Irene Spares Talisman

[several days - oldest post at top]

Monday, May 2

Sunday night we sat around the pool with Jesse, Susan and Bob, Peony and Carrie and Rick listening to music and each other’s stories while eating a pizza. Deep Point has a great group of liveaboards and we made plans to meet up again on our way south this fall.

Monday we were up by 5:30am and moving by 6am although we’re only going 30 miles to Wrightsville Beach. The current on the Cape Fear River is about 3 knots on the ebb tide so it’s leave now for a four hour ride or leave later in the morning for a six hour ride (not to mention the extra fuel). There were a couple of big container ships heading down river from Wilmington but otherwise was quiet.

We arrived in Wrightsville Beach anchorage about 10:30am and I began to call and make all the arrangements for laying up Talisman. Pacific Seacraft uses a local boatyard called Captain Sam’s to launch and haul the boats. They were planning on launching another PSC 37 on Thursday morning and asked if we could make it there by then. It’s an aggressive schedule as it took us four days to get that same distance going south. We decided the weather is nice enough allowing us to go out in the atlantic and save a couple of days by avoiding bridges and currents.

The plan is to leave in the morning and get to Beaufort, NC then get back on the ICW and go until dark on Tuesday. I made arrangements with Enterprise to pick up a car on Thursday after Talisman is hauled so we can drive Thursday night and Friday to Wisconsin.

Wrightsville Beach is the opposite of Southport in many ways. It has a beautiful beach, restaurants, grocery and other stores near a nice anchorage in Banks Channel. Whereas Southport had a very old crowd, Wrightsville Beach had a lot of college kids hanging out. We walked around the beach area before heading back to Talisman in the late afternoon. We decided not to eat out since we needed to get the dinghy on the foredeck and get to bed for an early departure.

For dinner we fixed Italian Sausage and Prosciutto with fresh tomatoes and peppers over penne pasta. That’s the end of our food provisions except for some canned beans and deli meat.

Tuesday, May 3

We had the anchor up and heading out Banks Channel before 6am and arrived at the Masonboro Inlet just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. This inlet is deep and wide with just a few fishing boats heading out with Talisman. It was a cool morning and Karen made muffins.

We drew a straight line to Beaufort and expected to arrive 70 miles later around 5pm. About five hours into the trip I noticed we were entering a zone on the chart called “Danger Area”. This extended as an arc from some military base near Swansboro and said “Unexploded Ordinance”. I missed this earlier because it doesn’t show up unless the chart is zoomed in close. I noticed the big power boats were going outside the danger area but I surmised if there really is unexploded ordinance, then how does the ordinance know to stay within the marked area? Also, I really didn’t want to add another ten miles to the long trip. So, with our fingers crossed we continued on the rhumb line.

We got to the Beaufort Inlet about 4:30pm but picked up a little head current as we entered the ICW. I still thought we could make Oriental by dark and if we did arrive a little after dark I thought it would be fine since we stayed here before and it’s a trouble-free anchorage.

We passed another small sailboat from another country with four young people aboard. (They’re visible in the Adams Creek photo.) They radioed us and asked where a good anchorage was for the night. I told them  Back Creek or Oriental where we’re headed. We chatted along the river and they followed us into Oriental where we arrived at 8:30pm just as it was getting dark. Over a hundred statute miles in one day – not bad for a thirty foot boat.

After anchoring we showered, ate a quick salad and soon retired.

Wednesday, May 4

We weighed anchor and departed Oriental about 6:30 as the sun was coming up. It was an easy sail with the wind from the west as we headed northeast down the Neuse River. After entering Hoboken Cut (which connects the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers) It looked like rain so I used the opportunity to take down the main and headsails. We couldn’t fold them but managed to get them tucked into the main salon although there wasn’t much room left to walk around.

When we entered the Pamlico it was raining and the wind was blowing 20-25 knots out of the west. The sailboat ahead of us turned into Goose Creek and anchored. I headed on up the Pamlico hoping I had enough fuel to make it to Washington. The Pamlico is quite shallow and the westerly winds were kicking up five foot waves about six foot apart. I could only make headway at about three knots with full throttle and Washington is about 33 more miles up river. Instead of heading straight for Washington I decided to go the five miles across river and hope the slightly lee side of the river would be less rough. Indeed, our speed picked up to four and half knots but we were still burning too much fuel. There’s no place to stop in between so I was just hoping I wouldn’t have to put the sails back on and tack up the river. Meanwhile, Karen was down below trying to organize the packing for the return trip home.

