Key West to Cape Coral, FL

When you think of mangrove swamps you're probably picturing a place that could very well be in the Everglades National Park. Most of the southern tip of Florida is part of it and it ends around Everglades City. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

A few days after Teri left for New York I got a final load of laundry done, picked up a few things, made a tour of Key West to get the 'tourista' pictures necessary to prove I was actually there.

I also decided to fill my water tanks and take on some gas for the outboard and generator so asked my friends Jack and Billie to come with me to get them. Well, the Sunset Marina, while very nice has a very narrow fairway and I managed to get crosswise in it with the wind blowing me into the mangroves. Nice. I really impressed my guests with my piloting skills...

So I hopped into the dinghy, took a line from the bow and proceeded to tow Pelican to the gas dock impressing the guys standing there. What impressed them is that I could do it with the dinghy and backwards at that. Here's a tip - if you need to tow with an inflatable dinghy, especially if it's a heavy tow, do it with a harness on the transom and tow backwards. Otherwise, the load will cause the stern to sink and the bow will blow around uncontrollably. Just apply power slowly and gently.

Well, after that little faux pas, I was ready to go. The weather report for the next few days were supposed to be good so I had the brilliant idea of heading out to the jetty at the end of the Northwest Channel from Key West. Unfortunately, it was just too rough to do that. So I went back almost to Wisteria Island and anchored for the evening.

The next morning I was on my way at 6:30 and out of the channel at 7:30. The wind was too close to sail alone so I motor-sailed to the Little Shark River. The Little Shark River, just south of Little Shark Island, has a well marked entrance - it's a straight shot from the end of the Northwest Channel.

I arrived there around three pm and anchored about a mile up the river in a very protected stretch. I figured I'd be more or less alone but by five there were an additional four or five boats spread around. Believe me, there's more than enough room. I don't want to say for how many, but enough.

Mercifully, it's still winter here because the mosquitoes in the Everglades are heavily armored - they are hard to kill, not like those wussy northern mosquitoes. I mean, a heavy smack only makes them a little woozy. You really have to put some effort into it. And they sound like small bombers flying around. But there aren't many just now. Apparently, going into the Everglades in the summer is virtually the same as blood self- sacrifice.

The evening was lovely, to be sure, and the next day I decided to go to Everglades City because, well, because it's there. And I had to have some alligator. Mmmm. Tastes like lemon chicken.

Anyway, of course the wind was on the nose, but not too strong until I turned into the Indian Key Pass. The wind picked up and became all too good for sailing. Just not for sailing through the Everglades - the channel going up to Everglades City is narrow but more than deep enough even at the edges.

I arrived at the Everglades City Rod and Gun Club around 4ish - it is 5 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. What a place! It's so totally a "man's" club - now it's just a restaurant and inn with bungalows, but when it was actually a rod and gun club it was quite a place. There are stuffed animal heads on the wall, a stuffed alligator, little stuffed animals like otters and wildcats and so forth scattered about. It's darkish varnished paneled walls have pictures of hunts, various guns and rifles, and other hunting paraphernalia hanging.

The food is average and a little pricey. But the atmosphere is all male. It's cool and deserves a visit for that reason alone.

Just up the street a few blocks is the Outback Cafe (breakfast, lunch and dinner) which is more my speed. Good food, fast, and a clean and pleasant setting. Inexpensive, too. Definitely a place to eat.

Also, there's a seafood place that advertises and 'all you can eat buffet $7.95' which is a bit of a come-on. It's for the salad bar and all the peel-and-eat shrimp you can do. The real seafood buffet is still reasonable at $34, but has rock crab, crab legs, clams, mussels, caviar, fried shrimp, scallops and includes the salad bar as well. It's pretty good and they keep the food fresh. It's part of the Captain's Table hotel. If you feel gluttonous, by all means, go there.

I met Mark the next morning while wandering around the property - we hit it off and since he had to go to Naples, he invited me along for the ride and to spend some time wandering around while he took care of business.

Naples has basically two streets to visit - 5th Avenue which is like a mini version of New York's 5th Avenue with some pricey stores and restaurants and State Route 41 which goes past the stores and services you'd expect in a regular town like diners, repair centers, and finally a big mall with Macy's and Sears and so forth.

A touristy place in Naples is Tin City with a bunch of small shops and restaurants. It's nice to wander around and if you're looking for souvenirs of Naples, it's the place to go, unless, of course, you want to bring back a multi-thousand dollar piece of local artwork.

After two days, you've pretty much seen all there is to see in Everglades City - had I stayed longer I might have done an airboat ride. But I didn't.

Mark and I left late in the day to anchor in Russell Bay Pass, just a little way into Indian Key Pass. He rafted with me and we had a great old time - he plays guitar really well and better yet, remembers the words to songs. So he played, I cooked and listened. A wonderful evening was had by all. All two of us.

I had to start making my way north to meet Teri so the next day early we got underway - me for Marco Island, Mark, I think, for Little Shark River. It was a bit rough out, so he may have gone back to Russell Bay Pass. I hope to meet up with him again.

Anyway, on the way to Marco Island I heard from Abbotsford II, a boat I met in Little Shark River - We've shared pictures over email but never actually met.

Anyway, I got to Marco Island first. The ride into the channel entrance was pretty wild! The wind and current conspired to form 6-7 foot waves rushing into the harbor. It was definitely exciting!
I noodled my way into Smokehouse Bay and let Abbotsford II know it was ok- the channel has been dredged recently and has enough water to get into the bay without difficulty for boats with up to a six foot draft. The bay itself has up to 19 feet depth for anchoring although it shallows in the middle to four feet or so. It averages around 12 feet.

It's well protected, surrounded by large homes and multi-storey buildings. It was blowing around 20-25 outside but almost calm in Smokehouse Bay. There's access to Marco Island at a small marina in there, but since I was only going to be there one night, I didn't bother putting it together. It's a great anchorage if you don't want to go to Factory Bay.

I got underway early (for me) Sunday morning - it was the first day of Daylight Savings time (and I seriously hate Daylight Savings Time - there really is no purpose for it, but Congress, with not being able to do anything useful seems to believe that moving it was such a good idea and easy to pass that they might as well do it and then be so proud of themselves. But I digress).

I'd forgotten I'd be getting up in pitch darkness. So when the sky started to lighten I got underway for Cape Coral, just across the Caloosahatchee River from Ft. Myers, Fl.

The winds were lighter but still too close to sail in so it was an easy motoring to Cape Coral Yacht Basin - a lovely little marina well protected in one of the canals. It's just inside the cape and is run by the city. My friend, Brooke, from Noank, CT had mentioned her friend, AJ was here and would be happy to meet a fellow cruiser, and so she is!

