Harmony's Maiden Voyage

We made it!

Harmony — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:08:00 +0200

And what a fabulous welcome. As we made our way up Buzzards Bay we could see tiny little people milling around on the Knob (the promontory that forms the northern side of Quissett Harbor!). As we got closer they got bigger and bigger and we could see they were holding a banner which said "Welcome Home Harmony". Dickie and I were SO excited and happy to be home, and quite emotional too, and the last few hours took forever. It had been an amazing journey and a real adventure, and to return to a place that is such an significant part of our lives was very special.

Jim Corbett and Peter, and the Prings were waving and shouting and I was sounding the air horn as we passed them by and we navigated our last harbor of this trip. We had a minor panic as the GPS had a funny turn just as we enetered the harbor channel, and Quissett is notoriously rocky, but all went OK and we were soon approaching the Quissett Harbor Boat Yard, where we docked perfectly and we were tied up by the time our welcoming committee ran back from the Knob. There were hugs and kisses and champagne, and much jollity all round.

it was hard to believe we made it but we did.

Day 94

Harmony — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:58:00 +0200

Another 5 am start, and blimey do I need a lie in. For most of the day, the weather has been perfect, just as it should be for our last day, blue skies, puffy white clouds and just the right amount of wind; the tides could certainly have helped us make better way, by being with us instead of against us, but you cant have everything.

It has been an uneventful day, apart from we spotted an uncharted navigational aid a long way to our south early this morning. I checked our chart, and dickie checked the GPS but it was nowhere to be seen, still it looked square and solid and was a long way off, so we weren’t too worried. Dickie went below, and I took the wheel and a few minutes later I glanced to starboard: there it was but much closer, and gaining on us; it took a while to realize it was a submarine, with only its turret (not sure of technical term) sticking out of the water. Apparently there is a sub base in Connecticut, where it must have been heading, although we did ponder whether we should call the coast guard in case it was part of a surprise attack. We spotted a lovely old schooner in full sail. Apart from that there has been much deck-swabbing, hatch-battening, and general cleaning up below, in preparation for our arrival and move back on land.

As I type we are in the middle of Buzzards Bay, Penikese Island is on our starboard beam, and Quissett Harbor is just 18 miles ahead, we should arrive at around 5 pm. It boggles my mind that the words and photo pixels of this, the last post can magically emanate from this laptop in the middle of the bay, and update our friends and families around the world of our progress: technology is a marvelous thing. After about 1800 miles we are happy to be so close to home, and I am really happy to have finally caught up with this blog.

Signing off for now

Helen and Dickie

Day 93

Harmony — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:35:00 +0200

We woke at 5am, and passed by lady liberty just as the Queen Mary 2 arrived. She was the first ship we saw Manhattan from when we did a transatlantic crossing back in May 2005, and it was nice of her to return for our passage through New York Harbor. Harmony is certainly a more humble vessel, but we couldn’t have been happier to be aboard her and heading for home. It is hard to say anything original about the splendid NYC skyline but it is all the more impressive from sea level.

We were in Long Island sound by 8 am and travelled another 70 miles or so till sundown when we reached Plum Island almost at the end of Long Island. En route the coast guard came by for a visit but only to check our boat registration. Thankfully they didn’t feel the need to board us, as they had done with several other boats, which we heard over the radio. We dropped anchor at sundown, had hot whiskies to defrost, and prepared for our last day of this trip aboard Harmony, Quissett Harbor, and home sweet home 70 miles north.

Day 91 to 93

Harmony — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:35:00 +0200

We woke at 6am, feeling like death warmed up, hoarse and hungover and not at all ready for another day of bad weather, but bad it was. This time once we left Atlantic City we had to carry on until Sandy Hook, 75 miles north, as there was no good inlets to come into, all of them too shallow or poorly marked. It was cold, freezing even, windy and rough, and it rained from when we left to when we arrived 12 hours later. Dickie was such a star, he kept me cheery inspite of everything, and we did make good time as we had both sails up and it was blowing just the right amount of wind, for most of the day anyway. We were very grateful that the cockpit has a full fixed cover and sides so we are protected from the worst of the weather, although by the end of the day everything was pretty wet anyway. We anchored about 12 miles south of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, that marks the mouth of New York Harbor, had hot showers and grub and crashed out exhausted.

