Chub Cay to Nassau

                                                                                

                  Leaving Private Island Chub Cay....Freighter stocking Island with supplies

     The day dawned with a rapidly rising sun, no clouds and little breeze in Chub Cay. I checked the windy app and Sirius which both predicted 1 to 2 foot seas and little wind out of the North.  Blah! Blah! Blah!...this lasted for less than a mile out of the marina.   At first it was just a chop with some mild beam sea that I thought would settle down as we headed west and the wind was supposed to settle in at 10 knots......IT DIDN'T!
     Lucky One called and confirmed that it was pretty lumpy even a mile closer to the shore, so I decided maybe the rolling would improve if we ran on top and increased the speed to 16 knots. It worked for a short time but the rolls coming in from the north still struck us on the front port quarter and we rolled and bucked and rolled to the point that Beth had to make a hole with the couch cushions and keep her hand on top of Sophie so she wouldn't bounce out!  Spencer sat next to me in the helm chair glaring at me until he got sea sick and tried to get down to go back with Beth.
     "Ralph, can't you do something about this! The TV is going to break off of the wall!" yelled Beth.
     "The only thing I can do is slow down. No matter which direction I head there is no better ride. If I slow down we will just be longer in this mess and we are only half way across! Huckins says this boat will take a hell of a lot more than we can." I hollered back We were about to test their confidence. Beth bungy corded the TV to the rail as we flew forward.
     Three hours later we pushed well into Nassau Harbor to finally get out of the unforgiving waves.  Exhausted we stopped at the fuel dock and with a lot of help from Kevin, the dock master at Harbor Central Marina, got locked in to our slip.
                                                                           

                                                       Coming into Nassau Harbor
                                                                                
                                                                                      

Even the big boys run aground. Just took on 5000 gallons of fuel and could not make it back over sand bar

      Waiting patiently, we thought Lucky One may not make it or maybe turned around but within an hour of landing the radio cracked to life with Linda requesting the dock master to allow them to go directly to their slip.  Whew! Relief!
      With the mechanical issues they have developed ,they just keep rising above the challenge and push through.  Damn, that Huen is resilient and a master at  coming up with solutions. I believe I will nick name him McGyver!
                                                                                   

                                           They have very large apples at the Nassau Market 
                                 
                                                                                           

      
 

      Beth insisted I put on my best clothes to have dinner on Lucky One. We were dining there prior to our planned visit to the famous Atlantis Casino.  Huen had prepared a pot roast, whipped mash potatoes with gravy and peas.  The aroma had us salivating before we got settled into the seats.  A tall glass of wine did me in!  No I can drink more than a glass of wine but reaching for a second helping of peas (otherwise poor Lucky, the dog has to eat them), I tipped the wine glass and according to Beth "ruined my clothes!"
                                                                                  

                                                            Atlantis, Paradise Island
                                                                                 

            Atlantis, Paradise Island across from the Harbour Central Marina we stayed at.
                                               
                                                                                       

                                                               Pot of Gold over Atlantis
                                                                                   

     "Settle down. Nobody died!" I responded.
     A quick change into more comfortable clothes and we were off.  Casinos are not our thing but it was fun watching Huen win money on Black Jack and Linda winning money on computerized Roulette.
     For Beth the highlight of the evening was the parade by the Junkadoo band.  A colorful display of traditional Bahamian music using goat skinned oil barrels, cow bells, whistles and horns (tuba/trumpet/and trombones). Fast paced with wildly costumed dancers leading the pack, Beth laughed, clapped, and danced right along with them.

                                                                               Junkadoo      


     We finished up with some Ben and Jerry's ice cream then a viewing of the aquarium with its huge Manta Rays. This is the first time I have seen one of these magnificent Rays.  We got lucky as well. Clapping caused Beth to lose one of the charms from her bracelet and even with all the people tramping around Beth found it undamaged!
                                                                             

                                                                Atlantis, Paradise Island

         Huen is persistent and is continuing on "Even if I have to go on one motor!" he insisted.
     We are waiting for the next weather window while Huen cleans his engine room once again.
    

