We had a nice sail up the Intracoastal Waterway from Ft. Pierce to Vero Beach, staying a few days to see our friends Ange & Ray and Marina and Dave. Luke took advantage of the time to go up the mast to replace a light bulb and generally check on things on the mast top. That's him, the small dot at the top of the mast.
That's me, the small dot on the deck.
Folks -- that's awful damn high! 59 feet above the water! -- Luke.
The mooring field is so full this time of the year, with the Snowbird Cruisers heading back north, that we had to raft up with another boat on a mooring. That worked well, as our raft mate had a rock climbing belt that he lent to Luke for his mast climbing adventure. Now, you don't really climb a mast, but you put on a harness or climbing belt, use the existing ropes as pulleys, and get the person staying below to pull you up the mast. That's when I was really glad for an electric winch.
Next day we went on a windy sail up the ICW to Cocoa, FL, one of the few towns in FL with an average age between 20 and 44. The town is much more geared towards families, with a nice park and revitalized downtown area.
Next, we push towards Savannah, hoping to make it for Easter. The wind is howling so we aren't sure we'll make it. We tried to make progress today, stuck the bow out into the winds, turned around, and anchored again in the same location as last night. That may seem pretty conservative for the ICW, but winds ranging from 15 to 25 and then gusting from 25 to 35 (our wind meter tells us the highest wind speed since we last reset it) is a mite much. It heels and turns the boat even without sails up, makes it difficult to see and stay in the relatively narrow channel -- just not much fun. The forecast said 15 to 20 -- hmmmm. We'll just keep checking the weather forecasts.
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