January 11-17, 2015
Clay
and I departed this Sisters Creek free dock location mid-morning Sunday in wind
and overcast to arrive at Camachee Cove, St. Augustine mid-afternnoon.
Numerous housekeeping chores filled the remaining daylight hours, and we ended
the evening with an extremely casual dinner cooked in.
Rip,
roarin' and ready-to-go at 8:45 a.m. (early for us!), our departure was aborted
by fog. From our vantage point prior to departure, it looked to be smooth
sailing; the early morning fog appeared to have lifted. But the harbor entrance
presented an entirely different perspective with a dense layer of thick fog at
the waterline. Nothing to do but wait it out, which had Clay considering Plans
B, C, and D for the day ahead.
As
our cruise commenced an hour later, we detoured off the ICW to a diesel
distributorship to take on fuel; Plan A still looked mighty good with diesel
prices at Marine Oil and Supply. Clay's bonus was meeting a man who helped
build our boat at the nearby old Mainship factory. My bonus was a confidence
boost in Captain Clay's ability to handle, and more specifically dock, our boat
between huge shrimp boats with little-to-no wiggle room...literally! My comment
to the dockhand from afar as he indicated our space along the wall was,
"He(Clay)'s good but I'm not sure he's THAT good." He is!
With
both fuel tanks topped off, we rejoined the ICW toward Halifax Harbor, Daytona
and were soon bombarded by monsoon rains, fogging fly bridge windows and
greatly-reduced visibility. Clay was driving while I sopped up rainwater coming
from a) the now-leaking (but only in spots) fly bridge canvas top; but b) more
forcefully from the fly bridge floor's gutters which were designed to drain
water AWAY from the fly bridge, not INTO the fly bridge (I guess the forward pitch
of the boat from the heavy engines reverses the gutter-draining process).
To
add insult to injury only moments later, the instrument panel's "mid bilge
pump 1" light grabbed the captain's attention as it glowed a
brilliant red and thus beckoned Clay's presence below. That put me in the
driver's seat. Uh-oh! With limited visibility I saw a blinking red light at the
waterline ahead and in the distance, a bridge. Thankful it was a TALL bridge, I
feared not (well, maybe a little given the fact that I've only done a couple
bridges). And, with Clay below to check exactly how frantically "mid bilge
pump 1" was pumping and how quickly it would be joined by the four other
bilge pumps to keep SaSea Sally from sinking, I was in stress mode. Actually, my
heart, mind and body were in stress mode with elevated adrenaline and
heartbeat; I was in prayer mode, big time to the Big Man above! "I think I
can! I think I can," said the Little Red Engine. "I CAN DO
THIS," I thought, taking confidence from God and from the Little Red
Engine!
And,
I did! The red light ahead was merely a lighted channel marker. And, Clay
appeared in time to help me through the bridge, assuring me that the bilge
light on the panel HAD to be a false alarm; he could find no misplaced water.
And, he'd turned the bilge pump panel circuit breaker (breaking the switch
mechanism in the process) to quell the sound. Well isn't that peachy? So if we
ARE sinking we'll not know it, huh? Calgon (Walter, by now, you know the
reference).
On a
more serious note, there are five total bilge pumps. One is humongous. So, the
SaSea Sally minus one bilge pump, still has plenty of purging power should we
inadvertently take on water.
Arriving
in the still-driving rainstorm at Halifax Harbor Marina by 5:30 p.m., well ahead
of the 6 p.m. office-closing time, we were directed by the dockmaster to 'hang
out' in the harbor until a dockhand could be made available if we desired a
dockhand. Heck yes we desired a dockhand (who Clay thinks had left the marina
on an errand to make a little side money because he never showed). In
substitute, the security man showed up at 6 p.m. at our slip sans rain
jacket/hat to catch our lines then to register us by directing Clay to follow
him in the still-driving rainstorm up the considerable length of the walkway to
the gazebo where his registration papers lay. Really. That left me to the
utilities; water was a breeze to connect, but I was smart enough not to attempt
the massive and quite-heavy power cable solo. All parties were drenched and welcomed
a warm shower and dry clothes. Dinner was a non-event with a big bowl of
jasmine rice and Greek yogurt for me, and self-prepared corned beef hash, eggs
and toast for Clay. My nutritous meal planning seems to have been compromised
of late! Clay is kind to excuse me by emphasizing that I'm needed up top to
navigate and to assist him.
