SV Orion - Annapolis, MD

After several weeks of work on Orion Jr (our newly-acquired Columbia T-26 sailboat), she is almost ready to launch.  Although we are back inHampton for now, we will return shortly to Mayo, MD to put her in the water and run her through her paces.  Although we are not on her, much of our attention is still focused on the work to be done to get her ready to cruise south.  

It’s Always about Power

Dave put his experience on Orion to work in designing the layout of the DC power distribution and charging system.   Using some components that we already had and some purchased specifically for Orion Jr, Dave constructed a DC “hub”that would hold the core elements that needed
to draw power from or return power to the batteries. 
He mounted it just above the batteries on the forward bulkhead of the starboard locker, ensuring short wire runs to both batteries and the new DC
control panel.  
 
The batteries would be charged either via the 40 amp battery charger (when hooked up to shore
power or the generator) or via the solar panels, routed through a solar controller. Both of these devices were mounted on the hub.   

As for the consumption side of things, he had to decide what devices would be clustered  together on the same circuit and could be reasonably turned on together.  We decided on three groupings of
circuits:  those always on, those on when we were at the boat, and those that would be turned on selectively when needed.  In the first group, he
included the engine, the bilge pump, the battery and solar chargers, and the refrigeration.  These would be clustered together on a 6-circuit fuse block, ensuring fused connections to the battery.  The 2nd group of circuits which were on when we were on the boat would include lights, 12V outlets, radios, chartplotter and water pump. Since all of these devices (except the outlets) would have their own switch, they would actually not draw any power
until the individual device was turned on (or in the case of the outlets, plugged in ).   They would be
clustered on another 12-circuit fuse block, which was connected to the batteries via a switch.  When we return to the boat, we simply turn the switch and all of these devices would have power.   The 3rd group of circuits would also only be powered when the boat power switch was turned on.  However, these circuits would then be turned on selectively via a new control panel. This would have breakers to turn on the instruments, the navigation lights, the bilge pump (on-demand), the anchor / steaming light and the deck wash-down pump.  
 
Finally, we needed to monitor the power consumption, charging input and the overall state of
the batteries.  This would be accomplished with a new Victron battery monitor, mounted above the control panel in the main saloon.  

With the new DC circuitry conceived, we “just” had to implement it.  Dave began to assemble the necessary components with stops at Bacon Sails, Fawcett , West Marine, auto parts stores and, of course, various web vendors.  In the meantime, Cathy sealed and varnished the boards that would hold the components. Then came the methodical installation and wiring of each circuit.  By the end of our 3rd visit to Orion Jr, all the components were in place and functioning as designed.  The final step was to buy and install new batteries, replacing the original batteries with 2 new golf cart batteries from Sam’s.  With the new batteries secured in new battery boxes, the DC system was
ready to go.  We were charging the batteries, running the fan (did I mention it was hot?) , watching DVD’s and turning on lights without thinking too much about it any more.  

Isn’t power a wonderful thing? 

Raising and Lowering the Mast – or it’s not always as simple as it looks

Knowing that we wanted to install a furling system for the headsail, we needed to lower the mast to remove and replace the forestay with one that would work with the new furler. So, soon after arriving for
our 2nd visit to the boat, we set about lowering the mast for the first time. We were trying to decide what assistance we needed to make it work – gin poles, extra lines – when Greg (the broker who sold us the boat) arrived and told us we should be able to lower it without any extra help.  So, he walked us through it and it seemed to come down smoothly.  We laid it across the bow and stern rails and proceeded to remove the forestay. 

Of the various projects that would be done while the mast was down, the most time-consuming would be the construction of the new furling system.  We decided on a CDI Flexible furler and had Bacon assemble it for us, in addition to rigging the new forestay that it would require.  While we waited on this work to be completed, we tackled the other
projects on the mast.  We needed an anchor light, since the boat did not have one.  To install this, we needed access inside the top of the mast, which required removing the cap holding the sheaves
for the wire halyards. After a few consultations, Dave decided he needed to drill out the rivets holding it in place.  This process went smoothly enough and with a few serious tugs, the cap was off and the inside accessible.  He then installed our LED anchor light from Orion, which we would hang on the boom with a 12V plug, on the bracket holding the Windex, and ran a new wire down the mast.  At the same time he ran new coax to the VHF antenna, since the old coax was pretty old and a smaller diameter than is generally used today. 

In addition to replacing the wires in the mast, we wanted to replace the halyards that ran its length as well, while the mast was on the deck.  The easiest fix was replacing the flag halyard, which was completely gone, although the block that held it on the spreader was still in place and in good shape. The sail halyards were a different story.  Unlike Orion,the halyards on the Columbia are
not one continuous length of line, but instead are half wire and half line.   The wires looked to be in good shape, but the line needed replacing. This required creating a new braid-on-braid splice loop around the wire loop for both the main and jib halyards. Having done this only once five years before, we had to carefully read and follow the step-by-step instructions that came with the fid (a special tool used to splice this kind of line).  Although the first splice took about 2 hours, we had it down pat and were able to finish the 2nd one in about a half-hour.  Although I don’t think we’re going to hire ourselves out to do this professionally any time soon.

The morning we were to go and pick up (with George and Gail’s assistance) the furling system, we scurried about to finish the few remaining tasks on the mast.  Cathy installed the spreader boots, while Dave fished the wires out of the base of the mast, before we jumped in the car to meet George and Gail at Bacon.  With the furler loaded in the back of George’s truck, we led the way back
to Mayo and persuaded George to help us unroll the furler and put it in place. Before he could make a
graceful exit, however, we further persuaded him to help us raise the mast.  This turned out to be a fateful decision on our part. With the mast seated in its mount on the deck, it became painfully obvious that there was no way the 2 of us would be able to raise it by ourselves without mechanical assistance. We managed to fit a ladder under it, first on the ground and then on the tailgate of George’s truck.  With the help of a winch on a discarded trailer and a long halyard we had brought from Orion, George tightened the line and the 3 of us lifted to finally position it in place. We were desperately grateful to George for his help, but also re-dedicated to finding a better system for raising it in the future.  

Live and learn.

A Dirty Business 

Sitting around a dinner table with other cruisers, I have had more conversations about marine heads than I care to count.  It’s a dirty subject, but we love to commiserate about it.  So, it should be no surprise that the subject has come up again here,
where everybody can read it.  
 
Orion Jr  came with a porta-potty, which we knew we would replace.  It was also plumbed with a pump-out deck fitting, 2 through-hulls for a toilet and overboard discharge and a 7-gallon holding tank. 
The through-hulls both had gate valves instead of seacocks (gate valves open and close like a outdoor water faucet, making it difficult to be sure by looking at them whether they are open or closed). The holding tank was way too small to make it useful.  Dave had been researching composting toilets, and we had talked to several boaters who had them on board.  They allow much more time between disposing of the contents, with little
to no smell and without the additional weight of a full holding tank.

So, we decided to install the composting toilet.  That meant we could have the existing through-hulls removed and glassed over. We also removed the holding tank, freeing up much needed space.  We then simply installed brackets in the floor to hold the toilet in place, gave it power to run a fan to vent the composting compartment and ran a vent hose into the forward compartment.  To start it up, all we need is some peat moss to begin the composting process.  

The only negative about the toilet is its height.  Given the raised platform in the head and the low ceiling height, let’s just say we won’t be inspired to spend much time there.
 

What else?

With the Electrical system, the head, and the mast in good shape, we were starting to work our way to the 2nd tier of projects to be done. We needed to
turn our attention to anchoring requirements.  We had 3 anchors on board, all of whichwere danforth-style, 14lbs or less, the primary anchor on the bow being the smallest of the three.  Despite the abundance of anchors, we decided to bring our little stern anchor from Orion, (also a 14 lb Danforth) along with its rode to become the new primary anchor for now.  Dave also installed a new deck washdown pump, which will help keep the ground tackle clean and the associated bottom muck off the boat.  He used a new thru-hull that we had Greg’s workers install on the boat when they removed the 2 gated ones.  Dave then mounted the pump and its filter above the new thru-hull under the bed in the V-berth and ran the hose to the new fitting on deck, which took advantage of the old toilet vent opening.  With it wired to its breaker on the control panel, all was ready for our first night at anchor.

We still need to talk to people on the water, so Dave connected the coax from the mast through to the coax already run into the boat’s interior and then mounted the new VHF under the control panel.  We’ll see if this is close enough to the cockpit to remove the need for a remote mike, like we have on Orion. The distances are dramatically different on this boat.  

There were a number of smaller projects that will help make life liveable down below.  We mounted the Origo stove on the inside of a opening panel, so it can be out of the way when not in use.  We added 3 12V outlets, to allow us to plug in cell phone chargefrs, computers and, more importantly, the
  chartplotter.  We replaced the old incandescent fixtures in the Main Saloon with pairs of 6-inch LED light strips to minimize power consumption without sacrificing light intensity.  

So, we were nearing the finish line.  We scheduled a Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel inspection to ensure we weren’t missing anything.   The inspector complimented us on our preparation and we passed with flying colors.  The manual bilge pump had been removed, but the thru-hull and a large 1 ½ inch hose was still laying inside the locker.  So, we decided to re-install a manual
bilge pump and connect it back up.  The rudder hinge had been incorrectly mounted upside down, so we corrected this, installing a wire “tether” to prevent it from accidentally slipping overboard, now that it could more easily lift up.  Is there more? 
Probably. But you get the idea.  

Fun Stuff

June found us in Rochester, celebrating the marriage of our niece, Janelle and her fiancé, Mike. 
Since our grandson was ringbearer, we had fun watching him get fitted for a tux and take charge of the cameras at the reception.  A good time was had by all.  After the wedding festivities were over, we got to spend some time with Joanne and Ralph of White Bird, whose new boat of that name (a beautiful Jeanneau) sails on the waters of Lake Ontario.  We took a trip on the boat out to Lake
Ontario(our first time on its waters) and spent a night at their home enjoying their hospitality.  It was great to see them and catch up.  Who knows, we may still see  them on the water in the future.

We also managed to squeeze in a visit with Bonnie’s family, when they came to Norfolk for Bayou Boogaloo, a Cajun Food Festival on the Elizabeth River.  It was some good company, good food and good fun. It was some good company, good food and good fun.

Making a splash

By month’s end, we expect to be have Orion Jr in the water and maybe even pointed toward Hampton.  We just need some sails, some fuel, a couple of parts for the fuel system and we’ll be off. Wish us luck.

Yes, we’re  still here, despite the silence of the past 5 weeks.  We made it to Hampton on Memorial Day, and, after a week at the Public Piers, we found a slip at Joy’s Marina after all, where Orion will be for at least a few months, while our attention turns to the new boat and family events. 