    
    

Chub Cay and water spouts

      Lucky One was on the move a half hour before we lifted anchor.  This was going to be a long day for them, 75 miles at roughly 10 miles/hour.  Apparently, at this speed his engine doesn't lose hardly any oil.
                                                                                       

                 Leaving Honey Moon Harbour......cloudy but going to clear and be a nice day. 


      We on the other hand, can travel faster but decided to stay within a couple of miles and enjoy the cruise across the Bahamas Bank.   It was absolutely gorgeous. No sea swell, small less than one foot waves that settled down to no waves.  The blue water became crystal clear appearing almost as though we were looking through an ephemeral gas, easily able to view the star fish and flora 20 feet down.
                                                                                 

                                                                                   

     Spencer slept soundly in the helm chair beside me while Sophie nestled up to Beth on the couch in the galley.  It was calm enough that Beth finished her trashy Nora Roberts love story and took the helm, while I nestled up to Sophie for a 20 minute dog nap.  This reminded me of the dreamy days we had on Doc's Holiday, but of course it wasn't to last.
     The VHF radio cracked to life with Linda calmly asking, "Betsy do you see the water spout off your port side?"
      I looked behind me on the port side just in time to see a water spout about a mile away.  Huen, later described it well. He said, " A white funnel cloud seemed to suck up the water into the overhead cloud.  It swelled and turned black and then it started to rain."

                                                                                  

     Spencer picked up his head when he heard the fat rain drops start to hit the windshield.....I immediately picked up the boat speed to 16 knots and "got out of town!"  Sorry, Lucky One but we had enough of that crap on our trip with Doc's Holiday to Maine, when our boat couldn't out run one....It turned our boat around! (see 2012 Delaware Bay) Fortunately, Lucky One stayed ahead of the storm and had the same calm trip that we had all the way to Chub Cay.
                                                                               

                                        Tucked in safe and sound Chub Cay Marina and Resort

                                                                                   

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

 


      We were about 2 hours ahead of them but they called us when they were only 4 miles out.  It seemed to take them forever to come into the marina because, they were told on the VHF in no uncertain terms:"Please exit the marina immediately! You are pumping oil out of the port side of the boat. DO NOT ENTER!"  This was not an easy task since an afternoon storm had increase the winds to 20 knots.  They shut down their bilge pumps and let the marina know they had secured the oil and were allowed to come in and take the slip beside "Betsy".
      Huen had checked the engine room two hours prior to arrival and everything was fine.  "Something let go!." he said.  Linda commented, " He came up out of the engine room with oil splattered on his face!"
       He was told not to wash the streaming oil off into the water, so he launched his dingy and wiped the oil off with rags.  His plan is to keep adding oil and reassess  when we get to Nassau where he may be able to effect repairs.
       The marina's attention to Lucky One was soon diverted to an even bigger problem.  One of the fishing boats was pumping out voluminous amounts of diesel fuel!
        Chub Cay is a resort fishing village.  The girls decided they wanted a fancy night out dining so we made reservations for 8:30. Evening wear was in order.  Linda appeared in a sexy little black evening dress and Beth in a coquettish  white open shouldered summer dress.  Dinner was superb with fresh Mahi and a bottle of red wine. The boats radiated blue, red, green,and purple lights that punctuated the darkness and infused a sultry end to our fine dining.

                                                                               

 
        Tomorrow we plan to head the 37 miles across the "Tongue of the Ocean" to Nassau.  The question in my mind is...."Will Lucky One make it?"


   

Honey Moon Harbour

     We were anxious to leave Bimini to see the wreck "The Sapona" which has become a coral and fish reef.  The plan was to snorkel around it, then cruise on down to Honeymoon Harbor to anchor for the night and thus stage our departure for 75 mile trip across the Bahamas Bank to Chub Cay.
                                                                                 

                                                                  Leaving Bimini 


     Lucky One left before us and by the time we got there Linda, Huen and Lucky were beside the Sapona and getting ready to enter the water. The currents around the wreck seemed moderate but  were obviously too strong for a poor swimmer, like me and Beth still coughing from her upper respiratory infection couldn't snorkel, so we watched.
                                                                             

                                                 "The Sapona" (Linda, Huen and Lucky in dingy).

