APRIL 6-7, 2021

 Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Day 121.

I was up early and ( first one up), turned off the anchor light. We had coffee and Roland experimented with a new recipe for German apple pancakes. Really good, really sweet.

The wind was only three knots, so dinghy down. It was only our second lowering of the dinghy with the new 59 pound motor. We actually do better each time, but we are still looking for ways to improve the system.

We motored over to a couple of different beaches on unoccupied islands that grow and shrink with the tide.

 Lots of jellyfish on the beach waiting for the return of the tide to wash them back into the water. Captain Roland pointed out that there were no birds or insects on the jellyfish “bodies“; very curious.

 Also, strange sand holes and mounds; possibly, sand worms?? Very weird.

Our solitude on the beach was very brief. Pontoon boats started arriving to enjoy the day. We walked about 2.2 miles exploring two different beach islands.

Our new motor had successfully trained Captain Roland so that he is caring for it the way it prefers, and it supports him by starting pretty quickly. It was a pleasure that the motor started on the first pull. The Captain was very happy with the new gas motor.

We dinghied back to Magic Moments for a lunch of grilled turkey burgers, and, in the afternoon, we went on another quick dinghy ride; it was high tide so there were new places that were accessible by water. And, mercifully, the beaches were deserted, so we knew we would have a quiet evening on the hook.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Day 122.

I awakened at 7am; worked out, had coffee and a shower and at 10am, we brought the anchor up and left our beautiful anchorage near New Smyrna, to cruise to Palm Coast Marina to see Roland’s sailing friends, Peter and Nancy.

As we were cruising, I spent the day doing paperwork, paying bills, doing taxes and yes, another credit card fraudulent Amazon Prime charge that had to be reported. What a pain to have to cancel yet another credit card. This time, I wouldn't be able to get a replacement until after we were back in Philadelphia.

It was a pretty day and a pretty ride to Palm Coast, although I missed out on a lot of the scenery dealing with the obligations of real life. Even worse, I knew that tomorrow would be another tax and bill day; and I hated missing all the sunshine.

As we passed Flagler Beach, the boat was inundated with hundreds of white butterflies; so cool. The ICW is very pretty in this area.

We arrived at 4pm to dock “on an angle”; I couldn’t believe the visual of the dock when we arrived Captain Roland had not mention to me that we would be docking on “an angle”, he didn’t know what that meant, and didn't ask, the dockmaster. When we arrived at the dock, I thought it was an optical illusion but in fact we docked parallel to a section of the dock that was in fact on an angle. It was very weird but the Captain did a great job. We did learn, at this docking that we were not charging our headsets sufficiently. We have modified our procedure and we keep them charged at all times. One never know when one may need the headsets!

As usual, as soon as we dock, I started the laundry, did the dishes, and straightened up the boat a bit because we were expecting Peter and Nancy to tour Magic Moments and have happy hour on the back deck (socially distanced).

After several servings of chips and rum, we went out to seek a restaurant. It was quite surprising that they were all packed and had an hour to an hour and a half wait. Finally we went to Flagler Beach and in an upstairs, outside, bar ,with very loud music, we had typical bar fare, burgers and sandwiches. Peter ordered a Philly cheesesteak (he says he really likes them).

Peter and Nancy told us that Flagler Beach is sort of the hippie hang out, specially attracting surfers. There are no high-rise buildings on the beach but a road runs between the beach and the houses and businesses.

We missed out on the the only possible “gourmet“ restaurant; the fish place we had heard so much about, closed at 7pm.....too late for our happy hour on the boat. Our loss!

Peter and Nancy (who were soon to be married in England --- Peter is English and all of his family is still there). They had met a number of years ago on the free dating website Plenty of Fish (how funny). Nancy had been a solo sailor for 5 to 7 years before she met Peter. Peter had been a sailor for 50 years and thought he had given up sailing; but he was mistaken. He and Nancy had been living and sailing on her 30 foot sailboat for about 6 years together. I had to admire them; they lived together on a small sailboat and they are not petite folks. I was not sure how they did it. They are both characters, fun to be with, and we had a wonderful evening.