Fortunately by the time we slogged up the river past Bath Creek the wind had subsided and the creek narrowed so we could now beat into the waves at over five knots. It was still raining and cold but I thought we could make it on the fuel available.

I called Captain Sam’s and asked Tom for any directions through the shallow channel up Broad Creek. He said we’d be okay as there was 6 foot of water everywhere around the marina. He gave me his cell number and said to call as we turned off green marker “9″. But when we got there three hours later I couldn’t get an answer. We slowly headed in and the depth sounder was reading five foot when the chart showed seven feet. We were dragging once in awhile in the mud. By the time we got past the two Broad Creek markers we were stuck. I tried to get further but Talisman just couldn’t drag – even on full throttle. I was sculling the rudder with the throttle full to try and rock Talisman into the docks but failed and I finally gave up and shut off the engine.

Thumper from Pacific Seacraft was standing on the dock talking to me on the cell phone providing encouragement but we just couldn’t get any further. The strong westerly wind had simply blown all the water down the river and it was too shallow. We were sitting deep in the mud and listing about five degrees a few hundred feet from the dock.

What a disappointment! It was after 4:30pm now and we’d been trying to get to the dock for the past hour and a half. We had been planning on performing some layup chores for a couple of hours then going out to eat. Now we resigned ourselves to staying on the boat here stuck for the night. I threw an anchor over the bow in case we floated free during the night then took a shower.

It was nearly impossible to walk around the boat with the sails and packed clothes laying around and all we had to eat was some deli meat on cocktail rye. I guess things can always be worse. The winds had almost calmed and the sun came out. I read a little of my latest book when I felt the boat rock a little. That’s a good sign as it was firmly stuck in the mud and not moving at all earlier.

I went outside and started the engine. Karen wanted to stay put because she was afraid we might get stuck in a worse position closer to the docks. I left the anchor in and let out some more chain before trying to move. When I put it in gear nothing happened but when I boosted the throttle we did move a little. I decided to raise the anchor and give it a try.

I worked my way in until I got the bow about a 45 degree angle to the dock just a few feet away. Karen jumped off the bow with a line and secured the bow. As I looked up I recognized Steve Brodie – the owner of Pacific Seacraft who had just arrived to see if he could provide any assistance. I threw him a long line at the stern and he was able to pull the stern in through the mud so we could tie up for the night. What a great feeling!

What a difference a couple of hours did to change our situation. Steve took Karen and I out for a great dinner at Pia’s Restaurant downtown. We had a nice time talking about boats and dining. Karen had Asian salmon with peach sauce and I had pasta with clams and shrimp in a romano cheese sauce.

Thursday, May 5

We’re leaving Talisman with Pacific Seacraft for the summer. They’re going to do maintenance work and potentially some upgrades on Talisman before we return in the fall to head south. This will be done at the factory so the mast has to be removed and Talisman trucked about six miles across town.

We woke up about 7:30am and immediately went to work on the task of unloading Talisman. Something broke on the crane so we won’t be hauled out today. Thumper and Steve arrived about 8:30 for a walk through so I could point out some things on Talisman we wanted to them to inspect and repair. Afterward they took me into town to get the rental car while I left Karen with the packing (not a bad trade in my mind). Already there was a huge pile of “stuff” on the large dock. (I wish we had photos but we were too busy to think of it.)

I had ordered a mid-sized car from Enterprise which is the only rental car company in Little Washington (and Door County only has Avis – life in the small town). What is mid-size? Well, in this case it was a Ford Focus which has about the same carrying capacity as a wheelbarrow. They only had one other vehicle and it was a Mercury Grand Marquis. I was hoping for an SUV but the dude at the counter said you could “put a couple of bodies in the trunk”. Not what I was thinking but it sounded big enough and I took it. He said I’d need to get fuel and I was shocked when it cost over $60 to get it from a 1/4 tank to full. Jeez, I hadn’t used that much fuel since leaving Marathon.

We packed nearly every cubic inch of space in that big car and left Washington about 3:30pm. Talisman was still on a slip but I felt comfortable leaving the rest of the haulout to the Pacific Seacraft guys. Karen drove while I looked at the Google Maps. I found we could get to Wytheville, Virgina in four hours and there was a La Quinta Inn. When traveling with a dog we stay there as they allow dogs and many hotels refuse dogs or require a $75-$100 extra. While some La Quinta Inn’s are not as nice , I’m more comfortable than trying to sneak in a dog. Actually some of the Inns have been just as good as Marriott, Hyatt or Hilton – you take your chances.