I've got time to do a lot of deferred maintenance in a very pleasant environment - all the people I've met on the docks are quite friendly and have offered transport to West Marine and other stores. But I've got my scooter and it's been a blast scooting about!

After Teri leaves on March 30, I'll be heading across the Okeechobee Waterway, via the Caloosahatchee River. I may be meeting Jack and Billie and Lee and Karen on the other side near Stuart! Next after that is Green Cove Springs for a short haul and then the long trek home to Connecticut.

See you on the water!

Fun in Key West, Florida

The thing you really need to know about key lime pie is that it is yellow and that when wrapped in dark chocolate and frozen becomes a treat that is beyond compare. There are many places to get key lime pie in Key West, but my favorite pointed out by Jack and Billie from Billie Dancer is on the corner of Elizabeth and Green streets named Kermit's Key (West) Lime Pie.

Key West, the southernmost part of the continental United States, is literally and figuratively the end of the line. Sure, you could journey out to the Dry Tortugas and the Marquesas, but you can't stay there. The contrast between the huge cruise ships along the sea wall at Key West Bight and the twenty foot live aboard boats anchored in or near mangroves is blinding, yet somehow they're all a part of the whole scene.

By day, Key West is the prototypical tourist town with all the cruise ship people wandering around at extreme low speed and purchasing chotskies for all their friends at home. When night falls, however, it's a whole different scene - all the bars on Duval Street have their doors open and are packed with people listening to loud music and drinking like there's no tomorrow. It's Party Central and I've been told it lasts until near dawn.

So Key West is a town of contrasts.

Friday February 19th a new friend, Teri, arrived to spend the week with me. The theory was we'd go sailing, snorkeling, see the town, swim and kayak, and generally mess about. Of course, the weather didn't cooperate very well. This February has been, on average, 15 degrees colder than normal and has had near record setting lows. Worse, the series of lows continued to march across the Gulf of Mexico resulting in some frighteningly windy days that managed to kick up some fair seas even in the mooring field outside Garrison Bight.

So we explored town a lot, ate (a lot), spent one day sailing to Sand Key and back, and one day on the beach. Fortunately, we've met some very special people here (the aforementioned Billie and Jack), Dan and Susan from Gypsy who are waiting for a weather window to head towards the Yucatan.

Almost every night we've had a cocktail hour that was so well provisioned that dinner never got made or eaten. Lunch when in town has been almost universally good - Jack and Billie have eaten in a lot of places and know where to go for the best stuffed shrimp or good Mexican food. While in town my first day I found DJ's Clam Shack on Duval where they had fried Ipswich clams. I couldn't resist. They definitely hit my clam buttons!

Also, Teri and I had lunch at a small Mexican restaurant, Old Town Mexican Cafe, on Duval where the quesadillas are excellent and they make a black been chimichanga that is superb. I may have to have another before I leave!


We've also eaten at the ground floor restaurant at A&B Marina (under the A&B Lobster House) called Alonzo's on Front Street or near by it. Conch Republic next door has amazing stuffed shrimp, but the drinks are outrageously expensive. Drink iced tea.

We've come to the conclusion that no matter where you eat in the main part of town you'll get a good meal - the competition is too great for a crappy restaurant to remain. Well, maybe the Hard Rock Cafe, Sloppy Joes, and Hogsbreath Saloon could get away with it (I don't know because we didn't go there) because they're tourist icons. I can't say. But any of the other restaurants and all we went to were good, if some more expensive than they need to be.

Once out of town, say east of Garrison Bight, Key West becomes much more Florida like with malls and hotels and so forth. Unless you want to provision there isn't really a reason to see that part. If you're staying in the Garrison Bight City Marina or on one of their moorings you'll be able to walk to Winn Dixie and a large liquor store.

Everywhere you can rent bicycles, scooters, or electric cars. They can be very reasonable, sometimes as low as $25/day for a scooter. When you rent them, you're not allowed off Key West. However, even without those means of transport, it's easy to get around just by walking.

Stock Island, just to the east, has a really good restaurant, Hurricane Joe's in the Hurricane Hole Marina. Teri and I went there the day she arrived, as traveling with American Airlines where they sent her baggage to Bermuda, required good food and strong drink.

Apparently, American has decided that for your $20 for a checked bag it should get more miles than you do. American has shown such extraordinary incompetence that I, personally, will not fly them unless there's no other choice. Teri told me the flight had snacks - $3.50 for a bag of potato chips (you know the ones that are $.50 everywhere else?) But I digress. Also, I prepare you for another American Airlines story towards the end of this.

Anyway, we had the two specials and both were great. It was a bit too chilly to eat outside.

Jack, Billie, Teri, and I had decided to go to the No Name Pub on Big Pine Key, but U.S. 1 was backed up with no movement just past Boca Chica. So we turned around and went to the Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island for the Hogfish Sandwich. It was excellent! The day was warm and comfortable and the company great!

The next day was warm with east winds so nothing would do but Billie Dancer and we went sailing to Sand Key with the idea that we'd pick up a mooring and snorkel. NOAA promised warm breezes and sunny weather and a perfect day on the water. We had planned to go to Boca Grande to anchor for the evening in the little channel/anchorage there.

After sailing off the mooring, we headed up around Fleming Key for a southerly course to Sand Key. Going past the historic seaport of Key West turned into a photo op for both boats. We got loads of pictures under sail. Very nice.

So, we got to Sand Key (see picture of light) and the weather turned nasty - cloudy, colder, with wind increasing and the beach at Sand Key totally under water so we decided to go back to the moorings. It turned out to be a very prudent decision as unforecast thunderstorms passed by. So much for NOAA.

I include this little video for your viewing satisfaction...

That evening we had cocktail hour aboard Billie Dancer and generally had a great time.

As I mentioned before, cocktail hour almost every evening was quite entertaining. Billie and Jack taught us a card game called 'Shithead' which is great fun. We've spent several evenings playing it. With wine, it gets even better.

One day we all went to the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor. Billie, Jack, and Teri rode bicycles and I took my scooter (kick type, a Xootr - which I highly recommend. On flat terrain like sidewalks and streets it's an amazing way to get around and almost always garners smiles from other adults. Not so much in Key West because strange is expected. But I digress.)

The beach is sort of rough coral - there's sand for laying about but you need foot protection to go in the water. The beach is the last piece of land on Key West. You go south from there and you're in Cuba 90 miles later. Go southwest and you're in the Yucatan 300 or so miles later. Go west and you hit the Dry Tortugas, and after that you're headed for the Texas/Mexico border.

As Teri's time here grew shorter we decided to take a nice day and tour Key West to get some prototypical tourist pictures. Also, to eat something somewhere that we hadn't eaten yet. I mean, there's just so many places to eat! We ended up at Alonzo's again because of the mojitos and then did our picture thing - mostly to get the monument at the end of Whitehead, the southernmost point on the continental United States.

