Happy Easter!

Would you believe? The Easter bunny came this morning and left candy for us and a bubbling little fish toy for Louis!

The wind died overnight so hauling anchor was easy about 9:45 AM. We had a long sunny day making our way south to Fort Pierce. Of course, a SE wind freshened as the day progressed, frequently sending water over the bow this afternoon.

At 6:00PM we dropped the hook in our favorite anchorage on the south side of the South Fort Pierce Bridge. Unfortunately it’s fairly exposed to these 15-20 knot SE winds. The night will be, once again, very windy but subsiding by morning. We should be sailors, since we attract so much wind. And…. across the water, the wind has lots of room to build.

Now it’s time to rest and study the charts for our Lake Okeechobee crossing in two days. No going ashore today, either.

Easter Bunny left foot prints and candy.

Birds sitting on rail watching us pass under bridge.

Long Day but Made a Good Way

About 9 AM, we retrieved a sticky, mud covered chain & anchor and used lots of water washing it to keep the muck out of the chain locker. The deck was a mess with muddy streaks. The really important part? The anchor held perfectly all night.

Much of today was spent picking our way through small fishing boats determined to fish the main channel meant for large vessels. Much of the ICW in this area looks large and expansive but most vessels of size are confined to an often narrow, dredged channel. In several areas people were standing in just a few feet of water ridiculously close to the channel.

Tonight we’re anchored at Coco Beach on the Indian River, about 600 feet from shore in 15 knot SE winds. We’ll not go ashore but we did speak with George & Christy, living aboard our sister ship Christina Sea, in their marina slip here in Coco. Next time here we’ll have a good visit. It will be a galloping night with the wind and waves heaving the bow.  Sweet Dreams! (sounds familiar somehow)

Oh, and Louie just had a bath… now we have a wild dog!!!

Tomorrow we venture on to Fort Pierce. 

Old fashion paper charts showing narrow channel and shallow depths.

Man standing in water as Capt. Mike keeps SeaDream in channel.

End to a long day. . ZZZZZ.

Dolphin Sightings and More. . .

What a beautiful day, with a cloudless sky and temperature reaching 68 F! St. Augustine to Daytona is a nice section of the ICW. Areas of swamp and sea grass, without a soul in sight, intersperse with canals leading to big beautiful homes. 

We’re southbound too early to encounter the Spring migration of northbound boats, perhaps because it’s still a little cold; the oncoming boats we do see are mainly Canadian. After Easter, the parade will begin in earnest as boats head north for the summer, some probably beginning the Great Loop. 

Mike and I saw two kinds of dolphins today. I photographed one type and Mike the other. The ICW was full of swimming dolphins today and several, with young ones, followed SeaDream for about a mile, close alongside, as if racing us. They would leap out and “spy” us, amazingly playful.  An unexpected sight was hundreds of palm tree trunks with their tops twisted off… just stumps, we suppose from a windstorm.

We’re anchored just south of Daytona in about 8 feet of calm water for the night. Tomorrow brings the Coco Beach run.

"Wooden dolphins" used to moor very large boats. Photo by Linda

"Swimming dolphins" racing by SeaDream. Photo by Mike

Louis jumping the hoop on the deck of SeaDream in Daytona, FL.

Running with the Big Boys in Jacksonville

We hauled anchor at LaVista Point, south of Jacksonville, about 8:00 AM. Both the chain & anchor came up unexpectedly clean…. hooray! Luck was with us, too, entering downtown Jacksonville…. the low-to-the-water FEC Railroad bascule bridge opened as we were approaching! With the low morning sun shining brightly on the tall buildings, we cruised under the many bridges. Farther on, the Big Boy ships started coming in from the sea, one after another, to unload their cargo of containers at the countless piers lining the St. Johns River at this busy port. Each is escorted by up to four large tugs and we gave them all plenty of room. They’re impressive and huge. Luckily the river is wide…. and deep all over.

Just before reaching the ocean outlet we turned south into the ICW, heading for 450 year-old St. Augustine. The tide was in, so water was high as we cruised the narrow, often shallow “ditch”. After tying to a mooring ball on the north side of Lions Bridge about 4:30 PM, a free water taxi shuttled us ashore for a couple of hours of pleasant leg stretching with Louis. Dinner was back aboard, watching the evening news on TV, like countless people in earthbound homes. Tonight will be slightly warmer night with little wind…. tomorrow brings the Daytona run. SeaDream in running well.

Railroad bascule bridge raised open as we entered Jacksonville.

One of the "Big Boys"

Mike and Louis in St. Augustine with SeaDream in background.

Finally Letting Go of Land

After two months of delays and two unexpected trips home, we re-boarded SeaDream Sunday afternoon and finally untied her docklines this morning, heading toward Jacksonville for the first day of journey to St. Petersburg, FL, where Rachel & Jim are meeting us April 13^th.

Among other delays, severe winds damaged our Nashville home’s roof. Bad weather slowed replacement but the crew worked very carefully and the new roof is much improved and super nice.

The last few days at the dock were very busy, mostly cold and relentlessly windy. The many-miles-long, open fetch of the mile-wide St. John’s River gave us steady 20-25 mph winds across our dock with frequent gusts well over 30….. and biting low temps as well. This is Florida?

Then….. last night our duck bills complained! Quack, quack!! These black rubber duckbills reside in a toilet waste pump. We had spares and Mike installed 4 new ones. Easy access made replacement simple; Clorox disarmed the little bit of mess. The pump now sounds very happy!

Today we arose bright and early, to 34 degrees and a 10-12 NW wind. Yep, this is our Florida. After storing the car and walking Louie, we disconnected shore power, topped off the water tank and warmed the engines, then waved goodbye to friends as wind and current pushed us off the dock at Reynold’s Park Marina for a short trip to our anchorage just south of Jacksonville. This first day we’ve taken it slowly, getting our sea legs and enjoying the boat. The next nine days will be much longer, traveling to Florida’s West Coast by way of Lake Okeechobee, through locks and canals ending at Fort Myers. New cruising territory…. new adventures. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and…… please turn warmer.  

 

 

Rubber duck bill for waste pump.

Louis wanted to show "Pinky's" bill.