Month: December 2023

It’s been a very fast couple of days here in Vero Beach. On Sunday, Dec. 10, we rented a car and drove back to Green Cove Springs to pick up our car. It’s about a 6 hour drive in total and being a Sunday, we had no trouble getting there and back. We did spend a bit of time chatting with Barb and John (Mojo) and Sharon and Rick (Orkan). Both couples were working hard to finish their jobs so they could start heading south. It was great to see them both, even if only for a brief chat.

Today, Monday Dec. 11 was a busy one!! We started the day early, returning the rental car before breakfast. The morning jobs for me included laundry, cleaning both heads and the galley. Mark worked on removing some small wood pieces in the cockpit so he can refinish them at home over Christmas. He also did some work in the engine compartment.

After lunch we worked on unloading all the boat stuff that we had temporarily put in the car. Things like our big storage shade cover and all the ropes that hold it in place were placed in the car for safe keeping while we moved the boat south. Once the car was emptied, we filled it with stuff going home with us – not much but a few items. We also spent a bit of time getting our dock lines set for the few weeks when we are away. We want to make sure Crimson Kathryn is in the centre of the slip and not rubbing up against the dock.

As a special treat, we met up with Julia and Brad, who are at the City Marina just south of us, and went out for a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant called Pompanos. It was great to see them again and to have a nice pre-Christmas celebration. We had a great meal and of course excellent conversation!!

Now we’re all ready for our drive home tomorrow. The plan is to drive straight home – we’ll leave here around 12:00pm and get home about 22hours later!! Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and I’ll be posting again in the new year!!

Our journey south started at 8am on Sunday, Dec. 3rd. We smoothly got off the pier with the help of Barb and John (Mojo) and had the current plus wind in our favour. We made great time travelling north to Jacksonville and we reached our favourite anchoring spot near Blount Island by early afternoon. It was a peaceful first night at anchor.

The next morning, Dec. 4th, we got going around 7:30am to catch the outgoing current and we went straight out onto the ocean. We definitely prefer to be on the “outside” instead of travelling along the ICW. It was a perfect day to be out there – the wind was from the north west and the waves were quite small (less then .5m). There wasn’t much wind so we motored but made great time. We rolled into St. Augustine around 1pm, stopped for a quick minor fuel up (30 gallons) at the municipal marina and continued on our way to another favourite anchorage – Matanzas inlet.

On day 3 we got going around 8am and as we started to leave our anchorage, we watched a sailboat run aground right in the area we were about to transit. This part of the ICW is known for shoaling and it is constantly being dredged and the navigation markers shift positions to accommodate these changes. The sailboat was just in the wrong part of the channel and that was it! As we approached the entrance to this part of the ICW, a trawler was coming north so we stopped to let them pass the grounded sailboat. Just when the trawler got close to the sailboat, they ran aground!! Oh boy!! Fortunately they were only stopped for a few minutes. They managed to back out and correct their path so they continued past us. Now it was our turn! We slowly entered the channel and found 14ft of water – no worries. We passed the stuck sailboat, gave them some feedback on water depths and then prepared to make our way around the dredging equipment. Just as we turned slightly to the left, we ran aground!!! Luckily we were going slow and Mark easily backed us off and we made it through the rest of the bend easily. The rest of the day was uneventful and we stopped for the night in Daytona.

Our plan for day 4 was to stop north of Titusville in an anchorage called mosquito lagoon. As we got close to this spot, the wind picked up to over 20knots so we decided to continue south to Titusville. It had been a really good day – the wind was from the north and we were able to motorsail a good portion of the day. The end of the day was a different story. We decided to anchor south of the Max Brewer bridge in Titusville – a place we’ve never stopped before. There were already 3 boats anchored so we went behind them to turn and face into the wind (which was still blowing hard). Just as we started our turn, the water depth went from 6 ft to not enough! We stopped dead and were quite nicely stuck!! It took some smart thinking on Mark’s part to get us going again. We deployed our jib and let the strong wind pull the bow sideways as Mark gunned the engine forward. We got off, quickly let the sail go so Mark could steer us around this one sailboat (it was a close call for their dinghy 😁). We ended this day anchored in front of the other boats in about 11ft of water.

