Rocking and rolling

Our mooring in the Biscayne Bay is due west of the Atlantic, with nothing to protect us from westerly winds.  Guess which direction the wind is blowing from... We are rocking and rolling.  Not pleasant.  If it looks like we won't be crossing to Bimini on Monday, we will almost certainly change marinas tomorrow to get out of the swells. The seasick feeling hasn't completely gone away.  This doesn't help..Ugh.
Fortunately, we left Latitudes before the winds really picked up this morning.  Took the launch in, supported the economy a little too much, and had a 3-tacos-for-$10 lunch.  I actually had a great shopping trip.  My boat sandals were a little too slick on the bottom - no grip left - and that's not good on a boat.  I found the last pair of non-skid boat sandals, in my size, at a local store for a whopping 75% discount!  And...a wonderful pair of Crocs jelly shoes!  See, old women can again wear little girls shoes! LOL  I love 'em!

Sunset at Dinner Key, FL

Oops.... and and a bigger oops!!!

OMG - I wrote this 3 days ago and thought it had published to the blog!  uugghhh..... SO - here is the newest  blog from today, in Miami, and then the old one... so sorry..

Today -

MEE-AM-MEE!!! That would be local for "Miami"...  we are here! The weather looked promising, so we motored southward from Vero Beach down the ICW to the nearest inlet to the Atlantic, Ft. Pierce Inlet.   Side note - Pierce is my grandmother's maiden name, but I'm sure she wasn't a FL sailor!  Ft Pierce inlet has max ebb current of about 3.5 kts, always producing a "rage" of or waves vs current. So, we carefully timed our departure to catch slack current. Anyway, the ICW was calm, the inlet was good, and the ocean was a mess.  Higher waves, higher wind, etc, than predicted.  Not dangerous, just not fun.  Having not generated our sea legs at all this year,  we both got a little queasy and I got downright seasick.  I held off until 3 a.m. but by then, nature took her course.  I felt better after throwing up, but not a lot!  The seas had calmed by then, but I was already too seasick to make a difference.  Onward we motored, into the big, busy Government Cut, the port for the big cruise ships, container ships, and small sailboats.  It was busy, even at 5 a.m.  We carefully took our place in line in the channel into the inlet, along with a cruise ship, 2 container ships, a barge-ish thing, and something else, it seems.  A quick turn to "port" (the left side of a ship) and we were in our highly anticipated anchorage for the night.  Luke did a great job of getting us into the busy inlet and setting us up for me to drop the anchor.  Straight to bed, even though we had taken turns during the night, the sleep is never enough or good.  Sweet Smoke just resigned herself after we got into the ocean swells, howling her disapproval only a couple of times.  She settled down on a cushion, harnessed and leashed to the boat, and pouted the entire 17 hours of ocean time.  She is sleeping even now- it must take a LOT of sleep for a cat to catch up!

Miami - home of beautiful dwellings sitting just across from the container ship docks.

And, of course, the high-rises.

Ange and Ray got to Latitudes on Thursday for a wonderful visit.  We picked them up at the dock and motored northward, up the ICW for a few hours of R&R.  It is always great to see them.

Luke and Ray -

Bobbie and Ange -

Last Tuesday's old blog, preiously unpublished----

Sorry, I have been SO bad about blogging --- I can't believe how long it's been and how busy we've been.

We are still in Vero Beach; probably leaving on Thursday to head for Lake Worth for the night, en route to Miami to stage the crossing to Bimini. 

Lots of chores that we did - replace the GPS, replace the tachometer, change the diesel filters, check and clean the water filters, fix the copper radio ground plane, provision the groceries, laundry, pick up  parts and bits and pieces, etc.  Fortunately for us, we have 2 fun diversions!  First, seeing Roanoke friends Ali and  Charlie.

Here we all are, sitting at the marina in their park community.  Lovely place - good thing there were no winter cottages for sale that were nearly as attractive as theirs!

Tomorrow, we'll see friends Ange and Ray!

