Vero Beach to Fort Pierce, FL

Today:          18 miles       2.7 hours          ICW St M “966.0”

Total:      1108 miles    159.2 hours

     We enjoyed a leisurely morning and departed around 11.  Once again there was minimal activity and lots of dolphins.

     Coming off the ICW into Ft. Pierce Marina, we verified that our decision not to enter this channel in darkness was the right one.  The only red marker was about 50 north of its designated position (which means it was right next to the high-tension lines.) and on port, only 1 green marker remained visible.  
Once secure at one of the T-heads, Pete headed down below to work while I walked the 2 miles to the Post Office to mail our Christmas Cards.  I also stopped at the Dollar Store across the street to pick up a few things before walking back.  It was a great day for walking.  The temperature was in the low 70’s with a light breeze.  

Mix of Art and Christmas in Fort Pierce ~

          

     

       
     As I got closer to the arts district, I was surprised to see a peacock walking towards me.  A little further down, there was another.  Shortly thereafter, I found a whole flock!  There must have been about 30 of them, both males and females, roosting in the shade.  Once back, I did a little research to find that in the 1970’s, Jackson Craine opened a travel agency in an ornate building on Orange Street. There was space to add a little more color, so he added a few of his favorite birds, the peacocks.  They roamed his back yard and the lot adjacent to his home and office.  Over the years the flock has grown and since it is in the area where the art district resides, the area is now known as the Peacock Arts District.  The peacocks are also well known literally as traffic stoppers since they now roam further then their original turf! 
        

     Once back, we enjoyed some reading and delayed dinner to watch one of the most spectacular sunsets! These photos were taken from our boat and the transformation over 15 minutes was magical!

        



      

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Titusville to Vero Beach, FL

Today:         73 miles       10.2 hours          ICW St M “948.7”

Total:      1090 miles    157.5 hours

Fog leaving Titusville City Marina & Park

     We were up and away from the dock at 6 am.  Not only was it dark, but it was also “pea soup” foggy!  We slowly made our way from the marina out to the channel, not wanting to awaken anyone anchored/ moored outside the marina.  About a half hour later, even with the lightening the skies, we still couldn’t see due to the fog.  It was amazing to be passed by small fishing boats at full throttle in this fog!

    

Family of dolphins 

One of the many sad boats
 along the ICW

    The fog dissipated around noon, but the waterway was pretty deserted.  Even closed to Sebastian Inlet, we saw very few boats.  The breeze came up for a very short while, and we took advantage to get an assist from the jib.

Sebastian Inlet ~

          

Missing Mike, who took the photo!

     Our original plan was to head straight to Fort Pierce.  Somehow in our calculations, we neglected to account for our usual stop in Melbourne.  There is no way we would try to get into that marina, with the very narrow channel, markers being submerged during heavy current, and under the cover of darkness!  (Umm. . . it is a bit crazy thinking of doing a 13-hour run and expect sunlight for departure and arrival when we are only 5 days from the shortest day of the year!!!) Our next option was to get a mooring at Vero Beach Municipal harbor, but that would make our arrival after sunset.  So instead we went into Suntech Marina in Vero beach.  Those 2.5 miles were the difference between sunlight and darkness. 

     Suntech has a skinny entrance into a very protected harbor.  That is why Marilyn and Jon keep SV ESCAPADE docked there and Debbie and Mike will work on SV RESOLVE once she has completed her repairs from the lightening strike this past spring.

    Once we arrived, we called Marilyn and Jon to let them know we arrived.  Earlier, they invited us to join them as well as Mike and Debbie for dinner at their home.  The company and food were wonderful.  It was great catching up.  Earlier in the week, they had dinner with Betty, John, Martha and Dan.  CCYC South is pretty active!

     For once, we can take our time departing in the morning. From here to Fort Pierce is only 2.5 – 3 hours.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Daytona Beach to Titusville, FL

Today:         57 miles         9.5 hours          ICW St M “878.0”

Total:      1017 miles    147.3 hours

     The skies were clear, temps mild and the winds light out of the SW as we left Halifax Harbor after a pump out and turned in our keys.  The trip was uneventful.