After that exciting end of the day, we decided to have a very relaxed motor south on Thursday, Dec. 7. We only moved about 16nm to Cocoa. One thing I haven’t mentioned until now if that we have been doing all this travel on a “permit to proceed “. Foreign flagged vessels travelling in the USA can either do so with a cruising licence or a permit to proceed. A cruising licence can only be issued as the boat enters the USA. We had a mess up last spring when we returned from the Bahamas (too long a story to tell) so couldn’t get our cruising licence. Our permit to proceed allows us to keep moving along but we are supposed to report (in person mostly) to the CBP offices along our route. That is a very challenging request since many of these offices are at airports and nowhere near the ICW. When we arrived at Cocoa, Mark called the CBP office at Cape Canaveral (the closest one to our location) and was told we had come in person to get our next permit. So we made the 8nm journey back north on the ICW, tied the dinghy up at a restaurant pier and then walked the mile or so to the office. The whole process took about 3 hours and it was dark by the time we got back to the boat! But we now have our permit to proceed until we return after Christmas!!!

We spent the morning of Dec. 8th exploring the quaint downtown of Cocoa. There were lots of interesting little shops and one of the largest hardware stores I’ve ever been in. It was great to get off the boat and walk around for a couple of hours. We picked up some takeout lunch from a little bakery and headed back to the boat around 11:30am. We had made the decision that morning to head to Loggerhead marina a day earlier because of weather. So after our walk around Cocoa village, we pulled up our anchor and moved about 20nm south to our last anchorage. We had a great afternoon trip and it was a very calm, peaceful anchorage.

Today we only had another 20nm to get to the marina and it was an easy motor down the ICW. We arrived around 1pm and are now securely tied to the dock. Tomorrow (Dec. 10) we’ve rented a car and will drive back to Reynolds to pick up our car. We have a few things to do to get the boat ready to stay here in Vero Beach for the holidays. We’re hoping to head back home on Dec. 12.

We have now been tied up to the Reynolds pier for a month and it’s definitely time to drop those dock lines and move on down the river! This last week of jobs has been the smoothest and probably the easiest we’ve ever had! The list has been checked off everyday leaving us with very little to get done today (Sat., Dec. 2).

The last deck painting (for now) was completed on Thursday and yesterday we spent some time removing all the tape and returning everything to it’s spot. I spent the morning getting lots of laundry done because it will be a week before we’re back in a marina. Mark completed the rigging for our sails and then took a look at the dinghy. We hadn’t tested the motor yet this season so that was a must do job before leaving the dock. We lowered the dinghy into the water and within a few pulls, the motor was purring nicely! Mark took the dinghy out for a little spin and then back in position it went.

At the beginning of this week Sharon and Rick (Orkan – we travelled with them at the end of last season) arrived in the yard to start the process of launching their boat. We decided it would be fun to get together so Mark and I organized a dinner out on Friday night (last night). We joined Sharon/Rick and Barb/John (on Mojo) at this nice Mexican restaurant in town called La Casita. We had a fun dinner – good food and great company. After dinner we took a little drive through town to look at the Christmas lights. Green Cove Springs does a very pretty Christmas tree arrangement – lots of trees decorated by the town hall.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday, Dec. 3) we’ll get off the dock around 8am and make our way down the river to our first stop – near Blount Island (north Jacksonville). Monday we’re hoping to go on the outside (on the ocean) down to St. Augustine and then we’ll see what happens. We have 7 days to do this trip down to Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach. Last time (2021) we did this same trip in 4.5 days so we have lots of time. It’s nice to not be rushed!