    Linda being the adventurous soul that she is, put on her full face mask snorkel and dropped off the side of the dingy to swim toward the rusting wreck.....excited, 70 lb Lucky jumped in on top of her! Yes, we thought she was going to drown but she and Huen managed to pull him back on the dingy. She did get to go over and view the wreck and told us about the beautiful colored fish swimming around and in and out of the holes in the wreck.

                                                                                
     The locals run snorkel tours to this spot and have a much safer way of getting people in the water. They put a bow and stern anchor out so that people can hold on to a solid line while viewing or getting back to the swim platform to re-board.
                                                                                 

   
 A leisurely ride got us into Honeymoon Harbour.  This is an idyllic spot on Gun Cay which is protected from a south and east wind by low bars that are visible at low tide.  We anchored in beautiful shades of blue water and white sand.  A cool breeze kept the temperature comfortable even after soaking in the buoyant clear salt water.
                                                                                 

   
      Serene setting, warm sun, cool breeze , easily floating on the top water I felt relaxed....when Beth calmly said,  "Ralph, look around you in the water."  I thought she was directing my attention to another star fish or coral head.....but no....I saw several triangular dark objects floating toward me.  They were about one to two feet across... and then I saw it.....it was huge! ... black in color, triangular shaped and at least 4 to 5 feet across...and racing directly toward me!  Crap! It was the biggest sting ray I had ever see....and it looked hungry.....It is possible for a guy to turn blue water white and guess what....this made all the stingrays come faster.  It turns out that this area has been a popular place for many years to come and feed the stingrays.  We watched as children on the shore slapped the water to get the rays attention, than feed them fish.

                                                                               

   
    I'm two for two in picking rolls spots to anchor.   Even though this is a fairly well protected anchorage from the winds, the flood tide caused the water to curl around through the entrance  and roll us from beam to beam all night long.  There was a 100 foot motor yacht anchored directly in the path that had to move because of the rolling.                                                                           
     Spencer, Sophie and Lucky enjoyed chasing each other on the beach.  I think Sophie has a crush on Lucky from the way she teases him and maybe Spencer is just a little bit jealous, but they all seemed to have fun .
    Beth blew up her new paddle board and is trying to get enough balance to stand up on it.  "No problem. Let me try it", I joked as I kneeled on the board and paddled out to a little deeper water.
    Immediately, my audience saw me splash awkwardly into the water when I attempted to stand...cruel little brats! Linda didn't last much longer.

                                                                           

   

Cat Cay to Bimini

     We left Dania Beach Marina at daylight and slowly made our way out the shipping channel (Port Everglades) at Fort Lauderdale.  Rocky -rolly with all the fishing boats, cruisers and Cruise Liners leaving but once we cleared the entrance marker, not too bad.  There were swells coming from the north and a 10 knot wind on our nose but the Betsy handled it well enough to push the speed up to 16 knots and though somewhat choppy, even Spencer and Sophie settled in and seemed to enjoy the fresh breeze coming through the open side doors.
                                                                                 

     Two and a half hours into the crossing I looked down at the helm gauges and watched the pressure on my starboard transmission jump up to over 350 psi, jump around and stay high (occasionally locked hard over!) The port transmission was running at 250psi.  Crap....I immediately cut back the throttles to run at 9 knots with minimal change in the transmission pressures.  So!.....down in the engine room I go, while Beth took the helm....little did she know she would be at the helm for much more than "just a minute".  I could see nothing amiss and the infrared temperature gun read 134 degrees on both transmissions. Needless to say I was worried about blowing a transmission hose or seals in the transmission, so we shut down the stbd motor and ran on one engine until we could get some place where we could work on the problem.
     Nauseated and dizzy from rolling around in the engine room and trying to get our navigation system functioning so that Beth could avoid the container ships traveling across in front of us in the shipping lane, I had to lie down.  Waves of dizziness and nausea swept over my profusely sweating face as Sophie tried to help by licking my cheek.  When the nausea started to pass I would go back up to the helm to help a very nervous Admiral.
      Running on one engine caused us to be out in the gulf stream an hour longer but we made it into Cat Cay, tied up at the fuel dock, gathered all the paperwork Beth had painstakingly prepared and rode in a golf cart with the Dock Master to the Customs and Immigration to get cleared in.  $440.00 lighter  including cruising/fishing permit and "tips", ( but still nauseated) we anchored out just west of the flight path for the air landing field and waited for "Lucky One" to clear and anchor nearby.
                                                                           