Still waiting for one part and repair job, but hopefully, we'll be on our way soon and I will be blogging with regularity.  Maybe even some "beautiful places" pictures!
________________________
Story complete for now - we coveted reservations at Dinner Key Marina, the marina where Luke waited last year when I returned to Charlotte to be with my dad.  It's the busiest season for transient boaters, and we were lucky to get a mooring ball.  Next, sight seeing in Cocoa Beach!
 Weather-wise, it looks like we will be here for as long as a week.  We are both ready to get to the Bahamas!

Southward to warm temperatures!

Latitudes and our friends Mimi and Otto left St. Augustine at daybreak, motoring down the ICW southward, towards New Smyrna Beach.  The fishermen and crabbers were out early, too.  This small crabbing boat was swarmed by birds determined to find a fast, free meal.

We passed through Daytona (wish it had been NASCAR weekend!!).  The bridge supports here are beautifully decorated.

Finally, 8 hours further south, we both anchored in a Rockhouse Creek, a small creek that runs from the ICW to the Atlantic.  There were several fishing boats there, but they left before nightfall.  It was a peaceful, quiet night.

Luke went for a dinghy ride to find the Ponce lighthouse at the shore.

Also found this big fellow, a beautiful Blue Heron, perched on the side of the creek.

Next, a short 8 miles to New Smyrna Beach to see friends Ret and Joe.  It's always great to catch up with them - we do it too seldom.

Today we motored on to Cocoa Village, in company with Bonnie and Pete.  Friends and boats seem to intertwine in the ICW.  After passing the Haulover Bridge, we always see the most beautiful Roseate Spoonbills on one of the spoil islands.  Big pink shore birds, beautiful in flight.  We never get pictures of them, but here is one that I "borrowed" from the web.

AND!  Last night we watched the Atlas 5 rocket pass overhead, just after launching at Cape Canaveral 50 miles away!!  A big ball and tail of orange fire lit up the sky as it passed over us.  I guess we could see it for about 5 minutes before it blinked away, out of sight.  THEN we heard the thundering sound that accompanied the take-off, since sound travels at only about 11 miles per minute.  Here is the Cape Canaveral VAB (vehicle assembly building) with a launch site behind it as we saw it today.

The sun was out and the day warmed up to the mid 70's - glorious!!! Luke and Smoke took the opportunity to sit on the bow for a few minutes.

The excitement must have been too much for Smoke - she finally sprawled, as only a cat can do, in the cockpit and slept blissfully.

Anchored in Cocoa, we took the dinghy in, wandered through town, and then had dinner with Bonnie and Pete.  To Vero Beach tomorrow for a few days of repairs and seeing friends.

St. Augustine, the oldest city in the USA

St. Augustine is always one of our favorite places to visit.  So much history and so much to see.  Especially when the sun is shinning!!!

 Little shops (that's me in the blue jacket on the right - getting a free sample of pizza!)

Small gardens everywhere.  This one celebrates Queen Isabella.

The Castillo de San Marcos

Flagler Collage, formerly the luxurious Flagler Hotel - first hotel in FL to have electric lights!  The building is under renovation, making it look a little less luxurious.

Across the street is the Lightner Museum.  The Lightner was originally a hotel, too, one for mere mortals who were relatively wealthy.  The Flagler was by invitation only to the very rich.   The Lightner boasted the largest swimming pool in the US - the lower level of the hotel was simply filled with water from a sulfur pool...ugh... Johnny Weismuller, one of the early Tarzens, practiced here. Today the lower floor has been turned into a cafe.

Latitudes is on a mooring, swinging with the tide.

And Luke's great shot of the St. Augustine mooring field, with the Bridge of Lions in the distance.

And a peaceful sunset

Fellow boaters Mimi and Otto plus Bonnie and Pete caught up with us here!  We had a great pot luck dinner last night at Mimi and Otto's boat, plus watched one of the playoff games together today.

Tomorrow we will leave with Mimi and Otto and motor down the ICW about 50 miles to an anchorage near the Ponce inlet, en route to New Smyrna Beach. Luke has checked the weather and I will check for things like the location of bridges that we'll have to request an opening from, known hazards in the ICW like shoaling, plus any other info that will be helpful along the trip.

