so we didn’t go but I think it was the right choice. I haven’t decided whether I will start drinking again, its been over a year since I’ve had any alcohol.
In order to get to Maikel’s boat which was across the Elizabeth river we took a ride on a small paddle boat, although the paddle was just for show; there are propellers underneath the ferry. It was a short crossing but I managed to snap some more pictures. On the ferry we met a couple that had come down from Baltimore in a local race, there was a party and awards given out to the winners.
We had a toast on board the boat and was later invited over to the neighboring powerboat, the Orza, her owner had been helping out with the race. Orza’s captain and some friends were having a party, there was a nice spread set out with smoked salmon, baklava, chips crackers, cheese, cookies, pistachios. To drink there were beers and some nice banana rum. They were all very friendly and we exchanged boat cards.
Louise M.
Well here is Maikel’s boat, her name is Louise Michel. Her name comes from parts of Madeline and Maikel names combined. The name is also a nod to the leader of a French grass roots democracy that was established back in 1870 during a revolutionary uprising in Paris. She was responsible for many changes to the country including the creation of kindergartens and setting up schools for girls.
I took some pictures of the inside of the cabin, it’s not as big as I had imagined it would be but It has a nice cozy feel to it. I could definitly call this “a home, away from home.” It certainly will be for the next 3 months down through VA, NC, SC, GA and FL.
Sunday
Well day 1 of the trip we got up at 5am and had breakfast then used the showers at the marina. We set off from the marina after getting fuel at the office and made our way down the river. We passed many navy ships that are being worked on and then went under the first of 4 bridges. 2 of them were railroad bridges, some work on a set schedule while others you have to call ahead for them to be raised up.
After the bridges we made a right and headed for the first set of locks thast would gain us entrance to the Atlantic Intracostal Waterway. There were 2 other boats with us when we went through, It took some time for the water levels to even out before we could go on. At the moment we have anchored in the ditch and are having lunch.
We just passed mile marker 26. We’ll dock there for the night since it’s a bit too far to get to the next lock before sundown. I have seen 4 turtles and a couple of birds along the way but not much else. A breeze is starting to pick up but its going in the wrong direction to sail, it will most likely be like this the rest of the way through the ditch.
Monday
We were off to an early start and got to the lock around 9:30am, there were two cute little dogs at the lock. The locks and bridges are run by the same guy so once the bridge is raised he has to drive down the road to the lock to let us through then drive back to his post at the bridge.
We have seen 3 bald eagles so far and a couple of ducks, but not much else along the ditch. After some time the ditch merged with the Pasquotank River and started to get curvy and cleaner.
The rest of the way down to Elizabethcity was rather uneventful but that can be considered good what with all of the dead logs we saw sticking out of the water along the way down.
Once we got to town we saw the 2 other boats that had left with us in the morning, we tied up nearby them and went into town for lunch. The local grocery offered a service to boater where they would transport you to the store and back for free. After shopping we headed back to the boat and then stopped at a wine and cheese party for the boaters that had come ashore that day.
Wednesday 20
We saw a nice sunrise, then we made our way to the swing bridge where I got some photos of it opening and closing.
It was motoring the whole way but eventually we got to the next ICW entrance. About halfway through we started getting passed by a bunch of boats, some where sailboats but mostly it was powerboats, they were good about passing and went slow so as not to knock us around a lot.
We got some photos of some Black Vultures which were hunting in the area as well as a bald eagle which was disturbing them. As we exited the ICW it started to rain so we got on our gear and decided to anchor before it got any worse.
Thursday 21
I brought up the anchor on a foggy day, we had breakfast then made our way across the river under power.
After some time we raised sail for part of trip to Bellhaven, upon arrival we docked at the River Forest marina. They had a golf cart for our use, we got groceries and propane in town, then I had a shower.
We cast off from the dock in a heavy wind with rocks to port and pilings to starboard. It was tricky with the little outboard motor. Later that day we anchored in a protected creek further down the river that day. I went out in the ski-daddle around the evening and got some pictures.
The next day I went with Maikel for a paddle in the morning after sleeping in till 9am.