One evening the whole group of us (Billie Dancer, Gypsy, and Pelican) went to dinner in town and then to the Red Barn Theater to see a one woman show, "Shirley Valentine" performed by Joan O'Dowd as Shirley. It was amazing (I think anyone who can memorize 90 minutes of monologue is astounding. I think anyone who can remember two minutes incredible, though, so for me the bar is set really low. But I digress again.) The theater is small but comfortable and I highly recommend a trip there if you're here in Key West for any length of time.

Sadly, Teri's time here came to an end. Fortunately American Airlines couldn't get themselves together to get an airplane here on the day they were supposed to (Sunday) and didn't fly out on Monday at all, so Teri got to stay here for an extra day. Woohoo! But even then, she had to go home so we bid farewell on Tuesday morning and that was that. She'll be rejoining me in Tampa later this month.

The weather has turned colder but will start warming up Sunday. I plan to leave for Little Shark River on Monday morning. I may anchor out overnight near the East Jetty on the Northwest Channel out of Key West so that I have a bright and early start Tuesday morning. The winds are supposed to be out of the east then southeast making the trip a close to beam reach with relatively little fetch. I'm excited about taking a couple of days anchored in Little Shark River in the Everglades...

So that's about that. Key West is a great place to visit and it can be a great place to live, too, if you anchor somewhere. Real estate is out of this world expensive and food tends to be a little more expensive than the mainland.

See you on the water!

Big Pine Key to Stock Island

This entry is out of order - I'm still working on my trip to Big Pine Key, but this was such a spectacular day I had to real quick get it down before I forgot the absolute sailing high from the day. Days like this make the horrible expense of sailing worthwhile.

Everything on Pelican worked like a charm!

After being at Big Pine Key in Newfound Harbor for a week I was getting cabin fever. The winds had been in all the wrong directions at 20 plus knots so even going out in the dinghy was an effort, and a wet one at that.

Still, Big Pine Key has some places I like, like the Big Pine Restaurant (Breakfast Lunch Dinner) and the No Name Pub. There's also the Winn Dixie and CVS if you need those sorts of things.

I had met Carl and Laura of Ekotopia III and they were waiting for a break in the weather which happened Thursday February 11. I was going to wait until Friday (and I'm glad I didn't!).

Anyway, after a quick stop in town for mail, I got underway under beautiful skies and gentle winds for Stock Island. I didn't want to get to Key West so early. There's a little anchorage near Murray's Marina across the bay from the Naval Air Station (Key West), which is not on Key West but Boca Chica. But I digress.

So after the tricky bit of getting out of Newfound Harbor, I set the jib, staysail, and mizzen and shut down the iron genny. Because I was running a broad reach, I didn't bother with the main because all it would do is blanket the foresails. But as I rounded Red 4M south of Key Lois the wind came abeam and I raised the main.

I was towing the dinghy (which I'm looking for names for - "T/T Pelican" sounds so ostentatious, doesn't it?) and started the shaft generator to keep the batteries charged. This added almost a knot of drag to Pelican. Even so, occasionally in the puffs I hit 8 knots over the ground (8 plus through the water).

The day was around 65 degrees, so I was wearing shorts, a fleece vest and a foul weather jacket as well as my life vest and harness for working forward.

About four hours later, I arrived at the Boca Chica Channel, doused sail and headed in. The anchorage is very small for deep draft boats (I mean, 6 feet). But there's plenty of room for shallow draft boats and it shows - there are a lot of boats here in varying states of decay, some lived on, some not. But the anchorage is, as I said, tremendously well protected.

After I anchored, Alan, from the boat next door, stopped by and gave me the scoop about going ashore and how to get around. There's a ramp with a stone quay that you can leave your dinghy at and the bums watch over them. That's a recommendation, huh? There's a bus that travels the keys and costs $3.00 each way. It's nice and runs pretty close to schedule.

I'll be here for a couple more days before hitting Key West for fuel, water, pump out, and getting a mooring ball.

See you on the water!

Miami, FL to Big Pine Key, FL

It never surprises me how many mistakes I can make. It should, but it doesn't.

I left Miami with a beautiful north wind and sailed and motor sailed down Biscayne Bay. Biscayne Bay is a lovely body of water that you can sail everywhere in. Remember that, because as you head south on the ICW, it's the last you'll find.

The southern end of Biscayne Bay is bounded by Elliot Key, Old Rhodes Key and finally Key Largo. I passed through Card Sound and Little Card Sound, and finally Barnes Sound to Cross Key where I stopped for the night at Gilbert's Resort in Key Largo just under the new bridge. It's a very nice little place with a tiki bar and a German restaurant eponymously named. I didn't get the chance to try it, though, and it's unlikely I will on the way back for reasons you'll soon find out.

I had thought I'd anchor in Tarpon Basin, but Skipper Bob's said it was crowded with moorings and lots of live aboards. It was only a few miles past Gilberts, but the siren call of margaritas, free electricity and cable was too strong to resist.

If you have a shallow draft boat, and remember this warning, it's a nice place to stop - across the creek is the Anchorage Resort and Yacht Club that apparently is better because it charges more. There is also an anchorage just south of that.

I left the next day on a rising tide but I really should have looked ahead in the chart book - there are a number of areas where the ICW is charted at 5 feet. It didn't really dawn on me until at the south end of Blackwater Sound that wind from the north had emptied these sounds of water. At high tide, it was barely 5-1/2 feet which happens to be exactly what Pelican draws.

So through Blackwater Sound to Buttonwood Sound where it's charted at 6 feet (but isn't), mostly to the end of Key Largo I ended up making my own channel. Nice.

The one bright spot was Tarpon Basin where there were hardly any boats. It is a beautiful mangrove surrounded basin where anchoring is easy peasy. It's well protected from every direction. I would recommend it if it weren't for the shallow depths on the inlets.

Past Tavernier it's shallow, and it the depth doesn't get better until the south end of Islamorada. At Steamboat Channel near Shell Key it goes to a comfortable 7-8 feet and carries that all the way to Marathon (and beyond).

Lesson learned here is check the charts days ahead - I would have gone outside in Hawks Channel from Key Biscayne if I'd done that - I just assumed I'd have at least 6 feet. In many places, just outside the channel it was 7+ feet, but it was a crap shoot.

I had made reservations at the Marathon Yacht Club for two days. It's on the Florida Bay side of Marathon and it's small and well protected from all but directly north winds. However, the bay is very shallow so even with those winds, it's not bad. I got to sail for the last few hours and with the shaft generator running quite happily arrived with batteries charged.