The weather this morning was thankfully lovely, with blue skies and light winds, perfect for crossing NY harbor, we thought. We timed our departure so we would pass a particularly tricky section of the East River called Hells Gate, on the east side of Manhattan Island, at slack tide, as currents can be very strong there. However as we approached the bridge we could see a procession of war ships coming up the channel, and coast guard and NYPD boats were all over the place. I thought it was a bit of overkill to put on such a welcome for us, but eventually we realized that it was Fleet Week, a big event with lots of naval vessels on display. The coast guard announced security restrictions over the radio, so we could not pass under the bridge until they had finished going through which took about 2 hours! This messed up our carefully planned schedule, as we had to bob around below the bridge and watch, but it was quite a show over coffee and breakfast. Once we could continue we went to anchor just around the corner from the statue of liberty. We spent the afternoon catching up on email, and planning the last section of our trip home. Manhattan is amazing, awesome even, especially when approached from the water, it has been quite the day.

Tomorrow we are planning to leave here at 5 am, and head through NYC to Long Island Sound. We will have to anchor a couple of nights along the way, and the last stop before Cape Cod will be Block Island, which is in Rhode Island. From there we should make it to Quissett Harbor by saturday-ish weather permitting, where we will leave Harmony on a mooring and go home and spend long lazy days on the couch, watch TV and have giant hot baths at will. I CAN"T WAIT. Actually we will have to haul Harmony out shortly after we get home and paint her bottom and catch up on a million things, but I am focussing on the couch and tub for now.

Day 89 to 91

Harmony — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:28:00 +0200

We left Cape May, bright and early hoping for calm seas (as forecast) for our first outing on the Atlantic. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and the winds and seas picked up a lot over the morning, which made for a very uncomfortable ride, pitching from side to side for hours. By the time we were offshore of the casinos at Atlantic City (about 30 miles north of Cape May), we had no choice but to head in and tie up at a marina. The ride in was something else: the waves got funneled in and built through the narrow inlet so Harmony was almost surfing the last mile. We were very relieved to reach safe harbor. The following day was Dickie’s birthday so we made the best of it: that night we hit the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, just about broke even after a couple of hours gambling and found an Indian restaurant for dinner.

The next day it was blowing 20 to 30 knots, too much to leave, but it was sunny so we had a great stroll along the boardwalk, breakfasted in a cafe wall-papered with dollar bills and had a lovely birthday lunch of leftovers on the boat; indian seems to taste even better the day after, and hotter too. Later three chaps passed by our boat in their dinghy and stopped for a chat; they were on their way home to Maine and it turned out that we had crossed paths back in Ft Pierce, Florida, the site of our first break down, many moons ago. They were musicians, and so we invited them aboard with their 2 guitars and a bottle of rum, and we had a great sing song until the wee small hours; the casino across the harbor was good enough to put on a light show too. All in all a grand finale to Dickie’s birthday.

Day 85 to 89

Harmony — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:18:00 +0200

We had planned to stop at Annapolis MD next, about 45 miles north of Solomons, but after the weather delays we felt we should make more progress; we are feeling the pull of home more strongly every day. So we left at sunrise, and headed back out to the Chesapeake where conditions couldn’t have been more different than our last sortie: flat calm, glassy smooth water, not a breath of wind, it was quite a relief. The tide was in our favor most of the way up the bay and the wind did pick up enough that we could raise the mainsail later on, so we travelled over 90 miles, our longest day yet. We passed by Annapolis around noon, and under the William P Lane Jr Memorial Bridge, a huge span across the bay. We dropped anchor just before sunset in the mouth of the Bohemia river and retired pretty soon after, knackered.

We were 8 miles south of the C and D Canal, and left before sunrise to catch the outgoing tide on the other side of the canal. We were dwarfed by all manner of cargo boats along the way, and passed under a bunch more bridges, and by several navigational aids in the middle of the Delaware Bay (see photo of lovely pink one), but with no wind at all we had to motor all the way. Dickie created another delicious mid-bay lunch and we arrived at Cape May in New Jersey after another 80 miles or so. There we anchored just of a coast guard training facility and could hear a drill sergeant bellowing at the recruits till late that night. The next day it was gray, cold and forecast for high winds, so we checked into a marina for a day or two to wait for better weather to head up the outside of NJ coast.