Friday 22
We left the creek and headed for the next intracoastal waterway, it was a short one but it took some time to get there and the wind was from behind for parts of it.
Mostly had to motor in the ditch due to poor wind conditions also low depth on the sides was a worry. We anchored on the other side with some other boats that we had seen earlier during the day.
I got some nice photos of the moon rising and sun setting opposite of each other.
Saturday 23
Had eggs and English muffins for breakfast this morning and listened to NPR. I got some nice pictures of the sunrise and moon set.
Motored up the river to a creek where we will be hauling out the boat so that we can clean the bottom and do repairs. Along the way we stopped at an old fishery dock and went ashore to look around and stretch our legs.
We then proceeded to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, I went back to the boat while Maikel put on some long sleeves and pants then went back to walk. We arrived at the Hurricane boatworks after carefully navigating a slim channel, the docks had water and power hookups available so we were able to charge everything on house power.
The business was closed for the weekend so everyone was just waiting until Monday. As we docked we were greeted by a french couple, John & Danielle, they had been living in the states for 10 years just sailing up and down the coast.
In the boat yard a man and his partner gave us some good advice as where to anchor while going down to Florida, as well as let us know when the boat works would be open again.
Sunday 24
Well we mostly just worked on the boat getting it ready for our haul-out on Monday.
We had an unfortunate incident with the charge controller for the solar panel, the neg and pos wires touched and sparked which fried one of the chips on the charge controller circuit board.
We will have to go and buy another maybe at West Marine or it may need to be ordered.
Monday 25
The boatworks was in operation soon after we had breakfast, and the workers got the travel lift running and within the hour they were hauling out Louise.
There weren’t many barnacles on the bottom but there was quite a bit of scum built up. Maikel used the pressure washer to clean the bottom and then the workers placed the boat in the yard.
The boatworks did have a router and a DSL line but for what ever reason the internet wasn’t working for us. This makes it a full week since I have been online, it’s certainly not what I was expecting.
Tuesday 26
Well yesterday evening it started to rain and this morning it is still raining. The clouds are blocking what may be a nice sunrise but there will be many more nice ones so no big loss.
It’s looking like it will be too wet out to paint the decks with some non-skid. Its going to take about 2 days shipping to get the part we need for the solar panel. The mosquitoes have been nothing but trouble, I have marks all over my arms, legs, face, feet and neck.
Wednesday 3AM
It’s so hot I can’t sleep, the mosquitoes have marked my legs and neck even my ears. The moon is so bright that my cabin is lit up, if I go outside to cover the hatch more bugs will get in.
I’ve run out of shows to watch on my computer and the internet Is unavailable, I’m cut off and tired. I’ll be happy to get off the land and get back to sailing to be away from shore will cut the bugs off and cool the boat down.
I have been awake since going to bed 5 hours ago, being awake I am getting very hungry and I can’t do anything about it.
Wednesday 27
It was raining in the morning so we weren’t sure whether we would be able to work on the boat much, but it quickly burned off and got hot.
We put a second coat of bottom paint on the haul and finished using the Gelcoat to polish the firberglass. Maikel had me cut some pieces of wood for shelving to put inside the lockers in the cabin; while he worked on improving the air ventilation inside the outboard motorwell.
It got so darn hot, but we kept on working and when the day was over most of the work was done, UPS also dropped off the part we needed for the solar panel.
I took one of the ski-daddles out and headed across the creek to explore the marshes but in the end its just a lot of wet grass.
Thursday 28
I woke up at 5:45, I’ll have some tea then breakfast.
We are hoping to get put back in the water this afternoon and then head for our next destination Friday morning. Around 1pm they got the travel lift going and put Louise back in the water.
We decided to wait until Friday to ship since so little of the day was left and we had 30+ miles to go. The bugs were fewer out on the dock mostly because of the wind near the water, it made for a more peaceful sleep.
Friday 29
Got up nice and early, started the outboard and found it had mud stuck in the system from getting launched the day before.
After taking some time to run it we decided not to take it apart and clean it out. We didn’t bother with the charts heading out of the inlet at the boatyard, it was a little windy but not enough to be a problem.