Repairs ongoing

Under way

       Though the current was against us, we made the George Musson Coronado Bridge in New Smyrna Beach without having to slow down.  There had been reports that the bridge was undergoing repairs and the openings were limited, however, the work is no longer affecting the openings. . . a big plus for us!

View from our dock

    The most seen today was dolphins.  The fishermen and day cruisers were few and far between.  It was unusual to see very little activity at the fishing camps and along the shores of Haulover Canal.

     We pulled into Titusville before closing at 5 pm.  We were tied to the T-head, which will make setting off int the morning much easier.

     We made it an early night as we plan on leaving before daylight in the morning.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Daytona ~ Continued

Overhead is a major flight path
for many airlines

TUESDAY, 12/4/18 ~  Pete had a very intense day of work with the clients.  He hasn’t adjusted to West Coast Time so he awoke at 4 this morning, and did some work before breakfast. At breakfast, he and George worked until it was time to meet with the clients.  Then they put in a full day, with additional work that needed to be done tonight.  Both will be glad to get home and sleep.

      I, on the other hand, was lazy.  After exercise, I made myself comfortable and read the afternoon away.  It felt totally decadent!

WEDNESDAY,  12/5/18 ~ Pete informed me that he and George need to return to LA next week to finish the project.  I need to extend our stay here at Halifax Harbor from a Monday departure to Friday.  Bailey and I walked over the to marina office. It is only about 300 feet from PEKABU.  Unfortunately, there is a bit of water between us.  We walked three quarters of mile over to the office.  Beautiful area to get a good mile and a half exercise. We will be here long enough to get a better deal paying for the month.  We could stay her till January 1^st! 

Space X launch with
supplies for the ISS

     We are 78 miles north of the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.  The launch of Space X was rescheduled from yesterday. Its mission is to resupply the International Space Station.  I wasn't sure that I would be able to see the launch from this distance.  I was able to get the live launch via the web and as the countdown finalized I looked south and I got lucky.  I was able to see the rocket as she climbed through the atmosphere.  It it always inspiring.  I have seen 2 night time launches from Wallops Island, VA.  Once from Solomons, MD and one from Portsmouth, VA.  This past spring r we drove up from Key West to Titusville to see the inaugural launch of Space X Falcon Heavy.  The payload was Tesla Sports Car that is still heading to the end of our solar system.  That rocket uses the external fuel tanks that are programmed to land at the Space Center.

THURSDAY, 12/6/18 ~ Today for me was exercising, cleaning and reading.  After dinner something started playing with my innards. YUCK!

     Pete and George finished with their client, for this week, and headed to the airport.  They had a lengthy wait for their midnight Red Eye flight to Baltimore.

FRIDAY, 12/7/18 ~ Pete was lucky to have a 1^st class seat for the Red-Eye Flight east.  He actually slept almost the entire flight.  He missed snacks and breakfast during the flight.

    George drove him over to the Marina to pick up the car. He grabbed breakfast then headed to the vet in Middletown.  When Bailey was seen at the end of September, I bought a year’s supply of anti-heart worm medication.  At the time, the expiration date of all their packages was June, so they owed me 1 more package.  This was the first opportunity we had to take care of it.  After getting the car cleaned Pete headed down to see his Mom.  She is our Energizer Bunny. She has her bad days, but then she has her good days.  She is an amazing woman!

     Pete and she had to stop in at her bank, then they went to her favorite place. . . Walmart.  She had her list.  There were no motorized carts, so Pete pushed her in the wheelchair. Pete didn’t know the layout of the store and she periodically remembered an item she forgot to put on the list.  As a result, they spend a lot more time crisscrossing Walmart.  By the time they got back Pete needed to get on the road and started his trek south.

     I wrote more for the blog, but I can’t post because Wi-Fi is unobtainable! The marina really shouldn’t advertise Wi-Fi!  Grrr! Add to my frustration, the intestinal thing is still present.  As a result, I didn’t attend the Christmas dinner party sponsored by the marina. Word on the dock was it was really fun.