Day 78 to 84

Harmony — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:56:00 +0200

We left Deltaville and headed back out onto the CHesapeake by way of a small sandy hump in the harbor channel, but at least it didn’t go crunch like the last time we touched bottom. The forecast called for 10 – 15 knot winds increasing later in the day, and it was gray and chilly unlike the day before. We were headed for Tangiers, a teeny island in the middle of the bay, more of a sand bar really, that had been settled by cornish fishing folk in the 1600s, and was still mostly a crab fishing community. It sounded like an interesting place and we planned to stay a couple of days. However the winds increased and so did the waves and by the afternoon it was pretty lumpy and thunderstorms were now forecast so we decided to head for a protected anchorage on the west shore called Mill Creek. It was flat calm in there and beautiful and we thought we might have given up too soon, but storms did arrive later on and we had lots of rain and lightening and thunder overnight. The next day the forecast was even worse, wind gusting to 30+ knots, and it was gray, wet and cold so we decided to stay put another night hoping for better weather the next day.

The next morning the forecast looked good and called for north winds of 5 – 10 knots, much better, so we left early heading for solomons island, a yachting haven 40 miles on and past the Potomac river which leads to Washington DC. Unfortunately the weather was much worse than predicted, with high winds and confused seas, waves coming from all directions. By the time we reached the potomac it was just plain horrid, poor Harmony would ride up a wave and slam down onto the next one. We got the shit knocked out of us, to quote dickie, and we were SO happy to eventually reach the protected waters of solomons island where we docked at the first marina we came to. After the pounding we got on the bay, It was a bit disconcerting to be swaying to and fro, before we even got to the nearest drinking establishment right next door, called the Tiki Bar; there we met some very interesting locals and had a great night.

The weather went from bad to worse over the next 48 hours, with winds gusting in the 40s, torrential rain and flooding so that the dock we were tied to was under water; still we battened down the hatches and were very happy and warm below decks. We spent 3 nights at the dock, and the last morning an old chap who had heard there was an irishman aboard came by. He was 3 weeks away from setting off for ireland on his own, in a 29 foot sailboat! As he said, "you only have one go around so why not". It made our little endeavor seem rather tame in comparison. He also very kindly gave us the keys to his car when he found out we needed to get our propane tank filled and do some shopping. what a nice chap, we wished him well and headed to anchor in the harbor for one more night, before heading off again, provisioned and ready for the last 100 miles of the chesapeake.

I cant believe I didn’t take a single photo of the bad weather, so you will just have trust me about the above!

Day 77 to 78

Harmony — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:35:00 +0200

We woke up and got ready for the 8am opening of Great Bridge bridge. Thankfully, all was much calmer after the day before and we locked through with 3 motor cruisers and travelled with them the last 12 miles of the ICW to Norfolk VA; there were several bridges which would have to open for us and the bridge tenders like you to stay in a bunch. Norfolk is a major city and shipping hub: there was loads of traffic on the river, navy ships, coastguard cutters, cargo ships, tugs and ferries, along with pleasure craft like us; it was quite something. As we headed towards Chesapeake Bay in the middle of Norfolk we passed red buoy # 36 and the official beginning of the ICW, mile marker 0. That makes 1080 miles aboard Harmony since we begun February 20th.

Chesapeake Bay is huge, about 200 miles long and 50 miles wide in places, and it is very impressive. The weather was perfect, blue skies and calm seas with 10 knot winds. We stopped for a swim and afterwards while I took the helm, dickie prepared the most delicious shrimp for lunch. It was a perfect day on the water. At about 7pm we anchored in Jackson creek for the night about 55 miles up the Bay, looking forward to another few days on the Chesapeake.