The Last  Leg
 
We left River Dunes on the last Thursday in May in what could be our last trip north through the ICW. It was a pretty typical trip through NC, which afforded some pure sailing, motorsailing and some pure motoring. We dealt with the unseasonably early heat and humidity and the accompanying bugs (lots of bugs), that accompany the wild beauty of this part of the waterway.  There were a few surprises:  the closing of the Great Bridge
dock south of the bridge, which put our stop on the now-crowded north wall in doubt until the last minute; the change in the Gilmerton bridge schedule to open on the hour and half-hour; and the pleasant surprise that the Centerville Bridge opens on request on the weekend.

For the first time, we connected with Barb and Dave from Fortunate at their home in Chesapeake during our stay at Great Bridge.  They were hosting a picnic for their family and friends Diane and Richard from Ava Ryan, whom we had met in Charleston as they passed through with Tom and Cathie. Dave and Barb graciously invited us to join them at the last minute.  We even got to meet the newest member of their family, their precious grandson.  We celebrated our anniversary the next day, then headed out early Monday morning for Hampton, tired of the heat and bugs, and
looking for the comfort of shore power and AC.  On our way up the Elizabeth River, we were joined by Steve and Krista on Bay Dreamer, who were leaving Waterside in Norfolk, just as we passed. 
Despite our hopes for a leisurely sail up to Hampton, it was alas another motoring trip, ending our season with a bit of an anti-climax.  That was OK. We were back in Hampton, among friends and not too far away from family. It’s one of our favorite places to be.

Pirates,  Pirates and more Pirates

Having arrived in Hamptonthe week of the Pirate Festival, we began to scramble to find a place to stay for the weekend.  We doubted the Public Piers would be an option since festival boaters often book their slips a year in advance.  Also, there was a sailboat race taking place the same weekend, that was filling up the other marinas in Hampton, so we were getting skeptical that we’d find a place, until we began to discuss the situation with dockmaster Kate.  There was a possibility to let us stay at the Public Piers, until the slip at Joy’s freed up the next week.  The Public Piers manages a few slips in the cove near the Hampton Carousel that might be deep enough for Orion, but Kate wasn’t sure.  No one had surveyed the depth there.  No problem. We had the technology to figure this out.  We launched our dinghy and dusted off the portable depth sounder that was Dave’s birthday gift 2 years ago.   While Dave trolled up and down the cove, Cathy took readings.  When we checked them against the tide tables, we happily reported that the depth wouldn’t go below 6ft at low tide. That would be just fine for Orion.  So, taking advantage of a calm morning on a near slack flood current, we backed into the cove and pulled into the slip as easy as could be.

This turned out to be a wonderful location for
the Pirate Festival.  All of the kid’s activities were located in the plaza in front of the carousel.  Also, the shade of the trees next to the cove and the wide sidewalk next to the dock, made this a nice retreat from the heat, as well as a good place to spread out and eat lunch. As evening approached, we headed over to Joy’s to join Steve and Krista for a picnic and to watch the fireworks at day’s end. 

Starting  Over
 
The deluge arrived just before we finished loading the car with the first load of supplies for our newly-acquired Columbia T26.  With the Pirate Festival tents shuttered against the early morning downpour, we pulled out and headed north for Mayo, MD, where we would finalize the purchase of the boat that would become Orion Jr. Despite the less-than-encouraging start to the trip, by the time we arrived at the boat, the morning’s waterworks were history, and we started surveying the work to be done to make this much smaller boat become home for the fall and winter travels this year. Every system needed a review and most needed upgrades or complete installations: electrical, plumbing, rigging, sails, galley, canvas enclosure, interior cushions, and so on.  Dave started with the basics – getting the boat powered.  He charged the existing batteries, which would ultimately be replaced, but which he needed to allow us to do any testing of the boat’s circuits and get some minimal power for
lights and charging cell phones and computer.  
 
With a minimum of effort, the cabin lights glowed and the newly-installed replacement bilge pump removed the accumulation of water in the bilge, removing the fertile breeding ground for the Columbia’s subset of the local mosquito population.  It would take a bit more work to get the navigation lights to cast their light, starting with replacing the stern light.  The lights up the mast would have to wait for the mast to come down, which was supposed to be easy to do.  Right?  That would have to wait for a later trip.   Greg Rutkai of GBS Inc., who sold us the boat, was a big help with lots of details. He gave us a couple of fuel tanks to replace the worn-out container that sat on the boat.  He offered us a large sun shield to give us some shade as the early June sun was already brutal. 

Meanwhile Cathy dug into the interior, opening compartments and cleaning all that she could reach. An early visit from Bruce Empey that first day (we hadn’t even paid for her yet), gave us a path forward on the sails (toss one, repair one, replace one) and rigging (buy/install CDI flexible roller-furling headsail system and forestay, raise boom to standing height).  We even picked his brain for ideas on the enclosure design that would have to accommodate the complexities of an aft cockpit with mainsheets that descend into the middle of its aftmost quadrant.  Cathy began taking endless measurements of both the cockpit and the interior.   Once we left the boat, we would need to do a lot of ordering and the measurements would be key.

 We scored a few bargains early on that helped get us started.  There were no longer cushions in the V-berth, but Cathy found some in a consignment store in Oriental that were just a little too big.  They will need to be trimmed, but with a minimum of effort we had some cushions to sleep on the first night.  Our friend Sue was cleaning out her storage container and Dave saw her with an Origo 3000 alcohol stove that she was just going to store on her boat, with no planned use.  He quickly said we could use it (and how!).  It was the exact measurement of the opening panel where the original stove was stored.  With some bartering (a sewing machine and some help with curtains and refinishing Sue’s hatch boards), the stove was ours.  So, we are now constantly on the lookout for that special thing that solves a particular problem on the little boat. 
 
Back on Orion, Dave became glued to the computer, designing Orion Jr’s electrical system, ordering parts and researching the projects to be done.  Cathy began refinishing the badly-worn tiller handle and (when she wasn’t completely frozen from panic) started on preliminary designs for the enclosure.  Then there are the lists.  Stuff to take from Orion to its namesake.  Stuff to buy.  Projects to complete before we launch her.  Projects to complete before we cruise south. Wish lists for the more distant future.  And so on. We’re not as clueless as we were 5 years ago.  We bring to the task all that we’ve learned from living on a sailboat for all that time. However, this is a different kind of sailboat with many problems that are new to us or present themselves in different ways.  But
there’s nothing like a challenge to keep you on your toes.

But what about Orion? 

OK, our focus on the little boat has distracted us a bit, but Orion is still our home – for now.  Before leaving River Dunes, Cathy had retrieved her sewing machine from her daughter’s attic and managed to finally replace the bimini’s webbing that
was frayed and threatening to give way in the next strong breeze.  Carefully examining the existing straps, she created new ones from some white webbing bought last fall.  The moment of truth came when she had to cut the old webbing to retrieve the D-ring that made the straps adjustable.  Once stalled, the new straps look much better and are so much easier to adjust than the old ones. 

Also at River Dunes, Dave changed the Racor fuel filter, which had been showing some increased
pressure. After the filter change, the pressure settled back down to zero and has remained there since. Other than that, Orion hasn’t asked much of us, allowing our time and attention to be focused elsewhere.  For the immediate future, we are splitting our time between Hampton, VA and Mayo, MD until Orion Jr is in shape to take a trip down the bay to a slip closer to her bigger cousin. 

Parting  Shots

We spent some time at Norfok's Harborfest with Bonnie and Troy one Saturday.  And Dave managed to get picked for a crab-eating contest.  He didn't win, but he still got to eat all those crabs, so who cares?

Charleston seems like a long time ago, when in reality it hasn’t been more than a couple of weeks since we headed out for NC.  Orion sits in River Dunes Marina, just north of Oriental, NC and we have already traveled north to visit the kids and grandkids, even making a brief foray into Maryland to look at a boat.  We are taking some time out here in this beautiful setting, before moving on to Sarah Creek.  We weren’t able to find an opening at
Joy’s Marina, so we’re instead taking a slip at York River Yacht Haven for the summer. 

It’s a Motoring Trip

The trip north out of Charleston was largely uneventful, but the possibility of weather kept us alert.  We pulled out of the Maritime Center at first light on the Monday after Mother’s Day, with a couple of large ships moving up the Cooper, and the tugs awaiting one of them just off the marina entrance (in preparation for spinning it to enter the docks up Town Creek).  We knew this wasn’t going
to be one of our better runs. The winds were out of the northeast and not forecast to shift to more favorable southeasterly direction until the afternoon.  At least we had the current with us on our way out to sea, but we knew it was likely to be a motoring trip.  Our original plan to make it to Cedar Creek or the South River was scuttled Sunday night, when we belatedly looked at our log to realize we could only make that distance if we made 6.5 knots.  With the wind forecast to be against us much of the first day, that was not going to happen.

 After a rougher ride out the inlet (due to wind over that favorable current), we turned northeast toward Frying Pan Shoals and the waves moderated, a trend which continued throughout the day. 
By early evening, we were able to motorsail a bit, but the winds were not going to last.  Shortly after
midnight, the sails were furled for the night.  We kept a keen ear to the weather radio.  As we were leaving the Charleston harbor, we began to hear warnings of severe storms passing through Tuesday afternoon.  We would be far away by then, but we weren’t sure how far north the warnings went.  The “slight” chance of thunderstorms in the NOAA forecasts didn’t sound quite the same as “strong winds and damaging hail”in the verbal weather warnings.  We had some bailouts planned, and decided to make a decision once we had rounded Frying Pan Shoals.  If the weather seemed
  doubtful, we would turn in at WrightsvilleBeach.  If not, we would continue on to Cape Lookout.  The night was pretty quiet, since our route was pretty far from the shipping lanes.  Just before dawn we rounded Frying Pan shoals and started doing another check of the weather.  We were far enough out that it was hard to get the forecast north of us, but what we could hear indicated the severe storm warnings extended north to the NC-SC border. There were no thunderstorms in the forecast for Cape Lookout.  We did the math and we could get into Cape Lookout during daylight hours, so we motored on.  The sails came out a few times during the day, but the wind remained light and variable.  NOAA got that part of its forecast on the money.

By evening, we were anchored at Cape Lookout Bight. It was a peaceful evening, with lots of local fisherman enjoying the weather to troll the waters in the Bight. We dropped the hook around 6pm with only a couple of other sailboats in the large anchorage.  Although our night was peaceful, that couldn’t be said for the waters south of us.  The NOAA weather alarm went off repeatedly with warnings for the Cape Fear to Surf City region, including a specific warning for Wrightsville Beach.  We were glad we had decided to keep going, even if it meant more time motoring and less
sailing.