Tuesday
dawned with warming temperatures, brightening skies and the promise of a cool
but gorgeous day ahead. Well, not quite. We departed Halifax Harbor Marina late
morning just as fog rolled in big time! The day's weather routine was
established as we made our way toward Titusville (we had a deadline and
deadlines/schedules don't work well with Looper boating); the sun would burn
the fog off a bit, then the sun would disappear behind the clouds, and the fog
would roll in again. It was not a pleasant day to be boating! Once again, I
drove the entire way with Clay without touching the helm wheel!
We
welcomed the pump-out crew to the starboard side Wednesday morning as engine-maintenance
men Mark and Brett arived port side. Isn't that always the way it goes? With
engine folks and their equipment occupying the interior cabin and with windy
and very chilly temps presenting themselves outside the cabin, Clay and I chose
to make ourselves small but present onboard doing household chores that were
doable. Cleaning, office work, bill-paying, and computer work filled our
Wednesday. Late afternoon, we chose to hoof it to nearby ('nearby' is relative)
Save-A-Lot, the downtown grocery store to resupply. Glad we took our recyclable
totes and backpacks to distribute the weight of our purchases!
Thursday
was more of Wednesday with continuing tasks, but less wind and more sun trying
to poke through the clouds. We welcomed long-time boater friends Dave and
Brenda aboard late afternoon for Brenda to tour the SaSea Sally, then dinner at
nearby (again, 'nearby' is relative, especially now with a car) Dixie
Crossroads. The Jenkins clan had given us the heads-up on their favorite
restaurant(s) in the Daytona/Titusville area, so Clay directed Dave to this
restaurant where rock shrimp is the hands-down entree of choice. Thanks, Dave
and Brenda for the company and the ride! Thanks to the Jenkins', one and all,
for the recommendation; Dixie Crossroads was unanimous among the top three.
With
ever-present nesting instincts as we women often have, I was pleased to have
one more day in port before moving on. Again, more of the same this Friday with
scanned mail to process (thanks, Tonya!), with a credit card fraudulent charge
to report, with housekeeping chores to perform and correspondence to
transact. Nice day, but again much wind and thus a penetrating chill blowing
off the water. Our location at the Titusville Muni Marina afforded little protection
from the ICW waters beyond, and increased winds only added to the boat's
rocking and rolling!
Engine-man
Mark arrived to put the finishing touches on his maintenance work which would
enable a timely departure Saturday morning. And, Clay arranged a Friday-night
'date' with a frat brother from the past, Woody Crandall, who arrived late
afternoon for a beer and tour followed by guys' night out at Papa John's Pizza.
I was appreciative of the space today (you gals understand my meaning here!)
because constant togetherness deserves an occasional interruption...I was glad
to have it (the interruption, that is)! This Looper lifestyle takes some
getting-used-to!
Clay
and I walked the Titusville Marina Park Saturday morning in sunshine, 48
degrees and little wind before our 10 a.m. departure toward Stuart, FL.
Delightful! We are anticipating an overnight anchorage called Rocky Point
before reaching our next destination on Sunday in Stuart.
As I
bid you a fond farewell, my thoughts turn to happenings at home. Our hearts are
heavy with news of our dear neighbor Doris and the nearing end of her presence
among us. At times like these, my prayers are heartfelt for Doris, Howard
and the family; my wishes to be home to offer personal comforts will go
unfulfilled for now. May God be with them all.