SATURDAY, 12/8/18 ~ I checked Pete location periodically last night using the phone app.  He did stop just over the VA boarder in NC for a 2-hour nap, he then stopped again around 4 for another 2 hours. He finally arrived around 12:30 pm. After lunch, Glen of SV GRACE II, stopped by to invite us for hors d’oeuvres at 4 and dinner at 6 here on the dock with the Gourmet Supper Club. Unfortunately, Pete crashed and burned while I still had problems with an intestinal bug.  We wound up passing on another wonderful opportunity to meet others here at the marina.  After dinner Pete was determined to stay awake until 10. All night he had to keep re positioning in on the sofa.  While sitting, he kept sinking and sliding towards the horizontal, but he did manage to stay awake.  Hopefully, this will reset his internal clock back to Eastern time zone.

SUNDAY, 12/9/18 ~ Pete had slept well.  He beat the heavy rains by taking Bailey for a walk at 7:30 am.

     The rains made for a lazy morning, so we enjoyed reading after breakfast.  After lunch, the rains stopped, so we headed out to Volusia Mall, across from Daytona Speedway.  Pete needed shirts as the turnaround for LA didn’t allow for cleaners.  We walked the mall and found exactly what he wanted at Macy’s.  Then we took a ride over to the beach at Daytona. We decided not to drive on the beach. The day’s fee of $20 wasn’t worth the 15 minutes we planned. Instead, we headed north to Ormand Beach and simply parked the car and checked out the views, then drove south as far as we could get to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.  To see the light house, we would need to enter the park. Hence, we never saw it. 

Daytona Beach ~
        

    

     We decided to get dinner at The Olive Garden. Pete had the Tuscan Trio (Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan and Fettuccine Alfredo) I had my first Lobster, Shrimp, Mac and Cheese.  YUM!!! 

     The temperature is beginning to fall for another cool front.  Temps are supposed to only be in the 50’s tomorrow.

MONDAY, 12/10/18 ~ With Pete catching the 11:16 flight to LA and being away until Thursday, we took PEKABU over to the Marina Office for a pump out at 7:15 am, then had to redock. It is more challenging when the winds want to keep you from the floating dock.

      We then grabbed Pete’s things and drove to Orlando Airport, which is about an hour from here.  I stopped at WaWa and all their coffee sizes were $1. Then it was off to Publix for food, Dollar Tree for garland and cards. Then back to the boat to put things away and hang the Christmas tree.

         Two years ago, Pete bought a roll-up Christmas tree. It had interwoven artificial branches and decorated with white lights, small red bows and small red and blue Christmas balls. It was OK, but I missed our big tree and 1600+ individual ornaments collected over our 44 years. This year, to the boat  tree, I added some 10 extra ornaments I had left over from years of making ornaments for the family. I also used the leftover garland, cut into 6-inch strips folded them to make into circles and placed them on the tree. The garland is sparkly gold, so it moves with the air currents on board making the lights on the tree shimmer!  I really like this version of the tree.  After Christmas, I’ll just remove the 10 ornaments and store in a small box, while the tree garland, lights, ribbons and balls, will be placed in a large towel and rolled for storage for next year. It is fairly easy to place the 23-inch by 12-inch high roll in a sealed back and placed under the front bunk.
     Yep, as predicted, we only hit 54 degrees.  With the winds and dampness, it felt more like 50.  However, I am not complaining.  Back north the temp are in the 20’s and snow is in the forecast. Add to the present conditions, Pete, when driving from LA up to the Thousand Oaks area, reported on some of the massive destruction left behind by one of the monstrous fires earlier this fall.  I definitely have no reason to complain!

TUESDAY, 12/11/18 ~    Bailey and I were up and out by 7:30 this morning and headed to Green Cove springs for mail pickup at St. Brennan’s Isle, which is our mail service.  I needed to get to the bank and back on board by 11, but still managed to catch up with my sister, Stephanie while I traveled.

     Dan, Martha, Betty and John are spending the week at a resort in Cape Canaveral.  They invited me to join them today as they tour The Kennedy Space Center.  Unfortunately, I had to decline as I was meeting with friends.

