 |
| our fleet in ICW |
Blog 6
Away, Away – with
fife and drum...
Ft. Pierce to
Jensen’s Beach, Jensen’s to Peck Lake,
Peck to Lake Worth, Lake Worth to Boca Raton,
Boca to Lake
Sylvia(Ft. Lauderdale),
Ft Lauderdale to
Alicetown(Bimini)
With sails bent on, fuel and water tanks full, the larder
stocked we rushed to meet a departure time which would coincide with that of Whisper
and Now
or Never. We sailed at high water, the engine singing a steady note and
were collectively sighing with relief as we motored out of the channel and into
the Intracoastal Waterway (note the spelling Bob! & thnx J). We have finally
kicked land goodbye – at last!
The stresses have all dropped away. Panacea is readier than
she has ever been (for us). Tristan must return to work in approximately 16
days – which will probably be time enough for us to get a weather window to the
islands. Even if not the islands, we
will still experience something new to all three of us. Whisper has been
travelling the Intracoastal Waterway, AKA the ICW, for quite a number of years
and has indicated a willingness to share their knowledge of anchorages and
timing (for tides and bridges) with us all of the way to Miami.
As I write this we are finishing breakfast while swinging at
anchor near Jensen’s Beach. We plan to travel south to Peck’s Cove today and
dinghy ashore to bask in the sun on a sandy beach. We received word from Now
or Never that they were in No Name Harbour at Key Biscayne after a 22
hour passage from Ft Pierce made ‘outside’ of the barrier islands which line this
coast of Florida and which make the ICW possible. Hopefully they will get an
early weather window to cross to Bimini. We will be days behind them – even
with good weather.
Peck Lake
 |
| one sandy beach is the same as another |
 |
| Tristan finally gets to the beach |
Our wonderful windlass failed to ‘get it up’ this morning.
After raising the anchor by hand and then studying the matter at some length,
Tristan and I have arrived at the conclusion that the motor must be dismantled
and the rust scale inside removed. On a more cheery note: our new main engine
is working beautifully, even although the propeller pitch is too fine. We have
8 hours on the new engine and the only issue to arise so far is that we need to
boost ventilation in the engine space (to reduce heat buildup). I am taking a
break from the beach to have a look at this issue. As usual we brought plenty
of parts and tools.
 |
| profile of Panacea in Lake Peck |
Another day breaks sunny and we are up and motoring at precisely 8:50 as per the plan, and so
as to catch full benefit of tides as we cross the mouth of Jupiter Inlet while
coinciding with timed openings of three bridges. Victor is really showing us
the ropes! The main lesson of the day is that even 5 minutes wasted can matter
to the tune of hours by the end of the day. There were several occasions when
we had to run at 3000 rpm, our red line engine speed, in order to keep to the
schedule. We will be tuning the prop –
which can have its pitch adjusted by a diver using an Allen key. If we don’t
blow too much money in marina dockage fees, I plan to buy (how many will this outfit
make it ...five?) diving outfit – so that minor underwater issues such as this
or snagged crab pot trawls will be an easy fix.
Engine cooling fans are keeping the engine room temperature
at a satisfactory level today. We
haven’t lifted a wrench for the first day in several months. Wow! This is really different!
We have heard from cruising friends that Lagniappe
and Tehani
are holed-up at Dinner Key in Biscayne
Bay waiting for a weather window to Bimini. Wouldn’t it be great if we could
all cross together. We are still several days from Biscayne Bay and we still
have some shopping to do before we get away, so it seems unlikely that we will
meet the others until we are in the Exumas.
 |
| Doting Grandparents |
 |
| property for sale |
 |
| sexy boat? |
At the very last bridge before we parked for the afternoon
there was a funny radio incident, almost a like a comedy skit. There were four
sailboats and several motor yachts jammed close to the Parker Bridge of North
Palm Beach. At the front of the queue was a 3 story motor yacht – which for the
purposes of this story will be known as SS Leviathan – whose captain was
apparently napping when the bridge opened to allow us to proceed. One ‘New
Yorker’ zigzagged around the behemoth and proceeded (that’s New Yorkers for
you) – but still Leviathan slumbered.
I hailed – asking: “Leviathan,
are you anchoring there?”
The Bridge operator joined in and advised that the “the bridge
is as high as it can go – it doesn’t open any further”.
Victor then piped in that “perhaps the fellow needs a tow
from a few of us.”
The radio chatter may have aroused the captain because, in
lethargy and radio-silence Leviathan
came awake slowly and led the parade through the open bascule-type
drawbridge while the road traffic above waited... and waited.
In one sense the radio silence was very apt. Another of our
number was a two story sport-fisherman whose captain kept apologising to bridge
operators for asking them to open-up. He
used more than his share of radio air-time. Apparently he has some technical
issues concerning his radio antenae and his fishing rods and he felt compelled
to explain, again and again... at every bridge, apologizing at length for
inconveniencing the bridge operators. I took this to be just way too much
blabbing. Days later as we transited the ICW I saw a sign warning of serious
fines to boaters who fail to lower their aerials and outriggers – instead
requesting an opening of the bridge which would otherwise not need to happen.
So, on reconsideration, I guess the fellow was legit and not
just another radio ‘songbird’.