I had been recommended to back into the slip. Fortunately there were a lot of people on hand to help with that. In 42 feet of space I had to turn Pelican around and back in a clockwise manner (which Pelican does not want to do at all). There are boats within hand's reach to walk the stern around and so forth. So without any damage I got into the slip. Whew!

They had told me that the electric rate was $9.00. I thought that was for the two days which would have been competitive with most marinas. Nope, it was for one day. So I declined the service.

After spending a day beating Pelican up I decided to go to the club's restaurant. The food was very good and the service stellar! Everyone was extremely friendly. It was a lovely experience and I didn't have to walk all that far!

The next day a man who had helped me into the slip, Bob, gave me a ride to the Publix grocery store for food. He told me all the places to see in Marathon, but the one that caught my eye was Porky's Bayside - a little restaurant on Rt 1, just a block east of the yacht club. I decided I had to have breakfast there before I left.

After shopping, I went for a bike ride to Pigeon Key where the Flagler Museum is. You walk or ride 2 miles along the old Seven Mile Bridge. If you're walking, you really have to want to see the thing. It's $11.00 per adult to get in. After that, I did some random exploring.

Later I invited Bob over for cocktails and dinner which was very pleasant.

The next morning I went to Porky's and was not disappointed. They may have great dinners, but the breakfast was all that I could ask for and more than I should have. Highly recommended if you're in Marathon. There are a lot of fru-fru restaurants in Marathon, but as you know I'm all about good food cheap and Porky's fits the bill.

I got underway around 9:30 in a west wind (remember this, as it's important) and headed out to Moser Channel under motor and sail. I figured I'd head out to sea for a while and then tack back to the shallows and repeat as necessary. Well, the wind wasn't directly out of the west but sort of north west making it directly on the nose for the course I wanted to take and at 20 plus knots.

Here's my second mistake. I should have gone back. But no, I sailed out about four miles, tacked, and sailed back about four miles and realized I made about a mile on my course. At that rate it would be twelve or fifteen hours to go 20 miles. I'd be arriving late at night in a channel I wasn't familiar with.

While I was thinking about this I was finding I was only going about three knots. Ok, close reach in 20 knots I should be doing better than that. I was scratching my head and watching my wake when I realized that I was dragging at least one of the damn crab pots that pepper everywhere and are never ending. I could see it just under the water.

As I was trying to decide what to do about this (anchor, dive, that sort of thing) the line parted and all of a sudden I'm going 7 knots. Whew! Sometimes it pays to wait.

The day wore on and eventually I decided that beating into the waves wasn't all that much fun and it was very, very wet so I started the engine and made a beeline to the entrance buoy. Even if the water was green and clear and it was sort of warm, the trip still sucked. So, mistake number two was never travel into the wind directly especially on open water. Wait for favorable winds.

I got into the anchorage about three in the afternoon and had a well deserved vodka tonic. So there.

Newfound Harbor is a lovely anchorage and mostly empty. There is room for a lot of boats but there are only a few. It's worth a stop for Big Pine Key and Torch Key where there are some great restaurants.

I'll be here for a while - and then I'll see you on the water!

Stuart FL to Miami FL and New Canvas

As I write this I'm sitting comfortably at anchor just north of the Miami Yacht Club. It's a beautiful sunny day that should reach 80 degrees with the turquoise water a toasty 80 degrees. Although I'm within rock throwing distance of central Miami it's quiet and there are a large number of cruisers anchored here. But this is just a stop before the keys. My friends Jack and Patricia from Whoosh have left this morning for the Bahamas. We'll catch up together there later...

I stopped in Stuart because I was going to go across the Okeechobee Waterway (even measured my mast in Ft. Pierce so that I could be sure I'd fit). But time constraints (the bane of a cruiser's existence) made me switch plans and go down the east coast. All for a very good reason though that will be revealed later!

I've mentioned the Harborage Yacht Club and Marina before, and I can't say enough good things about them. But while there I had a bit of a walk into Stuart where I found the 'old town' consisting of two streets of shops and restaurants that are so short that you could (and I almost did) miss them.

While I was perambulating, however, I found a kayak shop that had an inflatable two person kayak and who was willing to take mine in trade, so the whole thing cost me only two hundred dollars brand new. It's not a top-of-the-line kayak, but serviceable and surprisingly easy to use and very stable. There will be more about that later.

However, by removing the hard kayak from the coach roof I found out yesterday how badly the hatch above the galley leaked and in a half hour of no rain (and there was lots of it), I removed the glass, cleaned the frame, gooped it up with the proper sealant, and replaced the glass. Ten minutes later, it poured and continued raining all day - enough to clean the boat pretty well! Of course, today dawned beautifully! There is one more leak to deal with and at least I know where it is...


One of the major reason for stopping in Stuart is to get Adel Kahlil of Rainbow Canvas (561) 844 0557 to build me a new dodger - he's been working with my friend Cory for years (decades) and does excellent work fast - it was a pleasure to meet him and he was very professional, easy to deal with, and the results speak for themselves. I asked him for the dodger, a cover for the windows to help protect them, and a shade cover for the cockpit. It's really hard with a ketch to make a bimini, so I passed on that.

Anyway, he wasn't able to get it back to me while I was in Stuart but as I was stopping in Riviera Beach on the way to Miami it was even better - his shop is only a few minutes away. His crew came to my slip at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina to do the fitting and install - and with a couple of simple alterations had it done by 7:00 at night. You can see the results - the biggest change for me is that I can see through the dodger and I have a window I can open for the breeze easily.

I went outside from Stuart to Lake Worth - it was a motor sail (so what's new), and the wind was just a little bit too far forward to just sail. Still, it was a pleasant if wet (no dodger yet...) ride and just six hours long. It took over an hour to just get from Stuart to the St. Lucie inlet!

As I was coming up to the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina, I was boarded by the Coast Guard. Naturally, I was in a narrow channel, with boats coming down the ICW (large, power, fast) and an incoming current and a mooring field just a few hundred feet away. Of course, I was polite to the Coasties, but they could not have found a worse place or time to board. There's the whole of Lake Worth just a few hundred yards away. Plenty of maneuvering room etc. , etc. But I gave them my TWIC card and told them where the documentation number was and they seemed happy with that. I said I was alone and if they wanted to inspect the boat I'd be happy to have them aboard once I docked but as I a little busy just now, would they mind waiting?

They indicated they were just doing a DHS inspection - where I was from, where I was going, and how long I'd be there. Now that I think about it, it's fairly invasive and Pelican certainly doesn't look like a vessel of interest. There used to be a thing called 'probable cause'. Apparently no longer. This is what is happening to our 'freedom'. Anyway, they were happy with the TWIC card and were off in a few minutes. Then the real fun began!