Day 72 to 76

Harmony — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:26:00 +0200

We arrived at Morehead City late in the afternoon and found a great spot to dock for $10 a night, right in the middle of town. It belongs to the Sanitary Restaurant, a Morehead City institution, and we ate there that night; it was clean as its name implies, and served great fresh fish and good homestyle cooking. We dined with fellow cruisers from Marathon Key Florida, who were heading north for a summer of cruising the Chesapeake Bay. They have been living aboard their sailboat First Light, for over 20 years, and invited us aboard for a drink after dinner, they were quite an education, full of top tips and wise words. We suffered a little boat envy as it was so spacious and homely. The main reason to stop at Morehead City though was to track down my long lost university housemate Angela, which thanks to google I did. It was great to catch up after 15 years over lunch, and later pizza at her house (being in a house was a novelty too) and we met her sweet son Jack.

We spent 2 nights at the dock, hiked 6 miles to a sprint store to replace dickie’s cell phone that had disintegrated, and left bright and early for a great day of sailing up the Neuse river and Pamlico bay. En route we had a safety drill to make sure we could get our new lifejackets on quick, hopefully they will stay in their current pristine state and will only be used for drills. After 65 miles we anchored in a creek off the Pungo River and had the place to ourselves; we jumped in the water briefly, before dinner and had an early night. Another early departure and a long uneventful day through Alligator river had us at anchor in a sheltered spot called South Lake. It is just south of the Albermarle sound, a wide shallow body of water that is renowned for rough conditions, but we were relieved to find it pretty calm when we crossed it the next day. Later on we stopped at the Coinjock Marina to fuel up and managed to spend a fortune there in just a couple of hours, on charts for the next section of our journey, fuel and oil, food and lunch at the riverside restaurant. We crossed into Virginia and anchored in Blackwater creek in the middle of a marsh for 2 nights as it was so lovely, the frogs at sunset were so loud we could hardly hear each other speak. Along the entire length of the ICW we have noticed that the osprey population is thriving, and it seems that the reason is the abundance of perfect nesting spots on the day markers that line the route. Some stretches of the waterway have nesting pairs on every marker, and so we get a front row seat for their fishing, soaring and screaching.

We got up early the next day, only to found ourselves fog bound, so we had to stay put till it cleared after 10am. Much of the route was a narrow landcut with huge tree stumps and debris on either side, which was fine when we had the canal to ourselves, although it looked rather ominous. Unfortunately while we were waiting for a bridge to open, a tug pushing a huge barge caught up with us, and radioed us to move aside while he passed ahead. CRUNCH went Harmony into a tree log, not the nice soft landing of previous sandy groundings, but a dead stop and we lurched forward, and CRUNCH went Harmony as dickie tried to reverse off the first log. We got back into the channel, once the tug passed on by without a worry, whereas we were worried sick that we had done some damage to the rudder, fortunately all was OK down below. We then caught up with the barge and a bunch of other boats waiting for the next bridge and were relieved to be able to hang back while they all jostled with each other in the narrow basin before the bridge. Another mile or so and another bridge just before a lock, and this time there were 2 barges, a bunch of sailboats and several large motorcruisers all bunched up together; the bridge tender was in a right panic as everyone wanted to get through and then pass through the lock, so we spotted a dock and tied up for the night, till all the chaos subsided.

Day 66 to 71

Harmony — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:16:00 +0200

After the bustle of Charleston we headed for peace and quiet, and what turned out to be one of the nicest spots we dropped anchor in, only in fair weather though as it was quite exposed to the ocean. It was down Price Creek (MM 448) and within a dinghy ride of two deserted beaches on either side of an inlet, we swam from the boat as soon as we were settled, and then put the dinghy in and motored to the beach where we swam again. We had the place to ourselves, apart from some campers who came by boat also. The view from the galley was beautiful, as usual; we are very spoilt. The next morning we got up early and were overwhelmed by tiny little biting gnats so we left quickly and continued north; en route I saw my first bald eagle (I think) perched atop a tree but didn’t have my camera handy. Later that day we also spotted a pirate ship crossing WInyah Bay, the things you see on the ICW.

Next anchorage and 60 miles on we stayed in thoroughfare creek, and true to its name it was very busy, packed with kids in power boats and jetskis, but it calmed down after sunset. Another 50 miles north got us to Calabash Creek just south of the North Carolina border where we squeezed into a small anchorage with 4 motor trawlers. The next day, on entering North Carolina, we had several shoaling inlets to cross but thankfully we avoided the shallow spots. Just before Southport NC and the Cape Fear river inlet, we stopped at a marina to refuel and decided to stay the night: long hot showers, laundry and a deli with great sandwiches, perfect.