Thursday, April 8, 2021. Day 123.

I was awake before 7am, and ran from 8 to 9, stretched, and showered (we were still in the marina so shower while we can!). Everybody at the marina was quite nice and there was a wonderful shaded path along the water where I enjoyed my run. We left Palm Coast at 10am; it was quite easy getting off the dock on an angle.

We had planned to spend a couple of days in St. Augustine, and then go offshore to Beaufort South Carolina. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating (surprise!). New plan: from Palm Coast to St. Augustine and offshore, without stopping, to Beaufort. I was very sad to miss my friends Evin and Paula who had planned to meet us in St. Augustine for dinner on Friday evening; but weather controls our life on the water. Evin and Paula went to St Augustine for dinner anyway! Love them.

At the 1pm opening, we passed under the bridge in St. Augustine.

 With Captain Roland at the helm, we entered the ocean at 1:10pm. He put on the auto pilot and, except for a passing freighter, and with Jacksonville on the horizon, the water, a beautiful aqua, was our only view.

Quiet Cruising April 4-5 2021

 Sunday April 4, 2021. Day 119. Gail and Michael’s Anniversary.

I got up early and texted congrats; 40^th! Their celebration: cruising with us from Charleston SC to Galesville, MD. All new territory for them, and help for us. I was already stressing about adding two more folks to the crew, but they are boaters, and will be a great help. I was optimistic that I would adjust, but a bit concerned that we would have the time to clean the boat, clear the second cabin, and have space for all my stuff.

The alarm was set for 6:30am so that I could run from 8:30 to 9:30; Roland wanted to leave Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach as early as possible, to get to our next destination, timely. Also, I wanted to take advantage of the marina water to wash my hair and take a very long shower, before we filled the water tank.

While I was running, Captain Roland visited with the Kroger Express folks from Chicago, and George and Rachel from “Rachael” dropped by. George had lots of helpful advice as he had just moved up to his Krogen 48 from a Krogen 44.

George was kind enough to come back at 10:30am to help us off the dock. The de-docking was a challenge, the slip was too short for George to really help with the stern lines on the pilings, the lines were way too heavy for me to maneuver at the end of a long boat hook, so again Roland had to run to the stern to return the lines to the pilings. It was not an easy de-docking.

I had a plan that I wanted to execute. When Michael and Gail are cruising with us, I was hoping they would handle the lines, leaving Captain Roland available to coach me at the helm, through docking and de-docking. I really wanted to be able to dock and de-dock Magic Moments. Our PO, Barbara, handled this boat on her own. Well, I’m not ready for that, but, I would love to learn to handle docking, and I thought that would be my opportunity. The Captain is game, and I was sure that Gail and Michael would be willing to support me.

Yay!, the ICW was quiet. It was Easter Sunday, and with the cloudy forecast, there were very few boats on the water. What a pleasure: peaceful, sunny, cool, and the water was beautiful. The winds were 10 to 15 knots. Nice. Saw some dolphins playing in the water, and pelicans diving for fish and sunning on pilings, as we cruised by.

I steered for a good part of the day, went under several bridges (all fixed therefore no need for requests for openings) which speeds up our travel, Yay! It was great to have a day without bridge delays.

We needed an anchorage to protect us from winds from the northeast. Captain Roland picked a location right outside of Honeymoon Lake, in the Indian River, just north of Palm Shores. At 3:45pm, we anchored. It was beautiful, sunny, warm and pretty quiet, except for the occasional rocking of the boat from boats going by. We had a great grilled dinner, so there were fewer dishes and therefore, I got to work on my blog. We planned an early start on Monday; it would be a long day.

Monday, April 5, 2021. Day 120.

Up early to prep for an early departure. Passover had ended last night, so we had poached eggs on toast for breakfast (one of my favorites), and then we pulled up the anchor at 7:46 am, and today’s cruise began.