The usual form is simply to thank them for doing their job
and to wish them well – and to then to ‘shut the heck up’. Even this is bad
form if you find your boat in the middle of a schwarm. Most bridge operators do
not want to be burdened with extra chatter. One even went so far as to lecture
another boat that he did not have time
for radio while he was operating his bridge.
Lake Worth North
 |
| marina at Lake Worth |
We booked into the North Palm Beach Marina due to the forecast
of high winds for the overnight period, getting the bonus of shower, laundry and
trash facilities. After
getting safely tied-up we had a brief ‘happy hour’ aboard Tekla Bramble before
venturing forth in search of ice cream. We went ‘shopping’ with fellow cruisers
Perry and Irene in one of those toney shopping centers. It is reassuring to
know that people somewhere can still afford alligator chairs and $60.00 per
pound crab claws. This seems like a
different planet from the one which we come from. No one had any idea where we
could find a hardware store – or apparently what a hardware store actually is.
Heck, they don’t even seem to have gas stations, although there are plenty of
cars. Lots of Ferrarri’s, a classic Packard, and naturally just hundreds of BMW
and Mercedes Benz, Jaguars and Bentleys.
If I ever get wealthy enough to buy another car, and IF I
want to run with this crowd, then I
will get one of the new KIA sporty models and add custom wheels and Bentley
badges. The car will be pretty much identical to the latest Bentley in my
humble opinion. I’ll probably get away with this since I am unlikely to get
‘ratted-out’ by parking valets at the country club. I don’t get within MILES of
country clubs.
Two days later and we are still in North Palm – on the hook
in 35 knot winds. We motored ashore yesterday but have not left the boat today,
just in case she drags anchor. We were running the engine this morning to
charge batteries when, conveniently, our anchor dragged. Any other time would
have been more problematical, but as it happened the engine was running and
warmed-up, so we used our recently rebuilt windlass to raise the anchor and to
drive to a more sheltered part of the anchorage. When first we raised the anchor, I was ready
to proceed southward to Boca Raton. We anchored only to remove the outboard
from our tender. As we performed this
small task, the sky boiled black and within a short time the rain was pelting
down, wind rising to a roar at the same time. So here we sit for another
day.
Trtistan has spent much of the day installing some of the
extra parts carried aboard to keep us from getting bored on days like this. And
so today we have LED ceiling lights in separate strings, both white and red,
installed in the cockpit and the main cabin, the bathroom and the forward cabin.
I spent my time studying bridge names and opening regimes to Miami and made
contingency travel plans which could put us in Lucaya instead of Bimini – and
saving us the need to drive so far to the south for a jumping off point to
cross the gulfstream. It won’t be happening until we bump our motoring speed
back up. We are just too slow with the prop as fine-pitched as it is at the
moment.
Lake Boca Raton
 |
| Whisper skims by freighter in Lake Worth Inlet |
The houses and the boats just keep getting ritzier as we
journey south on the waterway. The
bridges are only a mile and a half apart in this area and there is a LOT of
radio chatter requesting bridge openings. We have been travelling alongside a
Trawler yacht which is being delivered to her new owners and which has yet to
get her new name. Boat traffic is monitored on the ICW and boats are required
to identify themselves to the bridge operators. The delivery captain of the
trawler yacht has explained to several bridge operators that this boat has no name yet. He was in an increasingly
bitter conversation with one near Boca Raton on this subject when their
conversation got cut in with a conversation at a nearby bridge. The captain of
a commercial towboat which was pushing a pile driver was fighting the current
and the bridge operator was imploring him to please hurry. At that moment their
conversation was blanketed by the acrimonious conversation between the trawler
and the Boca Bridge – at a moment when the bridge operator was demanding the
vessel name. The trawler captain was unable to reply as the towboat driver
responded immediately saying that his vessel had no name other than pile
driver. The Boca bridge operator was understandably confused and demanded that
the respondent to repeat the name.
 |
| Lake Boca Raton |
The airwaves went silent for a brief moment before the
towboat captain, probably wondering about the bridge operators sudden change in
demeanor, came back loud and clear: “that is PILE DRIVER, repeat PILE
DRIVER, spelled P-I-L-E D-R-I-V-E-R”. This
completely shut off both bridge operators, who seemed to simply drop the
matters with their two boats and to move on.
The next radio traffic was between a couple of your typical jugheads
discussing their restaurant arrangements on the open bridge channel instead of
in private. Both bridges opened without any further dialogue.
Lake Sylvia
 |
| Tekla waiting for their opening |
 |
| Marilyn taking the lead |
 |
| Waiting the opening for 17th street Bridge at 5:30 am |
Bimini
 |
| Navigating the marks entering Bimini |
 |
| First site of Bimini |
J.R. took our lines with a familiar: ”Now that’s what I’m
talkin’ about”.
At the dock we had a ‘class re-union’ which included Tekla
Bramble, Now or Never, Lagniappe, Tehani, AFterwards and Panacea, all compatriots
from this marina last winter. The pool at the marina is still
empty – but that won’t stop us from having a seafood barbeque together, and
probably a rum-tasting later on. The weather windows look poor for the coming
few days and we on Panacea want to stay here for at least a week. Tristan has
rented a golf cart and we are taking our tourism and beach-going very
seriously. I think we range further afield this year – with our larger dinghy
and more reliable outboard. There are wrecks, coves, islands and fishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment