December 4-5, 2015 3 nights at anchor doing boat chores

passing thru the bridge at Stuart

we didn't go too far

scrubbing the deck before the next squall comes thru

we sprung a leak in the v-berth, hatch leaking

time to defrost the refrigerator

frozen meats, milk, yogurt, cheese safe in our cooler

when I checked the fresh veggies, some needed to be used .. curry sweet potato soup

making some of the holes in the salt shaker larger

our neighbour for 3 nights .. another squall passing thru

collecting drinking water

3 books read so far

supper in the making

a parade of lights, this is a troller fishing, he has caught a fish

pumping water from the dingy

boat chores .. fixing the oar handle

cleaning the solar fans

on the third day the sun came out, so we did more outdoor chores

well some of us did ..

installed a de odour thing , in the stink pipe .. it actually works

drying out our clothes and life jackets

we also checked all our 200 ft of chain

Friday December 4, 2015

We needed one last trip to shore and the marina, to post the blog, get rid of garbage, charge IPad, computer, phone, camera batteries, get water ….

We met up with "PIPER", (last time was more than a year ago), Tripp and his family, a young couple with two small children, from Beaufort, South Carolina.  They live on their boat and are having similar issues with solar panels and batteries .. Joe passed on some good info for them to try.

We where off the mooring ball by 11am and radioed the bridge for the next opening, it was then that we noticed the RR Bridge down, we had to wait for 1/2 hour for the train to come and pass.  Oh well we charged up the batteries after 2 days of no sun and limited wind.

We anchored about 4 miles away at Hogg Cove, just before the rains started for 2 days.  We anchored in 9 feet with our 35 lbs Rocna and 75 feet of 5/16 inch chain, we stood our ground with 20-25 knots, gusting to 30 knots when the squalls passed thru.

The boat has developed a few leaks, the hatch over the V-Berth, deck wiring into the head and one on the STB side of galley.  The V-Berth one is going to be harder to fix, we will need to remove the complete hatch, caulk it and re-install.

We started boat chores, cleaning the deck was priority when it wasn't raining, and then when it rained the fresh water rinsed it.

Some of the chores that we have now completed in the last 2 days, fix stove slider, fill stove alcohol bottles, tighten STB window nuts with new SS lock washers, clean radar, fix dinghy lock, tighten shrouds, adjust stuffing box again, check fuel leak, chalk input from deck wires, defrost refrigerator, air out all life jackets and wind breakers, fix dinghy oars, fix salt shaker, bail dinghy, clean head and call mom.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

In between the squalls we let out another 25 feet of anchor chain, in the gusts now we don't swing as much.  Boat chores continued….

Collecting rain water was a must, we got 5 gal. of drinking water, 4 gal for cleaning and filling the solar bag for our own cleaning .. ha ha

Sunday, December 6, 2015

In the morning the winds lightened a bit, the rain stopped and the sun is now shining.  We decided to stay put another day/night and do more boat chores, never ending.  Last year we travelled this next section on the ICW on a weekend and it as a zoo, with power boats waking us and jostling for spots at the bridges for openings.  We are not in a hurray at the moment to get to Lake North Worth, the weather window is iffy for a good crossing to Bahamas.

We have been in touch with "Clarity". Terry and Kim Ferenczy, from our yacht club in Owen Sound.  They are at Vero Beach and will head to Lake North Worth by Tuesday PM.  We are looking forward to meeting up again.

Two more trollers have come to our nice little cove for the night, both American…this cove could hold 500 or more boats and there is only 4 of us … nice

December 2 - 3, 2015 getting closer to the ocean

Gypsie Angel, Elaine and Audre'

St. Lucie Lock

some beautiful boats on the canal

anchoring during a heavy rain storm

sunset at anchor

heading into Sunset Marina

notice the brownish water, very typical

December 2, 2015

We spent the morning doing the blog, having showers, got gas for the dinghy motor (ouch $4.50 US gallon), visited with Gypsie Angel, Elaine and Andre', our French sailing friends, they took out dock lines in 2012 in Salaberry de Valleyfield, Quebec.

Joe finally got thru to customs to report in with our cruising permit, as I mentioned earlier our Canadian phone will not work with

Customs 1-800 #. We need to use a US phone. This will limit our calling in for sure, as we will be anchoring most of the rest of the time in the USA.

We said our good byes to SnowBird and Moonlight Maid and off the dock we went at 11am.  By 1:45 we finally locked thru St. Lucie Lock, down 18 feet.  Now we are getting into salt and tidal waters.  The sky kept getting darker and darker with thunder behind us.  Fifteen minutes earlier we could of anchored in the calms, but the sky opened up and the wind blew.

A squall hit as we dropped our new Rocna 15 anchor for the first time, the wind set us. (fast forward to the next morning, we had to motor over the anchor 3 times to break it loose .. HAPPY).  It rained very heavy and wind gusts turning us all around, but then it was over and the sun came out.

5 hours on the water 

December 3, 2015

Anchor up and we crossed the river to Sunset Marina, we could of anchored again but we wanted to use the facilities, so $26.50 got us the mooring ball.  We got diesel to fill our two on deck jugs, 2 jugs of water, showers, laundry, charged our iPad and phone, and got groceries at Publix (I like Save-A-Lot prices better, but not one within walking distance)

It has been threatening rain all day but nothing, it is cloudy, cool and the wind generator is nicely charging the batteries and fridge.  We started at 9 to do all of these chores and just finished at 4pm.  Lots of dinghy rides and lots of $ spent.

Joe adjusting the stuffing box again, it's not dripping enough.

We talked to 'OTHER GOOSE", Rick and Susan Schultz , from Owen Sound, on the VHF this morning, they are on their way to Lake Worth.  We will catch up with them on Saturday, to wait for the crossing to Bahamas.