There was a mexican restaurant in the block that was doing a huge business for Cinco de Mayo and I wanted to join the party but Karen didn’t want to leave Riley back in the room. Instead, as soon as we got our room number I called Papa John for a pizza delivery. The room was above average with a nice 40 inch plasma and king bed. I jumped in the shower while Karen and Riley went back to the car for some drinks. I was still in the shower when the pizza arrived. Maybe it was a long shower but they are quick! Thin crust with the works – good pizza with flaky crust.

Friday, May 6

We were back on the road by 6:30am for a twelve hour drive to Milwaukee. The plan was to stay with Ryan for the night then he’d drive us up to Sister Bay on Saturday. But I knew there was no way we could get even a fraction of our “stuff” in his little Toyota. I changed the GPS to Sister Bay and it said 900 miles and sixteen hours. A couple of stops and it would be after midnight but it would be over.

We put the pedal down, took a couple of shortcuts and burned nearly $250 of gasoline but we pulled into Sister Bay just as it was getting dark at 8:30pm (fifteen hours). That’s after taking two wrong roads and getting pulled over by a Virginia Sheriff for seventy in a fifty-five. He was nice and gave me a warning while kindly telling me that he “needed me to be safe”. That’s never happened to us before and we were incredibly thankful to not have received a ticket.

I returned the rental car to Green Bay on Saturday and Ryan drove up to meet me and spend the weekend with us in Sister Bay. We’re happy to be back. It’s nice to have a king bed, soft water, long showers, washer, dryer, dishwasher, desk and car but we look forward to returning this fall when we expect to be in the Bahamas before Christmas.

[Show as slideshow]

Wrightsville Beach

Wrightsville Beach Anchorage

Masonboro Inlet Sunrise as heading out to Atlantic

Adams Creek toward Neuse River

Saturday, April 30

Docked at Deep Point Marina on the Cape Fear River

This morning we got up late and after having coffee, we walked into town. We walked a few side streets which were all pretty boring then got coffee and cranberry muffins at Port City Java. The muffins and coffee were top quality and they had a dog water bowl at the table.

After our snack we headed down to the waterfront and took a few photos. Southport is okay but it just doesn’t live up to it’s billing in my eyes. There have been several movies made here and Oprah Winfry has done two movies here for a channel I’ve never watched. But when I compare it to little port villages in Wisconsin or Michigan I find it’s sadly lacking in shops, restaurants and architecture. It’s probably the worst village I’ve been in for walk-ability. There are no sidewalks to speak of and the roads are narrow. Despite these short-comings the people are nice. Rob and Jesse are the dock masters and Rob offered us his vehicle for any errands or dinner tonight. Since it’s my birthday we’re going to take him up on his generous offer go out to eat this evening.

[Note: The route shown on google maps is our walk through town]

Friday, April 29

We departed Osprey Marina about 8:45am heading to Calabash Creek in Myrtle Beach. We thought we’d have a short day and arrive there a little after noon but I could not get into Calabash Creek. Every time I tried to leave the ICW we’d run aground even though the chart shows much deeper water. I couldn’t get close to the edge of the ICW all along the creek entrance.

The tide charts were showing us .66 feet above MLW (Mean Low Water) but I couldn’t feel my way in. We wasted a good hour making attempts before giving up and heading toward Southport. Now is was 1:30pm and SouthPort is 30 NM away with no places to anchor along the way. We called Southport Marina where we stayed before and they didn’t have any dock space available. I called Deep Point Marina and talked to Rob who said they had plenty of space but he leaves at 6pm. Rob gave me his cell number and offered to meet us here when we arrived. I appreciated the offer but was sure we could get in okay. He told some of the live-aboards we’d be coming in around 7pm.

Talisman had full genoa and we ran the engine a constant 2800 RPM. THe currents weren’t as bad as expected and we averaged 6 knots and made it here by 6:30pm. Shortly after we entered the marina I saw three men waving real big on “C” dock. They helped us in and told us all about Southport and the marina.

Deep Point is really nice marina and only cost $1.14/foot with BoatUS discount. That puts it into the bottom in cost but it ranks one of the highest in amenities. It has well-protected docks, a pool, the internet is blindingly fast and it’s scenic. The downside is it’s a long two mile walk to town.

For dinner we made chicken rancheros and refried beans then watched a streaming movie on Netflix.