Wednesday morning the front had passed and the winds were kicking up from the northeast.  We
had a shorter trip to River Dunes and we wanted to time the current into the Beaufort Inlet, so we had a leisurely start.  Since the inlet was south of Cape Lookout, we had a great sail for the first hour of the trip, until we had to furl the sails to head into the inlet.  We motored up the river and into the Adams Creek – Core Creek canal, with the current most of the way.  By the time, we began to poke our nose out into the Neuse River on the other end, we were pleasantly surprised that the forecasted 15 to 20 knots of wind from the northeast had moderated to around 10 knots. We motorsailed for about an hour, before furling the sails and heading for Broad Creek.  We were tied up  at River Dunes shortly after 5, and it didn’t take long for us to mosey over to the “best showers on the ICW” and get cleaned up. We were far removed from anything resembling the bustling harbor of Charleston, but this location has a charm of its own, which we planned to enjoy for a
while.

Where’s that water coming from?

While preparing dinner at sea on Monday night, Cathy knelt down to pull a can from under the floor boards, only to find there was water beneath three of the galley floor boards.  Given the bouncy ride out of Charlestonand the heel of the boat as we motorsailed, it was a little difficult to trace the water back to its source.  She cleaned up what she could find and continued on with dinner, turning off the fresh water pump breaker in case there was a leak we hadn’t seen before.  The next morning, she investigated a little further and found more water
under the boards that she had missed in the dark the night before, apparently it had collected in the section closest to the Main Saloon.  After soaking this up and drying out the cans that had been sitting in it, she again thought she was done.  However, when we arrived at Cape Lookout, she reached for a DVD to play for the evening and discovered that many of the items on the port ledge in the Main Saloon were wet.  That’s when it became obvious where the water was likely coming from. But first, let’s go back to the beginning.

 It’s February of 2008 and Orion
and Slow Dancin’ are coming back
to Marathon from a weekend anchoring trip in Bahia Honda,
  when Dave discovers a problem with the engine’s raw water strainer. 
We decide to raft to Slow Dancin’
 so that Rusty can help Dave
diagnose the problem.  This turns
out to be a bad idea, because the swells – gentle as they are – rock the boats together and bend our stanchion mid-way down the port side.  It was easy to order and install a replacement and Orion is good as new in a week. Tiime passes, and on some occasions, we notice that some items in the port cabinet in the Main Saloon (that happens to sit directly below this stanchion) are sometimes wet.  Or some papers
stored above the locker are wet.  These instances are so infrequent that we find other likely sources of the water: condensation from air conditioning vents or from the cold temperatures during our fall migration south.  This year In Marathon,  after a particularly nasty rainfall, we see the water again, and we can’t blame it on either of these problems.  So, we put a paper towel on top of the locker and watch it.  Time passes.  It’s always dry.  It wasn’t until the passage from Charleston that the paper towel is wet – soaking wet.  In addition to the normal action from the waves on the trip, we now have our Portabote attached to the port lifelines.  The combination of the original injury and the pressure of the Portabote, continued to loosen the seal and cause the water, which was running down the deck with each wave we plowed into, to seep into the boat.  

So, once we got to River Dunes we had time to address the problem.  Cathy emptied the port cabinet and Dave removed its wooden top.   Once he pulled out the plastic plug that gave access to the base of the stanchion, he poured water out of it, confirming our suspicion that this was the source of the problem.  Since the hole was all fiberglass it took little time to dry out, although we gave it several hours.  Then Dave coated the threads with Lanacote because of the dissimilar metals in the stanchion base and the nut.  He next coated the
hole with Boat Life Life Caulk and screwed the nut back onto the base, just a little less than fully tight.  We ran water over the deck and had no leaks.  Since the Life Caulk takes about a week to cure, we left the cabinet open until it had hardened, then Dave tightened it the rest of way.  We tested it with water again (thanks to a downpour that Mother Nature provided) and it was still dry.  Success.  Since Cathy had taken advantage of the improved access to clean the mildew off the surfaces that
were affected by the leak, it was time to put everything back together.  
 
As with all repairs of this sort, we keep our fingers crossed, but it should be good as new (and maybe better).  Only time will tell.

Our New Old Boat
 
As we’ve mentioned before, we are in the process are switching  to a new (to us), smaller boat.  After pursuing a number of different possibilities, we finally decided on a Columbia T26, based on a recommendation from Tom and Cathie from Interlude (who are currently traveling on Slow
  Dancin’, but more about that later).  That was part of the reason for our trip north when we got to NC.  The one in question was in Mayo MD.  After talking to the broker, we decided it was worth it to look at it.  We drove up to see it and, sure enough, it was pretty much as advertised (unlike a number of the ones we had been looking at earlier).  It had the 6 ft headroom that Dave required.  It was clean and in reasonable shape.  The outboard motor was in very good shape and the price was right.  We made an offer that was accepted.  In a couple of weeks, we’ll head back up to finalize the transfer. We’ll have a number of projects to do to make her ready to move, but we’re thinking that we can get her back to a slip near Orion by the end of July.

Friends and  Family

We started the month with a trip to Floridato see our nephew graduate from college. It was a quick trip down and back before heading out of Charleston for NC.  Once in Oriental, we took a car north and spent some time first with our daughter’s family and then with our son’s family for his birthday.  We even got to take Jayden, our 4-year old grandson on a short road trip. 

We were pleased to see a familiar boat, Slow  Dancin’, docked next to us in Charleston when
we returned from our trip to Florida.  However, the crew was Tom and Cathie from Interlude, who were helping out Joy and Rusty by moving the boat back to the Chesapeake.  We were able to
spend an evening together in Charleston with them and their friends, Diane and Richard on Ava Ryan.  The same scenario repeated itself a week  later, when  they pulled into River Dunes beside us.  This time we got to help surprise Cathie with a cake for her birthday.  We also met another Tom and Kathy at River Dunes who were on Tenaceous, heading back to NY.  We shared a trip into Oriental in the courtesy car and some time in the evening with some delicious local shrimp.  They watched our boat while we took our road trip north, but had to move on before we returned.  

Our arrival in Oriental was just a few days before the Waterway Radio Cruising Club Rendezvous in New Bern.  We managed to rent a car for the trip
north in time to take in the picnic.  We got to meet a number of people behind the call signs on the net, in
addition to seeing some old friends, Skip and Cherylle who live in New Bern.

On to the  Chesapeake

 We will be moving on later this week from River Dunes, but it  will be hard to tear ourselves away. 
With a pool, fitness center, a beautiful clubhouse and “the best showers”, not to mention a terrific staff, we have enjoyed our stay, but it’s  time to get Orion settled and begin our summer projects.

It was an easy trip to Charleston once the storm blew itself out over Fernandina (and the rest of the south) on the Saturday of Palm Sunday weekend.  We had pulled into  Fernandina to wait it out and it was a good thing.

Stormy  Weather

 The winds began to rise early Saturday morning (April  16th) and continued to build throughout the day.   A trip to town ended quickly as the skies darkened, causing us to scurry  back to Orion to weather the storm  there.  As the dinghy left the
shelter of the marina’s docks for the open waters of the mooring field, Dave was  having trouble making forward progress against the winds and current, which were  combining forces to push us north, when we needed to head south.  Once we made it to Orion, we  switched to dry clothes and finalized the preparations for the storm.  Dave put an extra line (a 5/8” dock  line) on the dinghy, in addition to the painter and dinghy bridle.   He had already added another line to the mooring ball.  
 

Through much of the day, the wind howled, but no rain fell.  The “15 to 20 knots” forecast, was more  like 25 to 35 knots, gusting to 50.   For much of the day, we benefited from the alignment of the southerly winds and the ebbing current, but by mid-afternoon, when the current began to flood, we knew it.  Orion was now beam to the wind and the waves, with the current trying to point her to the north and the winds trying to point her south. 
While this is typical for harbors with current, what was unusual this time was the strength of the two forces, and the resulting gale force winds pushing on Orion’s beam.   As we were working down below, the first indication of the change in our position was an unusual sound on deck after a particularly strong gust.  “It’s the solar panels”, Cathy said and  we both scrambled on deck to check.   Sure enough the flexible panels on top of the bimini were working their way loose.  While Cathy held the panels secure, Dave tightened the existing ropes.  However, the way the wind was blowing, the wind was finding its way under the long side of the panels and kept lifting them off the bimini.  We needed to reduce the windage.  So, Dave ran some more lines from the stanchions across the solar panels to the jibsheets on the other side of the bimini.  It was a temporary solution, but it kept them from lifting with higher gusts of wind. 

With the wind forecast to die down before midnight, we knew we just had to wait it out until the current changed, which would be about the same time.  In the meantime, we took a look around the harbor with this change in current.  It was a dramatic show.  A couple of our neighbors were full keel boats, and the current was having a more dramatic effect on them.  One, Tarwathie, which was closest, kept
swinging in 360 degree arcs around its mooring ball, causing her to frequently be pointed stern to stern with boats nearby. This was particularly alarming for another full keel boat, the schooner Harvey Gamage, who was at anchor north of the mooring field.  This double-masted boat was also doing 360’s and making for some very close passes by some of its nearest neighbors.  Many boats in the anchorage dragged, and we felt sorry for the couple on Yoda who arrived during the height of the storm and tried for over an hour to get an anchor to set.  At one point, the wind picked up a dinghy off one of the moored trawlers and flipped it upside down, its outboard now dangling beneath it in the water.  We watched helplessly as
the owners tried to set the dinghy right-side up in the water and retrieve the motor to no avail.  (There were able to retrieve it the next day.)  In the midst of all this wind, a trawler arrived to pick up a mooring nearby.  Despite the wind and their height above the water, they managed to snag the penant and secure their line to it. 

By evening, the worst of the winds had passed and they continued  to ease overnight.  The next day  dawned clear and cool, with a light northerly wind – a welcome relief from the  prior day’s turmoil.  These same  storms had spawned tornadoes further north and we checked in with relatives to  make sure they were OK.  We had a lot to be thankful for as we joined the local parishioners for Palm Sunday
services and a procession down Center Street with
our palms in hand that Sunday morning. We had weathered the storm with little drama, and were thankful to have been on a strong mooring surrounded by boats similarly securely attached.  And our loved ones had managed to stay out of the paths of the storms further north. 