As we left came around the point the wind came up strong and the waves got to be 3ft in some spots, we got to see a couple of porpoise crossing the river.
I got some shots of the waves and by the time we made it to Oriental (NC) my arms were terribly sore from pushing and pulling the tiller all day.
We tied up at the public dock in Oriental and I was pleased to find there was a coffee shop across the street with free WiFi as well as a free connection from the nearby marina.
The speed was of course weak but after so long without, it was acceptable.
Saturday 30
Well Oriental seems like a nice place to visit, I had fallen asleep with my laptop on so when I woke up the battery was dead. Even worse I had the wrong files downloading so the time it was still on was wasted.
Download speed here is averaging about 54kB/s it’s not enough to watch any anime or watch a movie on Net-flicks. At least I can upload all of my pictures and get some music but that won’t last forever, also I’m running out of interesting things to write about.
We’ll probably go shopping later on today, there is a food lion further inland, a used boat goods shop and a sail loft in town near the dock and since its Saturday the farmers market is running nearby.
Saturday Evening – There was live music again tonight and this time there was also a Halloween party down at the Marina Inn. They started the music at 8pm and the party didn’t really end till midnight, everyone seemed to be out in costume and full of joy.
We will definitely be sleeping in on Sunday.
Sunday 31
Late morning I’m having coffee at the shop across from boat, had a scone to. It seems that during the night the tide went out some and now the keel is stuck in the mud.
Luckily someone offered to pull us out with their boat. After some tricky maneuvering we made it to the fuel dock and got water and gas in the tanks, then we headed out of the marina.
We are making our way under sail to Adams Creek and then into the ICW; on the other side is Beaufort, it’s about 20 miles or so.
Sunday 3pm – We are anchored at Town Creek near the bridge entrance to Beaufort, there are so many boats in here it was difficult to get a good spot.
There is free WiFi from the nearby marina and a very fast connection from a Diving school I think. I was able to get most of my downloading done before going to bed and I don’t have much left to get.
Monday & Tuesday
Monday 1
Another early morning start, we decided to go around and not go through the bridge.
We are traveling along the ICW from Moorhead down to Swansboro, looking for a nice spot to anchor along the way. We got into a small square area that has been dredged for boats to anchor, there are at least 35 other boats packed in here.
Maikel is going out in the ski-daddle to visit with the other boaters while I get dinner ready.
Tuesday 2
We’ll the other boats didn’t take long getting out but they will have 20 miles of motoring against the tide.
We’re taking our time and waiting for the ebb before heading out. There is a spot on the chart where we may be able to anchor, go ashore and walk to the beach.
Yesterday I got some pictures of Military planes flying over head, we were passing through Camp Lejeune and even after it got dark they were still flying about.
Sunday 7
Well we have been moving down the coast quite a bit. Currently we are docked at Hague Marina and will be soon heading out.
We passed into South Carolina yesterday though I can’t exactly remember where, somewhere around Little River near the Casino ships.
A couple of days ago we were at Bald Head Island(NC) hoping to make passage to Charleston(SC) across a stretch of open ocean water. The wind just was off enough to ruin our course so we decided to head back and wait out the tide then head for the ICW again.
I think we will be getting to Georgetown today or tomorrow, we are just over a third of the way to Miami.
Tuesday Nov 9
Making our way to the beach, it has been a short day. We motored about 6 miles to Capers Isle, a national forest, once there we can walk across the island to get to the ocean-side and the beach.
Yesterday we left Georgetown after staying a night at Boat Shed Marina, we went to the Piggly Wiggly to get groceries and got a ride back to the marina. Charleston is about 16 miles away from us now.
Tuesday Evening
Well we went aground just a little while after coming back from the beach. We had to wait 6 hours for the tide to finish going out and then come back in enough for the boat to start floating again.
Maikel went out in the ski-daddle with the lead line and the stern anchor with a fender tied to it, he found a nice deep spot and droped the anchor there.
Using it as a guidepoint we re anchored nearby when we got put of the sand. Otherwise the day was great, there are so many birds on Capers Isle but we didn’t see any of the aligators that were said to live in the freshwater inland lake.