A long windy run up Cape Fear river and two more dodgy inlets later we dropped anchor at topsail inlet (MM263) just before sunset. We left at sunrise to catch the first only-on-the-hour opening of surf city bridge which we made because the bridge tender was kind enough to delay opening by 5 minutes! After that a rather rude motor boater sped by us and nearly swamped us with his wake, he was in a real hurry but for no good reason, as we caught up with him 2 hours later, at the next bridge which he had to wait for while we putted along at 6 or 7 knots: classic tortoise and hare scenario! After that bridge he sped off, only to be stopped again a mile further on (hah hah). Periodically US navy boats block the ICW as the Camp Lejeune firing range straddles the ICW. The chart notes rather disconcertingly that unexploded ordinance may be present in the ICW, and we could hear loud explosions going off in the distance. Fortunately we only had to wait about half an hour till they stopped bombing practice, and then carried on with no further hitches towards Morehead city.

Day 63 to 65

Harmony — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:06:00 +0200

We arrived at the Charleston Maritime Center mid afternoon, with strong winds and current, which made for an exciting docking! The center is minutes from downtown and on the edge of the major shipping channel so subject to some big wakes, but also a great spot to watch the passing ships. Harmony shared the dock with a huge graceful old schooner, the Spirit of South Carolina, and a water taxi and tour boats, so there was always something going on. We walked all over Charleston, a lovely city on a peninsula with beautiful residential areas and historic buildings. First stop was a restaurant for some She-Crab Soup, a local delicacy that we had sampled on our last trip here a few years ago, when we drove down to meet Brian and his ship R/V Knorr.

Day 62

Harmony — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:05:00 +0200

We left the Isle of Hope behind us in Georgia and headed north into South Carolina (SC), our third state. Hoisted the main sail in St Helena Sound, and passed shrimp boats heading out to sea. We found 3 beautiful anchorages for the next 3 nights in the South Carolina Low Country, up creeks Bull, Bass and Tom Pointe; nothing but acres and acres of marshland and river as far as the eye can see. Dickie braved the water for a swim, hoping for a rendezvous with the many porpoise frolicking around Harmony’s hull, after which he donned his man-skirt (a kimono we bought in the bahamas)! Just goes to show real men can where skirts (but only at anchor when there is no one else around). Time for some more shore leave so next stop Charleston SC.

Day 59 through 62

Harmony — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:39:00 +0200

Isle of Hope is a small historical suburb of Savannah GA, tucked into a wide meander of the Skidaway river. We spent 3 nights at the marina there and had a great stay. The marina had 2 free loaner cars that we used several times to shop and track down parts (and an indian restaurant, yum). We changed the oil, and replaced the engine blower that had expired, did loads of laundry and stocked up on food. They also had bikes that we borrowed to cycle to 2 nearby restaurants, and explore the residential streets which were lined with spanish moss draped trees and beautiful southern style houses with huge shady porches. We took the bus into Savannah the last night of our stay; it was hopping along the Savannah River front, bars a plenty, crowds of people milling around and river boats and ferries docked alongside, and music on every corner.

Time for a progress report: The ICW officially runs from Norfolk Virginia (Mile Marker (MM) 1), to Key West, the Southern most tip of Florida at MM 1243. We bought Harmony in Highland Beach FL (mile marker 1044) and took her south briefly to Lighthouse Point Marina (mile marker 1052) where this blog began. The first section of our trip (about 100 miles) took roughly 6 weeks (with our extended stay in Vero Beach (MM 951) )! However since leaving Vero Beach on April 4th, we have travelled 361 miles to Isle of Hope (MM 590) in about 2 weeks and are making much better progress; hopefully this trend will continue!

Next stop South Carolina!