                                                                                  

                                                                               

                                               Quarantine Flag until we clear customs



                                                                                 

                                                                    Bahamas Flag  
                                                                                         

                                                            Anchored off Cat Cay
                                                                                  

                                            Captain Ralph in the water with starfish.                                                                             
          

   




     They had mechanical problems as well with water and oil leaks from the starboard engine.  Huen has attempted repairs on these and had two different mechanics assure him "Everything fixed" but it appears he is going to have to tackle the repairs himself.  Nevertheless, he and Linda seem to be in good spirits and accepting of their issues.
     The wind came up from the east and all the anchored boats banged, bounced, rolled and hobby-horsed all night long.  I was so dizzy in the morning I had to hang on to tables, counter tops, hand holds just to move from the stateroom to the couch.....and the boat wasn't even moving...UGH! 
                                                                                 

  

     We hauled anchor in the morning and headed to the closest port where we might be able to fix our mechanical problems... Bimini.  As we came back out the Gun Cay pass, there sat several yachts and sail boats slowly bobbing on the lee side (down wind side ) of the island.  Crap!...first Bahamas lesson learned.  For a comfortable night at anchor, get on the downwind side of an island.
     The cruise up to Bimini was only about 10 miles but our transmission pressures didn't improve, so we retained a slip at Blue Water Marina for a much needed rest and recovery from sea sickness.
     Bimini is a beautiful island from the water side.  Calm turquoise water, brightly painted boats and white sand.  You sink up to your ankles in the soft sand on the Florida side beach and it is scattered with different colored conch shells.  The shallow water slowly swept in and out, but a surge surprised all of us, soaking our shorts and drowning Huen's shoes with wet sand.  I couldn't contain my laughter when I saw the surprised look on his face.  Unperturbed, he slogged his way down the beach and back to the boat without a whimper.
     The girls gleefully picked up conch shells, discarding one when they found a bigger or better colored one. They finally settled on the one they were going to keep and we headed back to the boat.
      The Island folk are polite and friendly and the marina is tidy, has clean bathrooms and is a bargain at $1.00/foot. They charge .75 cents/ gallon for water and 7.5%  VAT but all in all it is a comparable price to what we paid in Dania Beach.  The rest of the town though, is dirty, dilapidated, and obviously not well respected by its inhabitants.  There are no side walks along the very narrow streets down which golf carts careen , the drivers concentrating more on their cell phones than on the traffic. The street is littered with plastic cup, straws, paper and garbage.  Malodorous fumes waft from the garbage that is piled up on street corners and littered between buildings.
     Remnants of a more glorious past exist in the burnt buildings (Hemingway's) and the boarded up hotels and enclaves that line the beaches, but I suspect those times will not return until the island folk clean up their act and show some pride in their island.
     I remember when this happened in Antigua.  From my childhood, I can remember that Antigua was the  winter vacation destination for my Canadian relatives.  When the Antiguans began to resent the tourists, treating them with disrespect and having riots, the tourists stopped coming. The Island folks suffered greatly with a depressed economy.   Beth and I visited there several years ago and things had changed. We were welcomed with open arms. The Island was clean, tidy and reasonably priced.  We will go back there.  We will be unlikely to return to Bimini for anything other than a "waiting for good weather stopover."
   A call to Justin at Huckins Yacht in Jacksonville led us to the solution of our transmission worries.  He suggested we get a mechanical gauge to measure the pressures directly at the transmissions....VOILA!  The readings for the pressures were right where they should be.  The electrical gauges were incorrect!  Now I know the 250 psi rating is actually 325 psi.  Cleaning up the electrical connections solved the high pressure reading.
    We will be leaving Blue Water marina today to snorkel the wreck Sapona and later anchor out at Honeymoon Harbor ( maybe relive our honeymoon...if I don't get sea sick!!) Tomorrow, its on across the Bahamas Bank to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands.
    

It's Time! We cross the Gulf Stream Tomorrow....I think!

