The Launching. Goodbye Titusville!

         Monday, April 8th, we got up early to tend all the little things that needing doing before we launched.  Dan did some touch-up painting.  I did the last minute laundry.  We collected all the trash.  We were kind of hoping they would come earlier than 1100 to put the boat in the slings of the travel lift, but their work day was delayed, and they came a little later and lifted the boat into the slings, then went to another job and then took their lunch break.  Dan and I sanded the parts of the keel that had been on the blocking and he painted those areas. 

        We were scheduled to launch at 1:00 pm, first thing after their lunch break, but it turned out another boat was having a mast stepped in the launch/haul-out area, and for some reason couldn’t detach the strap that tethered the top of the mast to the crane.  So we all settled down to wait for someone to truck in some other machinery to deal with that.  We got to experience the 2/3rds eclipse while we waited - the sunlight got a little dimmer around 2:00 pm but it didn’t last very long.  By 2:30 the needed machinery had arrived, the strap was detached from the mast, and the sailboat was moved over to the side so we could be launched.  It was all very anticlimactic, but Willie Dawes sure looked good!

Once in the water, we moved over to a nearby dock to fill the water tanks and Dan did a little washdown.  Soon a manatee floated belly-up on both sides of us to take advantage of the fresh water spilling out the scuppers. 

We finally left Titusville around 4:00 pm, and went out to anchor a few miles north, in Mosquito Lagoon.  Goodbye Titusville!

Tuesday we cruised up to Daytona Beach, both of us happy to finally be on the move again.  We had an uneventful night there and a very pleasant cruise on Wednesday to Marineland, where we took a spot on the marina seawall to ride out the wind shift and thunderstorm front on Thursday.  This is a very reasonably priced municipal marina with access to the beach.  Marineland is home to “the world’s first oceanarium” (est. 1938) and the place where the dolphins who starred in Flipper were trained.  There’s not much else here within walking distance, but the parking lot to the beach is popular with food trucks.  We enjoyed breakfast sandwiches this morning (Thursday, April 11) before the big front moved in.  They have a large basket of blankets available to keep customers warm, and Dan promptly made use of one while we waited for our food.  

The weather did not disappoint - we had very strong SW winds with gusts up to 30 knots at least, and lightning struck a tree across the ICW from us.  But it was all over in a matter of hours, and the wind will die down this evening.  We’ll continue our journey north in the morning. 

Tommie kept my crocheting safe and warm during the storm.  

The Haul-Out

       

On Wednesday, April 3, we brought the Willie Dawes over to be hauled out at Westland Marina & DIY Boatyard in Titusville.  We were here in December of 2022, for the first of our three haul-outs during our Great Loop adventure.  This is a very reasonably-priced yard, with very friendly people.  They let us live on board while we’re hauled, we can do all our own work, water and electricity are part of the cost, and they have nice hot showers and good laundry facilities so we can clean up after a long days’ work.  Thunderstorms and strong winds were predicted for Wednesday so we moved toward shore early, to hover in protection while we waited our turn in the sling.  It all went smoothly.  Then we gaped at the barnacles.  We have never had barnacles on the hull like this.  The yardsmen gave us a good pressure-washing, but we still had our work cut out for us.  Dan found us each scrapers and sponges and we spent several hours going over the bottom while the skies opened up and the rain poured down.  A hot shower never felt so good.  

On Thursday I did our laundry and brought my computer to the lounge to do some system updates and Dan spent the morning going over the entire hull with an electric sander.  We put our first coat of paint on in the afternoon - Dan wielding a roller affixed to a broom handle, and me with the brush attending all the spots a roller couldn’t handle.  Our friends Bob and Tracy from Three Sons came into the Titusville Marina and they stopped by to admire our work.  We cleaned up and joined them for dinner at nearby Pier 220.  They are just beginning the Great Loop; we gave them some tips for the Canadian canals. 

Friday we put on the second coat of paint.  After Wednesday’s thunderstorm front, the weather has been just perfect - not too windy, not too hot, and sunny.  Great days for painting and letting the coats dry.  We aren’t scheduled to launch until Monday morning (April 8) and with the bulk of the work done, we decided to relax a little.  We walked to the historic downtown Titusville and had dinner at Rob’s Burgers, then explored the area a little.  Titusville has some great parks, and several of them are dedicated to NASA and the space program.  There are individual monuments of the astronauts and the different spaceships.  There is also a nice little museum on Pine St.  