Out of Florida

You could see the masts lined up in the distance ahead of us as we trailed them out the Saint Mary’s inlet and into the ocean on Monday, April 18th.  We had made a decision at the last minute to take this window and head out for Charleston.  With the winds forecasted to be around 10 knots, it was going to be a gamble whether we could sail much of the way.  Tuesday had better winds forecast, but
it felt a little odd to let a calmer window pass in favor of a windier one.  So, as the sun was beginning to rise Monday morning, we got into gear to get ready to leave.  Dave dinghied ashore to return the shower key, while Cathy began to prepare the cockpit and stow stuff below.  By the time Dave returned, she was ready to help haul the dinghy.  While Dave secured it on deck, Cathy worked on the enclosure, cleaning the morning dew off the panels to ensure we could see as we headed east into the morning sun.  It was shortly after 8am, when we cast off the mooring and got underway,
about an hour having passed from our decision to move. 

We didn’t want to arrive after dark on Tuesday, so we decided that we would have to make at least 4 knots under sail or we would have to start the engine.  Shortly after leaving the inlet, we set the sails and killed the engine.  For the next few hours, we sailed well enough to keep the speed up, but
as Cathy’s luck would have it, by the time her watch started the winds began to die.  She waited about an hour and a half before resigning herself to starting the engine. Not long after that the headsail came in. By sunset, we were still motoring and we decided to furl the main.  That was the last we saw of the sails on the trip.  
 
We kept in touch with some of the boats ahead of us throughout the trip as we could – It’s About Time, Carpe Diem, Argonauta, Star.  The boats were headed to a variety of destinations – Charleston  (of course), Winyah Bay to Georgetown,Cape Fear to Wrightsville Beach and, the furthest destination, Beaufort.  Although we lagged behind most, our AIS was providing valuable navigation assistance as the boats ahead of us tried to dodge the big ships coming in and out of
Savannah.  With the confusion of the many ships, the sailboats in the lead were struggling to understand how to thread their way through the shipping lanes.  Dave sorted out the various targets and gave the names of the key vessels and helped guide the others through.  Once we made it through this gauntlet, the night settled down.  With the help of the full moon, we continued our journey north.

By morning, the water was glassy calm, the winds were less than  5 knots from astern, and the cockpit was damp from the dew that had clouded the
enclosure panels overnight.  With little hope for more sailing, and an ETA that would bring us up the
Cooper River at the tail end of the flood current, we powered on. Shortly before entering the inlet, we passed the schooner Spirit of SC on a sail south.  We hailed them and found they were on a Spring Break cruise.  Just after noon, we found ourselves on the dock at the Maritime Center, a little over 3 months since Orion had last been on a dock, and we planned to enjoy one more stay in Charleston.

Boat Stuff

Since Orion was due for an oil change by the time we arrived in Charleston, we took advantage of the warm engine and the nearby used oil disposal bin to take care of it.  Having been off the grid for 3 months, we wasted no time in getting on shore power.  However, the batteries were doing well and it didn’t take long to top them off.  A few days later Dave equalized both banks to bring them to top performance.  The Maritime Center's free washer and dryer make this a good place to do some spring cleaning, so Cathy washed all the cushion covers and curtains.  To minimize any galvanic corrosion while on the dock, we suspend a zinc plate on a metal wire into the water and clip it to a shroud.  The clips need to be replaced periodically, so Dave took care of this before putting it in place again.  
 
And, since we were in one place for a while, we had our mail forwarded to us, which brings its own set of catch-up work.

Spring in  Charleston  


With Easter coming so late this year, despite our later than usual arrival in Charleston, we were here once again for Easter Sunday.  We returned to The
Circular Church for a beautiful service and their annual Easter Egg hunt in the graveyard.  Later, we enjoyed some seafood at Hyman’s, the first of a few meals to be enjoyed in Charleston’s smorgasbord of restaurants.  We discovered Blossom, which had some delicious artichoke hearts, and made a return trip to Southend Brewery.  
  
We aren’t alone on a northerly migration, and we ran into a number of familiar faces.  Bill and
Bettye arrived on Sea Mist, unfortunately with engine problems.  But they weren’t too unhappy about being “stuck” in Charleston.  Bo and Joyce arrived a little later on Dream Catcher, after a rougher passage up from Jekyll Creek.  They were glad to take a break here as well.  We got together one night on Orion for dessert before we started to head our separate ways again.   

Sue, our friend from Hampton arrived just as April was ending for a short stay as she takes time out between her life in the military and her re-entry into civilian life.  (It seemed ironic that the day after she left the military, Osama bin Laden was killed.  We asked her whether this was just a coincidence.)  While she was here, she dove on the boat to clean the prop and the bottom, then she cleaned thw decks.  Orion hasn’t looked this good in months. Sue also joined us for our second trip to The Circular Church, when we joined them for Earth Sunday.  The lesson was given by a noted local artist, Mary Edna Fraser whose batiks are inspired by aerial views of the earth and the poet laureate of SC, Marjory Wentworth. Afterward we joined them for a potluck lunch on the lawn. 

This time of year, Charleston is at its best.  With flowers everywhere, the scents and colors surround you.  The ships and sailboats are an endless pageant unfolding before you and there seems to be no bad place to go to take a walk. We have another week here, but it will disappear quickly and then it will be hard to say goodbye.  

Fernandina?  So, what about the Dry Tortugas?  Isn’t that where we were headed?  Well . . . We started looking at the weather most seriously as March was coming to an end for a run out to this westernmost outpost of the Florida Keys.  And as
frequently happens, we could find the weather to get there with no problems, but coming back was not so easy.  You see, when the winds shift west, which is a good direction for coming back from the Dry Tortugas, that usually means a front is coming through. Therefore this is not the weather you typically want to travel in, much less anchor in
the very-exposed Marquesas, the only stopping point between Key West and the Dry Tortugas. 

With the risk of being stuck out there, and with the temperature and humidity continuing to rise, we decided it was time to turn north.  If we are meant to go to the Dry Tortugas, it will happen, but it won’t be this year.  We turned our eyes north and began to make our way out of the Keys.

Traveling Again (or What are those white things for?)

With an eye toward sailing as much as possible for our travels, we looked for traveling weather that had the right winds that would make this possible.  But we were also anxious to get started.  We had scheduled a bottom cleaning for Orion before leaving Boot Key Harbor, which turned out be a very good thing.  The warmer temperatures had accelerated growth exponentially in the last couple weeks of our stay.  The diver said that our prop looked like a basketball, and that no underwater surface was untouched.  With the growth accumulating that fast, we didn’t want to stick around too much longer, so we took a less than perfect window to leave the harbor early on the morning of Thursday, April 7th.   The east wi nds were too much on the nose to sail and when we realized they were not going to moderate or shift (as some earlier forecasts had indicated) until the next day, we were forced to change our plans.  Anchoring at Rodriguez Key, which has no protection from the east winds was going to be very rough.  So, we decided to stop early the first day and anchor near Channel Five (to get in the lee of Lower Matecumbe Key) in Matecumbe Bight.  As we were discussing where to go with Lunar Sea (our traveling companions), fellow cruisers on Symmetry, a catamaran, broke in and recommended this anchorage as a good alternative.  Other than the 2 of us, there was only one other boat anchored in this huge anchorage. We used the extra time from our early stopover, to top off our fuel tank and finish preparations for the overnight to take us up the coast.

We weren’t exactly sure how the next day would play out.  Dave and Renee suggested some
alternatives of taking the inside route from there or cutting through from Hawk Channel to the ICW at Angelfish Creek. None of these looked appealing to us. The inside route south of
Angelfish Creek is notoriously shallow, and Angelfish Creek (according to BoatUS) would only have enough depth for us at mid-tide.  Our best timing to this spot would put us there just before low tide, and with no attractive alternatives for anchoring, since the winds would rule out Rodriguez Key again.  Also, we were headed to different destinations.  We were heading up the coast as far as the weather would take us.  Dave and Renee were headed for Pompano Beach, near Fort Lauderdale.  They needed to go slow so that we wouldn’t arrive at the inlet before morning.  We weren’t in a hurry, but we were going out for the long haul, expecting a multi-night overnight. 

As we headed out the next morning, we tested the winds and decided we would keep going into the night, either in Hawk Channel or out to the ocean at Turtle Rocks through the reef opposite Angelfish Creek.  With this decision made, we cut the engine and began sailing on the headsail. 
Our speed dropped, but we would still get to the decision point in daylight, and since we were going to travel with Dave and Renee as far as Fort Lauderdale, we were in no hurry.  This could work. 

But  things weren’t going to go quite as planned. In the middle of a tack mid-afternoon, our headsail got caught on a spreader tip and was torn.  It was made worse when it backwinded later on.  We then had to furl it to keep it off the spreaders, but this slowed our
progress.  As we examined our alternatives for leaving the Keys, the option of staying in Hawk Channel until  we got to Key Biscayne was less attractive. There are many unlit daymarks on the
channel, which would make travel at night harrowing.  We recommended heading out Turtle Rocks.  Since the Gulf Stream was supposed to
be 22 miles off shore, we could stay out of it and travel slowly up the coast to Fort
Lauderdale.  As we motored through the reef, Cathy kept a close eye on the water, looking for the brown color that indicated reefs to avoid. The channel was well-marked and the light was good, so it was an easy trip out to the ocean.  However, the rough water in the ocean and our speed indicated we had been mislead about the location of the Gulf Stream.  We were in it almost as soon as we left the protection of the reef.  We tried to sail on our headsail alone, but as the sun started to set, we had concerns about its condition.  If it was damaged further during the night, we wouldn’t be able to see it.  So, we furled it in and pulled out the main. This would allow us to sail closer to the wind and should allow us to coast along to Fort Lauderdale till morning,

No such luck.

At some point, Cathy awoke with a start.  One of the (sizable) beam waves gave Orion a toss and she heard what sounded like a ball bearing rolling around on deck. She popped up to ask Dave
what it was. He gave her a blank look.  What noise?  She tried to go back to sleep, but then heard it again.  This didn’t sound right.  She looked through the portlight near where the sound came from. Sure enough, there was something rolling around.  She opened the portlight and picked it up.  It was a 2 inch long 3/8” diameter pin with a hole through it.  This didn’t look good. 
In showing it to Dave, he didn’t know where it used to sit in the rigging.  We scanned the rigging
with a flashlight, but initially saw nothing amiss.  Until, we looked at the boom as it attaches to the mast. Only it wasn’t attached.  It was swinging free, held in place by the tension of the main and the rigid vang. We realized our sailing was done for this trip.  We started the engine, furled the main, and then Dave went forward (carefully) to lash the boom to the mast for the rest of the trip.  Our
problem now was that we couldn’t go slow.  With the engine engaged, we would have to run at very low rpm’s to keep us from arriving too early at Fort Lauderdale.  This is not good for a diesel engine.  So, Dave talked to Lunar Sea and explained our dilemma.  We would have to power up and go on up the coast.   We wished each other well and said goodbye. 