       At the Annapolis Boat Show, we bumped into Dave and Alice of SV SEPTEMBER SONG and members of our sailing club.  They introduced us to their friends, John & Robin of SV STORYTELLER. They are making their inaugural trip south this year on their Manta 42 Catamaran. They left a few weeks after we did, but we have kept in touch.  They are enjoying their cruise despite the multiple fronts, and cold weather they have encountered.   With PEKABU stationary for a while, they have finally caught up. They anchored where we anchored, just south of the marina, and dinghied over to the marina.  We sat on board for a while, then decided to walk around town. We had lunch at Zappyi’s Italian Restaurant, where we all three of us enjoyed the Greek Salad with Chicken, or Blackened Shrimp. We walked around the down town, then over to the water front and into the historic homes district.  The weather was perfect and the company wonderful.  Once back at the marina, we said our good-bys, but are looking forward to getting together again in the future.

WEDNESDAY, 12/12/18 ~  I needed to get the laundry and cleaning done today.  I postponed it as much as possible, but clothing choices are very limited.  This marina has 4 washers and 3 driers at each of the 4 bath houses.  I found the other 2 after starting the laundry. Each bathhouse had 2 laundry rooms on opposite sides of the walkway.  One of the driers was not working properly and I needed to re-dry one of the loads while I was on a conference call for Pete’s Mom’s monthly health report.

     Thankfully, Pete’s mom is doing well. She has her good days and her bad ones, but her spirits are usually high. She is our “Energizer Bunny” and keeps surprising the medical team.  She has been on Hospice Care since May, but she makes sure she gets on her scooter and gets her hair and nails done, She is gone so much from her room,  I had to make her signs stating: I am playing Mah Jongg, I am at Bingo, I went to the Thrift Shop, etc., so that she can take to her door so that the staff has some idea where to find her.

     Pete will be flying home overnight again and will be back in the morning.

THURSDAY, 12/13/18 ~  I headed over to Daytona Airport to pick up Pete.  His flight had been delayed in NYC and his arrival time moved back about 20 minutes.  I arrived on time, but Pete’s flight arrived early so he was just exiting the terminal as I arrived.

     We returned to the boat, unpacked his stuff, and did some stuff on the computer. After lunch we headed down to Port Canaveral to meet our CCYC South group.  Dan, Martha, John and Betty have been there since Sunday and will head home tomorrow.  We are so glad we were able to get together. These are people we have known through the Chesapeake Catalina Yacht Club (CCYC) an made our crossing to the Bahamas with 8 years ago. (Hence CCYC South) It was wonderful spending the afternoon catching up. Rather than heading out for dinner, we had a wonderful pork roast dinner and the conversation never stopped.  The time share overlooks the Cape Canaveral Canal, where the cruise and container ships dock. We watched one of the casino boats return and one of the smaller cruise chips leave just before dinner. Pretty cool.
    
  View from the Condo

     The jet lag began to catch up with Pete, so we said our farewells around 6:30 and headed back. Pete was out cold by 9, so I took Bailey for her walk.  Pete never heard us leave or return.

FRIDAY, 12/14/18 ~  Pete knew he had a lot of work to do today, so we decided to stay put.  He and George were on a conference call all day.

      I exercised, got the blog caught up. I just need to process a few photos in preparation and after dinner get it posted, using our Jet Pack for WiFi access. I can’t believe it was 17-days worth!   We received notification that our plan data was almost depleted, so Pete needed to purchase more.  This is the longest we have been without WiFi.  I have tried to limit the data use, but we forget how much public WiFi is usually used.

     Well, it is time to get dinner started, then finish up here. Tomorrow we head to Titusville.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~  K & P

Spending Time at Anchor in Daytona Beach

Halifax River YC to Daytona Beach Anchorage, FL

We just moved from the Marina to the anchorage.  May be 15 minutes and possibly a mile. 

Not doing the math!

THURSDAY, 11/29/18 ~    This morning the lows were in the low 40’s, but without yesterday’s winds, it really wasn’t bad.