Day 57

Harmony — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:14:00 +0200

We made it to Georgia! We left Fernandina Beach and headed north, crossed many big inlets, passing through beautiful remote marsh land and around some of the many islands along Georgia’s coast. Anchored in the marshes for 3 nights, 3 very cold nights, as the weather took a turn for the worse and we had to get out the fleeces and hats, and the winter duvet. The ICW traversing Georgia is renowned for its many shallow spots, so we were particularly careful to time our passage at high tide, especially through places like Little Mud River, Jekyll Creek, and Hell Gate. Thankfully we made it without a hitch. Next stop Savannah GA, and the Isle of Hope Marina for some much-needed shore leave!

Day 54

Harmony — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:17:00 +0200

Life on the ICW can be a perilous business for a boat. If Harmony could see all the wrecks we pass, their sails shredded, hulls exposed and decks awash, she would shudder as we do. Our next anchorage about 30 miles north of St Augustine, was strewn with abandoned boats, it must be where local vessels sail to die. One even sank overnight while we slept blissfully unaware; the previous night it was sitting very low in the water, but by the next morning in the dense fog, the only thing visible was the top of the mast.

Once the fog had cleared we crossed our first major shipping lane (at slack tide), the St Johns River, so we had BIG boats to deal with as well as the usual stuff. From there we headed for Fernandina Beach, and another 30 miles on, to the northern most point in Eastern Florida, and just south of the border with Georgia.

The town has a lovely victorian waterfront with stunning sunsets, the marina is right in the middle of things, and there is a REAL fishmongers right on the dockside; they sell only locally caught fish, so the selection is limited but super fresh, the staff are seriously salty, and they throw in a scoop of ice on top of your fishy purchase to keep it fresh. They even have a shrimp festival every May, for good reason as the local shrimp is delicious. There was only one thing wrong with Fernandina Beach, and that was the stink! South of the town is a wood pulp plant and when the wind is in the wrong direction you think you are going to puke if you don’t suffocate first! Fortunately the wind was usually favorable.

The marina has a field of mooring balls across from the town where you can tie up to for $15/night and dinghy in to enjoy the town. What a deal, and what a relief. No anchors to drag or get snagged, no bearings to take, no midnight sorties above deck just to check, and no narrow slips to dock in and expensive boats to avoid hitting… we slept better than we have in ages! Three nights on ball #10 and a thoroughly enjoyable stay, next stop Georgia.

Day 49

Harmony — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:01:00 +0200

We left the marina at sunrise after refuelling and stocking up on food and more budweiser. We had read reports of more severe shoaling at the next inlet and so we spent ages studying current and tide tables and the charts, to work out the optimum time to pass through Matanzas Inlet. All that preparation paid off, and/or we got lucky, as we passed through without a hitch, thank goodness. The ICW winds through many isolated areas of open marsh and rivers like Mosquito Lagoon, Cabbage Swamp and Alligator Creek, with not a mosquito, cabbage of alligator to be seen, but loads of porpoise and birds; it is quite lovely.

Arrived in St Augustine, the oldest city in america, and anchored for the night after our longest day of transit 58 miles. We were knackered, all that fresh air and focusing. It is a historic city with a restored spanish quarter and the huge Castillo de San Marcos overlooking the harbor; all of which we saw when we first visited there 20 years ago last February. We rented a shack on the beach, back when we were kids, so long ago! Im sure we looked out at the boats anchored here and dreamt of being on one of them; still hard to believe we actually did it. If you zoom in on the map you can see the sailboats anchored.

We had a visitor that evening, a bird landed on the bimini top, covering the cockpit and pitter pattered around till he peered through the vinyl section at us. Ive tried to identify it online, and it could be a snowy plover, but it could also be a common thrush, who knows. He was not at all scared and dickie had him feeding from his hand in no time at all, it turns out we both have inner birders! The next morning lying in the V-berth we heard the familiar pitter patter and there he was again, peering down at us through the open hatch above our heads; must have been looking for his breakfast.

Day 47

Harmony — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:28:00 +0200

We left Vero Beach at sunrise and headed north; the wind was from the south and so we unfurled the genoa for the first time, hooray. Whilst technically only motorsailing, it felt pretty good and we made better progress with a little wind power to help us along. We anchored in the lee of one of the many huge bridges that cross the ICW, 38 miles north of Vero Beach. There Dickie donned his new wetsuit and jumped in to scrape Harmony’s bottom..