[Show as slideshow]

Cape Fear Lighthouse

Village of Southport

Royal Governor Mansion

Southport Pier at low Tide

Southport Pier

Southport Beachcombers

Looking down Bay Street

Thursday, April 28

On dock at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach

We departed Georgetown a little before 11am heading north on the Waccamaw River to Myrtle Beach. Our destination is Osprey Marina that’s tucked into the woods a few miles south of the city area of Myrtle Beach. It’s very windy with the wind blowing out of the southeast at 25 knots. We hoisted a reefed genoa but kept the engine running for safely changing directions quickly but you couldn’t even hear it above the wind and water. Another sailboat from Oslo, Norway joined us as we departed.

It’s very quiet and protected here on floating docks. The perfect marina, plus it’s cheap at only $1/foot (compared to Key West at $3/foot). They gave us a nice welcome basket which included Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Crackers. One unique aspect is there are large turtles everywhere. We always have two or three around the boat. There’s probably alligators too but I haven’t seem them yet.

An hour after we arrived and got settled in I noticed the sailboat from Norway pulling into the marina. A young man and woman got off the boat and the guy yells (with a Norwegian accent) over that I was a faster sailor and he couldn’t catch me. I replied I was a faster “motor-er” as I kept my engine on to supplement the winding river. I yelled for him to come over and have a beer with us.

Lief (pronounced Life) was about thirty with interesting stories. He and his wife had a French-built  Jeanneau 32 sailboat (owned by Beneteau which is a boat we used to own). They left Norway, visited Spain then crossed to Trinidad and Tobago, through the Panama Canal, around in the Pacific then back through and up to Cuba. He and his wife split somewhere along the way and now they’re going to share the boat. Lief’s taking the boat up to Nova Scotia where she’ll sail back through Greenland and Iceland on the way to Oslo and he’ll fly back. I’ve always heard stories about sailing break-ups but it’s still surprising how many marriages split up on a boat. I’m sure there’s been many times where Karen would’ve taken the next flight back to Wisconsin. I remember hearing one story of an Atlantic crossing where the spouse bailed as soon as they hit the Azore’s – a small chain of islands half way to Europe. If you think your marriage is different, try living in a closet together for months – you’ll discover a lot of things that you can no longer ignore.

We got ready to make dinner and thought we we’re having ground beef tacos but we couldn’t find the ground beef! Other meat was frozen so we opted for bean burritos and watched the movie “The Way Back” – a provokingly Peter Weir film about Polish prisoners escaping a Siberian prison.

Today there’s tornado warnings out for inland counties from us and a line of strong thunderstorms headed our way. The same system killed 200 people in southern states yesterday. We’re protected in the middle of a forest down low but if a tornado is in our area we’re heading for the cooler in the restaurant on shore. Usually they tend to die down as they approach shore but we’ll keep a vigilant watch.

Now it’s sunny and hot with no signs of rain. We’ve been out throwing the frisbee with Riley and he’s exhausted from chasing it almost endlessly.

Tuesday, April 26

On dock at Boat Shed Marina in Georgetown

We’re further northeast and the sun rises at 6am instead of 7:30am down in Marathon which is throwing off my clock. I looked over Karen and she had the the sheets pulled over her head to shut out the light but I find that stifling and instead got up and made coffee. We weighed anchor and departed Dewees Creek about 7am.

The ICW was calm and Karen took the helm while I updated our journal. I took over the helm after lunch. When you’re out on open water you only need to look around about once every fifteen minutes. There’s just nothing there but dolphins. I’m not used to the close quarters of the ICW now so I’m sailing along fiddling with something when I look up and see Talisman headed right for a red marker. These are I-Beams driven into the ground and you really don’t want to hit one. The marker was on the leeward side and I was afraid a leeward slip would send me into it. I did a quick glance at the chart and saw there was 8 foot of water in the Santee River so I tried to to pass the marker on the outside when we ran aground going about 7mph. Talisman stopped abruptly and leaned on it’s leeward side resting on the keel with the marker about 10 foot to windward. I ran the throttle hard but couldn’t get off. Well, at least the marker was to windward and we were on a rising tide although high tide was four hours away.

I radioed passing powerboats to create some wake for me to try and bounce off but that didn’t work either and probably caused us to dig in a little deeper. Both sails were out and sheeted in tightly to try and heel Talisman over to reduce her depth but nothing was working. I climbed way out on the boom and swung up and down to try and bounce us off but we didn’t budge. After an hour of sitting the water was up another foot and I tried again and this time we slowly came off. It was plenty deep in the Santee River and ICW but apparently the silt settled out of the water around the marker creating about a ten foot radius mound. We got off just in time because thirty minutes later it started thunderstorming.

