Yesterday, Sunday we filled up with diesel. Today I changed the drinking water pump in hopes of getting more pressure through the new water filter.
We are still waiting for the part on the
generator. The mechanic called and said it should be here tomorrow, Tuesday. Who knows?
We have taken out the boat on three different occasions after the mechanic finished with the engines, it
performed well. Sunday, the boat made around eight knots.
I have been putting waypoints into the GPS today in anticipation of getting under way soon.
September 13, 2000
I'm ready, Connie is ready, but the boat isn't. I just heard for the mechanic and the part is being manufactured. It will take another two weeks. Needless to say I was unhappy and explained my
dissatisfaction with great vigor to the mechanic. He will repair the old part like I suggested he did in the first place. Who know when that will happen? The departure date is moved back from September
15 to the following week. Oh Well!
September 18, 2000
The mechanic is finished. The cost for the total job was almost five times as much as I expected. On both engines we
cleaned the heat enchanters, rebuilt water pumps, adjusted valves, replaced hoses and clamps, replaced some fuel lines (diesel) and did an overall check of the engines.
The Generator problem was the cooling
system. A new heat exchanger and raw water pump headed the list. The mechanic also fixed the exhaust manifold, which was cracked, the Genset should be good to go.
The mechanic fixed the
hydraulic leak on the autopilot. With the above done we are ready to take off.
September 19, 2000
Pelican Harbor
Connie suggested we take off today. Hurricane
Gordon just passed and it is a beautiful day. Two more low pressure systems are around the Gulf of Mexico and one off the coast of Africa. I figured we would go to Boca Grande and spend the night.
Tomorrow we will make the decision to continue or return.
10:45 a.m.
We are on the water heading south. Connie had a hard time leaving Tiffany and Oreo (the cat) which I knew she
would. But, we are away from the dock.
Traveling in the ICW along the same routes we have traveled over the past ten years is very boring. Thunder storms in the distance caused us to drop an
anchor at Cape Haze at Marker 30. The anchorage offers protection all around but we had a hard time getting the anchor set. We waited about an hour for the storm to pass then continued to Pelican
Harbor (off Boca Grande) to spend the night. We arrived at 6:00pm and dropped the anchor just before a new set of thunder storms arrived.
Had hamburgers on the grill and listen to NOAA radio to get
the latest on the storm. It doesn't look good.
On the trip dolphins were swimming around the boat and entertaining us.
Progress miles = 55, time underway about seven hours. We
averaged about eight kph, this is good considering all the no wake zones.
September 20
South Seas
Rough night at Pelican! The water was rough which hit against the
hull and it sounds like a drum. I guess when you have a forward birth in a semi-displacement hull you can't get away from the sound. The Mainship did the same thing.
We awoke about 8:00am and I
had all intentions of heading home. We did listen to NOAA and the tropical depression in the Caribbean had not formed into a hurricane. What should we do?
Another night in Pelican Harbor
with the wind out of the South East would be as rough as the night before. While deciding on the direction to go (north home, south continue) we took a hike on Cayo Costa. We had a nice two mile hike and
decided to head south ten miles and anchor at Tween Waters. The anchorage is better protected.
On our ten-mile journey a Wave Runner hails us down. They were dead in the water and wanted a tow
to South Sea's Plantation Resort a distance of about eight miles. After we picked up the wave runner the wind strengthen to 20 mph and a heavy chop developed. We also had about twenty dolphins swimming
around the boat during the trip to South Seas.
The three we picked up were managers at South Seas and offered us a free night at the marina, which we took gladly. What a place! South Seas has
everything. We have a nice dock with water, electric, cable tv, and a telephone hookup (we didn't use the Cable or Telephone).
In the marina a manatee swam around the boat and a dolphin was catching
fish near the sea wall. We will wait until tomorrow and check the weather before we decide where to go.
September 21, 2000
La Belle, Engine Hours = 3012, 69 miles
Had
a good night sleep at South Seas. We left at 8:30am to Connie's dismay. I like to get up and get going, where Connie takes a few minutes to get her engine started. I did make coffee and Connie made pop
tarts for breakfast.
The trip was windy but uneventful. We entered the Okeechobee Waterway at Ft Meyers. We are both starting to feel like we are actually on our way.
The weather
is still not cooperating. A new storm is off the coast of Africa and is heading this way. We are just taking it day by day with the weather.
We made good progress today. We anchored at 4:00
p.m., 69 miles in 7.5 hours. We decided to drop anchor about 7 miles east of La Belle in a nice cove on the south side of the waterway. The cove is just east of La Belle Marina or a few miles west of Ortona
Lock. I couldn't find a prettier anchorage if I were trying.