 It was a cool morning, and I could feel the temperatures going down each day as we proceeded north. It was sunny and beautiful as we headed towards our first bridge, Merritt Island-Cocoa Bridge. It was fixed, no need to open. So quiet, so few boats: perfect!

We passed the sailing vessels “Martini” and “Island Lady”, who have been “buddy boating” for quite a while (or seems so listening to the radio exchanges). Roland imagined that they met sailing solo, and if all went well, would each sell their small boat, and buy a bigger one together. It was fun to pass them and say “hi” on the radio. We, of course, slowed down to pass them, thereby reducing our wake (which is very little anyway), but it is the considerate thing to do. As a former sailor, Captain Roland is very respectful of other boaters. Too bad he is so unusual.

I steered for part of the day and by mid afternoon we were cruising by more populated areas, homes, docks, fishing people, fishing birds, small craft like kayaks, and dolphins (early this morning) and even a manatee this afternoon, long docks, and pontoon boats (which are so popular). A favorite boat name for today: “Spirited Away”.

George Munson Bridge (a/k/a the Coronado Bridge), near New Smyrna, Fl., was our first and last bridge request of the day (Yay!). We were planning to anchor at the intersection of Ponce DeLeon Inlet and Rockhouse Creek, hoping it would not be too crowded.

We arrived at 3:30pm and, fortunately, there was room. We had anchored there going south, and I enjoy revisiting some of the lovely places that we had remembered going south. The anchorage was just as nice as I had remembered, actually, it was much better this time because there were not loud party boats on the nearby beaches.

Hopefully: light wind tomorrow and we will be able to take the dinghy down, and explore the beaches.

April Winds April 2-3, 2021

 Friday April 2, 2021. Day 117.

Last night was tough. It was cold and rainy and really windy. Late at night we had to go up with a flashlight to tie up the bimini at the top of the boat (shade cover on the flybridge). Not something that one person could do on his or her own (if they could have, he would have, and I would have stayed warm, dry and cozy inside!).

The boat was rocking and rolling last night and although there was a little less wind this morning, the forecast was for the wind to pick up big time at approximately 10am, and it did. So we decided on a second night on the hook. There we were in Peck Lake; the clouds in the sky and water around us were beautiful. Magic Moments was swaying in a large arc with the heavy wind. Except for the wind, the day was very quiet, and there were plenty of chores to do, so I kept busy. Due to the heavy wind rocking the boat, the Wi-Fi internet kept going out; very annoying.

Late in the afternoon we saw four people on racing paddle boards (I had never seen a racing paddle board; very snazzy), moving at an amazing clip, with the current and the wind. We chatted with them while they paddled by. They were going a very long distance. Even with a wetsuit, the current and the wind at your back, their outing was still above my pay grade. We wished them luck.

Saturday, April 3, 2020. Day 118.

I set the alarm for 6:30am, so we would be up early to prepare to leave our Peck Lake anchorage for Vero Beach. We had been to Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach on our way south. It’s located in a beautiful golf community and I was looking forward to running again in the area. It was overcast, and the winds were from the east at 14 to 16 knots which was not terrible, but it was good to leave early, hoping that the winds do not increase significantly.

It was tough getting the anchor up; it was really stuck in the bottom, so we had to force the boat around in different directions to loosen it. Captain Roland was at the bow washing down the chain as we pulled up the anchor, and I was at the helm following his detailed instructions “forward, reverse, throttle, bow thruster, port thruster, starboard, and on and on until the anchor was finally released. And then I steered out of Peck Lake and back on the ICW.

The wind picked up to greater than 20 knots, but it was on our side so it was not as rocky as it could have been. I waited several hours to eat to make sure I could handle food in those sea conditions.

I had to deal with my taxes and I was already up to Plan C, which I expected would work out. I also was still making phone calls to various credit card companies and utilities and insurance companies to advise them that, notwithstanding that the post office was sending back my mail to them marked “undeliverable” my address remained the same. Boring and time-consuming.