Wednesday 10
We sailed to Charleston today.
After entering the bay we tied up at a yacht club and asked if we could stay there while sight seeing. The dock master said it would be fine so we grabbed our camera’s and headed out.
I got some nice pictures of the waterfront, old buildings and lovely flowers. We stopped at Sticky Fingers, a barbecue restaurant and had lunch before heading back to the boat.
Tomorrow we will be visiting a friend of one of Maikels customers back in New York.
Sunday 14 Morgan Isle
We took a break from motoring making it a short day. We went up a creek and anchored then got the ski-daddles out to explore the marshes.
There was an island with trees off a ways so we headed for it. We had to cut through the tall grasses in some spots in order to get there since the creek meandered and sometimes would end up at a dead end.
Eventually we got to the forest where we went ashore and made our way along the beach.
We managed to find a way into the woods and were surprised to find a feeding trough and water barrels next to a makeshift road. Following the road we soon saw who the food was there for, the island was populated with monkeys.
We both took pictures and I got some video footage of the monkeys jumping through the trees, on the way back to the ski-daddles we also found a monkey skull which we took with us.
Making our way back to the boat was difficult since the grass was so high and we couldn’t see the mast.
Earlier there was a grass fire on a neighboring island so we were able to use the cloud of smoke from it and the position of the sun to figure out the general direction back.
Even so we had to get out and walk through a long stretch of marsh where the grass was to thick to paddle. Knee deep in water, barefoot I trudged for about 30 minutes my feet got rather sore but soon we got into deep water and were able to paddle again.
When we got back to the boat we decided to stay there for the night.
Monday 15th
After Morgan Isle we made our way to Beaufort where we bumped into yet another boat, this time as we docked.
The current was especially strong near the free dock and we came in at a bad angle. We took some time to check out the town but it was another one of these historical districts so there wasn’t really anything for us to do it being a Sunday.
We left after having lunch and made our way to a small unmarked creek where we anchored for the night.
Maikel decided that we could go out into the ocean today because the weather would be nice. It relatively little time to get out onto the Atlantic since the tide was with us, we had timed things so that when we got to the re-entry point the tide would again be with us for going in.
The Ocean was absolutely filled with nothing but jellyfish, it was very boring seeing them every 3 feet, there were hardly any birds either; just once I saw a dolphin far off near the coast.
The outing was uneventful but we did manage to save 2 days of traveling down the ICW so thats good.
Tuesday 16
We got under way around 8am and had to drive hard against the tide to get out of the creek.
The wind just kept getting stronger and the waves got bigger as we left the creek and entered the river. I got some video footage of the waves crashing on the bow which was cool but the waves then were nothing compared to what we faced later on.
Really big waves would push us up into the air and then we would fall down on the next wave and get soaked by the splash, water was running down the the deck constantly.
Eventually we decided to take shelter in a creek on the other side of the river. After getting up the creek we saw a dock and made our way there but ran aground badly with the engine going strong.
Two men in a skiff helped us get off the shoal by twisting the boat around in circles to dig a hole in the sand and free the keel.
When we finally docked it was only 11am, so Maikel got a ride to the Piggly Wiggly from the owners of a boat we rafted to, he got some shopping done and when he got back we took a walk.
Wednesday 17 to Monday 22
Wednesday
I got to sleep in today since we have to wait for the tide to start coming in before we can get out of this creek at Pelican Point. We’re having grits and liver for breakfast.
We saw a sailboat get out this creek, they went aground once but still managed to leave alright. We took our time getting to an anchorage down the ICW in Duplin River, we saw some more porpoises along the way.
Thursday
We got up at dawn and decided to go out into the Atlantic to make up for time lost back in the Sapelo River.
It was particularly boring since there were only jellyfish swimming in the ocean, nothing else was seen most of the day unless you count some seagulls; which I don’t.
Eventually we made it to Brunswick where we saw 2 of the cruise ships from Charleston. They had free laundry machines so we took advantage of that and cleaned most of the bedding from the boat.