September 22, 2000
Port Mayaca, Engine Hours = 3020, 9:15am to 4:15pm, 60 miles
Another great night
sleep. The anchorage at La Belle was one of the most peaceful I have ever been in. It was a little cove with about 5 - 6 feet of water. The waterway has a large amount of bugs, at sundown we had to
close up and turned on the A/C. This morning the boat was covered with little gnats and mosquitoes. Even with all the bugs it was still a great place to spend the night.
After coffee and eggs we
started west again. Our plan was to stay in Clewiston if we were held up by any of the locks or weather. We made great time. We arrived at Clewiston at 12:30 p.m. and decided to go across the
lake. Okeechobee is about 25 miles wide and this will give us a chance to really use the Autopilot. The channel on the west side of the lake is really narrow and we hit bottom, which was a wake up call to
pay more attention. Once in the lake proper we set the GPS waypoint and pressed the Autopilot and it took us right to the lock on the east side. We did anchor for about 15 minutes to wait out a thunder storm.
Okeechobee is a bird watchers paradise. We counted more than 50 Osprey, and hundreds (it seemed) of white pelicans along with Comorans and others. Connie fed the hundred or so sea gulls following the
boat some bread. The more she fed them the more birds showed up, before long we had the whole lake's bird population following the boat (it seemed).
The Port Mayaca lock was open so we were able to
lock thru without a wait. We were able to anchor on the north east side of the lock between the dolphins (dolphins are wooden dock like structures that commercial barges tie up to while waiting for the locks) and
boat ramp. It should be a peaceful anchorage tonight.
We had beans and dogs for dinner. We both were starving.
September 23, 2000
South of St. Lucie Inlet, Engine Hours = 3026, 50 miles
Another good night, and a good anchorage to remember. Since the locks closes at 9:00 p.m. anchoring by the dolphins it should be a smooth and
quiet anchorage.
Had a nice trip today. But, six hours on the Okeechobee waterway is a full day. Since the waterway is a long narrow "ditch," it had straight-a-ways two or three miles long
before a turn, we were able to use the autopilot quite a bit. Not too much traffic on the waterway, we did meet commercial barges and found a wide spot in the waterway and waited until it would pass, you don't
want to play chicken with one.
While waiting for the St. Lucie lock we noticed a 12-foot gator. I think he was waiting for someone to go swimming. The lock took us down a good 10 feet.
Connie was the main attraction in her plaid bathing suit handling the lines. I told the lock master I get better service if I send her to the bow when entering.
The rest of the trip through the waterway was uneventful.
We are now anchored about five miles south of the St. Lucie inlet, just east of marker "19". I noticed boats anchored and just felt my
way in. We went ashore and found it was part of Hobe Sound Park and only 100 yards from the Atlantic. We spent a few hours in the surf of the Atlantic to cool down after the hot trip.
Tomorrow it is a
short trip to Lake Worth Inlet where we will be staging to go across the Atlantic. Monday's weather reports look good for the crossing. I need a few items from a ship store. Where is West Marine when
you need them?
Oh yes, we had the best hamburgers ever for dinner.
September 24, 2000
Lake Worth, Engine Hours = 3030, 10:30 to 2:00pm, 25 miles
Fuel 189.5 gals, $1.80 per gallon
Another good night sleep. The weather was perfect for sleeping. At seven this morning the no-see-ums arrived as our alarm clock. After a great breakfast
of egg mcmuffins (home made) we took a nice walk on the beach.
Anchor was hoisted about 10:30 a.m. and we were off to Lake Worth. Our plan was to refuel and take on water at Lake Worth and then
anchor out. NOAA forecast for tomorrow is 5 -10 mph SE winds. Just what we want.
I can't express how many boats they are on this coast. It was a zoo on the ICW going south. Out of the
twenty-five miles we traveled today, twenty of them were in no wake zones. It did slow us down but it also slowed the large boats down and we didn't have to fight the wake.
Lake Worth Inlet produced
more boats than before. Near the marinas boats were lined up like route 41 after the snowbirds arrive, and the drive like they're from Michigan. Anchoring out was out of the question. We made it to the
fuel dock at Sailfish Marina and took on fuel and reserved a slip for the night.
Took on 189.5 gals of diesel. We went about 270 miles since the last fill up and 34 engine hours. This gives us
5.6 gals per hour and about 1.5 miles per gallon. Not as good as would like not as bad as it could be.
After we decided to say at the marina for the night, because of the incoming tide and
current a dock hand climbed on board to help us get into the slip. No problem backing into the slip. What a difference twin engines make.
The water is so clear on this coast. At our dock
we can see the bottom in 15 feet of water. The biggest Jacks I've ever seen hang around the boat waiting for a handout. They sell food for feeding the fish. After dinner we saw a four-foot Moray eel at
one of the docks.
Had a nice dinner. We got the cheapest thing on the menu, meatloaf, at it was $11.00 but it was good and the restaurant was nice.
Connie make bread for sandwiches (bread
maker) in anticipation of tomorrow's crossing. We hope to leave early in the morning maybe 5:00am.
