Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
Our fourth Island-hopping "day sailing". (Ugh. Again. Not actually sailing, the wind was almost on the nose, so it was a 5-hour motor.)
We're moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor. It's between Boot Key and Vaca …
We're still anchored at 24°51.762′N 080°44.516′W, not far from Lower Matecumbe Key. There's a little sandbar for a little sandbar party. But It's Monday, so not much party action.
We spent two days waiting for weather. We did mostly nothing.
Our third day of "day sailing" to go island hopping. (Again, not actually sailing, the wind was on the nose, so it was a 5-hour motor.)
We're anchored at 24°51.762′N 080°44.516′W, not far from Lower Matecumbe Key. There's …
Some weather this afternoon. A waterspout. Thankfully, it stayed far away from us.
We're anchored at 25°03.500′N 080°26.734′W, not far from Rodriguez Key.
Some more pictures of the weather
We sailed into one, years ago. They're scary. But …
Another fun bit of "day sailing". (Not actually sailing, the wind was on the nose, so it was a 4-hour motor.)
We're anchored at 25°03.500′N 080°26.734′W, not far from Rodriguez Key. And the sandbar party.
Yesterday, I had a fit …
This "day sailing" is fun. Instead if a bruising 20-hour overnight passage, we did a leisurely five and one-half hours down Biscayne Bay and into Cove Sound.
We're anchored at 25°19.860′N 080°17.736′W, not far from Pumpkin Key.
Tomorrow we expect it could …
We had two days of stinky weather. It was blowing 20kt or so, gusting higher. We didn't want to mess with the dinghy, so we played quietly while we waited.
We discovered more rat damage to the front hatch screen. And rat scat on deck.
We didn't observe …
That wasn't so bad. While we plan for a lot of things to go wrong, we try to make sure nothing happens. And in this case, almost nothing happened. Almost. It's about 100 miles. At 6 knots, that's just 16 hours. That means we can't really leave until 15:00 …
Checking the weather. Again.
This is from Zone AMZ650, Jupiter Inlet to Ocean Reef FL. It starts a little south of here. As long as we stay close to shore, it shouldn't be too bad.
- Monday:
- North northwest winds around 10 knots becoming northeast in the afternoon. Seas 2 to …
Rats! In the Bilge!
Ugh.
Small hints:
We found rat scat in the cockpit. Not much. A few little turdlets.
We found very little rat scat inside the boat.
Except in the shopping bag where we had the bread. We left it on the floor in the V-berth …
Here's the interim solution for a propane canister on the dinghy.
If we had a hard floor of some kind, we wouldn't need to be so careful. But with an inflatable floor, we need to keep sharp (or potentially sharp) metal objects away from the dinghy.
Like This:
Here's Ozzy roosting on the mizzen mast.
With a dead fish.
Ozzy needs to announce their presence -- with a fish -- on a perch. We have no idea why.
"You've got a nice fish," we say. "Why call attention to it? Do you want to start a fight …
Today was the day.
We don't have a car. So, this was complicated. CA prepared a minute-by-minute plan.
09:00 Stage the old stuff on the dock
10:00 Call for an Uber ride to a U-Haul place in Stuart …
Having a wonderfully low-key time in Stuart.
CA inspected the hose clamps. Which means lifting each cabin-sole board and reaching down with a tool to see if they can be tightened even a little. Any rusty ones are my problem to replace.
The USCG rules for fire extinguishers have changed …
Nothing much going on here. Still.
CA washed down the toe-rail with ammonia. It's a once-a-year job to keep the teak clean.
The idea here is to keep the teak clean so it can "silver" naturally. There used to be Cetol finish on the rail. It …
Nothing much going on here.
I've cleaned out the pile of Tohatsu/Nissan spares.
We remain docked at the Harborage marina in Stuart. 27°12.702′N 080°15.451′W. Slip J-38.
We placed an order about a week ago for a motor and …
It's crowded. And noisy. But. Secure and we can walk ashore. It's not what we had hoped for, but it's really helpful.
Docked at the Harborage marina in Stuart. 27°12.702′N 080°15.451′W. Slip J-38.
Ready for food and showers.
Then, tomorrow …
Check this out.
This barge came out to inspect and refurbish the moorings.
On a nice day with flat seas? Looks like it might be a fun outdoorsy job.
Today? With 2'-3' waves?
What a nightmare for this crew. They pointed out that we had …
We had a pile of problems today. Problems stack up from small to large. A kind of inverted pyramid of trouble. This left us feeling discouraged.
Today's problem #1: it's rough. The Jensen Beach mooring field is exposed to the East and South …
It's rough on the mooring ball. Breeze is in the teens, and gusting into the mid 20's.
The sea state starts to change at 17kt, what they call Force 5 on the Beaufort Scale. The key indicator? "Numerous Whitecaps".
In open water, this can mean …