Once we were under engine power, our speed soared.  For almost 9 hours, we were traveling around 10 knots, thanks to the Gulf Stream current.  We didn’t leave it until we approached Fort Piercearound noon the next day.  By that time the seas were glassy calm, and we had the calmest transit of the Fort Pierce inlet ever (well, except for that large cargo ship that we had to avoid on the way in).  We were tied up to a mooring at Vero Beach by mid-afternoon.  Soon thereafter we had the headsail down and had studied the boom connection to the gooseneck at the mast.  This looked like it might be as simple as a cotter pin.  In hindsight, we both remembered seeing a cotter pin lying on deck at Marathon, but we couldn’t find where it came from. Now we knew.  After we were showered and fed, we fell asleep early, knowing despite the problems it had been a good run and it was good to have some miles behind us.

Patching Up

One of the reasons we planned to head to Vero Beach was the fact that Tom and Dau (Cathy’s distant cousin) were docked at Fort Pierce nearby.  When we called with our tale of woe, they immediately gave us the name of a local sail repair place and offered to take us there.  We called and left a message with Mack Sails in Stuart, but since we were arriving on Saturday, any response would have to wait until Monday. In the meantime, Dave exchanged e-mails with Bruce Empey, who was the  Neil Pryde representative who designed the headsail.  As usual, he was very responsive and had good suggestions of things to consider about the repair.

On Monday, Tom picked us and the sail up and took us down to  Stuart.  Dave had read more about Mack Sails and learned that they are  sailmakers.  We called to follow up on our original call, and they graciously agreed to look at our sail, although it was obviously their busy time.  (All those boat up north that are about to go into the water want their sails.)  When they checked out the sail, they said it was a simple fix, but that they would recommend we add a spreader patch.  Since Bruce had already mentioned this, we readily agreed.  Amazingly, they said we could pick the sail back up in the afternoon. When we returned, the sail was ready as promised and the price was very reasonable.  We were thrilled.

In the calm of early morning the next day, we installed the sail back on its furler.  But we weren’t done with this fix.  Both Bruce and Travis from Mack Sails had recommended we put spreader boots on the spreader  tips to minimize chafe.  So, Cathy was up the mast with the new boots from West Marine, along with some rigging tape.  This was a little different from other mast adventures, since she had to swing out to each side to get the boots installed.  (If this had been required on the first trip up the mast, it would have been a no-go.  Now, it’s old hat.)  However, their installation was pretty straightforward and it wasn’t long before they were in place and Cathy was back on deck. 

Now, we had just one more repair to make.  Dave had tried to find the right cotter pin among his supplies on board, but found that a very long, thin one was needed.  A fellow cruiser, Frank, on Dream
Weaver, offered his expertise and cotter pin supply to help with the repair, but still we couldn’t find the right one.  A trip to the nearby Ace Hardware got us the exact dimensions (2-1/2” x 1/8”), but nothing
that fit.  Finally, we made the trip to West Marine to buy a pack of 3. With the right pin in hand, the repair was simple.  Dave added some Lanacote to deal with problem of the dissimilar metals and the boom was back in place.  We were ready to sail again.

Will It Work?

Our chance to test the repairs came on the next leg of our trip.  We planned to hop out at Cape Canaveral and travel north to either St. Augustineor Fernandina Beach. After a day of motoring north to
Cocoa Beachon the ICW, we were positioned to head out the canal the next morning.  It was déjà vu all over again.  We had tried this in the fall, but were stopped by the canal having been closed. It had re-opened the Saturday before we arrived (we checked).  So, we passed through the Christa McAuliffeBridge at 8:30 and arrived at the lock by 9am.  In our passage, we were accompanied by another small fishing boat and the Sheriff’s patrol boat, along with some dolphins, a manatee and several pelicans.  An unusual assortment of creatures and crafts.  After the quick lock-through, we hailed the 2nd bridge and were through to the harbor on our way out the inlet.  All of the big ship traffic (cruise ships, gambling ships, cargo ships) were not moving, so we had an easy exit to the ocean.
We motored out the inlet and once we had turned to reach our cruising course, we set both sails and turned off the engine.  The winds were on the beam and at a perfect angle for sailing.  For the rest of the day, they needed little to no adjustment and the auto-pilot held the course without effort.  It looked like Orion’s repairs made her as good as before – or maybe even better.  As the sun set, we furled the main sail with the hope that the headsail would carry us through until morning.  But the winds didn’t cooperate.  The winds shifted behind us, causing the sails to flog in the swells, so
we turned on the motor.  We motorsailed until mid-morning, when it became apparent that the headsail wasn’t doing anything.  We furled it and arrived at Fernandina Beachmid-afternoon Friday under power, but with renewed confidence in our sails.

Other Boat Stuff

with our departure from Marathon, we finally had to fold up and stow the Porta-boat dinghy.  We practiced once in the marina’s project shed, but found it was pretty straightforward. The trick was doing it on Orion’s foredeck.  Dave rigged a new
bridle to hoist the dinghy out of the water.  Cathy learned the hard way, while winching the boat out of the water, that this one weighs considerably more than our little Zodiac.  With the Zodiac still on the foredeck, it was a bit of a challenge to get the seats out, but we did it and Dave managed to lash it on to the lifelines securely for our travels.  It took longer than it takes to stow the Zodiac, but we’re still getting the process down. The good news is
that we managed to fold it and stow it as we had hoped. We do have a lot of its parts in our V-berth however.  We need to find some ways to reduce the space that it takes up down below.

Relay For Life

When we discovered we were going to be in Marathonfor another weekend, we signed up to participate in the Relay for Life on the Cruisers Team, that had been actively fundraising all winter.  We looked at the sign-up sheet and discovered that the time slots available were those between midnight and 5am.  We chose the midnight to 1am shift.  The day of the event dawn hot and humid. 
After making an appearance at the noon opening ceremonies, we made some rounds of the various booths and then retreated to find some shade.  We were grateful our shift would be out of the sun’s glare.  We returned just before the luminaria lighting ceremony at 9pm.  The Luminaria are placed in memory or in honor of loved ones with cancer and line the inside perimeter of the track.  Then some outline the word HOPE in the middle of the circle.  It was an amazing sight.  Since we still had time before our shift, we walked up to the movie theater to watch The Adjustment Bureau, with Matt
Damon, and arrived back just in time to pick up our PFD’s (the Cruisers team sign) and start on our hour-long walk.  With the music and activity, the hour passed quickly. We were glad we had a chance to help out.  The Cruisers team raised over $5000 in support of the American Cancer
Society.  Marathon as a whole raised over $100,000.  Another record-breaking year, thanks to a very committed group of volunteers.

Kindness of Friends (Family)

We had a great time with Tom and Dau during our stay in Vero.  We enthusiastically accepted an invitation to dinner on Sunday, that found us at Dau’s mom’s house, where we enjoyed the luxury of a swim in a pool and air-conditioned comfort for
dinner.  Wow!  The next day, when Tom wasn’t taking us to one or more marine chandleries, we spent some time on Windward at the Harbortown Marina. As a way of doing something in return,
Cathy took a trip up Windward’s mast to run a new spinnaker halyard.  After a few false starts, we finally managed to run it through the mast
and out through the hole at deck level.  After a dinner at a wonderful little café in downtown Fort Pierce, we headed back to Orion, with lots of thanks and hugs goodbye.  We couldn’t have made the repairs to Orion so quickly without their help, and we enjoyed spending time together during
our stay.  As always we’re dependent on the kindness of friends, strangers, or (in this case) distant
relatives.

Wind – Too Much or Too Little

It’s all about the wind. There’s either too much or too little. At this point, there is way too much.  Since we’ve seen over 30 knots inside the Fernandina mooring field, going offshore is not in the cards until the front passes through.  So, we wait for the wind to calm down, but not too much, so we can hop up to Charleston.   We’re not alone, since lots of boats here in the harbor are having the same discussion about weather.  So, we wait, but it’s been only 9 days since we left Marathon, having traveled 500 miles along the length of Florida, it’s not bad to take a day or two to regroup and get ready for the next run.  We can wait for the right wind.

Our time in Marathon is winding down, as March comes to an end and the winds start to offer more opportunities to go to the Dry Tortugas.  Of course, as the winds shift more southerly, the temperatures rise, along with the humidity, so it won’t be long before we will be heading north again.

Dania Beach Nautical Flea Market

We were offered a chance to take a trip to Dania Beach (near Fort Lauderdale) one day for the annual Dania Beach Nautical Flea Market.  This attracts a lot of vendors who cater to the marine market, selling everything from anchors to zincs.  We rode with Larry and Carolyn, from First Light, whom we had met at the Marathon Ham Lunch.  They spend their winters in Marathon and make the trip every year. 

It’s at least a 2-hour drive each way, so we left and returned in the dark, arriving at the Flea Market about mid-morning on opening day.  After paying our entry fee, we got to work, scouring almost all of the rows of vendors, but making only a few small purchases.  We don’t need much on Orion, and we don’t know what we’ll need for the next boat.  So, we mostly tried to understand what the possibilities were, in case we wanted to come back next year. 

By mid-afternoon, we were on our way back to Marathon, stopping for dinner and a little Wal-mart shopping before pulling into the marina after 9pm.  It had been a long day, but the market was interesting.   Depending on what we might be looking for, it might be worth a return trip.

Making Connections

 One Friday evening, Dave was reading the local paper where he learned that a CPR class was scheduled at a nearby resort the next day.  It was too late to do more than leave messages with the local Red Cross, so we decided to just show up the next day.  After their initial shock at having 2 instructors walk in, we were quickly put to work and helped with some logistical problems (the DVD player was quirky and had no remote) and did some coaching to help the class go more smoothly.  Although the scheduled instructor could have run the class without us, we like to think we made it go a little faster and helped give more individual instruction.  After offering to help with other classes, we headed back to the marina, thinking that would likely be the only class we would teach while we were here. 

Not so.  On Wednesday, we received a call to help teach a class scheduled for Saturday in Key West.  When we explained that we had no easy transportation to Key West (in time for the class to start), we were told not to worry.  We could use the Red Cross vehicle, which they would drop off the day before.  We even were allowed to keep it until Monday, which allowed us to do some grocery shopping without lugging the goods all the way back from Publix.  It was a win-win for both the Red Cross and for us.  They got to hold a scheduled class, we got to help out and enjoyed the use of the vehicle.  Maybe this will be the beginning of a longer term relationship if we find ourselves back here next year.