The Riviera Beach Municipal Marina is pretty bare bones. The fingers are fixed, well above high water level and only 12 feet long. I ended up having to back in against a knot or so cross current. Thankfully, there was a number of helpers on the dock and I managed it without hitting anything. It was quite an experience and reinforced a; you must use the throttle with authority sometimes, and b; the fact that Pelican backs to starboard when pressed. It really helped to keep those in mind.

Once docked, my friend Lou came aboard for a cocktail and pepperoni, our favorite nosh. The canvas people showed up, and a little while later left for their shop and Lou and I left for dinner with his significant other, Jane, and her sister and friend. We went to a place called 'Dockside' in North Palm Beach. The food was really good! And priced well. Very enjoyable! Recommended if you can find it.

I decided to stay another day there and work on some deferred maintenance (that's short hand for fooling around on the boat) and later in the day, Lou and Jane gave a dinner party which was excellent! Good company and food, very healthy.

After the party, Jane gave Lou and me a ride to the boat where we shared a scotch and went to bed. My plan was to leave around 5 am, but we discussed it and got up at five and left at six. The day was overcast but pleasant. As we left Lake Worth Inlet we took a turn right and set the autopilot on a route to Miami - Government Cut.

I should mention the water color is changing daily as I head south - this day it was azure, very pretty. The wind built from the north so we popped out the jib and staysail and off we went at 7 plus knots using the engine just above an idle!

I had used OpenCPN to figure a route and at an estimated 6 knots we'd arrive around 5 pm. At 7 knots plus, we got there at 3! Government Cut is a very easy and well marked inlet. You can't miss it. We ended up sailing into it for about a half hour just for the pure fun of sailing without the engine.

In Government Cut when cruise ships are in port the Coast Guard prevents pleasure craft from going all the way through to the ICW. They make everyone go south of Dodge Island. It's not a terrible inconvenience, but under the guise of anti-terrorism, the private cruise lines have public protection. I think that's wrong. I'm sure they're not paying for it, but we all are.

We ended up anchoring just north of the Miami Yacht Club. The water had changed to a turquoise color. It was beautiful!

Lou got a ride into shore with Bill and Maureen from Carpe Diem eh from Winnipeg. He got the Tri-Rail home and that was that. I stayed the next day and found leaks in the rain and fixed them when the rain stopped.

The Miami Yacht Club has a restaurant and they have awesome burgers - just so you know if you're ever there!

Now I'm at Cross Key and I'll have a report later in the week about Biscayne Bay to Key Largo, Islamorada and Marathon.

See you on the water!

St. Augustine FL to Stuart FL

It's terribly tempting to stop where it's comfortable and just meld into the local sailing community, especially when the local is as pretty and welcoming as St. Augustine. But I have to get south. And so on January 15th I shoved off for Daytona Beach.

The day was sunny and warmish - light winds and of course current against me. By warmish, I mean around 65. Still jeans and a long sleeve shirt weather. I arrived at Loggerhead Marina for the evening. It's a lovely marina with a restaurant on premises. The heads and showers are clean and spacious. They really do want to make one's stay comfortable and easy. Loggerhead Club and Marina has a bunch of facilities all over Florida.

The possibility had existed that a good friend of mine's daughter or her inlaws would come and visit, but that weekend they just couldn't get to Daytona from Orlando. So I continued on to Titusville the next day.

On my way to Titusville, near Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, the wind was on the nose, of course, increasing as the day went on. But it was 72! Ok, so still had jeans on and a light jacket, but it's getting warmer.

There's a cut a few miles before Titusville as you head south called Haulover Cut and just south of that is a small island that is home to a family of pure white pelicans! I would have taken a picture except for the narrow channel and the high winds - I was busy trying to not run aground.

As I pulled into the anchorage north of the Titusville swing bridge I got hailed on the VHF - someone who apparently knew me!

Well, I recognize people but forget names (did you know you can almost go through life without using a proper name? You can.) Anyway, the person calling me as I was anchoring in 20 kt winds seemed a little put off that I didn't know who they were - my response was to please wait until I'm done with the multi-lap 42 foot dash and can actually see them.

With the anchor safely down, I had a look with the binoculars and hey! presto! It's Don and Ellen on Sirius Endeavour, a 43 foot Endeavour center cockpit ketch. It turns out I do know them and the other boat nearby, Synergy, with Karen and Chris aboard all from Brunswick, GA! What a pleasure to see them again! They had sailed directly from Brunswick to Titusville outside to the Ponce de Leon inlet.

Don came over for a glass or three of wine and Karen and Chris stopped by as well. They were all tired from their trip and wanted to get back to their boats, so off they went. The winds started to build and on the morning of the 17th, winds had increased to 25 to 30 kts with gusts to 35 - 40 kts. So we all stayed aboard our boats because it was just too rough to dinghy about. The winds howled all night, too. My friend, Lee in Brunswick, GA, called me to see how we were doing and told me they had gusts up to 50kts.

The next morning the winds had remained at 10-15 kts out of the southwest. That made sailing down the ICW a perfect endeavor. So at 0930, we weighed anchor and set off for Eau Gallie. Don indicated he couldn't motor very fast (and he was correct - I could keep up at just above an idle). But when we set sail, he motorsailing with his genoa, and Pelican under jib, staysail, and mizzen we were flying!

Most of the day I was running 7+ knots with flat seas and 10-20 kt winds. For the first time, I got to try my shaft powered alternator. For several hours I got to see how it worked - the drag is about a 1/2 knot and below a solid 5.5kts it doesn't produce any power. But anywhere above 5.5 kts it works like a charm - powering the autopilot, the refrigerator, and the instruments with power to spare - I think it will also power the water maker when that becomes necessary. At 7 knots, there is 6-8 amps going into the battery bank if it's low.

Another purpose for the alternator is if the main engine's alternator fails, I can still turn this one on while traveling and charge the batteries.

I replaced my solar panel some time back with a newer, 130 watt one. The old one was 100 watt and I think was so old that it couldn't produce even 50 watts. Older solar panels do degrade relatively quickly. Up north, the panel is of limited usefulness. During the day I'll get up to 5 amps out of it for a couple of hours and that's about it. Down here, at anchor, on a sunny day (which are mercifully common!) I'll get up to 6 hours of 5-7 amps out of it - it will power the refrigerator quite easily during the day. It means I don't have to run the generator or engine every day if I don't want to. As long as it's warm enough for a cool shower, I don't even need the hot water!

At Eau Gallie we anchored off a marina where Don and Ellen had friends. Unfortunately, they were swamped getting their boat ready for cruising. Don and Ellen invited me over for dinner so with bottle of wine in hand and a bag of cheeses, sausage, and crackers went over (actually Don came and got me). We had a lovely cocktail hour or two and later chicken quesadillas that Ellen apparently specializes in because they were spectacular! Sirius Endeavor is a lovely boat. Don and Ellen keep her in tip-top shape. That's no mean feat as cruising takes a real toll on boats.