Saturday we had a great breakfast at a great little diner, and took a tour of the Titusville Space Museum.  We had a terrific guide named Gordon who told us many stories and pointed out many artifacts donated from both astronauts and NASA engineers and other workers.  There are models of the various rockets and launch towers, a layout of Cape Canaveral, and a complete bank of the early computers and machinery that the people who launched the various rockets worked at.  It was a very interesting visit, and we got so much out of it with Gordon as our enthusiastic and knowledgable guide.  

It’s Sunday, April 7th.  The boat work just needs the touch-up painting that is done right before hauling.  Dan is spending time in the engine room, I’m settled in the lounge awaiting the load of really dirty things from all the work.  The boat looks gorgeous.  Dan even waxed the propellor!  Later we’ll probably take another walk up town and find a new restaurant for dinner.  This haul-out was something of an impulse maneuver, because we had the time on our hands, but we are so glad we did it. Willie obviously needed the care.

Family Visit

We had a great day with Joe and Jo on Thursday, March 28th.  They came on board about 1030 and we immediately set out on a little tour of the area.  While the four of us caught up on each other's lives, we cruised up and down Haulover Canal so the Joes could see some manatees.  We also saw dolphins and several herons.  We had a good lunch, and chose a spot to watch the launch of the last of the Delta rockets. This was supposed to take place at 1:40 pm, then 2:40 pm, and then it was scrubbed altogether.  Oh well.

We turned back to Titusville and had dinner out at Pier 220. It was Joanna's birthday and the very kind waitress put a candle on her dessert and organized other eaters into a birthday chorus.  We all had a great time.

They helped us untie and we left them to their Uber back to Orlando while we relocated to a more protected anchorage to ride out the wind.

We've been here ever since, in the northeast corner of this section of river, anchored in the lee of the NASA railroad bridge.  We've seen two more satellite launches.  Dan has spent much of the days washing and waxing the topsides.  I learned to bake bread with einkorn flour, and ancient, unprocessed wheat that is very healthy and gut-friendly.  The bread-making process is very different because the dough needs a lot more time to rise, but the result is worth it.

Today Dan spotted what we thought was a manatee in distress, tangled in a crab pot warp.  We watched at the pot buoy bobbed and jerked and the manatee kept surfacing to snort and cry out.  Other manatees were hanging about.  We called the Florida Wildlife people to report it and their first question was does the buoy have a radio antenna on it?  Sure enough, it did.  This is a tagged, manatee, they told us, tethered to that buoy by a four foot line attached to its tail.  It probably wasn't in danger, but they asked Dan to make sure that other manatees weren't endangered since it is mating season, and manatees can form a ball of activity.  Dan carefully took the dinghy out to see.  No entanglement, but the nearby manatees seemed to take exception to his intrusion and surrounded him, splashing a lot. Dan agreed to get right out of their way.  

That was our Easter Sunday excitement.  Hope your day has been just as lively and as interesting! 

Hanging out in Titusville

We've been on one side or the other of Cape Canveral - a few days in the Banana River, a few days in the Indian River;  we've anchored on the northwestern shore by the NASA railroad bridge and on the northeastern shore by the same bridge, across the ICW channel.  When the wind has clocked around, we've raised anchor and moved, for better protection from the 16-22 knot winds.  

One day Dan took the dinghy to poke along the shore and came back with a good load of booty - cupboard doors, an American flag in decent shape, a Frisbee and a soccer ball.  That is the third soccer ball he's found on this adventure.  He also discovered a graveyard of horseshoe crabs.  I looked it up - there have been massive die-offs of horseshoe crabs in this area for the last four years.  Scientists are unsure why. They wash up dead in the shore in droves. So sad to see.

Yesterday morning we woke to hear a lot of splashing around us and went out to find manatees cavorting right next to the boat.  We've since found out this is mating season.  They have some stamina!  They stayed around the boat all morning.  

Today we moved across the river to the Titusville Marina to get some fuel and water, and had a little fun giving a manatee a drink of fresh water. 

 As we pulled away from the dock, we received word from AGLCA local harbor hosts John and Sharon that they were en route to us with a delivery of bottom paint that they had kindly picked up for us at West Marine.  The Marina directed us to the nearby boat launch ramp, as they couldn't allow us to just hang out at the fuel dock, so we moved to meet Sharon. She and John hope to do the Great Loop in the near future, and signed up to be harbor hosts to meet other Loopers in the meantime.  We were happy to give her a boat tour.  