The wind is picking up now from the north, rain and wind squalls coming thru the

mooring field .. good, no bugs tonight, and also we are out of alligator territory.

heading out to an anchorage this morning

November 30 - December 2, 2015 meeting up again with sailing friends

sorry I can't seem to get the pictures in order … here goes any way

we are now across Lake Okeechobee and thru Lock Mayaca … this is the 49 ft rail road bridge .. we are 47 ft high, so we just squeeze thru .. no problems again this time

St Lucie Waterway .. it is about 300 feet across

this is our crossing of Lake Okeechobee ..heading left to right, we left at first light 6:45 .. the winds about 10-12 knots from N - NE … we had the foresail up for the first part and motor sailed, then we headed north .. the sails came down and motored pounding into 4-5 ft waves .. the wind picked up as we got closer to the middle of the lake … where you see the zig zag, the motor was off and both sails up .. with a bit higher winds … then on the straight part the motor was on and winds became very light …  as we reached the Mayaca Lock the winds picked up again, but by now we knew we had made it ..   5 1/2 hours

we made arrangements to stop and spend a few nights at Indian Town Boat Yard .. our friends on Snow Bird are there getting the boat ready to put into the water. Joe helped Dave install a new Windlass and I helped Janine finish waxing the hull

enjoying a meal in the club house

next was unpacking the dinghy and seeing if it will last us another year

some of the boats in the work yard .. mold and mildew has even covered the mast and boom .. a beautiful ocean boat

our Halifax friends on Moonlight Maid , Alan and Heather ..are also in the boat yard, preparing their boat for launch…. we spent a few days together in the Bahamas

a very interesting paint job on this boat

Happy Hour with Moonlight Maid and Snow Bird … Heather and Alan are heading to Georgetown with their daughter Hayley on board, we will meet them there .. and SnowBird we will see again for the crossing or in the Abacos ...

November 29, 2015 Mud Daubers

leaving Turkey Creek

the only picture we took on route

Moore Haven to Clewiston, sailing the 12 miles

Mud Daubers in the fuel air vent

Modaki at the launch ramp dock … everything fixed now .. we hope

SUNDAY, November 29/2015

We where up early and anxious to get off the dock and start our Season 4 Adventure.  Mike and Sharon gave us a big shove off, leaving Turkey Creek, heading to the Bahamas.

As we passed Glades Boat Yard, we saw Brian Mundle wave from on top of "Bucket List", which is on the hard, we circled and waved back.

14 miles later and everything was running smoothly .. until we got the green light to enter the Moore Haven Lock, the motor sputtered and stopped.  We did a circle and got the engine running and locked thru, but the engine was still hesitating.  Now what do we do, we have a new fuel tank, new fuel line, clean filters.  It is 12 miles to Clewiston, in a 100 ft wide canal, to get to the launch ramp dock.  We figured if we needed engine supplies we had to make it some how to a larger city.

 So the sails went up and about 5 minutes later the engine stopped completely. The wind was light and on the beam or close hauled.  We talked a lot about, what if the wind died completely , how would we lower the sails quickly and throw down the anchor before we hit the rocky shore, 50 feet away.

The power boats where good to us today, everyone slowed, maybe they where wondering .. those crazy sailers with both sails up only going 2.5 - 3.5 knots in this narrow canal.

Then we talked about how we where going to dock and stop the boat, at the launch ramp dock.  It was a long 12 mile sail. There was no picture taking and we spent long minutes with out talking.

We tried to start the motor again when we got close to the dock and no luck.  The foresail was brought in, and working on the main only it seemed like we where working in slow motion.

Joe lowered the main as we approached the dock, I was in front of the main and I stepped off, the main obstructed his vision, cause it did not drop completely and the wind caught it.  I had the centre line and felt like I was Superman trying to stop a speeding train.  But I managed to get it around a cleat and bang we where stopped.  By this time Joe was off the boat and had the stern line cleated.

Before all of this happened, there was a man on the dock fishing, and I yelled to him that we where going to dock there, but we had no motor.

He just smiled and I yelled again our situation, then he said okay no problem..  I'm sure he thought we where quite the pair, sails 1/2 down, me jumping off, trying to get the cleat wrapped and then Joe jumping off to do the same.  We interrupted his fishing but he said he wasn't having any luck any way.  He said it must be deep here cause you are a sailboat, and we said 10 feet, and he said no wonder I'm not catching any fish.

We knew by the way the motor was running and not running that it was starved of fuel. On visual inspection the fuel filter was clean and no water in the bottom of the filter.  We started from the tank to inspect everything.  Joe checked the fuel air vent, by blowing into it and nothing happened …. we took it apart and Mud Dauber's had blocked it with mud .. Once again we bled the fuel lines and finally Modaki chugged back to life.

A Very Stressful Day

Tomorrow is the test when we cross Lake Okeechobee

November 27-28, 2015

Black Vultures at the local dump .. there was no alligators visible that day

Cyprus Knees … the small stubs growing beside the Cyprus tree

Joe and I drove to Clewiston to see what the inlet looked like … with binoculars we saw a lot of white caps on the lake …the winds are support to be lighter in a few days

more projects, removing the old hard foam from the lockers and replacing 

it with nice soft sealant foam

todays lunch .. PIZZA

Mike and Sharon took us to a local Mexican Market … what a nice setting under the

oak trees

there where a lot of veggies that we could not name

cactus for a snack

burning off the sugar cane .. so that is why we have this black soot on the boat

supper, fresh shrimp from the Florida Keys and Taco's

tomorrow we leave the dock and head to Clewiston and prepare to cross the lake on Monday