We arrived at the Boat Shed in Georgetown, South Carolina about 3:30pm. It’s hard to dock here because the current and winds are strong. Sometimes I wish dock hands would just stand back. The young kid (he looked about fourteen) pulled hard on the bow line to try and stop us. The current caught the skeg and the starboard side of the bow slammed into the dock before the stern could be pulled in. There was a shiny spot on the hull but I couldn’t find any nicks. At many docks the protectant rubber has lag bolts or nails that protrude which would gouge out gelcoat on the hull. Fortunately these were well maintained.

While we were still motoring during the afternoon in the Atlantic and I was at the helm there was a loud rat-a-tat-tat sound coming from around the prop. It lasted a good five seconds then quit. I immediately slowed down the engine and put the transmission in neutral. I moved everything in the stern so I could see the prop shaft and had Karen put it in forward while looking at the shaft. It started to turn then quit (or maybe she didn’t have it all the way in gear) and I told her to put it in neutral. I went back out and put it in reverse and confirmed the prop was turning. I put it in forward and slowly added power. It seemed to be okay and there was no abnormal vibration.

I thought the prop should be checked and at least confirm the zinc was still there before plugging in at the marina. Karen asked for a recommended diver from the marina and was given one name – “Ted”. Karen called Ted and he said he’d be over around five pm. When he came I asked what it would cost to check the prop and zinc. He said a $100! I showed my surprise and said Mike Nicholson in Marathon replaced the zinc for $15 and cleaned the bottom of the boat for $40. Then Ted replied that they must have a lot of competition in Marathon. He also said the power boat that just came in wanted him to check something out and he was only going to charge him $35 (and that was a fifty foot powerboat). We asked where’s the justice in that. So he lowered the price to $75 and we agreed since obviously he was the only game in town. His expenses were low compared to Mike too because while Mike had a bunch of equipment, Ted had a little Campbell-Hausfield compressor and air hose made up from water supply hose.

Ted couldn’t find anything wrong with the prop but the MaxProp zinc was worn away around the screw holes – a common problem. Thankfully we had bought an extra one from Mike and had Ted put it on. (He had to borrow my allen wrenches.) When finished Karen still complained that the power boater should share the cost of Ted coming down and yelled over to him that he owed us $20. That caused Ted to give us back $10 so the final cost was $65 which was reasonable.

We were planning on going out to one of Georgetown’s fine restaurants to celebrate our 36th anniversary. To our dismay it had been raining all afternoon and showed no signs of abatement. We opted to eat on the boat since we still had a refrigerator full of food. For dinner I broiled chicken breasts and made a mango-habanero salsa with tomatoes and rice. It was great but the habaneros were extremely hot. I always throw out the seeds and insides then cook them with the onion. After sautéing I throw away the  habanero but this sauce was still haunted by those hot little peppers.

[Show as slideshow]

Typical tree along Waccamaw

Threatening clouds on Waccamaw Shoreline

Chartbook says this is an abandomed rice field

Would you go on this tour?

Mr. Turtle

Talisman at Osprey Dock

Riley playing in the Osprey park

Osprey Marina and Grille

[Note: Post includes several days starting at bottom.]

Sunday, April 24

We woke up about 7:30am and started preparing the boat to head offshore. I lashed down the dinghy to the forepeak and installed the jacklines (these are safety lines running along each side of the boat to attach a tether). Karen took Riley for a walk and we got away easily from dock about 8:30am. After leaving the St. Mary’s channel at R10, we set our autopilot to the Charleston Inlet about 165 miles northeast taking us about 35 miles offshore. (Actually we wanted to go straight to Georgetown but the winds weren’t strong enough.)

The winds were forecast for 10-15 knots out of the southeast but the most we were getting was five knots out of the east-northeast which I’d assume was a local shore breeze. We motored with the mainsail at five knots all day. The rolling swells subsided by in the afternoon when we were about twenty miles from shore and the winds picked up to ten knots out of the southeast.

We were able to shut down the engine by late afternoon and sail all night until the winds died again about 4am. I was queazy most of the night and felt best when I lied down. Karen felt fine so she took more watch time. The seas were nearly flat and wind calm by 6am and we dropped the flogging sail and motored the remaining thirty miles into Charleston.