It was Saturday and sunny but the traffic was very light traffic (do to the heavy wind, maybe), and that was a pleasure for us. We arrived at the Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach at about 2:10pm. We got fuel, and pumped out, and then the dock hand guided us to a really nice slip on the far side of the marina, the new docks! It was a simple docking, and a great location, however, (why is there always a “but” ?), the brand new power stations (due to a change in the standards), did not connect with our boat. The dock hand said that he had experienced this recently with some older boats and said that there was an electrical fix that can be made on our boat, but meanwhile, we had to go back to the more crowded, older dock. Lovely! (to be read sarcastically); we now needed a modification to enable Magic Moments to connect to new power stations. Maybe I will sell the boat before we need to upgrade.

The dock hand gave us a card of a man who is an expert in this modification. He spends his winters in Vero Beach, but interestingly enough, he spends his summers at Hartge Yacht Yard in Galesville, Maryland, right near my sister’s marina, and where Magic Moments came into being, and we started this adventure. Small world!

The docking went well but the tie up was a challenge. The finger dock was extremely short, the slip was very narrow and we had to tie to pilings that were far beyond my reach, even with the boat hook. Captain Roland again to the rescue, he ran around to the stern to tie up Magic Moments so she would be secure and I would be able to disembark and embark on my own, which sometimes is a problem depending on the configuration; every docking is unique.

We met several boat owners at Loggerhead Marina, Kevin and Rachel on “Rachel”, a new Kadey- Krogen 48, from Beaufort SC, and a couple on a Krogen Express, from Chicago (they are quite fond of Philly, as that was where they met). One of the joys of cruising is meeting folks from all over and sharing our stories.

As always, when we get to a marina after several nights on the hook, I immediately start the laundry and walk or cycle to a supermarket. There are always lots of dishes to do and dinner to prepare.

I was looking forward to getting into bed and our newly washed sheets, and to running in the morning. Loggerhead Marina has a very nice pool and I may even consider swimming laps.

Returning north March 31-April 1, 2021

 Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Day 115.

We had planned an offshore passage to save a couple of days. Due to the endless number of bridges on the ICW in the Miami area, the inside trip can take forever! Last night the weather forecast was good, so I put on my patch and we secured the dinghy, the paddle boards, and everything else on the boat. We got up early in the morning; I took a pill, and put on the wrist bands, and, at 7:27am, we ventured out into the ocean. Unfortunately it was not to be. Although the weather report had said the winds would cooperate and the ocean would be doable for me, it was not the case.

The chop was heavy. Magic Moments was pounding on the swells, water was spraying on the windows, the glass bottles and dishes were clanging. We knew that we would have to be very careful opening all the cabinets after this to avoid breakage.

It was too rough; it was not fun. We turned into Miami and entered the north channel, surrendering to the reality that we would not be going offshore.

It was beautiful in the channel, and my stomach was calming down; I removed the wristbands. When we were 85% through the channel, a Miami Dade police motor vessel with blue flashing lights approached us and via radio said the channel was closed and forced us to turn around and go out and re-enter the south channel. The officer said the channel is closed when there are two cruise ships in the channel. Please note that the channel is huge, the two cruise ships were docked, no one was moving, there was no signage or other indication of any restriction and we were essentially through the channel!

 This was extremely annoying because we had to turn around and go out the whole way, and reenter in the south channel; we lost a couple of hours and it threw off our timing for the bridges (and there are LOTS of bridges).

Traveling near so many bridges so close together, causes the radio traffic to get crazy. The radio sounds like a cacophony of messages: announcements from the coast guard, boaters, and marinas, requests for openings, responses by the tenders; it is endless, loud and also unclear sometimes who is addressing whom.

After passing 16 bridges that required openings, and a few we could motor under, we anchored in Boca Lake (approximately 4:15pm). It was tight and very crowded, with a big sandbar (obviously a rather shallow area). 

