Moved off the boat tonight to be prepared for some painting tomorrow.  A few places need to be filled where plumbing was rerouted and there is some minor flaking that needs to be fixed.  There is hot and cold running water to the galley sink now that will take some time to get used to.  Life in the boatyard is something that has to be seen to appreciate.  People work on their boats at all hours and you may have to wait for someone in the shower at 5am and 11pm.  One big family.

[singlepic id=80 w=320 h=240 float=left]Thank you Jim for the ride back to Oriental.  It took about a week to pick up the truck and car and empty the storage unit.  One trailer load went to South Carolina and the rest is here in Green Cove Springs.  Every time it is moved the size gets a little smaller.  Check out this link to a portable homeless shelter.

The boat is blocked up safely up the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs Marina.  There are many boats on the hard and this is one busy place.  Liveaboards from all over North America with a real communal feel sharing common goals.  It is good to follow daily tasks with plenty of rest.

[singlepic id=60 w=320 h=240 float=left]Didn’t leave St. Augustine until 9:30am but did 53 miles and arrived just before dark.  The customs boat was the first to greet us.  Two men offered to catch our lines.  The younger one pulled the bow in and cleated it with us still moving so there is a gouge in the topsides now.  He is the mate on one of the water taxis.  Wow! At 1:30 in the morning a boat wake bounced us against the dock.  A few minutes later there was a loud knocking on deck that turned out to be the Coast Guard.  They were looking for a 22′ cuddy cabin and that maybe a 37′ sailboat could be disguised as one.  Boy was I pissed.  I envisioned them in school being shown a picture with the teacher asking “sailboat or powerboat?”  I know they are just kids and I really liked the crew that boarded me in Charleston.

We have been creamed a couple of times by poorly skippered power boats.  One fairly big yacht went between us and another boat with huge wake trailing behind.  The other victim rolled around as bad as we did and I hope he got the name off the transom.  The erosion caused by these guys is a shame.  After hearing Will Pearsall play last night we resumed progress north and put in a 57 mile day and are now tied up in Jacksonville.

I don’t feel terrific.  Not too bad but enough of a concern that we decided to play it safe.  Marina fees are getting higher as we move south and we would have to pay them if I had to leave the boat for medical reasons.  The only answer was to get to the St. John’s River and that became the target even if it meant turning north.   A big front passed through right as the anchor was coming up.  The temperature plummeted and a driving rain removed the shore from view.  Sure we should have waited but the anchorage doesn’t allow much protection.  One causeway away was a little island and we anchored until things calmed down.   All day was cold and wet only to rock and roll the night away in the unprotected anchorage that Titusville offers.  Now we are just shy of Daytona  and watching a great show put on by a family of dolphins with the young ones jumping clear out of the water.

[singlepic id=81 w=320 h=240 float=left]I know that doesn’t look like a village.  We don’t have a camera that works right now.  The picture is of the new heat exchanger attached to the recently painted exhaust manifold that I installed on the recently painted engine.  The motor started and worked so well that we decided to steam down to Cocoa to see what we could see.  I used to come up here and surf as a kid.  Wow, what a difference.  Sometimes it helps to have a hurricane hit your town because it gives the people in charge a second chance as to how they want their town to look and this one looks great.  The anchorage isn’t the best but everything is available with the exception of laundry and groceries.  Those are big items but maybe they didn’t know we were coming.

[singlepic id=65 w=320 h=240 float=left]They are still around in spite of the cuts caused by boat traffic.  We saw this one right next to us in Titusville.

[singlepic id=32 w=320 h=240 float=]The beach at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has some nice waves.

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[singlepic id=66 w=320 h=240 float=]Marilyn picked up an extra job pointing to the speed hump.  Times are hard here in Titusville.

[singlepic id=82 w=320 h=240 float=]We got a good look at this custom enclosure and it seemed to fit like a glove.  The loft will remain when they redo the building with new offices and bathrooms.

[singlepic id=46 w=320 h=240 float=left]This is a pretty good place to break down.  Westland Marina is one the only DIY yards in the area.  They have two travelifts, a big storage lot and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  There is also a canvas loft here that goes by the name of A-Team Marine.  The bus comes by every hour and goes to grocery stores and Walmart.

[singlepic id=21 w=320 h=240 float=left]Two items that I had worried about before leaving were the heat exchangers and the injector pump.  Last summer the heat exchanger for the transmission had corroded through and now the main engine one has done the same.  Elfin at Complete Marine Services in Savannah sends them off to a company in New York called Lenco that torches off the brackets and builds a new one.  They are half the cost of buying from Westerbeke.[singlepic id=22 w=320 h=240 float=right]

We are in Titusville now after a real trial bringing the boat down from Georgia.  Marilyn started feeling sick before we left and then I got real sick.   By St. Augustine I had to visit the hospital.  Now we are holed up in Titusville waiting on another heat exchanger to be built.  The weather is warmer so that part of it is falling into place.

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[singlepic id=54 w=320 h=240 float=left]Most of these places looked empty and a lot of them had for sale signs posted in the yard.

[singlepic id=15 w=320 h=240 float=left]We made it to Georgetown and hooked up with Kent yesterday.  He had shoved off right after Thanksgiving and has gone way farther than most of us imagined.  Now he is seasoned and appears to be making very good decisions.   A strong front is moving into the area so both boats are going to sit still for a couple of days.  Winds are going into the mid-30’s with record low temps.  There are plenty of pictures to upload but the exterior antenna died and we are looking at shore options for wi-fi.  Stay warm everybody!

Tomorrow might be the day to try this winter cruise idea.  The next two nights will be in the lower 20’s with 20kts of wind but the Neuse River is the only open body of water.  Turning around will be an option for the first few days.

Of course people in cold climates are going to think this is nothing.  Highs in the 40’s and lows around freezing.  Big deal.  But it is having an effect on departure plans.  The batteries couldn’t turn the engine over fast enough to start.  The manual suggests a 4D size battery but that can’t happen right now.  But the boat went back in the water yesterday without incidence and was floating for sure but the surface water was getting all over the newly painted boot stripe.  We are too heavy and still have to fill the fuel tank.  Much stuff just came off and that part of it is solved.  To go or not is still being discussed.