Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Manatees, manatees, manatees everywhere ...

Yes- you will see pictures of manatees - but you have to look at these first. This is the helm station and I thought you might like to see the equipment that is used on a regular basis: 2 pairs of binoculars, charts (2 sets), 2 VHF's (one portable) and 2 chartplotter GPS's. All these are used without letup all day while cruising - Linda generally on one set of electronics and monitoring the charts and talking on the radio and me trying to figure out what all the funny red and green floating things are. You'll also notice on the top of the dashboard little red and green plastic pieces - because the ICW northbound is red on left, and all the harbor entrances and inlets are red on right, these pieces of plastic are on velcro and can be changed to remind me the proper orientation - a mistake in these shallow waters is immediately punishable!
A better pelican photo for Alison- this pretty young girl was off our stern as we fueled up in Ft. Pierce.

This is Linda, all tanned and relaxed sitting in the living room. You can see the kitchen to her left and the master bedroom behind her. She can easily reach the bathroom to her right. It's a little tight.


Cory meets his first manatee - this one is sleeping behind our boat slip. He comes up for air every once in a while. I can't imagine what Cory is thinking because a couple of minutes ago this guy let go with some bubbles, if you know what I mean, and the bubbling lasted for about 30 seconds. However, I am unaffected. Ken



Linda here- I am proud of this shot of 2 manatees playing "kissy face" right near our dock. They are so homely/cute/huge!




The gray mass in front of the dock in the foreground is our sleeping manatee- to show you how close they are to our "Venture". This marina is a nice place.



This is the manatee that is drinking the drips of water from the hose at the dock. They roll on their backs to drink it. A face only his mother could love!!!!It's illegal to touch them or to initiate contact with them, but it seems all the dock people here do it regularly. These guys don't seem to be suffering at all, but they each have propeller scars on their backs.


We're now at Titusville Municipal Marina- MUCH nicer place, but not the Hyatt, either!! But we were greeted by dolphins, and we are surrounded by manatees! Ken had seen one earlier in our trip ( in a lock with us), but this is the first I've seen of them. Very big & slow & gassy! Must be all that roughage(grass that they eat)!They love fresh water from a hose, but you're not supposed to give it to them- a man walked by & turned on a faucet just so that it leaked- and said- watch them flip on their backs to catch the drips! I took tons of photos of the same manatees - right near our boat. I LOVE being so close to them- I will definitely go swimming with them next year. One of them even snorted at Cory!
We now have 35 hours on the engine and I am getting some kind of noise that sounds like it may be bearings on the fan belt. They go away after the engine is run a little. The only hope for a Volvo dealer is in Daytona - so I hope we make it - if not, I am on a first name basis with SeaTow and BoatUS tow. The landing today at the Titusville Municipal dock was the worst one I have done yet. It was a simple back-in to a slip. The nose got caught in the wind and I could have saved my dignity with some fast action - well, my action was rather fast, it was just wrong, and I made the situation worse. I got sideways and had to throw a stern line to the dock master to be rescued. No harm done - except to my pride.
We moved from the last marina to this one this morning. It was only a 5 mile ride. We got 35 gallons of gas - I didn't completely fill up because the dock master said, "Don't even think about dropping one drop of gas into the water." It sounded like I ought to be careful - so I was. The price is still reasonable for the waterway - $2.99/gal. The dock master said there are about 40 manatees in this basin we are in. We immediately found a bunch of them. They are the sloths of the water - they aren't concerned with, or very interested in, people. They are all around the boats in the slip eating sea grass. One is sleeping directly across the finger pier from us - he has been there for about an hour - his back out of the water and he comes up to breathe every minute or so. I saw their mouths and they have teeth like a cow or a horse. They have 3 toenails at the end of their front flippers. It's neat to see them after being warned every 1/2 mile that they are here.

Indian River City - as short a stay as possible

We're on our "2 minute" walk to 'New York, NY' - a local fish and chips restaurant just down the road. Unfortunately it was a 2 minute car ride - we walked it in the rain - Cory was brown by the time we returned. This is a local short cut - I'm sure there are bodies in the woods - if the gators haven't eaten them yet. Good thing Cory is so protective of us.
This is 'NewYork, NY' where we picked up lunch - it is directly across the street from the Juvenile Correctional Center - which to be truthful, reminded me a lot of Boy Scout Camp with a chain link fence 20 feet high.

There's the camp. We're outa here!


Linda here- today (Monday) we had a LONG ride from Ft. Pierce to Titusville- about 80 miles. It was chilly & cloudy- but the rain held off until the last 20-30 minutes. We are staying at Kennedy Point Yacht Club & Marina. It looked SO good on the internet! Actually, we are just glad to be safe & secure and warm & dry & out of the wind! We passed a boat from Lyme, CT today & talked briefly on the VHF. We saw (in the distance) Cape Canaveral/Kennedy (whatever they call it nowadays!) where the shuttles are launched. We also saw HUNDREDS of mansions - making Fenwick look small- tons of them lining the ICW. Who ARE these people?!? And are they really happy?!
We always follow the “Slow- Manatee Zone” signs- we went under a bridge, thought we were out of the slow zone, and started to come up on plane. Someone came over the radio- “Northbound cruiser- it’s a no wake zone for construction”.(We saw no construction.) Since we did not see the usual “Resume Normal Safe Speed” sign, Ken wondered when we could go fast again. Ken asked on the radio “How long is the no wake zone for?” The guy answered, “About 2 months!”It gave us a good laugh!
It was also pretty funny when we were out walking the dog down a secluded road, when an osprey started circling overhead- he REALLY was checking Cory out for dinner! Then he tried to dive bomb us & left. We have to watch for gators AND birds of prey!
It sounds like more rain & wind & cold (70’s)for tomorrow, so we may move just 5 miles North- to a nicer marina that has fuel. If it’s pouring & too windy, we’ll have to stay here :( . For one night, it’s nice to be dry and cozy with my man & my dog! Love to all- (more photos ASAP!)- Linda