I am allergic to dust mites and have bumps all over my body from them so I was glad to get things clean. We went to a local bar and got some burgers and celebrated my birthday before heading back to the boat.
Friday
We stayed at Brunswick till the afternoon while we got some supplies from town. Maikel got some Jumbo Shrimp and we cooked them up in a batter with lemon, they were great.
As we left the marina one of the cruise ships left while the other waited at the dock, once we got down into the ICW the other ship came in as well. It was so shallow through the channel, 4.5 feet in some spots, I didn’t think they would be able to make it but I guess they don’t draw much.
The rest of the way was nice and we got to sail much of the time until we got to a little creek off of the ICW where we anchored for the night.
Saturday
Well we got an early start and as we passed down through the ICW we passed some navy shipyard, I think it was for nuclear submarines or something.
We stopped at the north end of an island with a state park, Maikel took a walk while dinked around on the laptop. We decided to find the main part of the park further down the channel and to stop and sight see.
There were many boats anchored near the park entrance as well as a ferry that brought people from St Marys to the island. We got to see wild horses and we walked to the Oceanside beach about a mile away.
After some discussion we made plans to get some early sleep and then go out into the Atlantic again.
Sunday
This time we went out at 11pm since it was a full moon, we followed the channel markers out and then I took the first shift until about 3am, then Maikel relieved me.
I slept very well despite the pitching and rolling from the ocean swells, after a 14 hour trip we made it to St. Augustine (FL) where we tied up to a mooring buoy for the night.
We were both rather tired from the long trip in and after some big waves as we came through the Inlet.
Monday
We went ashore at the harbor after getting local sunshine bus info off the net but after talking to locals we found that the information was wrong.
It took some waiting but eventually I got a bus to Walmart and Maikel got to the local co-op, unfortunately he found they had a poor selection and most of the stuff was overpriced.
I had better luck but couldn’t get all I wanted since I just had my backpack, I also got my medicine at the pharmacy.
My failure for the day was getting on the wrong bus outside of the store, i ended up getting dropped off somewhere downtown and having to walk many block and across a bridge to get back to the harbor.
My back was very sore by the time I got to the marina but I managed to get the groceries into the Ski-Daddle and paddled back to the boat.
Later that day I went ashore and checked out an old fort but they wanted an entrance fee so I just waled around it taking some pictures.
Tuesday 23
We left St Augustine around 12:30pm passing through the Bridge of Lions.
Earlier that day I had taken a bus back to Walmart to get some food item I had forgotten the previous day. Maikel took my sleeping bag to the laundry in the marina while he awaited my return.
I managed to get on the wrong bus again and had to walk back to the harbor carrying the groceries.
As we left the city two other boats were leaving as well, a non-such and a trimaran, as we made our way down the ICW they passed us by.
We raised the sails for part of the trip but the course of the ICW kept changing always putting the wind on the nose.
By evening we made it to Fort Matanzas and after anchoring I paddled over to the dock and took some photos before the sun set.
Wednesday 24
Most of the evening little fishing skiffs passed by making wake which made for a poor nights sleep. By the time we raised the anchor all of the other sailboats had left and were ahead of us.
It was a particularly wet morning, after going over the decks with a sponge everything still seemed soaked.
The rest of the way down the ICW was unremarkable until we got to Flagler Beach, I started to see porpoises and other wildlife along the canal.
As we got to Daytona beach I could see 11 boats behind us approaching fast, many of them were Canadians headed south traveling together.
We ended up going aground while following the chart through a spot, the shoals had moved and we were going rather fast but luckily there was a pontoon boat nearby and they towed us off.
We ended up anchoring in the channel with two Canadian boats that were just ahead of us.
The part of the channel we were in was filled with porpoises feeding in the evening and I was able to get some video footage of them coming up for air.
Thursday 25
It took us only 10 minutes to arrive at the bascule bridge which we anchored up river from.
Like most of the bridges in the area it opened on demand after a set time, all we had to do was hail the bridge tender on the VHF radio. As we got farther down the Florida coast the foliage changed some with the addition of Mangrove tree’s and various shrubs.
We still haven’t seen any sea manatees but I am hopeful it will happen before we leave Florida. We anchored in the shadow of a bridge just inside a sheltered spot we saw on the chart, it was rather early in the day to be stopping but there wasn’t going to be a better spot anywhere close.
Friday 26
We got to an early start and made our way down the lagoon it was easy goings at first but soon the wind picked up and waves began to form.
The whole body of water has no current or tide since its just a lagoon but when the wind picks up it can be really bad. We got close to one of the bridges at Cocoa and anchored in its shadow to wait out the weather but it never got any better.
Near dusk it even started to rain, and it really poured down on us; even had some lightning. We found a catfish floating in the water earlier so we put it in a bag and will maybe use it for bait at some point; or not, it really stinks.
Monday 29 Rain
The day started off cloudy but the sun was present so I was hopeful and decided to wear my shorts and an unbuttoned shirt.
In time the clouds gave way and I was relieved however, soon after we sailed under dark clouds and were harassed with sprinkles. We donned our rain gear as we continued to sail from one bank of clouds to another ever expecting rain.
As we passed a marina entrance the clouds burst open It was finally time for the downpour, we quickly decided to anchor just off of the channel and wait for it to stop raining.
In this part of the country the weather feels very odd compared tot he other states I have been in, it’s always warm here, even at night; even when it rains that to is warm to the touch.
After a while we saw the sun come out and boats began to pass by, we checked our gas tanks to be sure we had enough to make it today. We got back on the road after having a small lunch, our destination was Vero Beach about 13 miles from there.
As we entered the harbor the sky grew more dark but it held long enough to buy more fuel and get a spot on a mooring. Most of the boats here are tripled up on mooring buoys and the harborage goes on for a long ways, we were assigned to 21 initially.
We got reassigned to a closer one after explaining that we didn’t have a dinghy with an outboard like most other boaters.
Even after it started to rain again I decided to inflate a kayak and go ashore, I was hoping to get some internet; the harbors WiFi provider had recently pulled out on them so nobody had internet at the marina.
In the end I couldn’t get a signal so I just hanged out in the lounge watching a Jdrama.
December
Well we spent a rather long time at Vero beach, we had arrived on the 29th in the afternoon and stayed until the morning of the 2nd.
I was happy to be back on the road after spending so much time there. They had no WiFi and it was rainy for the first 2 days of our stay. We were moored with 2 other boats who’s crew were also headed for the Bahamas so the company was good.
I didn’t take any photos of the place due to the depressing atmosphere and a general lack of interest in all around me, I even debated heading home and giving up on the trip.
I was thinking that I should put together a list of the shows we have been watching in the evenings. So far it has all been Jdrama’s, its sort of like moving up from anime for me. So here they are.
Gokusen, Hana Kime, Zettai Kareshi, Hana Yori Dango 1 & 2, Karei naru Spy, Otomen, Stand Up!!, Untouchable, Orange Days, My Boss My Hero, and Nobuta wo Produce.
So we have watched these and for myself I am keeping up to date with Smallville, Stargate Universe, Big Bang Theory, and Venture Bros.
I can’t always get a good connection and so it has been difficult to watch anime, most places seem to have DSL which just doesn’t cut it for streaming shows.
On occasion we have gone to marina’s with good quality WiFi but they are few and far between, and from what I have read I can’t expect much access while in the Bahamas.
Stuart (FL)
Well yesterday we took a walk out on the town.
I bought this really tasty coffee flavored caramel sauce at a local spice shop and we found a Publix fairly close to the anchorage.
We’re going to be here for some time while we wait for a “weather window” that is good enough to cross the Gulf Stream. We have a little radio to pick up the weather broadcast which is like single-side-band (SSB), so we raise the antennae up into the rigging and tune to the station each morning and hope for good news.
There are sport fishing boats all over the place since this is the Sailfish capital, this means lots of wake all the time but you get used to it. The “Canadian Navy” as we have come to call them is here in Stuart with us, a crew from Quebec was kind enough to give us the password to the wireless access at the marina here.
The speed is alright. It allows me to get all my email/facebook stuff done and I can do a little downloading.