 We anchored one hour before low tide, with only 3.1 feet under the keel, and a nearby neighbor trawler who complained that we were too close. I thought he had a point. Captain Roland felt that we were safe. Roland is attentive, careful and knowledgeable, and, in this case, he was correct. At 5:40pm, after watching, observing and calculating, tide, wind, and current, Captain Roland confirmed that he was satisfied with the anchorage.

As I’m sure I mentioned previously, one of the fun things to do while cruising the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW), especially in this area, is observing the homes from mega mansions to old style Florida; some classic with round columns, some with square columns, tiles, arches, modern, mediterranean, and eclectic.

In addition to enjoying the view and the landscape and the passing homes, checking boat names is also a kick. Two favorite boat names of today: “Drifting Coconuts“ and “Yachta Yachta”.

Another note of the day: at 8:am we passed our 1900 mile mark on our adventure, and, more importantly, neither of us have thrown the other overboard, nor jumped ship!

Thursday, April 1, 2021. Day 116. April Fools’ Day.

I am not sleeping through the night; awakening from time to time; not sleeping well does not make me happy!

We left early, and went under the first bridge of the day, at approximately 7:20am, and then the Spanish River Bridge a little before 8am. Minutes later, with a phone call alert, we passed Ann and Richie on their balcony in Highland Beach. It was great to see them (seriously social distanced...with binoculars!), and to wave and talk on the phone; Richie took a great video of Magic Moments as we cruise by and also some stills (one of which was with me on the bow in full Devigi.....the only way to cruise no matter the weather!). Very cool!

At the 15th Ave. Bridge in Boynton Beach we had to wait way too long. The bridge tender (I grade her very low on my list of bridge tenders), opened at an odd time and thereby messed up our ability to get through the bridge that was a mile away for its regular schedule, so we lost another 30 minutes.

We were trying to make the next bridge in spite of the hold up on the 15th Ave. Bridge by my least favorite bridge tender, and, as we were cruising at a rapid speed for us, Enosis, the sailboat behind us (way too far behind us), radioed the bridge tender for the Ocean Avenue Bridge and asked that he hold the bridge for him when he opened for Magic Moments. The result was that the bridge tender didn’t open for us at the normal opening time, he waited for Enosis to arrive 20 minutes later, and, then made us wait until the next scheduled opening. We lost another 40 minutes. Circling around, wasting time and fuel and increasing the risk of collisions; not my happy place. Enosis called us on the radio later and apologized for his request to the bridge tender recognizing that he held us all up unnecessarily. Kind and generous Captain Roland blamed the bridge tender, forgiving Enosis.

I steered on and off passing the beautiful homes. The passage was lovely, we had sun, a gentle breeze, and gorgeous homes to see as we steered from the flybridge.

At Boynton Inlet, the current was rough and the whirlpools resulting from the ocean intersecting with the ICW, made steering tough so the captain took over. When we went under the Lantana Bridge on the 10:30am opening, the bridge tender radioed to Captain Roland that he was cruising too fast through the bridge. Our cruising speed is really slow, and that was a surprise.

Several bridges later we approached 707 Bridge which opens on request. The tender opened the bridge only partway, just enough for us to get under, but shorter than full opening. This was amazingly unusual. Every tender tells every captain, to not enter the wooden fenders until the bridge is fully open, and this one only opened part way. The reason: there was a lot of heavy road traffic, Magic Moments is not that tall (25 feet), so we could get by with a partial opening and the time to hold up the traffic (reduced time to open and close) was minimized. We were quite surprised and wondered if that was verboten in the bridge tender manual.

Most of our travel was from the flybridge until the early afternoon when the wind picked up dramatically and suddenly, at 3:40pm, the rain started.

At approximately 5pm, we anchored; it took a second try to get the anchor to grip (not all bottoms are created equal). 20 bridges (15 on request), the timing and the stress, today was a long one. We plan to stay two nights at Peck Lake; we need some R and R!