Florida: May 2020

The Florida leg of our trek north began May 2, in Sebastian, FL, with stops at Satellite Beach, Titusville, New Smyrna Beach, and Jacksonville. Florida leg of our trek north Interactive map  After completing our great loop cruise in February when we crossed our wake in Vero Beach, we took a breather for a while with plans to re-group and re-provision for a long trip to the Bahamas beginning in April. Like just about every other plan made for 2020, our plan hit the dumpster with the Coronavirus pandemic. We spent a month at the Sebastian Inlet Marina and Boatyard getting our generator overhauled, replacing our anchor windlass, and doing major heavy-duty provisioning for two months in the Exumas. But during that time the Coronavirus storm clouds were brewing on the horizon. On March 18, we left Sebastian with the plan of heading south to Boca Raton and waiting there for a weather window to cross to Lucaya and then south through the Berrys and Nassau and finally the Exumas. We got as far as Peck’s Lake in Stuart. There we heard a US State department advisory against US citizens traveling abroad, and a day or so later a notice from the Bahamas that they were closing the border to new arrivals. We stayed at Peck's Lake for three nights mulling over what to do. Leaving the Sebastian River Marina at sunrise to spend 2 months in Bahamas Dinghy landing at Pecks Lake Sunrise at Pecks Lake Miles of deserted beach at Pecks Lake Bella collecting sand to deposit in the boat 🤣 BellaGatto at anchor at Pecks Lake We returned to Sebastian with our tails between our legs to make a new plan…we would head up north for Cape Cod or Maine for the summer and return to Florida in November and take another stab at the Bahamas in early 2021. While hunkered down in Sabastian self-isolating, we did some projects on the boat, most notably getting all new interior cushions made to replace our heavily worn 20-year-old upholstery. When we finally started our way north, our first stop was at the free dock at Samson's Island in Satellite Beach to meet up with our friends Bob and Nancy for some  a  buddy boating visit. After two nights we moved to our friend Jenn's dock just across the Grand Canal to visit and wait for our new cushions. On our way to the Canvas shop at the Eau Gallie Yacht Basin, we developed an odd problem. After running for a couple of hours, the starboard engine would not throttle up in gear from idle (although it would throttle up just fine in neutral). It seemed like a transmission problem, and after adding some fluid everything was OK, and I thought we were good to go. Sunrise view from the stern at Sebastian River Marina    Buddy boating with the Primacea at Samson's Island View from the starboard port at sunrise Getting ready to say goodbye to our friends Our new home for a few days at our friend's dock in Satellite Beach We had a 'bird's eye view' of this screech owl's nest right from our pilot house We love the updated look and comfort of these new cushions! With our beautiful and comfortable new cushions, we began the long trip north, with our first stop an anchorage near Titusville, where we discovered our transmission issue was still with us. We decided to keep on moving north while we tried to figure it all out. The next night we stopped at one of our favorite anchorages, Rockhouse Creek at New Smyrna Beach. Making some calls from there, we arranged with a mobile mechanic service to meet us at our next stop, Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach. There the mechanic diagnosed the problem as an internal fault in the transmission, and we ordered a brand-new transmission from ZF. While waiting for the new transmission to come in, we went up to Marineland Marina, south of St. Augustine. This marina has very reasonable transient rates and a great location right on the beach and right next to a nature preserve. Heaven on Earth for Bella. We spent a week and a half there enjoying the area. When our new transmission arrived, the transplant went very smoothly, and we were once again ready to go! Enroute to Titusville anchorage we passed right by the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA  We have to get to cooler weather! Note the time! This NASA RR bridge has not been used for years and is a great dog walking spot Sunrise at the RR bridge anchorage The full moon setting at Titusville anchorage  Bella on dolphin alert at the Haulover canal on the way to New Smyrna Beach (NSB) Social distancing visit with cousin Sue and David at NSB Enroute Rockhouse Creek anchorage Sunset at Disappearing Island, Rockhouse Creek Rising full moon at Rockhouse Creek anchorage Sand flat at low tide overlooking the Ponce Inlet lighthouse Morning walk at Disappearing Island at Rockhouse Creek Bella Says... Entering Daytona Beach area on the ICW Bella is not quite sure https://www.browniethetowndog.org/ Downtown Daytona on Friday afternoon during 'Safer at home." Halifax Harbor Marina, Daytona Marineland Beach at sunrise Marineland Marina at sunset Marineland Beach at low tide Marineland Beach at sunrise Social distancing Gold Looper meet up in St. Augustine Marineland Beach coquina outcropping at low tide Marineland Beach Leaving Marineland $5000 poorer but certain we had licked the problem, we cheerfully started out again and 25 miles later, when we had to slow down and come out of gear for a bridge, THE SAME DAMN THING HAPPENED AGAIN! Replacing the transmission at great expense had done nothing to fix the problem. We spent the rest of the day on the phone with the mechanic trying this and that, but it became pretty obvious he was grasping at straws and was stumped. Shit. Since the problem occurs only after a long run and goes away when the engine cools down again, we decided to keep going north until we get to Zimmerman’s Yard in Charleston. They specialize in diagnosing and fixing tough problems and have a no fix no pay policy. In the meantime, I’ll have to get good at docking with minimal help from the starboard engine. Our final stop in Florida that evening was at Sisters Creek near Jacksonville. This is nice floating FREE dock at a big park right near where the Intracoastal crosses the St. John’s River. We arrived right at slack tide, making my gimpy-engine docking a lot easier. We treated ourselves to the filet mignon steaks we had been saving with cocktails and a bottle of wine to cheer us up after our disappointing day. Tomorrow, Georgia and our old favorite, Cumberland Island! ReplyForward