Good seeing the gangs of Majestic 7 and Endaxi. They
never left Vero. Jonathon was having trouble with his generator and Bob
wasn't comfortable with some of his mechanical problems. We had our own
share of problems with an intermittent auto pilot, bad transducer with
the sounder and an air leak in the dinghy. We had a backup for the
autopilot, a workaround for the transducer, and daily pump ups for the
dinghy.
Dinghy became problematic and we have a
lot of dinghy-ing to do. Bob tried to find the leak but no luck. Could
be under the 'rubrail'. So we ordered a new dinghy from Defender and
became a two dinghy family. Old dinghy had 12 years of reliable
service. We'll see if we can get it fixed when we get back to Southport.
We got to Vero just in time for another cruiser's happy
hour. We had a good crowd with most of the regulars there and some
CLODs (cruisers living on dirt). Good seeing old and new friends here.
Of course we had to do some provisioning at the Publix, got some cat food
for the cat, and a bit of litter.
On Sunday, we went to church and met
Tom Butz (SV Minden) who gave us a ride back to the marina. We also saw
his new condo after we went to the local Thai restaurant. Just before
we went to leave Vero with two stowed dinghies, we went to the Chinese buffet
place with Dave and Kathi of MV Dyad. We had been crossing each others
path many times on the way South last year. Good chatting with them.
On 25 February we left Vero for our 3 day passage up the
ICW to St. Augustine. We traveled with Majestic 7 with Endaxi not far
behind. Weather was not much of an issue but some windy weather would
be a concern in 4 or 5 days. So we pushed to Addison Point the first
day, Sea Breeze bridge in Daytona the second day, and the northern
mooring field in St. Augustine the third. As predicted, the winds piped
up. We were lazy and we used the marina's launch for dry rides to and
from shore during the wind.
We had company from our friends
Tom and Nancy formally of SV Celena from Palm Coast. We cruised with
them in the Bahamas in 2003 before they settled down at Palm Coast.
Winds exceeded 20+ knots with 2'-3' seas in the anchorage so it was
good that the launch was still running. We walked the town and had a
great meal at the Athena Restaurant. Good seeing them.
Bridge of Lions is a sight to see. Our mooring was near
the western side of the bridge so we could see all that transited it by
foot or vehicle. When the bridge opened we could see the marine traffic
move and the bridge folks stop. Fun to watch with a glass of wine.
Left St. Augustine on 5 March
right behind Endaxi. Majestic 7 had already left for the outside to
Beaufort SC. We don't envy their passage as the wind and seas do not
bode well for a comfortable trip. We went aground just south of
Fernandina again. Same place. USCG placed new markers but apparently
not a good channel. Tow boat operator reminded us to simply go from G3
to G1 (again). The USCG path is wrong says he.
;