Another early start and 40 miles further north we anchored at Titusville, the closest spot on the ICW to the Cape Canaveral and the shuttle launch site. Unfortunately we missed the last launch by 3 weeks, next one not till May. At anchor there were a few big downpours and some thunder and lightning, but nothing as scary as was forecast.

The next day we decided to head for Seven Seas Marina, just south of Daytona Beach, another 43 miles. En route we came across a dredger in the middle of the channel at Ponce de Leon inlet; we skirted by but 200 yards beyond in the middle of the channel we touched bottom and stuck. After a few minutes, we discovered that if I ran forward and hung out over the bow (like in the titantic movie) Harmony could edge her way off the sand bar. The dredger must have missed a spot (or two as it happened). The same technique came in handy 500 yards further on as we found more skinny water (that is the technical term for shallow water) and got stuck again, but not for too long. Somewhat frazzled, but pleased that we didn’t have to call for another tow, we continued to the marina and stayed for a couple of nights rest. It is an exhausting business!

Day 40-something

Harmony — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:18:00 +0200

I discovered my inner birdspotter in Vero Beach. Once Dickie fixed the outboard engine, we motored around the surrounding islands, binoculars at the ready, and saw several species of birds, mostly herons, and even oyster-eating racoons. We celebrated my birthday in land-lubbing style with lunch at a lovely restaurant on the Atlantic, and swam in the ocean, finished off with a sunset birding sortie.

We had a relaxing stay in Velcro Beach (as it is known in the marina) but it is time to go. Harmony is stuffed to the gills with spare parts (and full tanks of diesel), so hopefully the trip north will proceed with out any more hitches!. FIngers crossed…

Day 37

Harmony — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:08:00 +0100

Being outside so much we see all manner of wild life and fish, all the time. It’s like being on safari, even though we are at the dock. We are spoilt, dolphins or porpoises (not sure which) pass by all the time, but we were especially lucky to see a manatee up close a couple of days ago. They are gentle, vegetarian mammals also known as sea cows, and very sweet and squashy looking. Because they are fairly common here, the area has been designated a manatee zone. While we were filling our water tank a manatee appeared, it was about 8 ft long, and had been lurking under the dock; it flopped over on its back under the hose, with it’s flippers in the air and drank the fresh water. I’ve subsequently learnt that you are not meant to encourage them to stay around the docks, but it was very cool.

Day 26 through..

Harmony — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:58:00 +0100

Happy St Patricks Day!

As you can see Dickie has raised the irish tricolour, or at least the closest he could get with 2 rolls of electrical tape (green and white) and an orange flare case. Also seemed like a good time to raise the skull and cross bones that Clemmie and Noah gave us for our trip. Hopefully we wont meet any real pirates!

We are enjoying our time here at Vero Beach, the marina is great and just a mile walk to the chilly atlantic beach where we swim every morning, and there is a free bus service to town and West Marine (the ships store where we spend lots of time and money). We are staying put for a while, and have ordered a bunch of spare parts for the trip, and we have also had some more work done: the voltage regulator has been replaced and the alternator rebuilt.

Will post more soon. Off now to catch the bus to stock up on Guinness.

Did I mention that Kelly’s Irish Pub is next door to West Marine!

Day 19

Harmony — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:42:00 +0100

Saturday morning and we left Ft Pierce marina at high tide heading for an anchorage 40 mile north, wind was gusting to 25 knots but it was bright and sunny. We planned a brief stop at Vero Beach City Marina (15 miles north) to pick up a spare engine part we had ordered, and to top up both diesel tanks while we were there, even though both gauges showed half full…..

One mile south of the marina, and a couple hundred feet before the 17th Street bridge (see map) in Vero Beach the engine spluttered to a halt. We looked at each other in panic, more f#$@*!g engine trouble? Dickie sprinted to towards the bow and threw in our main anchor and the spare to stop Harmony drifting out of the ICW channel and into the shallower water on either side. I stayed at the helm and called US Boat for a tow, gave them our position, and we put on life jackets. They said the tow would be about 40 minutes! The wind blew in powerful gusts and we could tell we were slowly drifting into shallower waters; the depth sounder excrutiatingly counted down from 4 feet to 3 to 2 and finally (when you know you are in real trouble) "—" shows on the screen and just after that Harmony touched bottom. Dickie threw our third and final anchor off the port side and we waited, and prayed for the wind to die down (it didn’t) and for the anchors to hold (they did), and for the tow guy to arrive QUICK (quick enough as it turned out but it felt like FOREVER). And so we were towed AGAIN, twice in a week, how embarrassing. We were even more humiliated when we realized it was not engine trouble at all. Upon filling up with diesel the main 24 gallon tank took, wait for it, 24 gallons. Oh yes, and the spare tank still had diesel!