Dan decided to take advantage of our tie-up at the launch ramp to wash the topsides, and I walked down to the boatyard to pick up some Amazon packages they've been holding for us. We decided that since we have the time, we would haul out to paint the bottom. This will happen next week.  In the meantime, Dan has gone on an Amazon shopping spree, sending the purchases to the boatyard.  I picked up what I could carry.

Now we are anchored in yet another corner of this area, where we'll ride out tonight's thunderstorms and be in the right place to pick up son Joe and daughter-in-law Jo tomorrow for their day with us.  We are certainly getting to know this area! 

Tommie is just hanging out too.

Back in Florida

 We had a lovely crossing from the Bahamas on Thursday, March 14.  We got up well before dawn and quietly slid out of the marina into the ocean.  It was just a little rolly at first and then smoothed out as the wind died down to less than 5 knots and the sun came out.  Dan set out his fishing rods.  We got a bite at the edge of the Gulf Stream, as we neared Florida.  It was a big one, a fighter.  Dan let it tire itself out for good half hour.  But when we hauled it in, we saw the teeth.  Another barracuda.  

We passed up our intended destination at Stuart and entered Florida at Fort Pierce, about 5 pm.  Check was a breeze - no glitches or need to apply multiple times on the Roam app like last year.  We spent a very quiet night in Faber Cove, though we were disappointed to see that the town is discouraging anchoring there now by placing moorings randomly about.  We were the only anchored vessel this year.

Friday we took our time setting off, and only cruised 14 miles to Vero Beach.  We found a dubious dinghy access to the local Publix - Dan tied up to a hole in the seawall of a small shoreside park - and stocked up on fresh produce.  It's always a trip to see a giant grocery store after the tiny places in the Bahamas.  Back at the boat, Dan realized there was a space launch that evening and we made sure to be outside when it was happening.  I'm sure this is no big deal to the people who live here, but we are always thrilled to see a launching. 

We spent the weekend in Palm Bay.  We anchored near the mouth of Turkey Creek and took the dinghy up the creek to the home of our longtime friends.  It's always a pleasure to spend time with them and catch up on each other's lives.  Dave and Dianne cruised with us twice a summer back when we owned and ran the Maine windjammer Schooner Lewis R French. We've remained good friends ever since.  Dave is now in assisted living; we had a good visit with him and the bonus of seeing his son Scott there.  We took Dianne and other local friends Ed and Joyce out for dinner, and on Sunday had a St. Patrick's Day lunch of corned beef and cabbage with Dianne at her favorite neighborhood restaurant.  

Monday (March 18) we moved on, again, not going very far.  We've never explored the Banana River, and we found a nice anchorage here.  Despite the surrounding shoreside community, there are few boats except for college crews and kayakers.  We are the only ones anchored.  We hunkered here for yesterday's thunderstorms and today's North wind blow.  Tomorrow we'll head up toward Cape Canaveral to be in place for another space launch on Thursday. 

Time to Say Goodbye to the Bahamas

We have enjoyed our time in the Bahamas. We will miss the warm weather, the friendly people, and the solitude of isolated places.  I will miss the daily swimming!

A weather window has opened up and we are taking advantage of it to cross back to the US tomorrow, Thursday March 14th.  This is earlier than we anticipated, but it is too perfect to miss.  After several passages that were bouncy or rolly or both, we had agreed that we would wait for the calm crossing.  Little did we know that it was sooner than we expected!

From Harbour Island we moved north to anchor in an area known as Meek's Patch before heading up into the Bight of Abaco.  This is the inside waters between Great Abaco Island and Grand Bahama Island.  It is seldom traveled by cruisers - partly because it is shallow and has very few settlements, and partly because the holding is generally poor.  Our best anchorage was on Friday night March 8, off Sandy Point.  We ran into Steve and Julie on Erben Renewal  whom we'd met in Rock Sound eight years ago, when they'd owned a Kadey Krogan and we had the Willard motor sailor.  They moved around the point to anchor in anticipation of the coming front with storms and SE wind,  we moved on to anchor in Basin Harbour on Big Cay on Saturday. 