I have family in Ft. Pierce who, for some strange reason, wanted to see me and so the next morning I left Eau Gallie. Sirius Endeavour was only going as far as Vero Beach to meet up with friends and Synergy. As I left the anchorage I heard a vessel 'Whoosh' calling the Coast Guard about a line of crab pots in the ICW - really in the middle of the channel.

Whoosh is another Pearson 424. Jack and Patricia are well known in our community and probably the entire cruising community. When I heard them calling the Coast Guard, I had to call them to see if she was the Whoosh I know. She was! So I followed her all day to a little anchorage just south of the Ft. Pierce inlet and kayaked over with bottle of wine, cheese, and crackers, to meet Jack and Patricia. We had a lovely cocktail hour. They are wonderful people who have cruised all over - I got a lot of great information from them about single or short handed sailing.

While traveling past Vero Beach I saw so many dead fish! Apparently they froze to death. Very sad - some were huge!

The next morning Whoosh was going out the Ft. Pierce inlet headed for Miami. I motored over to the Ft. Pierce City Marina to stay so I could visit my cousin and his wife who have a house nearby. For two days we ate, shopped for various items, and generally had a good time. Joe and Del are great people.

As a favor to Joe, I let him change my fan belts. He seemed to enjoy it, and who am I to keep someone from happiness?

The Ft. Pierce City Marina is a very nice marina - clean and friendly with two restaurants and not far from the city center or shopping. It's a little difficult to maneuver in, but Pelican is not the easiest boat to do close work with...

As I'm trying to get south I wanted to leave on the 22nd for Stuart, FL. Joe came with me and as we left Ft. Pierce. The wind, once again, was perfect for sailing with the day being near 80, so shorts and t-shirts prevailed. Joe steered the whole day with a big grin on his face. There was some bad weather north of us and a half hour after we left we got a call from Del telling us it was raining cats and dogs! Meanwhile, we were in sunny, warm, and breezy weather!

We got into Stuart at the Harborage Yacht Club and Marina so I can get some canvas work done. The marina is new and provides so many services that others charge for - they are so helpful and nice. It's amazing and extraordinarily pleasurable to be here. I have to careful I don't stick... Free wi-fi, free cable, great weekly rates, the best daily rates for the area.

Del came down to pick up Joe and some friends from up north who had just flown in, Bobbie and Warren, came by and we all went to Pirate's Cove in Manatee Pocket for dinner. We had a great time, of course. Bobbie and Warren drove back to their friend's house in Ft. Lauderdale. Joe and Del drove me back to the marina and left for home.

As I was walking down the dock to Pelican I saw my friends Dave and Nancy from Liberty - I met them in Beaufort, SC. Our paths have been nearly crossing all the way down - they're now headed to the Bahamas with a weather window. I hope to see them there!

Now I'm looking to see the best route to Key West- east or west coast of Florida. I sort of had my heart set on going the Okeechobee Waterway to Ft. Myers but I need to be in Key West by Feb 18th. More about that later. My friend, Lou, would like to do the trip from West Palm to Miami. That sounds like fun - more than motoring alone to the west coast, but I want to see what the west coast is like. Well, let's see how the canvas thing goes.

Now I'm off to fix the steaming light... It's always something.

See you on the water!


I went to sleep.

From Brunswick to St. Augustine

I've said this before: I love sailing at night, especially when there's no moon and it's clear. My friend Lee and I left Brunswick, GA January 12, 2010 around 6:00pm for an overnight trip to St. Augustine. We were in company of another boat, Overdraught with Heather and Stewart aboard. They're heading to Ft. Lauderdale but we'll meet up in the Keys.

The night was calm and beautifully clear. Also, very cold, dropping to 31F. Fortunately, Lee and I were dressed in so many layers that we looked like multi-colored Michelin men, so we stayed warm.

Around 8 pm, I made dinner of pork chops cooked in chopped tomato and chili peppers with cilantro and lime juice (sounds complicated, huh? Nope, opened a can of Ro-Tel. Wonderful!) I also made Cuban black beans and rice. Right out of a package. Still, the whole meal with Mexican cheese mix sprinkled on was delicious! Coffee and Milano cookies rounded up the meal. Not bad for underway, huh?

Lee just wanted experience with night time sailing. Too bad there wasn't enough wind to sail, but there was enough to motor-sail. So that's what we did. And other than arriving in St. Augustine, FL cold and tired, it was an uneventful trip.

Unfortunately, we arrived in St. Augustine too late for an early bridge opening and way to early for the first one during rush hour so we had to circle for 45 minutes until the 9:30 opening. Once through, however, we tied up at the St. Augustine City Marina and set the boat to right and waited for Lee's wife Karen to arrive so we could have breakfast - which we did in the Athena Restaurant right downtown. Honestly, it was just ok. But we were hungry and that's all that mattered!

We took a quick trip to Sailor's Exchange, a legendary boating consignment shop. There's tons of stuff there and I'm sure I could find a use for most of it, but hey, I'm cruisin' here. Projects enough when I get back, I'm sure.

Ok, well, after Sailor's Exchange, I went back to Pelican, tidied up a bit, caught up on email, and took a nap - it was about 2 pm, anyway. Got up, fooled around a bit, made dinner, went to bed and was dead to the world until 6:30 Thursday morning.

Thursday was a big day! A old, dear friend of mine lives about 15 minutes away from St. Augustine and one of my dock mates from Stamford who is a pilot had to fly to St. Augustine for business. So there was a lot to do!

After breakfast, I got a call from Brian that he'd arrived and went to meet him to walk around town for the morning. As I've written, I detest cute. Towns that are all made up to look old-timey make me uncomfortable. However, St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States - it's been Spanish, British, Spanish again, United States, Confederate and finally the United States again.

When you stroll through the old town, it really is old - buildings built with cochina are hundreds of years old. The oldest schoolhouse is there. The shops are mostly all local crafts persons and the restaurants fit right in. It's a very pretty town because it really is what it purports to be. No cutesie, just old buildings that have been cared for.


As you walk along the main shopping street, you'll come across little nooks and crannies that have surprising things - a waterwheel, an artist's enclave of sorts. Restaurants are everywhere - from little hamburger joints to really fancy schmancy places.

St. Augustine is one of those cities that are eminently walkable - St. George street where most of the stores are is closed to traffic. The lights on other streets are timed to make it easier to walk around. And the city is not that big - you could see it easily in a day, although you'd probably want to take more - especially if you're going to explore the fort and the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum.


