Getting underway

Nov. 26th, 2015 - Left the dock at Reynolds Marina at 7:45 A.M.  Perfect day to be getting underway, Thanksgiving and our Anniversary (38 yrs.).  Captain Joe had his happy face doing what he loves best.  

The unfortunate part of keeping our boat in the St. Johns River is we have to go north 14 miles before we can head south.  Of course, the winds and current were against us but thank goodness the 2 diesel engines were purring.

We approached the 1st bridge which is normally not a problem with a height of 64’ but they are doing some repairs to it so had a warning sign that the clearance could be 60’ depending on the tide.  We need 61' so slowly approached and held our breath as the antenna just touched in a couple of spots.  Phew, we made it.

Approaching Jacksonville there is a railroad bridge which is normally open and immediately a lift bridge which must be opened by the bridge tender. As we got closer Joe noticed the railroad bridge was closed which either means a train is coming or the bridge is broken.  Helen called the Main Street bridge tender and he assured us he would open both of the bridges and we proceeded to go under them.

We decided to pass by the “free docks” in Jacksonville and go on to the Sister’s Creek dock.  After going under the Sister’s Creek bridge we started to make our way to the dock.  with wind of   20 knots and a   2  knot current pushing us into the dock we were glad to see two fellow cruisers ready to take our lines.  Joe is absolutely paranoid about banging up his new vinyl sides.  The boat tied up behind us left Michigan in July and are happy to finally be in Florida.  They will sail down to the Keys and leave their boat in Florida next summer.

The next day we got underway at 7:45 and again had to go under the bridge at Sister’s Creek.  No problem but as we proceeded up the ICW we heard on the radio that the Sister’s Creek Bridge was locked in the down position and would not be repaired for several hours-wow talk about timing.

This just makes us realize that the condition of these old bridges is deteriorating quickly and unfortunately not much is being done about repairing or replacing them.

We anchored that night at Fort Mantanzas.  A sailboat called us on the radio requesting info about getting into the anchorage - they tried to come in and cut the corner too close so they were aground and would have to wait for a high tide to come in.  Joe gave them some tips on how to get into the anchorage and we saw them coming in slowly after dark.

Got underway at 8:10 A.M. and decided not to stop in Daytona Beach. Lots of memories here.  In 1978 we lived on our boat in the City marina here, the next year we moved into our new home and in 1980 Alison was born there.

Anchored at Rockhouse Creek for the night along with 6 other cruising boats.  Lots of boats headed south.

Underway on Sun. at 7:00 because we would like to make it to Melbourne and then on to Vero Beach on Mon. As we’re powering along we heard a bang on the hull and looked back to see a 4x4x10 foot board floating by-no damage done but Joe was worried about the new prop and the new vinyl wrap on the sides.   Going through the ICW in this area you see a combination of mansions, Florida Cracker Houses and mobile home parks.  We were greeted by 5 dolphins playing in our wake and in the Haulover Canal there were numerous manatees swimming around.  Since they recognize the prop noise as danger they don’t come too close to the boat.

Along the Canal which is only 200  feet wide, the fishermen are sitting in their skiffs or on the shoreline enjoying this beautiful area.  When we called for an opening at the Space Centre Causeway bridge the bridge tender told us that one of the port side spans was stuck in the down position so proceed with caution.  Doesn’t give us much room for error but we made it through ok.

Joe took a break so Helen was on watch as she past within 1 foot of a red marker and Joe came running out.  I knew we were ok but realize I shouldn’t come that close and give Joe a heart attack.  This was one of those perfect sailing days - wind out of the NE at   and we were in a wide open part of the ICW so we saw speeds up to 9 knots.  

Anchored at the Melbourne causeway and glad to see one of the cats that was stored with us at Holland Marine.  They are from South Africa and are headed to the Bahamas.  We launched the new dinghy to take some pics of our boat and then went over to see them.  They’re having trouble with their Honda outboard motor on the dinghy so we quickly said hello and went back to our boat.  Will catch up with them in Vero Beach

Got underway Mon. morning.  A bit overcast but by 9:00 the sun had broken through the clouds, it’s almost 80 and a beautiful day.  We’re motor sailing at 7.5 knots.

Vero Beach has this mooring field in a protected canal off of the ICW. There are at least 100 mooring balls and at this time of the year they are all filled with boats rafted up 2 and 3 deep.  We were assigned a spot rafted to a Maine Cat called Ortolan .  We had met them in George Town.  No one was onboard so we put out our fenders and tied on.  We saw a couple approaching the boat and realized they were not the same ones we had met-the boat had been sold and they were just getting settled on it.  Nice couple.

For $15.00 a day the marina provides a secure dinghy dock, showers, laundry, trash bins, water and the City of Vero Beach has “free” bus transportation to the beach and all major shopping areas.  As soon as we got ashore we started seeing lots of cruisers that we know from George Town.  Lots of hugs and getting caught up on what folks have been doing all summer.

Vero Beach also has many memories for us.  Helen lived in a condo right next to the marina and worked in a law office on the beachside when she moved here in 1976.  Joe and I met here in a beachside bar and as they say, the rest is history.  It’s good being back here.  Enjoyed a fun happy hour (more like 2 1/2 hours) on Dan & Kath’s boat Majics.