Flagler Park, Stuart
Well I paddled down the Frazier creek and then walked across downtown to get to a park that has free WiFi.
A couple days ago I had checked out the connection here and it was nice and fast so I came back. My battery is all charged up plus I see there are power outlets near the covered areas so I should be fine for power.
My mistake was not wearing a coat. I am totally freezing here. Anyways I should get some nice downloading done today.
Bad Weather
It’s really cold here. I’m in my sleeping bag wearing a warm hat wishing I could type with gloves on.
The weather window we were waiting for isn’t going to happen for a long time. Apparently something like this had happened last year and no one was able to cross the Gulf Stream at this time of year.
So we are trying to come up with a plan B like maybe going through the canal to the West side of Florida. Another option is going down the coast here and making our way to Key Largo and then Key West before hopping over to Cuba if the weather allowed.
Definitely not what I was expecting. So here are some ducks from earlier during the trip.
North Palm Beach
Well we left Manatee Pocket this morning and made our way down the ICW instead of going out to the Ocean.
The weather was poor, all cloudy and some rain occasionally. We went through some bridges and kept seeing the color of the water change as we went past inlets to the Atlantic and also when we got into Palm Beach.
And best of all we saw sea manatees at last.
Three of them swam past the boat, they almost seemed synchronized side by side as they came up and went back down.
Right now we are moored in PGA Marina, we will be heading down the coast tomorrow after we get some laundry done and have a sponge bath in the cockpit.
Fort Lauderdale
Well we ended up having some motor problems about midway into the passage but we had plenty of daylight so things could have been worse.
There were sport fishing boats all along the coast as we left Palm Beach and also as we passed each of the inlets down the coast. The cut leading into the city waterways was full of traffic, there were cruise ships loading passengers, a cargo ship leaving the port and a boat parade was going on further in.
We anchored just off the channel at a place called Lake Sylvia. The city ordinance here has it that boats can only be anchored for 24hrs a year, this forces people to pay high rates for mooring at the marinas; and there is no where to go ashore here with all of the houses right on the water.
On a happy note as we were coming down the coast a pod of 15-20 dolphins swam alongside the boat for about 7 minutes.
They were jumping out of the water and swimming under the boat and making those squeaky sounds that they do. And there were baby dolphins too, it was wonderful.
Tsu-kun
Well we’re getting the outboard worked on; this morning we reversed into this tiny slip and got the motor out.
The mechanic has the Tohatsu now and we will be at the dock for a day or so. We had asked around the day before about use of the docks here and after a refusal and then someone asking for way too much money we met a very helpful Brit.
We ended up not using his slip due to low depth but he was refreshingly kind and more than helpful. And now we have internet from across the water at the Borders so I’m happy.
Homeward Bound
Well the weather doesn’t look like it will improve anytime soon and I don’t think I want to continue on to the Florida Keys or Cuba at this point.
So I have booked my flight and am getting ready to head back to North Carolina.
Certainly my timing is rather bad considering its gonna be way more cold up there than it is down here but I have some plans in mind that I have been going over with Maikel.
I have of course enjoyed the trip down the coast, it’s been over 1000 miles and I’ve taken many photo’s and made some memories so all is well.
3 Days
Once I’m back home I should be able to upload all of my pictures and videos so I’m looking forward to that.
I am at the Borders trying to stay online but the welcome screen keeps popping up and saying I’m not connected. It’s a real pain.
Also this morning I slammed my elbow on a corner in the boat when going into the cabin. I took some aspirin but my arm feels really bad.
Done
Well I uploaded all of the pictures to Photobucket and most of the videos too. I have been spending a lot of time watching dramas, pretty much anything romance/comedy is nice.
My days are odd since i don’t really have a set bed time. I just fall asleep when I’m tired be it morning or night.
I spent 18 hours watching a kdrama called Coffee House just last week.
More recently I have watched The Birth of the Rich, Playful Kiss, Baian the Assassin and JIN. I have also started watching Dream High and My Princess.
All in all I have been very pleased with the shows.
Fat Wallet Refugee 