Cookies and rain

It was definitely toasty plugged in to electricity at the marina in Fernandina Beach, but we opted to leave on Wednesday morning after laundry and showers.  We motored only 8 miles, but it was a world away.  We tucked Latitudes in an anchorage off of the ICW.  We sat alone in the quiet marsh, watching the white pelicans.  It was lovely.  Gray and chilly, but lovely.

Gray and chilly seem to be the norm so far...

But!  I made chocolate chip cookies.  Chocolate chip cookies warm the tummy, warm the interior of the boat with the oven baking merrily, and definitely warm Luke.

We ran the boat's heaters and kept her comfortable until bedtime, and then hid under our electric blanket.  mmmm.... Smoke made a nest for herself in the down comforter.  Pulled up anchor this morning at 8 and motored down the gray, chilly ICW to St. Augustine, one of our favorite stops. 

Our first draw bridge of the trip.

This draw bridge is located just north of the St.John's River, out of Jacksonville.  A very busy port - lots of  heavily guarded military "stuff" going on.

And lots of really large ships going to sea.  I had to go around this guy - he was just going down the river as I maneuvered out into the river. 

Those "small" boxes on top - full size rail box cars!  They were stacked 3 deep.

Nice houses along this stretch of the ICW.

We got here JUST in time...

That blue dot under the word Jacksonville is St. Augustine, just as we arrived.  We had time to pick up our mooring ball, set the ropes, bring in the cushions, etc., and the rains started.  Tomorrow and the next few days are supposed to be cool (highs of about 50) but SUNNY!!!  I can't wait to see the sun again!

Cleaning

We did scoot over to Fernandina Marina this morning, slipping through the fog  At least it wasn't as bad as yesterday!

We used today to clean the boat. At the marina, we have limitless water and electricity - pretty essential for good cleaning!  Luke worked in the rain and did a great job of scrubbing off the summer's grime, mold, and other assorted gunk on the topside. 

Then he (and I) changed the oil in the boat's engine and the generator.  It's a looong job. and done in a smalllll space!

I took on the cockpit, with the steering console and all, plus a good vacuuming/sweeping,.  Took forever, but it sure looks better now! I also emptied out the winterizing fluid from our 3 50-gallon water tanks, rinsing them well (about 3 rinses for each tank) and putting a final fill of good, clean water in each.  We use the water in our tanks for all of our cooking and drinking as well as showers and cleaning, so we do our best to make sure that it is GOOD water!

 It is still gray and drizzling and windy but that is fine.  The sun is supposed to finally come out on Friday.  I sure hope it does - I miss it!

Fog at Anchor....or Anchor in Fog...whatever....

Fog.  Boy, did we have fog today!  Good thing we had decided to stay at anchor - we couldn't have seen to go anywhere!  This was all we could see from the boat - compare with yesterday's pictures from the boat!

Smoke decided to check out the deck.  She couldn't see anything either, but I'm sure those sharp cat ears heard a lot of little sounds.  She was very interested.  Oh, it rained, too - drops on the lifeline.

The fog lightened up a little this afternoon.  It didn't go away, just was more white than gray.  This isn't a bad picture - there's just nothing else to see in the horizon.  Smoke is her daddy's girl.  She loves being on the bow of the boat, especially when she can get a chin rub, too!

We still plan to head for Fernandina Beach tomorrow, fog willing.

Water!

Some folks have wings beneath their feet - we have water beneath ours!  Sharply at 1 p.m., high tide, Latitudes was gently lowered back into the water.

Wow,  our little home back again, fully functional!  yay!

It took Smoke about 5 minutes to settle into her usual routine - the nearest available lap. I think she couldn't believe that the damned boat was moving again!

It's gray, chilly, and dreary, but that's ok.  We left St. Mary's and motored the whopping 8 miles eastward to our chosen anchorage just north of Fernandina Beach, FL.  The marshes are as flat as ever.