     The weather gods are smiling upon us!
     We have been keeping a sharp eye on the winds/waves and gulf stream activity and it would seem tomorrow will be a good time to attempt to cross to the Bahamas.
     For you boaters who haven't discovered it yet there is a great AP called "Windy" which uses NOAA weather data in a unique format that allows you to visualize the wind/wave/swell weather patterns.  No more iso bar lines to try an interpret.  It will even pattern clouds/sea surface temperature in a visual way. I have been following it for a couple of weeks and a week ago it predicted 2 foot waves and winds less than 8 knots for this saturday....Tomorrow! The prediction hasn't changed for a whole week and checking on the NOAA site confirmed the prediction.
     We have all major systems functional and Beth has charged up every electronic appliance. She has our passports, dogs vet papers, all listed in duplicate along with the entrance cruising fees neatly filed in a binder for the customs and immigration, and most importantly has every nook and cranny filled with Bacardis, Tullymore Dew, Gin, Vodka, french wine, Coors banquet beer and girly man beer....coors light....(Oh!...and of course some food.)  Yes.....There will be a p.a.r.t.y in the Bahamas!
     Excited and ready to say goodby to Dania Beach, we plan on leaving at daybreak.
     Since we don't know when we will have wifi connection to up load the blog and pics the posts may be somewhat spotty.  However you can always see where we are by clicking on "Spot" at the top of the blog.  You can even get a google picture of our location.
     We will keep you posted!

Dania Beach

     Dania Beach municipal marina is nicely located on the ICW just south of Fort Lauderdale and immediately north of Hollywood, Fl. We easily passed under the reported 17 ft bridge to find much taller boats inside.  These boats entered at low tide (4 ft depth) which allowed them 20 ft clearance, or maybe they were here before the bridge was built! Some of them looked like they hadn't been moved in a very long time. A majority of them were live aboards.
                                                                             

                                       Lucky One at Dania Beach Marina on Whiskey Creek

     We eased into a t-head slip next to a 50 foot Hatteras that sunk during the storm Irma.  Avoiding the surrounding water boom, we tied up and struggled with three different corroded electrical connections before we found adequate power, then settled in on the aft deck for the celebratory arrival cocktail.
     Slowly perusing the boats and marina, we noted that some of the boats were in disrepair, the docks were floating docks and all had locked gates for security....except for ours!  We were on a courtesy dock that allowed local boaters to come in and tie up gratis, so they could visit the local restaurant "The Quarterdeck" and the Atlantic side beach located directly across the parking lot from us.
                                                                           

                                                                  Dania Beach Pier

     Wow, a great location!  This being the stomping grounds for the Lucky One crew (actually where they first met), we had connections with the manager who saved us two slips on the courtesy dock.  At $1.50/ft/day it is also the cheapest slip in the area and as a bonus we had fuel delivered by truck at a super rate of $2.77/gal (again the cheapest in the area!)
      The Quarterdeck restaurant has excellent food serving Maine Lobster on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The service is excellent.  I noticed that even on a table of 6, the waiters and waitresses never once wrote down the orders and I never saw an incorrect order!
                                                                   

                                                                              

                                                                                

                                                                                 

         
                                                                         
  The beach was raked daily providing an optimum vantage point for viewing the large cruise ships gliding out of Port Everglades. We fantasized about their destinations wondering when we will get a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and live our own adventure.
                                                                            
                                                                               

                                                                 Dania Beach Waves

    "In the meantime I will launch the dingy and go for a row." I thought.
    "No!" said the Gods." Your davit wheel will not turn. It is seized in place. You will take the next 3 days to use a hammer and chisel to massacre the wheel into freedom, and another day to take a grinder and cutter to widen the davit to allow another wheel (sheve) to freely spin in place!"
                      Plugging in the ac cord to run the davit winch, I watched as the dingy slowly lifted off the cradle. Once cleared, I pushed the davit to the side until the dingy was free to ease down into the water when it happened.  Half way down, the motor suddenly stopped.  Quickly I jumped below to reset the circuit breakers and tried again.....crap! No go!
     After repeatedly using short blasts between circuit breaker failures I managed to get "Lil Betsy" secured  back up into her cradle and began the task of figuring out what was tripping the breakers.  Smoke coming from the davit motor pointed to the problem.  The motor had a short circuit.
                                                                       