Boat Shopping

We continue to explore other boat options while we can.  We were invited aboard an American Mariner 24, that is notable for its headroom, being the tallest of the boats we’ve been on so far.  We managed to get on a MacGregor 26 that was for sale on eBay, but located nearby.  The headroom was disappointing, and we think we’ve ruled this one out.  We’ve talked to other sailors about their experiences as well.  Fran and Floyd from Prior Ties arrived in the harbor from the Bahamas and joined us on Orion to discuss their experiences with trailer-sailers.  We also met another couple on a Telstar 31 trimaran, Ken and Judy on Try Oomph, who also gave Dave a tour and shared their insights.  We even took advantage of the time with a car to stop at several boatyards and marinas to talk to people about boats that could meet our needs and that they might have for sale.  The only boat we actually were able to get on board was a Morgan 25, which once again lacked the headroom we’re looking for.  However, the conversations we’re having are allowing us to shape our expectations and refine our search.

Keeping Busy

So, when we’re not teaching CPR classes and looking for boats, what are we up to?  Well, we’ve done some minor maintenance on the boat, changing the Racor fuel filters and equalizing the batteries.  We’ve taken the dinghy to explore the myriad canals in the area, discovering that there are far more than we ever thought.  We made a return trip to the beach with Dave and Renee on Lunar Sea.  While they cleaned their dinghy, we spent some time on our outboard, which had become barnacle-encrusted in only a week in the water.  (We leave it up at night now.)   We managed to take in the United Methodist church’s fish fry, meet for wings at The Hurricane and sample the lobster reuben at Keys Fisheries, and we keep showing up for the Ham Lunch at Lazy Days on Wednesdays.

But now, we’re starting to get ready to move, so our attention has turned to getting weather, planning routes and getting topped off with fuel, water and food.  It’s been a great stay, but it’s time to move on.

Marathon has been full of activities since we arrived in early March. The weather has been warm, the harbor friendly, and the facilities comfortable.  We keep running into cruisers from Dinner Key and points north, as well as having met some people shoreside through activities like the Seafood Festival and the Waterway Net.  It’s been a good start to the month.

Something Old, Something New

It’s been interesting checking out the changes or lack thereof in Marathon, since we last visited 3 years ago.  First of all, there are the improvements in the marina – new showers, laundry, a huge new dinghy dock, WiFi, 2 flat screen TV’s in the marina with comfortable theater chairs, lots of tables and plugs for using computers on shore.  And as we’ve walked US 1 east and west of the marina, we’ve noted the new along with the familiar.  They still have 25 cent wings at The Hurricane.  There’s still a Home Depot, Public and Winn Dixie nearby.  Keys Fisheries still sells a lobster reuben, but they have opened a new bar called Keys Drinkeries. West Marine has moved and expanded, but you can’t dinghy there any more.  The Overseas Bar and Grill which closed when we were last here still stands empty.  The Cruisers Net is still a fixture every morning at 9am.  They have Meet n Greets every Wednesday, which are now more organized than before.  The bus to Key West still runs, but the price has gone up to a $1.50 each way.  You can still dinghy to the marinas at the harbor entrance for gas and get free ice.  Marathon Community UMC is still welcoming transients like us and having a fish fry at the end of March. 

And most telling, the building across the street from Publix is still under construction after 3 years having passed.   

Growing Up

We’ve been used to having one of, if not the smallest dinghy in the harbor with our little 7+ foot Zodiac inflatable.  (It is the largest dinghy we could find that fit on our foredeck.)  However, as we look to move to a smaller, trailerable boat, we’ve been considering other alternatives.  The one that we kept coming back to was a Portabote.  This is a folding dinghy that will collapse to only 4” wide for stowing.  Bob and Trish on Pogopelli (their Tonic 23), had used one for several years and were able to store it on deck. When we arrived in Marathon, we discovered several of them for sale.  Dave started checking them out, and we even were lucky enough to be offered a ride in one by Bob on Pogopelli one windy night that might have gotten us pretty wet on our Zodiac.  We stayed dry as could be.  We were convinced.

Although our preference was for a 10ft boat, we couldn’t pass up a deal on a 12 ft boat that was in great condition.  Once the deal was closed, it didn’t take long before we had moved our outboard over to the new Portabote.  We began cruising the harbor in all conditions without worrying about getting wet or how much stuff we had on board.  What a dream!  To get ahead of any growth on the bottom, we took her over to the beach on Sisters Creek to clean and wash the outer hull.  Since she is so much longer and there are no secure attachment points at the bow, Dave made a new, longer steel cable to enable us to lock the boat and motor when we leave the dinghy for a long time at the dock. 

We still have to fold her up and load her on deck, which will be the bigger challenge.  In the meantime, we’ve put our little Zodiac up for sale.  So it looks like we’ve graduated from having the smallest dinghy in the harbor to one of the biggest.  Not something we would have expected when we started out this year.

Stormy Weather

We were off the boat one morning when a promised storm rolled through the harbor, the black clouds having blocked out a beautiful blue sky within less than an hour.  The storm was a nasty squall with winds up to 50 knots (~ 58 mph), but only one clap of thunder as it blew itself out over the harbor for a couple of hours.  Orion was unaffected, other than a little water that had come in through a couple of open hatches in the head and galley (oops!).  However, our friends on Celise / Spirit were not so lucky, having suffered a lightning strike (remember that one clap of thunder?) in the water nearby.  As a result, they lost all of their electronics, their inverter and some other electrical components, leaving them without a means of charging their batteries.  They called an electrician (who was the one who diagnosed the problem as a lightning strike), and he was on board shortly after the call.  He inventoried the damage and placed an order for the necessary replacement components, expecting them to arrive the next Tuesday (the storm passed through on Thursday).  However, the batteries still needed to be charged in the interim.

Dave had offered his assistance, and when Cort accepted, Dave was over in minutes, helping him wire his solar panels so they could charge the batteries.  He also suggested they could reduce the load by putting ice in the fridge, which allowed them to turn it off for the interim.  By later that afternoon, Cort and Carolyn were feeling much better and had relaxed enough that they accepted an invitation for frozen drinks on Orion. Lunar Sea  accepted as well, and we enjoyed a re-telling of storm stories as we laughed and relaxed in Orion’s cockpit.  On Monday night, still limping along on their solar charger, Celise / Spirit returned the favor.  With the time change, we were able to gather a couple of hours before sunset and not strain their power situation by turning on lights. 

By Tuesday afternoon, the electrician had come and gone, having installed the inverter and some of the replacement components, allowing them to charge their batteries again.  There was more to do, but the worst was over.  They were very grateful to Dave for his help, which is part of what this life is all about. 

Could someone pass the lobster?

The Marathon Seafood Festival arrives on the second weekend of March each year.  So, we arrived in the harbor just in time to experience it again.  As we did three years ago, we volunteered to work at a booth.  However, this time we were lucky to be assigned to one of the food booths.  We were scheduled to work the last work slot of the festival, so after handing out a dizzying number of sea food platters (Cathy) and slicing a bushel of lemons (Dave), the food began to run out and the work died down.  (Of course, we were allowed to fortify ourselves with some pieces of fish and bits of lobster along the way – just to keep our energy up.)  While the festival wound down, we closed out our shift by clearing trash and cleaning up (being offered some sweets by the dessert booth as we passed through).  This wasn’t too bad. 

Just before closing, a decision was made to sell the remaining cases of lobsters by themselves.  Since most of the volunteers were gone by that time, we found ourselves scrambling to prepare takeout trays and then started selling lobster hand over fist.  In the space of 20 minutes, we took in over a thousand dollars.  (We even bought a few for ourselves.)  As we cleaned up once again, we were offered the leftover frozen smoothies from the vendor down the way.  They hit the spot.  With our work done, we headed back to the marina, took showers and made our way back to the boat, looking forward to enjoying the lobsters we had worked so hard for.

Key West – What do you mean it’s Mardi Gras?

Soon after arriving in Marathon, we knew we wanted to catch the bus to Key West.  We had read that we could learn more about the regulations for the Dry Tortugas there at the Florida Eco-Discovery Center.  So, with Dave and Renee, we set out early one Tuesday morning to catch the bus outside the marina on US 1.  The hour-long ride was uneventful, and we disembarked at the Publix where we were planning to transfer to the downtown shuttle.  However, we had some shopping to do, so we started walking toward downtown, stopping at Sears and Radio Shack along the way.  By the time we made it to Miami Subs, we were hot, thirsty, and hungry, so we ate an early lunch, cooled off, and studied the local map to decide where to go next.

We were far enough along on the way downtown, that we abandoned the search for the bus and instead decided to walk the rest of the way.  We ended up at the Southernmost Point monument, where it proclaims we are closer to Cuba (90 miles) than to the mainland (100 miles).  Since there was a line that had formed to get your picture taken at this spot, it didn’t take us long to realize we were at the height of the tourist season.  We knew we were in Spring Break territory for a number of schools before we left Marathon, but it took us a little longer to put together that this Tuesday was the day before Ash Wednesday, making it (that’s right) Mardi Gras.  We obviously were one of the few who were out of touch on this point.  The bars on Duval Street were heavily advertising their parties for the night (free beads!).  We hoped to be well on our way home before too much craziness took over the downtown streets.

We finally made it to the Eco-Discovery Center, which is on the waterfront near the lighthouse.  Although they had some info on the Dry Tortugas, it didn’t really justify the trip, since most of it we already knew.  We spent a little time checking out their exhibits on the Keys marine life, watched the movie and then moved on.  Dave and Renee spent the time instead at the famous Green Parrot Bar, which is where we caught up with them.  As they finished their beers, we struck up a conversation with a couple who were down here on vacation and had caught a glimpse of the SV-Orion logo on our shirts.  On a sailboat?, they asked, and it went from there.

After wondering Duval Street for a while longer, we were starting to get hungry again and got a recommendation to try Alonzo’s Oyster Bar, where we had a great meal on half-price appetizers.  The service was excellent as well.  By the time we were done, it was time for the sunset performances at Mallory Square.  We took in a few of these before we decided we needed to start heading for the bus stop to make our way back.  We detoured by a Radio Shack, so Dave and Renee could buy a new stereo component for their boat.  With this large box in hand our progress was slowed, and we arrived at the bus stop just after the bus we wanted had passed, causing us to wait almost 45 minutes for the next one.  This late in the evening, the only downtown bus running went the long way back to Publix, taking an hour to make the circuit.  Luckily, we got on one stop before the Duval St pickup, where the bus filled to standing room only, not all of whom were completely sober.  This was to be the same circumstance for the next 2 hours of bus rides all the way back to Marathon.  It was therefore a weary foursome that made our way back to our dinghies around 11pm.  We were glad to get back to Orion and call it a day.  Key West is great place to visit, but maybe next time we’ll make sure it’s not Mardi Gras before getting on the bus.