St. Augustine is also the home of Flagler College. The main building was, at one time, a luxury hotel with amazing carvings and Tiffany windows. It's a beautiful place and apparently very reasonable. One of Brian's copilots has a son there. You could wander the grounds all day.

Brian and his crew had lunch at a little Mexican luncheonette that smelled so good I was thinking of having two lunches! But I sat and had a tea with them - and then left when my friend, Jaime, called to let me know she was there. We ended up having a very nice lunch at a place called Harry's - southern cooking, and very good. Moderately priced. You can get to it from A1A - the main road that runs along the waterfront.

All the food sounded delicious, but I had their signature pork chops. Mmmmm. It was very nice seeing Jaime again. It's nice to catch up with people on a trip like this.

As an aside, at the corner of King Street where it meets A1A and the Stone Lion Bridge is a microbrewery. The food is a notch above bar food and it's really, really good. So's the beer. Worth going to if your in St. Augustine. But I digress.

So in the afternoon, I explored the fort (sadly, sans camera) and met up with Brian for dinner around 4 pm. We wandered around town and finally decided to visit a tapas and piano bar, Sangrias, on the corner of St. George and Hypolita streets. It's upstairs and has a lovely balcony that you can sit at - if the evening was just a little warmer we'd have stayed out there.

Inside, Amy Hendrickson and Corey Peterson were playing - Corey with a sax, Amy on guitar. It's an unusual combination but they sounded great. They also belong to a group called Prime Directive playing all over Florida and Georgia.

Brian and I were only going to stay a while and then find a place for dinner - but as it got later we decided to sample Sangria's wares. Wow! Delicious - the tapas plates were enough to share and very tasty - the presentation was pretty, too. So what could be better than drinking nice wine, listening to excellent music and eating good food? Nothing, I submit.

Around 10 pm, we left and got back to Pelican for some port. Discussion of many things followed and Brian left around 11:30. He had to get up early to fly back north and I had to get up early to catch the tide to Daytona.

And so, I hope to see you on the water!

Brunswick, Georgia

It seems that every place I stop is more inviting than the last - Brunswick is one of those places. When you think of the gentle courtesies of the South you are thinking of Brunswick.

The Brunswick Landing Marina is a beautiful marina with floating concrete docks, very fair pricing and a five minute (well, maybe 10) from town where there are quite a few good restaurants and cafes. There is a breakfast/lunch nook, Hungry Hannah's, where you can get their 'Big Breakfast' for $6.00 including tip that includes two eggs, hashbrowns or grits, a meat, toast and coffee. Highly recommended, although it's only open on weekdays.

The marina is very boater friendly - they provided some really excellent roast beef and turkeys for a Christmas party, allow the boaters to have Happy Hour every Wednesday night at the club house where the washers and dryers are, and act as a mail drop for everyone who passes through.

The manager gives blow-by-blow instruction for people landing here and makes sure there's someone to help with the lines for new arrivals. Everyone here is extremely friendly and helpful. Other boaters enjoy the social life and host little soires on their own. I could get very used to this marina, believe me!

Outside of the two main streets in Brunswick, Glouchester and Newcastle, the town turns into mostly residential areas. At the south end of Newcastle the street is lined with huge old live oaks with spanish moss dripping from every branch. The houses there are old mansions, for the most part, many of which have been restored.

One thing you should know about the spanish moss - Don't fool with it. It's loaded with chiggers. People who use it for decorations will put it in a microwave for a couple of minutes before using it.

Following Glouchester to the east takes one to Route 17, where you can get access to St. Simon's Island and Jekyll Island. Both have lovely beaches, where Jekyll Island is mostly residential St. Simon's has a lovely little town full of geegaw shops and restaurants.

Sadly, though, Brunswick is suffering from the same thing many small towns do- namely the encroachment of big-box stores and malls. Not too many miles from the center of town are the standard mega-malls with Home Depot, Lowe's, Burger King, McDonalds, etc., etc. The malls are just splattered all over the landscape. Also, more and more communities are moving from the Brunswick town to near the malls.

So the downtown area of Brunswick is suffering. One bright spot, though, is the local hardware store, Central Hardware. Located on Norwich Street it is one of those old-time hardware stores that has everything you need, helpful people who know where it is, and probably know how to use or install it. True, it's cluttered and crowded, but it's clean and neat and if you're in the area and need something or other, it's probably there. Best of all, it's within walking distance of the marina.

My friends Laura and Cory came down to their house here for Christmas and we spent the long weekend together eating and drinking, seeing movies, and generally catching up. They are sweet and generous and I count myself extremely lucky to be their friend.

I've spent the week between Christmas and New Years taking care of maintenance on Pelican - oil change, transmission fluid change (which I don't think has ever been done), v-drive oil change (which probably has never been done, either). I'll keep an eye on them to ensure they're ok after all that. I do notice that the transmission shifts much better now.

Also, I installed my TV antenna on the mizzen mast. Not that there's anything to watch, mind you, but it was taking up space in my locker so what the heck, might as well deal with it.

Yesterday, New Years Eve day, it was like 70! Today, it may make 50, and next week the night-time temperatures are supposed to be in the high 20s. Yahh! There is a little get-together at the club house for the evening.

One other reason, besides meeting up with Laura and Cory, that I chose to stay at Brunswick is that another 424 owner, Lee, got me a deal on the slip and is quite a guy to know. It's been a real joy hanging out with him [edited because of my pedantic sister] and Karen, and their love sponge dog, Grace.

Naturally, the weather here has been the coldest in the last 20 years or so. Perfect. In addition, I've contracted a cough from hell and now have the strongest abs I've ever had. I can't talk, but who cares? I had wanted to leave the Tuesday after New Years, but that didn't happen. Next time for leaving is next Tuesday. It's supposed to be 60, rather than 20. I'll take that.

Brunswick, Georgia is a great place to stay, but be very careful - you could end up staying much longer than you had wanted. It's lovely, graceful, and the people are so nice. It's easy to live here. I will be tearing myself away from here, I have to tell you!

Well, I'm underway next week. I gotta get south to the WARM. See you on the water!

Beaufort, South Carolina to Brunswick, Georgia

As I write this I am comfortably ensconced in Brunswick Landing Marina, Brunswick Georgia. It's a beautiful, well run marina and my new 424 buddy, Lee Yonkers is berthed just across the finger from me! But getting here was not so easy, my friends.

It's a tale of heavy winds, driving rain, freezing temperatures and long, lonely watches.

When I left Beaufort, SC it was drizzling, overcast and generally depressing weather. But I had the current with me! The day had been forecast to have heavy rain, gale or near gale force winds and to continue for two days with awful weather to be outside in. You lot in the mid-Atlantic states and New England have some idea. It was the day Washington, DC got two feet of snow. Incidentally, I would have paid to see that. But I digress.