I didn’t eat dinner and was famished by morning. Karen made a fantastic omelette with peppers, onions, tomato, ham and cheese. We pulled into Charleston Harbor a little before noon with a strong flooding current to give us a boost up the river. Our destination was Maritime Marina which is on the east side up Cooper River. On the way down we stayed on the other side of town at City Marina but we wanted to try a different (and cheaper) marina. Karen had called ahead on the cell phone and talked to Jeff Davis the dock master who said they had a slip they could fit us into off the fuel dock. Karen asked if it was a dock or regular slip and he assured her it was a safe slip.

I headed into the marina and made it to the fuel dock where we took on eight gallons of diesel. The dock hand said my “slip” was broadside to the current and fuel dock. I said, “are you kidding?” as I knew the strong current against the keel would slam us into the dock. He said we’d just walk it around. I took the bow because I didn’t want him controlling Talisman and we headed that way. As soon as the current caught the keel I wrapped the long bow line around the first cleat I could find. He could barely get the stern line wrapped around another cleat and we ended up safe but tied at a forty-five degree angle to the perpendicular docks. I knew there was no way we could move a deep draft fin-keeled sailboat against a strong knot current as it took five men at Swansboro last fall to pull in just the stern of a sailboat.

I was furious because we came all the way into the Cooper River for a slip and I ended up with a dangerous situation. I looked around and saw several slips available and found out they were just trying to maximize their income by putting our smaller boat on the perpendicular dock and save the slips for larger craft (cost is by the foot). If another boat came in for fuel on the stronger ebbing current and couldn’t get their boat stopped they would broadside Talisman. As tired as we were and the long way up the channel to get here there was no way I was staying there.

We waited another hour for the current to subside and was able to get Talisman back parallel to the current. We hopped in and headed back down Cooper River. As much as we like Charleston, I really didn’t want to head back down the Cooper then up the Ashley River to City Marina so we headed north about fifteen miles to the anchorage in Dewees Creek.

This was an anchorage we’d stayed in for two days on the way down. It’s secluded near Eagle Island and the currents are very light due to the numerous tributaries. There wasn’t a sound except pelicans and dolphins near the boat (and an occasional bark from Riley).

For dinner I made sautéed boneless pork chops in a fresh tomato marinara sauce smothered with Romano cheese and Karen made a salad of several fresh greens. It had been a long night and two days but we covered nearly 200 statute miles and slept like babies.

Saturday, April 23

At Fernandina Marina Dock

We woke up at 5:45am with fishing boats heading out of the marina. It was a short night and I fought the desire to turn over and go back to sleep. I nudged Karen and she tried to argue it wasn’t morning but I prevailed with a finger toward the eastern skies lighting up.

We were away a little before 7am up the ICW. It got a little buggy around Palm Valley. I’ve noticed there’s more problems with bugs now than back in December and we have to keep screens up in the companionway. North of Palm Valley a dolphin befriended us and sailed along with us for almost an hour. He was so close you could reach over the side of the cockpit and touch him. This drove Riley crazy with rapid tail wagging and excitement barking. The dolphin would come up about every thirty seconds like clockwork and sometimes it would switch sides just to tease Riley.

We tried to get a mooring in Fernandina Beach but there were none available so we settled for a dock since we’re just staying the one night. The inside dock is a little difficult to get into. The dock hand recommended I go bow north (straight in) because that would be easier. (They always want you to do the easy thing on their shift.) There’s very little room to turn 180 degrees and the current runs strong here. I didn’t want to have to deal with this in the morning so I told him I’d make the turn before docking.

After fueling we drifted in the harbor while we got the dinghy raised and stowed on the forepeak. I got as far as I could away from the dock going with the current then rammed the throttle with the wheel turned to the port stop so I could get some prop thrust against the rudder to assist the turn. In our attention to other details we neglected to tether Riley to the cockpit and he had sneaked up to the bow with Karen. Just as I began my thrust turn, he fell overboard. I heard someone from the dock scream and then Karen shouts that Riley’s in the water. I couldn’t see him but I knew if I aborted the turn we’d crash into another boat on the dock. I threw it into reverse with a blast of wash to further kick the rudder just as Riley swam as fast as his little paws would go around the bow and over toward the dock. The dock hand reached down and pulled him out by the head and neck just before the boat came against the dock. It was a good example of how a situation cascades into Murphy’s Law but we all arrived unscathed although Riley was a bit shaken and had blue bottom paint all over his back. After he got on dock he ran around like it was all a game. But the joke was on him when Karen brought out the dog shampoo and gave him a cold shower in public (he finds it a bit humiliating).

For dinner we left Riley and went to Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant and ate out back in the garden. We were in the corner by the old Volkswagen Beetle (circa 1967) and Pablo came by to chat with us. Karen had chicken mole and I had pork chili verde. Great place to eat!