“Ham”-ming it Up

Whenever we move the boat, we check in on the Waterway Net, a Ham radio network of cruisers and former cruisers.  They keep track of check-ins and, in case of emergency, will let loved ones know where we are.  One of the anchors of the Waterway Net is Chuck, call sign ND7K, a Marathon resident, whose powerful transmitter makes him the go-to guy when no one else can be heard on the net.   Although we’ve spoken to Chuck numerous times on the net, we’d never met him in person.  With our arrival in Marathon, we had our chance to do so at the weekly Waterway Net lunch.  We checked in the first Wednesday after our arrival in the harbor and Chuck offered to pick us up and take us to the restaurant. 

The lunch was held at Lazy Daze at Marathon Marina, with a beautiful view of the water out toward the 7-Mile bridge.  We were joined by about 25 other club members and had a good time putting names and faces to Ham call signs. Chuck was a gracious host, and it was fun learning his background (e.g., as a cattle rancher, he once traded half a steer for a barrel of anchor chain), as well as that of the others around us.  We’ve been back a second time and will likely return until we have to leave.  Until then, this is Kilo India 4 Whiskey India Tango, clear.

Dry Tortugas or Not?

We have had a couple of weeks of easterly winds that just won’t let up.  It’s great for getting to the Dry Tortugas, but not so great for getting back.  So, we’ll keep looking for the weather and hope it will open up before too long.  In the meantime, Marathon’s not a bad place to be.

After taking in the Miami Boat Show, we began to get ready to leave Miami for the Keys.  However, the stars didn’t align until a week later.  So, as February drew to a close, we dropped our mooring lines and headed out of Dinner Key for the two-day trip to Marathon.  We had enjoyed our stay, but were anxious to move into the Keys and eventually the Dry Tortugas.  We were joined by Dave and Renee on Lunar Sea.  They had been looking to move to Marathon, so we joined up for the trip.  Although it took us a couple of days get a mooring ball, we simply anchored outside for that time before moving into the harbor.

Miami Boat Show

We’ve been to boat shows in several cities – from the sailing mecca in Annapolis, to its smaller cousin in Newport, RI, and the powerboat-oriented ones in DC and Baltimore – but we’d never made it to the boat show in Miami.  So, we decided to time our trip to Miami to learn more about this event and start the process of looking for our next boat (more about that later). 

What we learned early on was that the Miami Boat Show is big and spread out.  It takes place at 3 different venues: two different marinas on the mainland and the Miami Beach Convention Center on the barrier island.  With this much ground to cover it was hard to see how we could digest it in just one day.  The show provided transportation between venues – by bus or water taxi, but the trip between venues could take a half-hour or more.  You certainly didn’t want to eat up the day on the travel back and forth.  We had to plan carefully.  To get a better understanding of what was at each venue, we decided to take the metro downtown a day before the show opened.  We could stop at the 3 sites and get a sense of what each held that was of interest to us, deciding how to make the most of our time.

The two marina locations were for mainly for in-water display of boats: sailboats at Miamarina at Bayside (aka “Strictly Sail”) and powerboats at Sea Isle, just north of the Venetian Causeway.  There were vendors in tents at each of these locations, and also seminars that took place and hands-on classes available at each.  Strictly Sail was a much smaller version of the Annapolis Boat Show.  But by far the biggest venue was the Convention Center.  The entire first floor was almost completely covered in boats, with more outside in the parking lot.  And then there were vendors everywhere – some on the same floor with the boats, many upstairs on the 2nd and 3rd floors and still more outside in tents.  It was a bit overwhelming, but we now knew where we wanted to spend our time. 

After some consideration, we decided to go to the show on Saturday.  This would allow us to meet up with Tom and Dau, who would be spending the night on Orion.  We would meet up that evening at Strictly Sail which was the site of the Lattitudes and Attitudes party after the show.  We decided to start with Strictly Sail to check out some of the boats there, then travel to the Convention Center to talk to Lewmar about portlights (again) and Skandvik about a faucet problem.  Then come back to Strictly Sail mid-afternoon to finish up with the vendors there and be in place for the party.  The plan worked pretty well.  We saw the boats we were interested in, found the information about replacing our broken portlight handle from Florida Rigging, got tips on fixing our squeaking faucet from Skandvik, and learned more about composting toilets from a couple of vendors.  (It’s a dirty topic, but may be necessary on our next boat.)   By 6pm, we were ready to sit down, enjoy the music and pizza from the concert.  It wasn’t long before we saw Tom and Dau.  By 9:30pm, we were dragging and made our way out to the car for trip back to the marina.  It was a long day, but we had a good time. 

Tom and Dau headed back out the next morning for their 2nd day at the Boat Show.  We took a day off, but returned on Monday, sticking with Strictly Sail and the Sea Isle venue.  We wanted to get another look at some sailboats and check out the Ranger tugs at the powerboat venue.  By mid-afternoon, we felt we had done the Boat Show well enough to call it a day and head home – our heads swimming with information about boats.

The Next Big(?) Thing
8927 Seaward 26Rk

So, why are we looking at sailboats?  We already have one, right?

We have been thinking for a while that we wanted to do something else, having traveled up and down the East Coast for nearly 5 years.  We had once considered doing the Great Loop and have talked about the west coast of Florida.  Although we can do this in Orion, it would be problematic.  Orion’s draft in the shallow waters of Florida’s west coast would keep us out of places we would like to see.  Traveling the Great Loop would require her mast to come down and sit on deck, possibly more than once.  This would require professionals to lower (un-step) and raise it (re-step).  So, we started thinking about getting a smaller sailboat.  One that could be trailered and had a shallower draft.  We had first come upon this idea when talking to a couple in Vero Beach, who cruised half the year in a Jeanneau Tonic 23.  Although it wasn’t in the water where we could see it first-hand, they sent pictures of her and described the modifications they’d made.  So, it seemed it was possible.  We talked to Tom and Dau, who have a Mark 23, which they are looking to sell.  Maybe we could transform something like this into a cruising boat.  Another couple we met at Dinner Key had cruised on a Westerly Pageant 23.  They had sailed Alaska’s inside passage on it, among many other places.

There seemed to be lots of possibilities, but we needed to get on one.  We didn’t even know if we could stand up inside a smaller boat.  Plus, could we make the smaller space work after life on the relatively spacious Orion?

So, when we went to the boat show, we were looking at actually getting on some of these boats and getting a feel for them. The one that had the most potential was the Seaward RK 26.  It is trailerable, has a retractable keel, giving it a minimum draft of about 2 feet and a maximum draft of 6 ft.  The mast can be un-stepped by a single person, and the cabin below looked well-appointed, but would need some modifications for cruising.  We were serious enough about it that we spent quite a bit of time on board, coming back for a second day (thanks to the generosity of the Tim DeVries, the Seaward sales manager who provided us  tickets) to get more information.  The Seaward is extremely well-built, but this would be another major investment, meaning we would have to sell Orion first.  We have been planning to put Orion up for sale at some point, the question has been when to start the process?  Could we live on Orion while fixing up a new boat?  If she sold first, what would we do?  Lot’s of questions.

Which is where we are now, mulling over the options.   In the meantime, if you are looking for a boat that’s ready to go cruising, take a look at Orion, for the right price, she could be yours.

The Barnacle

In the middle of busy downtown Coconut Grove, there is a small sign about The Barnacle, an award-winning state park with a remnant of the “real Florida”, meaning life around the turn of the 20th century. We finally found a day to travel down the path to this oasis in the midst of the city.  The winding path leading back from Main Highway takes you into another world and another time.   Surrounded by a marine hammock, the path eventually opens up to a clearing with a house and a stunning view of Biscayne Bay.  This was the residence of Ralph Monroe, an early settler of Coconut Grove, who built the house that still stood, having weathered several hurricanes, along with many boats that sailed the bay.  The guided tour gave us an interesting glimpse into the Florida that existed over a century ago.

Dinner Key – Parting Shots

The same weekend as the Boat Show, was the Coconut Grove Art Festival, that literally surrounded the marina, closing roads, snarling traffic and causing us to get permission to leave and re-enter the marina through the Festival grounds.  )We just told the security guards we were on moorings at the marina and they let us through.)  It was very hot, so we kept our strolling through brief, but the show is apparently a very competitive venue for the artists selected to present their works.  The works are judged in a number of categories and prizes awarded.  Artists come from all over the country.  These are not your typical arts and crafts from the typical street fair.  I sneaked a peak at a price tag at a booth that won the first prize for the “Fiber” category.  It was a ladies jacket.  Price tag: $2700.  This was obviously a world that was way beyond me, but it was interesting to get a glimpse at some of the fare.

The last Saturday before we left Dinner Key, some friends from United Christian Parish (our home church back in Reston) were going to be traveling through on their way back from a trip to Haiti.  They had a long layover at the airport.  Since we were still in town, we took a bus ride to the airport and joined them for lunch.  We enjoyed catching up with them, learning about the mission/school in Haiti and the whereabouts of the youth we worked with several years ago.  We bid them goodbye after a few hours of conversation and headed back to the boat.  We needed to haul the dinghy and stow it before dark, to be ready to leave the next morning.  Darkness was just closing in as Dave finished tying down the dinghy.  We were just about ready to move again.

Off to Marathon

It’s a two day trip from Miami to Marathon.  We chose a weather window with a little more wind, that would hopefully allow us to sail most of the way.  The winds were going to be moving from ESE to SE, as our course moved from S to SW to WSW.  If the wind was the strength and direction forecasted, we could sail most of the way to Marathon. 

We motored across the bay and then as we headed out the Biscayne Channel, the winds and waves increased.  Once we ducked in behind the reef in Hawk Channel, the waves would be reduced, although on the beam, Cathy’s least favorite angle.  The wind stayed up initially, allowing us to sail on the headsail alone, but by mid-day, the winds were dying (contrary to forecast, which had them building).  We used this opportunity to pull out the mainsail for the first time since Pat repaired the webbing back in November.  The sail unfurled without incident and the repair held well.  As the winds built over the afternoon, our speed increased and we sailed all the way to Rodriguez Key, our stopping point for the first day.  We managed to tuck in behind the island far enough for protection for the still higher 20 knot winds overnight. 