We have eaten lots of humble pie these last few days, everyone we meet says never trust your fuel gauges, and now we wont….

Also wish I hadn’t started this blog!!!

Day 12 through... continued

Harmony — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:32:00 +0100

Well we have a lot to catch up on so briefly…. while waiting for the starter we hung out in Ft Pierce and got to know the local sailing crowd, a really friendly bunch of people, always offering a hand or advice or a ride to the store. Fishing is the favorite pastime of the marina residents as huge fish lurk beneath the docks; every evening the sailboaters gathered for cocktails and fishtales, (no motorboaters allowed, they dont hang out with sailing types) and we were lucky enough to be present for fresh grouper and snook (see photo) caught and prepared by Archie, delicious. During the week, we had some heavy rain and thunderstorms (photo) interspersed with sun, and it was windy most of the time, so we had plenty of time for rope splicing lessons (photo) and reading etc.

On thursday afternoon the mechanic returned our rebuilt starter to its rightful position in the engine and ….hooray it started. We planned to leave on friday morning but bad weather and high winds were forecast so we stayed friday night, which happened to be a big night of live music and festivities at the waterfront park. The weather was fine though so we should have left!

Day 12 through...

Harmony — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:22:00 +0100

Sunday morning, and Harmony is towed safe and sound to the Ft Pierce municipal marina. Called mechanic and spent the rest of the day catching up on laundry, and took a long walk over the bridge (in background of photo) and lunched at the tiki hut restaurant onsite. Mechanic came on tuesday morning and took away the starter which is in need of rebuilding, should have it back soon…!

Day 9 through 12

Harmony — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:02:00 +0100

Headed for Faber Cove in Ft Pierce. Just as we were about to drop anchor, an engine alarm started going off; it appeared to be a a loose wire and all was well, till 2 days later when the engine starter went mad and we had to call for a tow! Thank goodness for Boat US who delivered us to Ft Pierce Muncipal marina bright and early on sunday morning.

Day 7 through 9

Harmony — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:53:00 +0100

Motored to nettles Island Marina, in 10 – 20 knot winds, relieved when we finally docked in the slip. Prepared for high winds and thunderstorms overnight and were happy we weren’t at anchor. Temperature plummeted to almost below freezing, thank goodness (and bob, previous owner) the heating system worked. Friendly bunch of resident liveaboards made us welcome in their tiki hut, marina had a great little store that sold everything, stocked up on beer, naturally! Pelicans everywhere, they are very cool.

Day 6 though 7

Harmony — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:27:00 +0100

Headed off early to next anchorage, by way of jupiter inlet, we got a terrible shock as we touched sandy bottom, thankfully briefly. It is very disconcerting to suddenly feel the ground (boat) rise up underneath your feet. Resolved to be more respectful of inlets in future, where shoaling is common. Reached Peck Lake safe and sound, nature reserve, very peaceful, dinghy made it to barrier island, and we walked to atlantic ocean for a swim. Manatee came a visiting early next morning, but bad weather was forecast so we headed for safe harbor at Nettles Island Marina further north.

Day 3 through 6

Harmony — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:17:00 +0100

Anchored in north portion of lake worth, and spent 3 nights on the hook. Still managed to spend money at nearby supermarket, and discovered outboard motor has cooling issues!

Day 1 through 3

Harmony — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:07:00 +0100

We motored Harmony from the previous owners dock in Highland Beach FL, and headed south for lighthouse point marina to get stocked up with provisions and nautical essentials. Spent a fortune in westmarine, twice. Set off on friday morning for our first anchorage spot on Lake Worth, about 40 miles north.