Ship happens

The morning started out fine on our way to Brunswick, GA but it progressively got worse. It was great going the first couple of hours but by the time we were in Jekyll Sound and St. Simons Sound it was choppy with a heavy current. We went through some rain squalls. We reached Hidden Harbor Yacht Club on the Troup creek about a mile off the ICW.

After we were docked I checked the engine and found a leak. Unfortunately the part needed has to be sent from Maine. It’s a special hose with an unique shape, a hose within a hose. I didn’t want to take a chance with jerry-rigging something as the next leg of the trip is 81 miles. I was told the part would arrive Friday - it was sent out Wednesday by FedEx 2 Day express. It didn’t arrive Friday, or Saturday and so now I’m hoping it will be delivered Monday.

Hidden Harbor Marina has a nice guest lounge. The marina is run by very nice folks; everyone is very friendly and helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re here for more days than planned so I caught up on some small projects on the boat and also reorganized.

 

 

The lounge is on the first floor of the building. The top floor is the marina’s office.

 

 

 

 

Monday: The part was delivered, now it’s a lot more work to put everything together and get the engine up and running. Found out that the part was ordered from Maine, but was sent out from Duluth, GA (4 ½ hour drive).

Tomorrow we're ready to get back on the Mackay River and head towards Savannah.

A view from the deck.

Conference break

The first night at the Comachee Cove Yacht Harbor, we spied this sight - an osprey keeping a watchful eye over the marina.

We took a break to take care of a few things: have maintenance done on the boat; change crew; and to attend the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) Spring Rendezvous & Reunion.

A group photo taken at the conference. In attendance were newbies, first-timers and veteran loopers. The lectures and speakers provided plenty of valuable information so that anyone can plan and do the loop. 

We leave behind St. Augustine and head up the Tolomato River. We had long stretches of slow speed zones.

We passd Jacksonville Beach, the mouth of the St. Johns River and continued on to tonight’s stop at Amelia Island Yacht Basin. It was difficult getting into the marina as the tide was so low. We do like marinas with floating docks.

 

 

 

 

Sunset at Amelia Island

Full Moon

Departing the marina the next morning we spotted the “Chesapeake”, we had seen her before on our overnight stay at the Cocoa Village marina.

The forecast calls for afternoon thunderstorms so we want to reach Brunswick, GA by early afternoon. Along the way we passed a maritime archeology vessel.

We're back

Took a break in the blog entries after arriving at St. Augustine. So we’ll try and catch up where we left off:

Another 8am departure and another great morning. Our sailboat neighbor watched us go.

We left Palm Coast and the canal opened up into the Matanzas River. As we did the other day, we were going against the current. Here's a video of the dolphins that followed us, riding in our wake.

Not many boats out on this morning. When there are other boats, they usually pass us but we found a boat we could pass -

On the rivers eastern bank is Rattlesnake Island. I’m guessing whoever named it must of made an unfortunate discovery. At this point, we’re about 14 miles south of St. Augustine. We spotted a fort structure and later learned it's Fort Matanzas.

The fort was completed in 1742 by the Spanish to guard St. Augustine from the south and prevent the British from invading through the Matanzas inlet. http://www.nps.gov/foma/historyculture/index.htm   (btw: Matanzas is the Spanish word for slaughter. The founder of St. Augustine executed 250 French Huguenots in 1565 at the inlet.)

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Approaching the oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine, you can see a full-sized replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon, the Andalucía. It’s similar to the galleon that St. Augustine’s founder sailed on in 1565.

The Bridge of Lions was was named as 4th among the U.S.’s top ten bridges. It was completed in 1927 and named for the 2 marble lion statues on it.

A water view of the Castillo De San Marcos National Monument. The fort was completed in 1695 http://www.nps.gov/casa/historyculture/construction.htm

We arrived at the Comachee Cove Yacht Harbor where the boat stayed docked for 2 weeks (on the far left).

A smart pelican taking advantage of a free meal from someone's catch.

These guys enjoyed watching the show.

Halifax RIver

An 8am start and we are off to Palm Coast. We had a very hazy morning. It was slow speed and we were among 8 boats heading out. It looked like a boat parade. All but 2 were heading to the ocean at Ponce Inlet, while we picked up the ICW and the Halifax River.

The 175 ft Ponce Inlet lighthouse seen through the morning haze (tallest lighthouse in Florida).

We went by South Daytona viewing some paddleboarders and then proceeded under the 4 bridges in Daytona.

Passed by an old Navy tug . . . . which someone made into a home.

We also caught an homeowners association meeting in progress.

We left the marshes and tidal creeks of the Tomoka basin. We requested to have the Knox drawbridge opened, leaving the headwaters of the Halifax river and entering the canal. The canal took us pass Flagler Beach.