    "ENOUGH!", I screamed.  "I'm going to fix this thing once and for all."
     Huen, captain and owner of "Lucky One",  grinned when I said I'm going to put a hand mechanical winch on and forget the electrical crap.
     Smiling he said, "I don't think you are going to like cranking that dingy up in the wind but I will help you install whatever you decide on. It would be easy to run wires from your boat batteries and use a 12 volt winch."
    For Huen it would be easy, but for me it is just something else for me to screw up and I am trying to simplify my boating life.   A mechanical winch is cheap and if its not working I can always go back to an electric winch.  However, we found an ac powered winch at Harbor Freight for half the price of the usual ac winch and with my help, Huen had it installed in an hour.
                                                                           

    Maybe the Gods were smiling upon me.  If this had happened in the Bahamas, no doubt I would have had difficulty finding parts or had to wait to have things shipped over from the U.S.A.  More importantly,  not being able to launch the dingy is a safety issue in the event of an emergency.
    I have been very fortunate during my boating years to know people who are much more mechanically inclined then I. My brother in laws "The Dannies", Tom Dupre, and my good friend Huen.
      The contrast in our thought process is interesting.  Huen and the Dannies will tackle any repair.
 Huen's comment is, "It's already broken so why not try to fix it ourselves!"
     In my world we were taught, "Primum non nocere"...first do no harm!  Excellent guidance for the medical field, but it has made me very leery to tackle any job that I am not absolutely sure how to fix.
     It is also one of  the reasons that in my 40 year medical career, I have never been involved in a law suit. Don't misunderstand me. I have made errors and mistakes but with discussing possible complications before a procedure; prompt honest admission of mistakes; and thorough discussion of what should be done in the event of an untoward event, my patients have endeared themselves to me and have not been inclined to include me any any lawsuits.
    While I'm on a rant let me add that now that I am retired and had time to reflect on why I have never been sued, I recognized that a major factor was manipulation on my part to work as infrequently as possible with surgeons and colleagues who in my opinion were not at the top of their game, or tended to blame things that went wrong, on everybody but themselves. It has always been evident to me that those who cannot admit they have made errors are unable or unwilling to learn and strengthen their skills.
      I chose to work with colleagues who were professional, polite, and enjoyed a pleasant operating room atmosphere with everyone in the OR suite. An operating room often is very stressful, but in my experience it has been the surgeon who is confident in his skills and is able to maintain a collegial atmosphere in the operating room who routinely gets the fewest complications and the best outcomes.
    We are still waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas and it looks like next Saturday may be the day.  In preparation, Beth continues to provision the boat and to the relief of Beth and the family we have installed a boarding ladder in the "unlikely" event that someone should fall in the water!
                                                                           

         (Admirals Note)   Captain forgot to mention refrigerator started acting up so immediate run to Best Buy while we had the rental car and replaced with new Frigidaire. At this rate we will have a new boat if this keeps up!
                                                                           

                            New refrigerator.....may need some help with the molding... Nick?

                                                                                 

Broken Seal on old refrigerator.....nothing a lock could not fix. Great drink refrigerator for the Islands.
                                                          
  

St. Augustine to Dania Beach

     "Where are you guys?" was the exasperated text Beth got from her sister Susie.
      We immediately realized that we haven't been keeping up with the blog.  We have been so involved with learning the new navigation system (Simrad), learning the anomalies of the new boat, repairing things that we screwed up, and touring St. Augustine, that it has consumed our attention.
     
                                                                               

                                                       Maiden Voyage "Lil Betsy"

                                                                             

                                                           Happy Hour on "Betsy"
                                                                           

                                                   Touring "Alahambra" St. Augustine.