We had a nice quiet night without heavy rain and woke up this morning to an overcast but warm sky. Since this marina is pretty run down and doesn't have fuel we decided to cast off and continue another 5 miles north to the Titusville Municipal Marina. Linda didn't mention in her writing the chained juvenile detention area just down the street from this marina. The marina has fallen on rough times. When the hurricanes hit they didn't have enough money to fix the marina so they sold it. The new owner then promptly went bankrupt - so there has been no upkeep, maintenance or improvements for 1-2 years. Most of the occupants moved out and only live-aboards who have no other option still remain. There is a lot of construction in the area but no food/comfort things. Showers were out of the question at this marina, too bad they have a wonderful web site.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Lazy days...

This picture was taken just for Garth and Alison. We believe that a similar plan for your place should be considered. Notice the tiki hut, several slips, a thatched roofed cabana and attached changing room. What do you think? Of course down here they do not worry about the pesky endangered black rail.
This is Cory's favorite piddling tree! No, really- I just wanted you to see what the trunk of a palm tree looks like up close!!!

This purple martin house & cool tree were at our marina back in Clewiston. The birds had a beautiful song and it was a pleasure walking by this tree.


Here is our boat at the funky but friendly marina back in Clewiston. Note how low the water is- our boat should be level with the tiki bar to the left. This is where the gators swam right along our boat all night. I'm glad they weren't TOO friendly!

Easter Sunday - Hi, we’ve been at the same marina since our last post. We decided to spend a third night to relax. We’ve spent the time cleaning the boat, reorganizing, restocking, and relaxing. This is a beautiful marina with a fine restaurant which we have visited twice now. We just finished our Easter meal. I’ve decided that I should come clean about the ride over here. We were supposed to turn off the St. Lucie River onto the Indian River at a nice little place called “Hell’s Gate.” This area is where the St. Lucie River, the Indian River and the Atlantic ocean all meet. We got so engrossed looking at a huge dredging machine that we missed the turn onto the biggest river in Florida. We proceeded right out into the Atlantic Ocean. Linda began to get concerned that we were off course - but I stuck to my guns that we were on the Indian River! It only took about 30 seconds of checking the GPS to determine that I was wrong. Thankfully the inlet was calm as we entered back into the protection of the ICW. Last night, Saturday night, we spent a wonderful evening of drinks and conversation with Wayne and Lana on their boat “Crazy Lady.” They are from Tampa and are on their way to spend 2 months in the Bahamas with their new, hypoallergenic cat (a Siberian Forest Cat) named Chekov. Linda didn’t have any reaction to the cat at all! They left this morning to head across the gulf stream in the next day or so. We wish them easy seas and a tailwind! Their boat is a 37’ Carver and is really setup for cruising - it was as comfortable a boat as we have ever been on. They are a fascinating couple having lived and been all over the world. We also gained much needed advice and knowledge on what is to come for us as we head north. Tomorrow we have a dock slip reserved in Melbourne, FL which is only 43 miles away. We talked about going further today and we’ve decided that, if the weather is good and we can get dockage, we will pass Melbourne and head for
Titusville. That would be an 83 mile day - a good day for us. That would also set us up better for the next leg which is the entry into Mosquito Lagoon - which has a very narrow and lengthy ‘No Wake’ zone - about 10 miles long. Just that 10 miles will take us about 1 ¾ hrs. Then we would stay at New Smyrna Beach. That’s the goal for the next 2 days. Everything depends on the weather. The wind, which has been out of the north, is slowly supposed to change to a southeasterly wind. That will bring more moisture into the picture and there are increasing chances of rain in the next few days. The winds are supposed to be moderate though and a SE wind is great for heading north. Rain - not so good. Tomorrow we leave here by 10am, spring around a piling to get out, get gas and go… Thanks for all the comments it makes us feel much more connected to everyone. Ken
Linda here- what a beautiful sunny day- warm with a slight breeze- Happy Easter, everyone! We learned a new acronym- LOB- “Lost On Boat”- for the many articles that get lost in all the nooks & crannies on boats that we boaters fill with “stuff”!
Cory is still with us-getting used to making the jump from the boat to the dock, and vice-versa! He finds his way back to the boat very easily-this could come in handy as we visit so many different marinas! I don’t know if I told you of the smell of orange blossoms on the way from West to East coast- poor Ken can’t smell them- but I can smell them before we see them! Thank you to Bree for my baseball cap and little flashlight, and to Dave for making the CD’s, and to Barbara & Lanny for my iPod and the beach bag they gave me YEARS ago- I take it to the shower every night. We’re getting spoiled now with wifi right on the boat at this marina!! It’s like opening Christmas presents every time someone leaves a comment or emails us! You guys are great! Pray for good weather for us for our big trip tomorrow! Love to all- Linda