We reached Palm Coast Marina at 1:45. We were low on fuel so we first went to the fuel dock. As we were turning in, a guy in a skiff came in apparently not even seeing us. He must have been in a hurry to fish because he took off without getting back his credit card.

Palm Coast is a large planned community that is accessible by 3 canals. There are wide sidewalks shared by walkers, runners and cyclists.  We walked to the European Village town center. It has several restaurants and we dined at Burrito101  http://burrito101pc.com/

Sometimes it pays to be small

We recently read that an average 100 boats complete the Loop each year.

Wednesday we got our latest start, not leaving the marina until 8:30. We were in no hurry as today we had a shorter route, scheduled to cover 45½ miles. Last night we changed our destination from Daytona to New Smryna Beach.

The past 2 days we had the wind behind us, today it was against us and the water was choppy. I wouldn't mind getting a ride the airboat that sped passed us this morning.

At 10 am we passed another Camano (our boat make) that was heading southbound. It was the “Knot Busy”. It was the second one we have seen on the trip. The other was on the gulf coast and it was heading north. On that one the dinghy on the back blocked the name. Knot Busy had the name on the side of the bow.

Speaking of dinghies – right before we were to depart our original dinghy did not work out and we were going to have to use a kayak but thanks to Pete W. for loaning us his for this trip. Many thanks Pete! Also thanks to Paul D. for helping with each dinghy.

When we approached the Haulover canal, a sailboat and a large boat where on either end. On the radio it was broadcast that the drawbridge could not open due to mechanical problems. It pays to have the small boat - we could fit underneath. The others had to drop anchor and just wait.

 

Once through the canal we entered Mosquito Lagoon. The water was calm and contrary to its name we didn’t see any mosquitos. Although I’m sure they might be present on the many islands. It's a beautiful place and the photo can’t do it justice. 

 

Someone liked it so much they took up residence.

We traveled through the lagoon for an hour and then picked up the river. An osprey took up residence, having made a nest on a house.

 

Caught this picture and wondered - was he kicked out; taking a smoke break; or is it a guest bedroom?

 

We arrived at the New Smyrna Beach Marina about 3pm. That evening we walked into the downtown and checked out the shops along Canal St. We ate dinner at Panheads Pizzeria  http://panheadspizzeria.com/  and had a great meal.

Northbound on Indian River

We couldn’t leave the "Sunrise City" without catching the sunrise.

It was pretty quiet at that time in the morning but we were joined by some feathered friends.

 

We didn’t leave the Ft. Pierce marina until 8am as we had to get fuel and a pump-out. We headed back out to the Indian River heading north. The water was calm.

It's not like I 95 but even on the water you'll find billboards.

 

                            and graffiti

At 11am the winds picked up but and there was a light chop. We passed Melbourne at 1:25. We were docked and hooked up to electricity by 4pm at the Cocoa Village Marina. We covered 68.3 miles.

The marina had very nice facilities. We came across another vintage ship named, "Chesapeake" but didn't find any information on her.

We enjoyed taking a walk into the village and having dinner at Murdoch’s Southern Bistro.

http://www.murdocksincocoavillage.com/

It was a nice evening and the sun was going down when we got back to the marina.

 

Time to call it a night and turn out the lights.

 

Etc.

Yesterday somewhere after the St. Lucie canal but before Stuart we came across a boatyard/marina that had a boat that immediately caught my eye. I took 2 quick photos as we passed on by.

Of course I had to look her up. Aphrodite is a 1937 Commuter Yacht that was used by a Wall Street financier to commute the Long Island Sound to Manhattan. By the 70s, the yacht was in disrepair. She was restored in 2004-5 at the Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine.

Here’s info on her interesting history (she was commissioned after the Pearl Harbor attack as a Coast Guard auxiliary vessel). http://www.brooklinboatyard.com/aphrodite.html

Also open the link to a video from OffCenterHarbor.com so you can take her for a spin. http://www.offcenterharbor.com/yachting/

Ft. Pierce calls itself “The Sunrise City”. The city marina is in the downtown and is next to Gazebo Park and the Public library. They have a very nice public waterfront with a lot of benches for viewing the water, or the sunrise.

 

    Gazebo Park

Today was sunny but very windy. We're taking advantage of being here an extra day to do laundry. Also got to stretch our legs and walk all over town. If you are ever in Ft. Pierce go to Brewer’s Café for lunch. It is family run and have excellent food and hospitality.

Steve was able to take time to do some engine maintenance. We walked to the local ACE Hardware and Steve “MacGyvered” a quick fix to replace the air filter in the boat.