Although we had an uneventful night on Orion, Lunar Sea was not so lucky,  Around midnight, Dave poked his head up to look around and saw that Lunar Sea’s anchor light was pretty far away.  After Cathy confirmed this observation, he hailed them on the radio.  Dave on Lunar Seasaid he would check it out.  We went back to bed, but the next morning, we saw Lunar Seaback where she used to be.  Apparently, re-anchoring in the middle of the night made for a pretty tired crew.  So, as we approached Marathon, we agreed that if there was only one mooring available, it would be theirs.  We would do fine anchoring outside.  Sure enough, after first hearing that there would be no moorings available, then hearing that 2 were available, the final answer was that there was only one.  We had Lunar Seatake it and we anchored outside.  However, to get our name on the waiting list for the next day, we had to dinghy in and go to the office in person to put our name on the list.  So, as soon as the anchor was down and set, we launched the dinghy and Dave hustled in to the office.  Despite our speed, Orion was 2nd on the list.  With the next day’s settled weather, it seemed a sure thing we would get a mooring.  So, we were dismayed to learn that only one mooring had come available.  By Wednesday, the forecast was deteriorating and winds were up.  It seemed unlikely that we were going to get anything, so we were looking at possible bailouts --- heading to Key West, anchoring somewhere else along the Keys, when we got the call.  We got our mooring. 

We headed in just after lunch, right on a low tide.  Since our mooring was in the eastern part of the field (row D), we had to take Orion around the inside of the mooring field.  At the narrowest part of the channel, the depths were dropping rapidly and started going below 5.5, which is our draft.  We were apparently too far to starboard.  We powered on through, seeing depths as low as 4.5ft, before getting back into deeper water as we cleared the narrow part of the channel.  Picking up the mooring was pretty straightforward after that.  After a quick trip to shore to register and take showers, we had Dave and Renee over to celebrate with some frozen margaritas, our first of the season. 

Welcome back to Marathon.

We’ve spent the last 2 weeks in Miami at Dinner Key Marina. Since we’ve never stopped here before, we have had fun finding our way around and seeing more of the greater Miami area.

Dinner Key Marina

Eighty years ago, where Orion sits on her mooring today, we would be in a prime spot to watch the comings and goings of PanAm’s Clipper fleet, sea planes that ferried passengers to all of its Latin American destinations.  The vestiges of this era are seen in the model planes in the Marina office along with the sample menus (e.g. filet mignon) and pictures of luxurious aircraft interiors.  The Miami City Hall next door was the main terminal and the old hangars are now boat storage for the nearby Grove Key Marina.  This was a major transportation hub in its day.

Now, Dinner Key Marina occupies much of the waterfront that was once PanAm’s domain.  The city marina has 7 piers full of boats and over 100 moorings just east of the breakwater that protects the docks.  Due to Orion’s somewhat shorter length, some incredibly lucky timing and the help of James at the marina, we managed to get one of the closest of these moorings to the breakwater.  With our small dinghy, this has been a huge benefit, since we have been able to use it most days that we want to, without worry about getting drenched.  Since the marina also has a shuttle boat, we can also choose to leave the dinghy at the boat.  It’s nice to have the flexibility.  With a free pump-out boat, access to a dock to pull in to re-fill water tanks and availability of fuel nearby at Grove Key Marina, it’s hard to ask for more.  Well, there is one thing that’s missing: WiFi. 

On shore, we are a short distance away from a grocery store, and the local Coconut Grove circulator bus will take us to the metro and throughout the town for only a quarter.  We have taken the metro to downtown Miami (only 2 stops away), taken buses to Miami Beach and Coral Gables, ridden the free Metromover monorail throughout downtown Miami to Bayside, the Omni and south to the Financial District (where Dave finally got a long-standing issue resolved at our bank).  It’s a relatively easy city to get around.  We walk a lot as well, exploring the upscale dining and shopping districts in the center of nearby Coconut Grove, checking out the impressive local hardware store, Shell Lumber, and the tree-lined streets that stretch north and south along the water. 

We were initially dismayed that most of the boats around us seemed to be local boats that were unoccupied much of the time.  Most of the cruisers were on moorings much further out.  With no cruisers’ lounge on shore, it was a little difficult to meet other boaters.  However, we gradually ran into others who had similar interests, and we managed to start up a weekly get-together that hopefully will continue even after our departure. 

What’s to See?

As with any big city, Miami offers lots to see and do.  We started our touring by heading downtown to the Visitor’s Bureau.  We found information in a guidebook that said this was on the 27th floor of a skyscraper downtown, but when we got there, there was nothing at ground level that confirmed this.  We took a chance, walked into the sleek Bank of America building and walked on to the first open elevator.  Oops.  Not so fast.  Apparently, these elevators don’t have buttons inside them.  Instead you walk up to a console outside the elevator, key in the floor you want, then it tells you which one to get on.  The elevator goes straight to that floor – fast.  When we got off, we were greeted and welcomed with an overwhelming amount of information and brochures, even a PC with internet access.  Then there was the amazing view from this office – of downtown Miami, the port.  It was definitely worth the trip.  We got more information about possible things to do that would help guide us through our visit.

The next day we took a walk north of the marina to Miami’s Science Museum and Planetarium.  As luck would have it, the planetarium show was about the Orion cluster of constellations.  (Did they know we were coming?) There were also some live demonstrations (with explosions) and several rooms of exhibits.  We started traveling further afield after that, joining our friends on Dream Ketcher for a ride up to Hollywood Beach’s boardwalk and into Ft. Lauderdale.  Later we rented a car to go see the Everglades and Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens. 

The Everglades

It’s hard to talk about our day in the Everglades without a sense of awe.  It was a nearly perfect day – sunny, windy and cool.  With it being the dry season, the animals were gathered together more than in the wetter months.  Along the popular Anhinga Trail, we were standing next to alligators, herons, egrets, nesting anhingas, purple gallinules, and on and on.  They were incredibly close and almost completely unfazed by our proximity.  It was hard to know where to look with so much going on.  The alligators were everywhere, simply sunning themselves on any higher ground they could find.  The nearby birds wandered around them, apparently unafraid of becoming the next item on the menu. 

We drove through the southwestern arm of the park to Flamingo, on Florida Bay.  This is a saltwater marsh environment, and there we saw a crocodile and flocks of white pelicans.  We couldn’t stay long, because we wanted to take in the Nike Missile Tour which required us to drive most of the way back to Royal Palms Visitor Center.  You might wonder, as we did, why there would be a missile site tour in the Everglades.  What we learned was that the Cuban Missile crisis inspired the US to build a nuclear missile site at what was then unused farmland in Florida.  It was operated for 15 years.  The tour was conducted by a man who had been stationed at the site while it was operational.  It had only been in the past 3 years that the tours had been conducted, and their popularity had them going 9 times a week.  We were glad we made it back in time to see these sites.

We found ourselves turning back for home with still more that we could have seen and done in the park.  It was an amazing place that we will hopefully get a chance to explore again.

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens

The Fairchild gardens were created in the last century by reclaiming 60 acres of mangrove swamp to transform them into gardens that recreate everything from desert landscape to a rainforest.  Within the gardens are endless varieties of tropical plants, augmented by the placement of several sculptures from a traveling exhibit by the LaLannes and Yoko Ono’s Wishing Tree.  We had a wonderful walking tour by a volunteer guide that was amazingly knowledgeable about seemingly every plant and tree that we passed.  Then we took a tram tour which gave us an overview of all of the park grounds.  It was a beautiful, idyllic landscape.

Bearing Up Well

We plan to stay in Miami through the Boat Show weekend (Feb 17 – 21) and then plan to look for weather to move into the Florida Keys and Marathon.  We have found a couple of other boats with the same general agenda and we might find some traveling companions to make the next hop.  In the meantime, we’ll get the most out of our stay here.  It’s not too hard to bear. 

We left Vero Beach about 10 days after arriving, despite the temptation to stay longer.  The latest cold front finally brought the north winds that would allow us to (mostly) sail down the coast.  This update finds us on a mooring at Dinner Key Marina, located in Coconut Grove.  The weather has been considerably milder and warmer than the weeks preceding.

Traveling South

When we left Vero, we weren’t sure where we’d end up, since we wanted to sail as much as possible.  But, as we were passing the Ft. Lauderdale sea buoy when it was still dark, we aimed instead for Key Biscayne.  We would arrive in time to set anchor in early afternoon.  Our only motoring was over the distance traveled inside on the ICW from Vero to Fort Pierce and from Miami’s Government Cut inlet to the anchorage in Key Biscayne, plus a few hours in the evening when the wind died.  We made the trip in 32 hours with an average speed of 4.5 knots, putting only 8 hours on the engine.

The only excitement for the trip was being boarded by the Coast Guard off Lake Worth in the early evening.  Once on board, we showed them our Coast Guard Auxillary inspection from January, which minimized their time on board.  However, in the course of our encounter, we ended up heading north for a while and our hourly SPOT transmission showed this on our website.  Not long after we were back on course south, we got a phone call.  It was Dave’s dad asking what was going on.  He had been monitoring our progress and noticed the bizarre pattern.  You can run, but you can’t hide.

Boat Stuff

 With our arrival in Key Biscayne, we were finally in weather that would be consistently warm for the foreseeable future.  That meant there were a few boat maintenance tasks we had been putting off that we could now address.

Cathy’s task was inside the cabin.  The cold temperatures of the trip down create terrible condensation all along the interior surfaces along the hull, which is impossible to keep up with.  This leads to mildew.  With the cold gone, the condensation is no longer an issue, but all the walls and ceilings had to be cleaned to remove and kill the mildew.  Using a rag, a scrubber sponge and some vinegar water, she got to work scrubbing the main saloon and galley, going inside the portlights, hatches, lockers, anywhere that mildew could accumulate.  It looks a lot better as a result.  (But there’s still more to do.  You can only clean so much at a time.)

Dave’s project was (unfortunately) in the water that was now clear and warm enough (sort of) for him to go under the boat to change the zinc on the prop.  In the process of his dive, he noticed that, while the zinc was in good shape (he changed it anyway), there was a fair amount of fishing line wrapped around the shaft.  He managed to get a lot of it off.  While in the water, he also cleaned the water line and cleaned a few barnacles off the prop. 

Vero Beach - Parting Shots

More music and social time followed on the following Thursday with the weekly Cruisers meet and greet on shore at the marina.  And, of course, lots of good food.

We also discovered the nearby Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary, which was a beautifully landscaped island with tributes to each of the armed services.

On the way back to the boat, there was another moving memorial to firefighters, which included a piece of steel from the World Trade Centers.

Dinner Key

 

We moved from Key Biscayne to Dinner Key on Sunday, January 30th, and are still deciding how long to stay.  There is a lot to do here in Miami, but it’s hard to decide whether to take it in now or wait till we come back through headed north.  We’ll let you know.