     Since the laundry is free decided to do a load before we left.  We went to the laundry room, but there was another woman waiting.  When she arrived, there was a load currently in the wash.  It turned out to be two, floor washing pads washed by the staff.  Malinda was very thoughtful and let me do my wash first as she would be there another day. We wound up talking while the washer finished its cycle.  They came down from Annapolis.  Her husband was a former Commodore of the Annapolis Yacht Club. They now live in Marathon.

      As the laundry was finishing, I met Chris, the Harbor Master.  Thanked him for a great stay and handed back the keys.  I also assured him we would depart by 11:30, He offered to help us cast off, but I assured him that we are OK.  He said that we must be sailors. “Sailors know how to prepare for docking, approach carefully, and depart effortlessly.”

     We headed south for about 15 minutes then carefully entered the anchorage.  We got as close as possible to the park so that Pete could get Bailey to shore.

     It was so nice to spend the afternoon reading and watching the boat traffic on the river.

     I found another shrimp recipe made with pesto and dinner was delicious.
Tonight's Sunset ~ 
   

    After dinner we ran the generator for recharging the batteries, charge the phones, Kindles and heating water for showers. With the generator running we even watched some TV.

FRIDAY, 11/30/18 ~  As Pete was taking Bailey to shore, we could hear the fire department was heading south.  AS he returned he could see the smoke crossing the water.  When I came up, the smoke looked like fog and with the winds calm, it made for a great photo.  Hopefully with the speed at which the fire was extinguished I hope it wasn’t that severe and no one was hurt.

     

Smoke on the Water

Canadian-flagged boat
aground at low tide

     While Pete worked, I was able to get my hour of exercise in, but we both chilled and read the remainder of the afternoon.  The clouds became heavier as the day progressed.  According to the forecast, very heavy rains and possible tornadoes are predicted for north Florida and SE Georgia tonight, through Monday.

    

SATURDAY , 12/01/18 ~ We had some light shower bands come through the night here in Daytona.  As predicted, heavy rains are falling in north Florida and Georgia.  The possibility of tornadoes both in this area and the Midwest remain high.  Shower bands persisted through the afternoon.

      We watched some of the parade participants make their way up river during the late afternoon.  It might be a rainless evening according to the radar, which is great as the parade of boats begin at 6. The parade came down river then went into the north basin (Halifax River YC), returned to the ICW and turn into the South Basin (Halifax Marina), return to the river, turn into the lower marina basin, where they were judged, then return to the YC. We were anchored about 500 yards from the channel to the Chart Club, where the judges were located and were able to see the parade.  There were abut 35 boats.  A number were large Sport Fisherman, two sailboats and boats that probably ranged from 25-24 feet.  Our favorites were the Gingerbread house and the 4-trees of different colors.

The Boat Parade ~
    

           

    

SUNDAY 12/ 02 ~ To Halifax Harbor.  We were chillin’ after breakfast this morning, when we heard a strange banging sound.  We must have spent over a half hour trying to find it.  We knew it was aft, but where?  Our steering wheel kept wanting to turn, even though it was locked.  Pete wanted to show me how the boat would point with the current out of the south and the winds from the southwest. As he stood in front of the wheel, the noise happened again.  Only this time Pete felt the rudder shutter.  It was very low tide.  Needless to say, we started the engine, upped anchor, and departed immediately!

     Even though it was before noon, we were able to get into our reserved slip in Halifax Marina.  The winds made it a bit of a challenge when departing from the pump out dock and staying close to the starboard while docking.  Matt did a great job of pulling us back to the dock.  After securing, we had lunch.

     Pete took advantage of the down time to pack for his trip tomorrow.  I continued reading and enjoying the Florida weather.

     Speaking of weather, a series of tornadoes touched down in the Midwest.  Lots of property damage and a few injuries.  Heavy rains, up to 7 inches, have caused more flooding in Georgia and Florida.  It was also reported that 4 people received minor injuries when a tornado touched down on the Kings Point Navy Base on the St. Mary’s River.  The rains are continuing north of here.

~  ~  ~  /) ~  ~ K & P