The reviews were spot on - though the chart made it look like a perfectly protected harbor, the wrap around current and the marly/cement-like bottom made it a poor choice for the night.  Dan got in the water to hand set two anchors (bow and stern) in holes, and he tied a line around the bow chain to a coral outcropping.  We would have moved, but the sun was setting and traveling in the dark in the Bahamas is just not a good idea. It was a bouncy night and neither of us slept well. 

Dan had to dive to unset the anchors and remove that line in the morning so we could move.  The strong wind and current made anchor raising a bit of an adventure, but we got it done and moved across the Bight to a slightly better anchorage with more wind protection for Sunday the 10th.  The wind shifted in the night to W, and had another bouncy night.  

Monday we moved to Mangrove Cay, seeking protection from the NW - N wind.  Again, the holding was poor, but there was no current here, and we didn't worry as much about dragging.  We got in some snorkeling though there wasn't a lot to see, and Dan found a life jacket and a fender in the beach.  (Most of our lifejackets and fenders are rescues.)  

Tuesday we solidified our plans to cross back to the US on Thursday and moved out of the Bight of Abaco into the bank north of Grand Bahama Island and joined a florilla of Bahama entrants at Grand Sale.  They are all beginning their Bahamian adventure as we are finishing.  I got one last swim in while Dan changed the oil.  

Today, Weds March 13, we had a beautiful, calm cruise over to West End.  The water was crystal clear.  We stopped to watch a green turtle swim by.  We tried anchoring off the beach at West End, but again, the holding was poor, so for peace of mind on our last night here we decided to take a slip at the Old Bahama Bay Marina.  This is a beautiful marina, with all the amenities one needs and wants.  We enjoyed a dip in the pool, a hot shower, and an excellent dinner at the marina restaurant.  It was a great last night here.

 

Harbor Island/Dunmore Town

On Monday (March 4) we said goodbye to Hatchet Bay and headed north to Spanish Wells, a small town on St. George's Cay, just off the northern tip of Eleuthera. Our plan was to get fuel and then see about getting our laundry done.  The fuel dock was a bit of a challenge, and turns out there are no laundry facilities in Spanish Wells unless you stay at a particular (and pricy) marina.

With a strong SE wind blowing, we ended up setting an anchor and using it to back down alongside the fuel dock, which was almost too tall for us to get lines around the pilings.  The dock is accessed by a long flight of stairs, and the fuel dock worker comes by golf cart, at an pre-arranged time.  His name was Devon, he was very friendly, and he did cast us off when we had fueled up.  It was, by far, the most challenging fuel dock we've ever gone to, but we managed it.

We spent Monday night there at anchor, but after learning there was no laundromat, decided to leave on Tuesday morning.  Dan wanted to make the passage through the Devil's Backbone, a long section of connected reefs on the east side of northern Eleuthera.  The chart does show a passage but it is narrow, with shallows, reefs and coral heads on both sides, and it's recommended you hire a pilot to guide you.  But conditions were perfect - no northerly wind or swells, morning sun above or behind us, and great visibility to see the different colors of the water - so we set off slowly to cruise the seven miles or so along Devil's Backbone to the bay between Harbour Island and Eluethera.

This is what Devil’s Backbone looks like in real life.
Below is the Navionics chart.

Harbour Island and its town Dunmore Town is the most touristy place in the eastern Bahamas.  There are many hotels and resorts, lots of restaurants and bars, and two marinas that seemed to cater to large yachts. And they have a laundromat! 

Dan and I went ashore Tuesday to walk the town and have some lunch. We found a nice airy restaurant and settled for splitting a couple of appetizers because it was a little pricy for our budget.  (We found the tourist boutiques to be the same...)  I did the laundry and found a great little produce store with lots of variety: Pineapple Fruit and Veggies.  Across from Pineapple's was a small pavillion where a group of men were playing dominoes with cheery, noisy abandon.  I was amused to listen to their discussion of US politics, as they speculated on the outcome of Super Tuesday.  

The Bay side is where the marinas and tourist places are, the ocean side contains the more exclusive resorts and a mile of the cleanest beach in the Bahamas.  We walked it today (Weds March 6) - Dan said it was "boring" and I said it reminded me of Hilton Head.  

The downside of this island is the spring break atmosphere - lots of loud music, lots of people zipping around in golf carts, lots of fast boats careening through the water taking people wake boarding or snorkeling.  We ended up moving to a quiet anchorage away from it all for both nights.