Friday, April 22

At Comachee Cove Marina

I looked at weather charts and I decided we really needed to get up to Fernandina by Saturday so we decided to head over to Comachee Cove. We’d be on the other side of the Bridge of Lyons which has restricted hours and Comachee Cove provides a courtesy car I could use to load up on groceries at Publix.

Karen cleaned the boat while I roasted two pounds of coffee after which I headed off to Publix. After I returned somebody yelled across the marina – “Hey, Wisconsin!”. I looked and it was Evergreen, a Pacific Seacraft 40, whom we hadn’t seen since December. We talked for a bit and made plans to eat at the local Kingfish Grille around 7pm.

Karen and I had the Fish & Chips which is ample portions of Mahi-Mahi lightly coated and fried and served with French Fries and Cole Slaw. It’s really too much to eat but delicious. We ended up talking until closing at 11pm. They’re a great couple from Annapolis area but we also have some Indiana and Wisconsin in common.

Thursday, April 21

At St. Augustine Municipal Dock

We arrived in downtown St. Augustine about 5pm after fighting currents nearly all the way from Daytona. This is a nice dock and a nice facility. The dock hands were great and I thought we’d stay here for a couple of days. We cleaned up and went out for a walk and dinner at Pizzalley. This place has some of the best pizza we’ve eaten anywhere (including Brooklyn). They have a large outdoor deck tucked away off St. George Street and dogs are welcome. We had a 16 inch pizza with prosciutto, pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, red and green peppers and onion. Ummm! There was plenty and I rewarded a patient Riley with a few bites under the table.

Wednesday, April 20

At anchor in Daytona

We left Titusville mid-morning and headed to Haulover Canal. There was a catamaran about a mile or so behind us all the way. He had two engines and I knew he could effortlessly catch up to us but for some weird reason he kept hanging back. I recognized from the day before because it was painted in Miami Dolphins teal and orange (ugly). When I called into the bridge for an opening she said to wait for the catamaran. Karen pleaded our case to open for us because he had made no effort to catch up despite my slowing down and it’s difficult to hold position in the narrow canal. She declined and sure enough I ran aground in the canal waiting for the loser. We were able to get off about the time the jerk went around us waving and smiling. You think cruisers are in a different frame of mind on the return trip? I’ve also noticed there are fewer wives on board. Coincidence?

We continued on to Daytona where we planned to anchor near R40. The northern end of the anchorage was far less crowded and it looked like I could easily get into the anchorage here on the chart. But we ran hard aground with the wind blowing us on harder. I simply couldn’t get Talisman out of the mud. I raised the mainsail  to try and heel us over but that didn’t work. A local guy in a runabout stopped by and asked if we needed a hand. Of course and I threw him a line. Even with him pulling Talisman stayed put and his boat couldn’t even head straight with the strain from Talisman. I put it full throttle in reverse and we finally broke free. I had my head turned around to watch him just as the strong wind caught our mainsail and gybed the main hitting Karen in the shoulder who was standing on the top of the combing. Fortunately it didn’t hit her on the head but she had a bad bruise on her shoulder and it knocked her nice prescription sunglasses into Davy Jones’ Locker.

We headed back to R44 and went in there. The charted depth shows 14 feet but we only had 7 feet at high tide. For dinner we grilled steaks with a fresh salad.

Tuesday, April 19

At dock in Titusville Marina

The Kennedy Space Center Bridge is closed between 3:00pm and 5:30pm to allow everybody from the space center to get across the Indian River from Cape Canaveral. There were about fifteen sailboats lined up by the time we arrived at 5:15pm and everybody was getting testy. One guy in a sailboat yelled at me to get back but I was sailing and he was running an engine so I kindly asked him to move and give me some space which he did. We sailed a large circle with the main sail for another fifteen minutes then went to the rear of the line and started the engine.

Most of the sailboats went to anchor on the leeward side of the causeway but a couple of us headed on to Titusville. We were going to anchor at Titusville but there were already too many boats in the anchorage so we got a dock at the marina. It’s a nice marina and reasonably priced and we were glad we came in.

For dinner we made ground beef enchiladas. The next morning we walked to Sunrise Bakery and bought some jumbo (and I mean huge) freshly baked carrot bran muffins. We ended up just splitting one and saved the other for tomorrow.