                             
                                                                             

                                   
                                          Needed to warm up. St Augustine 58 degrees
                                                                                 

     The Simrad navigation system provides excellent viewing of bottom depth, contour and whatever is swimming below the boat.  The radar is intuitive and the forward scanner has already prevented one of the biggest problems we had with Doc's Holiday...dinging the props in shallow water! However, the navigation system is definitely not intuitive and a far cry from the Nobeltec system that we were very comfortable with after using it for 15 years.   I hope with further experience to get comfortable with this new system, but as of this moment I still don't know how to get numbers for bottom depth or have the boat follow a course on auto pilot.  This may be a software issue with using the Navionics charts that I just haven't learned yet so we will be working on that over the next few days.
                                                                         
                                                                             

     
     "Travis Hardware" in Cocoa Village. Great entertainment and a lot of stuff. A must see!
                                                                               

                               
                                

                                              Leaving Cocoa Beach with "Lucky One"
                                                                               

                                                   Linda at the helm of "Lucky One"        

     We managed to get the boat to Vero Beach and rented a mooring ball for less than
$20.00/night. This allowed us to see how the generator was going to behave and forced us into learning how to launch "Lil Betsy"; see if we could row her comfortably (not fall out of it when launching and returning); and saved us the $100/night slip fee.
                                                                         

                                 Buddies doing their morning workout. Vero Beach Mooring.

                                                                               

     This is a more economical way to cruise the southeast coast of Florida but I estimate the cost of running the generator at about 1 gal/hr for 6 hrs/day (average since it is not hot yet) at 6x $2.70/gal at $16.62 plus the cost of maintaining the equipment.
      In our case it exposed another lack of maintenance issue. The wheel at the tip of the davit (over which the cable runs) was seized up and put a load on the winch motor resulting in tripping and burning up the ground fault plug in the galley.
      Trying to replace the plug led to the following scenario: a $30.00 taxi ride to the local hardware store to purchase a $20.00 ground fault wall plug which kept clicking off when the boat was on the inverter; which resulted in moving the boat to another marina that had an open slip at $120/night, so the electrician could replace the plug and check out the wiring system to make sure there were no other wires that were burnt; which also resulted in our having to remove our new Isotherm freezer; which resulted in a broken compressor line and total loss of freon; which resulted in renting an SUV for the 4 hour round trip drive to get it to the manufacturer in Pompano beach for repair.
                                                                             

                                                           New Isotherm Freezer!


      Frustrated,  I decided to keep on moving the boat and we would pick up the freezer when we got down around around Fort Lauderdale. Beth of course was also exasperated with having to move all her nicely vacuum packed meat to a  borrowed cooler.... and watching it thaw! ( we ate well over the next few days)
     So began our "Man overboard drill"!
     In a foul mood I unhooked the power cable, prepared the lines so Beth could release them from the boat, folded up the boarding stairs and placed them behind the rails, grabbed the rail  and when I attempted to hoist myself up onto the boat.....slipped and hung on to the rail with one foot dangling in the water......and not enough upper body strength to hoist myself up!
     "Help! Beth Help! I cried,  as I slipped slowly down into the water.  By the time Beth heard me I was half way in and losing strength.  Oh!....the things that go through your head when you know you are slipping and about to fall! My one overriding thought was..."Good thing this is from a boat and not the side of a bridge!"  Clinging to the life ring Beth threw me,  I found out just how hard it is to swim around to the back of the boat with clothes and shoes weighing me down.  Hurrah! I made it to the swim platform then realized with a growing sick feeling in my stomach,  that there was no boarding ladder and I didn't have enough arm strength left to push up onto the platform!  Beth quickly rigged up a rope that I could pull up on and helped me get one leg up and roll onto the platform....thankfully it is close to the water.  As I laid there catching my breath, I began to laugh at the foolishness of not having installed a boarding ladder and my laziness in not continuing to exercise to try and maintain the inevitable sarcopenia (loss of muscle ) that occurs with aging.
    A well deserved berating filled my ears for the next 45 minutes!
     The trevails of boating!
     The electric works fine when we are plugged in to shore power or when using the generator so it has something to do with running the inverter.  To hell with it we were continuing on!
      We spent the next night at a marina in Boynton Beach. Up at dawn we continued down the ICW and it's many bridges to pass through Fort Lauderdale with it's luxurious water side homes to arrive at our current marina in Dania Beach.

                                                                       

                                         Decisions, decisions, "Where do I sleep tonight?"

     Why the push?
     We needed to be in a place that had easy access to a marine and hardware store so we  could repair the electric and the davit while waiting for an adequate weather window to cross to the Bahamas.