At anchorage #1 of this trip, Fernandina Beach.  Fernandina Beach has a cute little old downtown with nice shops and an ice cream store (Luke loves it!!!).  But it is also home to a couple of large pulp plants.  Stinky pulp plants. We can actually smell them from offshore when we pass during the night.  Fortunately for us, today the wind is blowing away from our anchorage.

Here is one of the huge ships that takes that pulp to various parts unknown, mostly to other countries. 

It's raining now and supposed to last off and on for another day or so. Our plan is to take a slip at Fernandina Beach marina for a couple of days to have the opportunity to use their water to completely wash Latitudes, rinse and fill her water tanks, do laundry, etc.  We'll decide when to go based on the weather.  And I bet we get some of that ice cream! Meanwhile, we'll stay warm and dry in Latitudes.

Almost ready to get back in the water

ahhh....almost ready to return to the sea...or the creek, in the current location.

Latitudes under-belly is painted!  We got help with that this year and boy, oh boy, was it easier!  The blue paint tape still has to be removed from the waterline.

The jib has been put back up in anticipation of a lot of sailing - not motoring - this year

Smoke helped as only she can do.  She set up command post in her favorite spot, between the back of the cockpit and the opening hatch.  A lazy bath was in order apparently.  This was her last outing of the day - seems she discovered that she could jump from boat to boat easily (see picture number one and the close proximity of the boats).  I found her exploring the 5th boat away from Latitudes and had to scramble from boat to boat to chase her home.  She is in detention now.

With as much done as possible, Latitudes was put back into the sling of the travel lift (yes, it lifts the boat and then it travels to where ever...).  We headed back to the dock where the boats are put back into the water.  It's close to evening and the weather is turning gray.  Calling for rain for the next two days, but it will be 70 tomorrow!!!

A final bit of scrapping and painting on the bottom areas that were unreachable while Latitudes was on the stands.  Not a great way to hold up a heavy duty sander and buff off barnacles and old paint. This went on for over an hour.  It's 9 p.m. now and the men just finished painting the newly sanded areas.  That's Boogie- one of the "yard dogs" - helping out.  He's a sweetie.

And a new sunset!  See  that odd section of water about mid picture, coming in from the left?  That's not water....its land...  I took the picture at low tide.  This is the shallow that comes out from the marina dock and prevents us from going back into the water except at high tide.  We still can't sail over it, but at least the water around it is deep enough - just barely - for us to get back in and get to deeper water. We have to time our launch - hope to go back in around 1 tomorrow.

Out of the water at St. Mary's Boatyard, GA

After a nice visit with Beth, we arrived in St. Mary's to find Latitudes well.   Dirty, but well!  All seems ok; just needs a good washing when we get back in the water.

It was beautiful when we arrived here - 70 degrees!  The car was packed to the roof almost and we were dreading the many trips up the ladder, ducking under the hanging dinghy, up the stern of the boat, and into the cockpit with our many packages.  But!  The boatyard came to the rescue!  First, a nice set of steps letting us easily get on Latitudes from the side.  But even better, a forklift that took all of our many bags to the deck of the boat for easy unloading! Two trips!  Boy, do they ever treat us wonderfully here!

Yes, there were the usual too many bags!  No, I haven't had that tank top on since!

Smoke remembered the boat immediately, of course.  zip,zip, zip, up and down and into every nook and cranny to check out her world.  At one point, she became suspicious of our activity -  afraid, I guess, that we would take her off the boat and back to the car.  She "hid" under the console.

It was cold last night.  Not as cold as the 8 degrees at home (wind chill of about -1000....) but cold.  26 is cold when you are off of the ground with basically no insulation.  We have heaters in the boat but managed to keep it only at 55 during the night. Thank goodness for electric blankets!  Today was cold and windy; tonight only about 33.  It should start warming up tomorrow. 

One more coat of paint on the underside, a few chores, and a lot more "moving in and stowing", and hopefully we'll be back in the water on Sunday.  We're looking forward to that!

And -  hoping this is one of many - our first sunset of this trip!