As we got ready to back out of our slip somebody on the dock yelled there was a Manatee behind us. I looked back and there was the Manatee lying on it’s back with it’s ugly face catching the exhaust water from Talisman like a shower. I waited a couple of minutes then ran down to get the camera but when I returned, he was gone.

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Sand spit along Indian River north of Vero Beach

Sailing the Indian River

Leaving Dwees Creek Anchorage

ICW north of Hamlin Sound near Charlotte

Monday, April 18 on mooring at Vero Beach

If you were left “hanging” we’re happy Riley is back to normal. Yesterday he got another unscheduled bath. Yesterday we went to the dog park to throw the frisbee. The dog park has a shoreline along the water near the marina and he totally ignored our commands to stop and jumped into the water with the frisbee. I was yelling the whole time and finally decided to come out but left the frisbee in the water. I didn’t want to lose the frisbee and I sure wasn’t going in after it. So, then I had to tell him to go get the frisbee. He eagerly jumped back in the water and swam around for awhile before snatching it and reluctantly returning to shore. It scares me because there’s numerous mangrove trees and I know alligators are in the Indian River. Riley is well behaved until it comes to swimming. He’ll compunctiously dive in to any kind of water at anytime. When Riley was only a few months old he jumped in the ice water with floes still in the bay at home.

Sunday morning we talked about going to the Lemon Tree for breakfast but decided to stay on the boat and make omelets. A good thing because when we walked to the beach side later in the day the Lemon Tree was closed!  There was no reason why but I remember it being super busy on Sundays for breakfast.

When walking back there was a wife up on the roof of an RV cleaning while the husband sat in a lawn chair and supervised. There’s not much to take photos of in Vero Beach other than Riley or humans doing funny things.

We’re planning to leave on Tuesday for an anchorage in Cocca, a night at Rockhouse Point anchorage then into St. Augustine where we’ll stay a couple of nights at the city marina.

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Riverfront Park near Marina

Vero Beach Beach

Hey, I do the driving

Enforced by RADAR

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Saturday, April 16, 17:30EDT
We’re in the ICW just a couple of miles south of Vero Beach! We’ve just come over 250 miles from Marathon in 32 hours. The same trip southbound took us ten days in the ICW. Since it was so rolly with winds directly astern we talked about going in the ICW at Lake Worth but determined there was fourteen bridges that would require us to wait for an opening. Needless to say we’d never have made it this far. We only had one bridge after coming in Ft. Pierce and that was by request only delaying us five minutes.

Saturday, April 16, 11:00EDT
Near Jupiter Inlet

We’ve been gone 25 hours and traveled about 170nm. It was a little rough in the Gulf Stream but by the time we got to Miami we were consistently getting a 2 knot push. Near Lake Worth (Palm Beach) we were getting a 4 knot push.

It was pretty rough and I got a little queazy taking my shower in the evening. Karen has never had the butterflies so she made dinner. I stayed out in the cockpit and she served which was quite nice. She made a Tex-Mex stew (hamburger, corn, onion, tomato and peppers). I had told her I didn’t feel like eating much of anything but she ignored my comment and handed me a large bowl. I could only think what this is going to feel like coming back up but much to my surprise I felt better after eating. I took the first watch while Karen slept. There’s not much to do on watch except to look out for a few container ships around Miami.

We rotated every couple of hours so we both got about six hours sleep although I wake up for every little noise.

Still no “movement” on Riley but he’s not vomiting and he still wants to eat everything we eat. We haven’t given him anything but a little dog food soaked in chicken bouillon, that he reluctantly ate. (I did sneak him a little of my banana whole bran muffin this morning – purely for medicinal reasons.)

Our plan now is to head straight for the Fort Pierce inlet then up the ICW fifteen miles to Vero Beach if we can make it by dark. We’ll stay there for a few days as there’s some good restaurants on the beach A1A and a dog park that joins the city marina where Riley can run like crazy.

Friday, April 15, 16:00EDT
Southeast of Alligator Reef
We left Boot Key Harbor around 10am. Winds are southeasterly at 10-12 knots and our boat speed is around 6 knots on a broad reach. It’s very comfortable with waves at 3 feet.

Yesterday Riley never pooped! He’s never been constipated but you never know what dogs ingest when you’re not looking. This morning he still wouldn’t go. I was afraid he had an obstruction or poodles sometimes get twisted stomachs. But he doesn’t seem to be in any pain and he still has an appetite although we’re not feeding him much. Mostly apple juice and water. This morning he still hadn’t gone but I decided to leave anyway. If he does get sick it will be difficult to get back in and find a vet as we’re heading away from shore until later tomorrow.