The Trip is Finished

We were on the way back to Palatka when I took this photo early one morning. The trip's been over for over a month.

St Augustine

We planned to spend one night in St Augustine in the north anchorage but then a nor'easter moved in. It was eerie. We saw the clouds gather on the horizon about 11:30 AM, and then the wind just slammed in. One minute all was calm and the next was like a tempest in a teapot. Last night was unpleasant, especially during low tide when the wind and current were opposite. We moved into the city marina this morning and plan to hit the ICW again on Monday when the winds shift and calm down.

Cocoa

We went into Ft Pierce on Friday t0 hear the Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Sunrise Theatre. Our plans to leave early Saturday were postponed when we met Charley and Ileen from Manitoba who were heading back home from a cruise in the Bahamas. Gilles and Charley talked boat for hours. We finally left in the early afternoon and found a great anchorage north of Vero Beach between Pine Island and Hole in the Wall Island.

Sunday was a great sailing day with perfect wind and we did our best distance ever, over 50 miles, to get into Cocoa about 6 PM in time to see (and hear) the 7:43 PM Space Shuttle launch. It was awesome. The horizon lit up as if the earth was on fire, the Space Shuttle looked like a large bright speck taking off, and the smoke trails were colorful in the dark sky. We could see, even at this distance, the solid rocket boosters fall into the sea. All around us people whooped and hollered. Our little adventure on the sea seems so very small compared to a trip into outer space.

Fort Pierce

When we left Stuart we headed north to Jensen Beach for a day, and then Nettles Island Marina to get water and charge the batteries. Several people recommended that we go to Peck Lake so we turned around and went back south. We took the dinghy to shore to Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on Jupiter Island and walked along the Atlantic and collected shells.

This is where we met Paul Johnson, sailor extraordinaire from the Shetland Islands and an accomplished boatbuilder and artist, who regaled us with stories of his past sails and current life living on his boat.

Stuart

We're spending the weekend on a mooring at Sunset Bay Anchorage at Stuart on the St. Lucie River, east of Lake Okeechobee. It was a pleasant trip from Cocoa with a stop in Ft. Pierce to fill up the gas cans and water tank. Even with our new GPS with charts, we almost went aground twice with Gilles at the tiller, looking around instead of watching where he was going. Fortunately, I came out of the cabin both times (always looking at the depth finder on my way out) and saw that we were out of the channel.

We spent one night at Manatee Pocket near the Crossroads of the St Lucie Inlet, the ICW and the St Lucie River, where we met Hal, a friend from the boatyard at San Mateo. Manatee Pocket is a small, pleasant anchorage with a luxury marina and restaurant nearby. Since he's always looking for something to do, Gilles climbed up the mast to adjust the radio antenna.

Stuart is a nice little town with art galleries, a historical museum, a waterfront park, and stores to pick up supplies. Gilles worked on the boat some more and I cleaned up only to discover a leak (minor) in the water tank.

Cocoa

The scenery along the ICW is typically wild natural Florida on one side and mansions/condos on the other.

We're hanging out in Cocoa for a day or so to replenish supplies and get another GPS because ours is intermittently losing power.

Jacksonville to Cocoa

Leaving Palatka on Sat, Feb 21, we headed north on the St Johns River to Jacksonville, where we docked at Jacksonville Landing alongside the pilot ship, Virginia. She followed and then passed us as she headed out to sea and we turned south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), stopping for the night at Jacksonville Beach, Daytona Beach, Titusville, and Cocoa Village. Along the way we went aground twice (not unusual on the ICW especially during low tide) and managed to outrun dark threatening clouds and thunderstorms on the approach to Titusville.

Cafe Bleuu, Welaka, Florida

We couldn't start the cruise without a farewell dinner at Cafe Bleuu in Welaka. Afterwards, we walked down to the city dock and saw this egret.

In the Water At Last

This is how you move a 7,000 lb sailboat into the water. After morning thunderstorms of heavy rain and strong winds, Tommy and Jerry came by with the marine travelift and gingerly picked up Dolfijn and took her to the water. We're tied up at the dock for a day to make sure we don't take on any water and to finish organizing our stuff and replenishing supplies.

An Update

Gilles is still working on the boat, sawing wood and getting paint on everything and asking me to get out of the way. I've read three books: "The Best American Travel Writing 2007" edited by Susan Orlean, "The Cure for Anything is Salt Water: How I Threw My Life Overboard and Found Happiness at Sea" by Mary South, "Moral Disorder" by Margaret Atwood, and just started a fourth, T.C. Boyle's "The Women."

I'm anxious to get going. We're only a few miles from Satsuma where five year old Haleigh Cummings disappeared. Everyone seems on edge as the search continues and there is still no sign of her. It's becoming commonplace to see people handing out flyers, helicopters flying overhead, and fleets of police cars and television microwave trucks.

Palatka Adventures and Misdadventures

Adventures and Misadventures in and near Palatka, FL

1. Going to Mema’s in Satsuma for a “country cooking” family dinner on my first night in Florida. The setting was definitely down home and we watched a U-Haul truck chase in LA on the large flat screen TV with the other customers. The fact that the occupant of the truck was a sole woman drew some interesting comments. The grilled grouper was pretty good.

2. Eating dinner at Café Bleuu (one of the best restaurants this side of France) in Welaka, one of my favorite towns in Florida.

3. Going on a rainy night to hear the open mic music at the Larimer Arts Center in Palatka on 4th Friday, except it turned out to be 5th Friday. Drove back to the boat.

4. Waiting for the temperature to rise to finish painting the boat and other chores, I went online and checked out the Carnival cruises to the Bahamas. Could do a 5 day trip for $299, sounds pretty good.

5. Finding some calligraphy brushes and ink at the art store (there’s a community of artists in Palatka, who have painted murals on many of the downtown buildings). I like this one.








6. Looking for a good coffee place on the way to St Augustine (where we were going for boat supplies… necessary things like mosquito netting), the directions we had were that it was near the intersection with I-95. The only cafe we saw was Café Erotica…. pretty sure that was not it, we continued until we came to Mystic Bean Coffee Co., “coffee you can’t find anywhere else!” It’s true!

7. Listening to NPR all day and all night when Gilles leaves the radio on.

8. Hiking in Ravine Gardens State Park along the springs and azalea trails. Some of the azaleas were in bloom and there were lots of bulbils (that's what they're called) from the air potato plant lying around. It's a little odd walking along a trail littered with seeds that look like potatoes. The air potato is an invasive vine growing up to 8 inches a day. I picked up a few and threw them in the trash.

Gibson's Boatyard

Down a dusty dirt road and hidden by lush vegetation on the St Johns River near Palatka, FL is Gibson's Boatyard, where we have kept Dolfijn ever since we left our last layover spot in the Thunderbolt area of Savannah, GA. Gilles is still painting, and working on the water and electrical systems after redoing all the interior woodwork which deteriorated rapidly in the Florida heat and humidity. It's coming along slowly.