Anyway, it was just wet for most of the trip until I crossed the Savannah River. Then all hell broke loose! The wind was steady 28-30 knots with gusts to 35 or so. Of course, right on the nose... As I passed Thunderbolt the seas (and given this is a narrow stream) were three feet with the tops of the waves being blown off. The only good thing was that for some reason the wind was 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the rest of the day! Man, I forgot what 30 mile per hour rain feels like - it hurts!

A half hour after it started it was over and I pulled into the Isle of Hope marina for the night. Naturally, as I tied up to the dock, the wind died, the sun came out, and the temperature remained fairly warm. That night it was cold. I'm glad I had a heater aboard! The marina is very nice - new concrete floating docks and all.

The next day dawned cold (ice on the docks) but clear and I was off at 0710. I was pushing to get to Brunswick GA so I wanted as much daylight as possible. So after a day of mostly going into the wind against the current I arrived at the Darien River where there's a small but fairly well protected anchorage.

There was another boat already anchored when I arrived. There was also a fairly strong current. I managed to alternately amuse and worry him as he watched me drop the anchor, drift too close, pull the anchor up, move a little farther away and try again. This happened twice before I finally figured out how to manage the current and wind to drop the anchor just where I wanted it.

Sunset was spectacular! The night was cold but bearable and like being on land it was so calm. I was only about 20 miles from Brunswick so I lounged about until 0800 and puttered on off to Brunswick Landing Marina. The wind was much lighter than the day before but it wasn't until noon or so when I got to the marina when it started to warm up.

With much help I tied up across the finger from a 424 organization member, Lee.

So here I am at Brunswick Landing Marina in Georgia. I'll be here for a couple of weeks during Christmas week and New Years week before I travel on.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

See you on the water!

Mosquito Creek, A Rescue, and Beaufort, SC

Last night was cold. I mean, really cold. Or I'm getting old. But I think I'll stick with cold. I left Charleston around 0815 near slack high tide so I could get through the 0900 opening at the Wahpoo Creek Bridge. Needless to say, I just made it running full bore! But after that, it was all good. Motorsailing down the ICW can be relaxing and fun. It saves fuel and you can convince yourself that if it weren't for the narrowness you could sail the whole thing top to bottom. (Hint: you can't.)

So as it was approaching 1500 (3:00pm) and the sun sets here at like 4:30, I was looking for a place to stop. It turns out that just near a crucial turn in the ICW is a place called Mosquito Creek. I am glad for the cold - I'd hate to be there in the summer since I'm pretty sure the name is very descriptive of the wild life. Anyway, at a shrimper's dock, B & B Seafood, I tied up for the evening for a whopping $25. True, there's nothing there except a seafood market. No electricity, only fuel. But compared to Charleston Maritime Center, it was quiet with no wakes to heave you out of your bunk at 0h-dark-thirty.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Charleston Maritime Center except for that. If I were prone to seasickness, I'd've been.

Anyway, it was a lovely quiet creek and I slept extraordinarily well, given I was in my fleece pants, vest, t-shirt and BVDs and socks. After a dinner of carne asada and broccoli, I read for a couple of hours and was fast asleep under the covers.

This morning I was up and underway at 0715 headed, I thought, for Bull Creek SC for a night at anchor. As the morning wore on, I found that I'd be in Beaufort (pronounced 'bee-yew-frt', as opposed to North Carolina's 'bo-frt') waiting for the Ladies Island Bridge for the 10:30 opening. I had hoped to make it at 0900, but hey, sometimes plans just go awry.

As I was spinning Pelican to bear away from the bridge I saw a lump in the water - then the lump started waiving. Then the lump started shouting, "Help! Help!" This was at 1025, so I resigned myself to missing the 1030 opening and headed over to get the poor bastard out of the water. I threw my emergency ladder overboard, stopped Pelican about three feet from him and asked him to bring the painter with him onboard - he handed me the painter and climbed up the ladder soaked to the skin.

I put his capsized boat under tow, called the bridge to say I'd be traversing slowly because of the capsized boat under tow and the bridge operator was very understanding. Anyway, I made the opening and brought the poor blighter to the dock at Beaufort Downtown Marina.

Well, he'd been nicked by the prop in the capsize, but I saw he wasn't bleeding and that he'd make a medical center once he called his brother and got a ride. I pulled his boat out of the water onto the dock and let it drain. His brother showed up, took the motor and the soaked guy, and with hearty handshakes all around, was off.

Since I'd already tied up to the dock and all, and since it was going to be cold that night, and because I saved a man's life, I decided to stay as a reward. So here I am at Beaufort, SC where but for fate I would have blown by at a blistering speed of seven knots.

My friend, Cory, reminded me that I'd been there before on their boat delivering it north from Ft. Lauderdale a year ago or so. Anyway, I thought I'd have a bit of a look around and took a walk - also, the marina provided a coupon in their little package for a free chocolate sand dollar at the local confectionery so that was something of an encouragement to leave the boat.


Off I went, having a look about - taking a few pictures, and of course getting my free chocolate (which cost $10.00 because I had to purchase some dark chocolate cashew bark, don't you know).

As I was walking back, I thought I'd go to the top of the bridge and get a picture of the whole town of Beaufort when I espied another Pearson 424 waiting for the opening - the boat's name is Sea Zen and the only person I met was Beth, although I asked them all over for wine and cheese if they could make it. Unfortunately, they were pressed for time and weren't able to come, but Dave and Nancy from Liberty, a Morgan 40 something, did and we had a great evening! Also, I learned a lot from them about the Dry Tortugas. That may come in handy later.

When the evening was done, I toodled off to bed with heaters blazing and slept amazingly well.

Tomorrow, I have to make 50 miles (a little less in nautical miles). So maybe I'll see you on the water!

Navigation Software

I've been in Charleston long enough. After you soak up so much history, eat so many shrimp and grits meals, walk so many miles looking at truly magnificent homes, you're bound to take a day or three to explore some software. Ok, maybe not all of you.

So here's the thing: free navigation software. Now, NOAA has been supplying charts in digital formats for a few years now. Like books, there's nothing like a paper chart to keep track of where you are in the world (I can't translate lat and long numbers to a physical position in my head without a chart. I suspect most people can't).

Of course, chartplotters exist on many boats. I have two - a Raymarine C80 and a Raytheon Pathfinder as a backup. I'm very happy with both systems, but what about someone who doesn't have unlimited funds to acquire this stuff? What do they do? Well, here's the answer and it's way less expensive than you can imagine.

Maptech supplies charting software with its chart kits. It's copy protected, difficult to use, and requires, at this time, finding and installing an update to use Garmin hand-held GPSs. Because it's a 'lite' version of their charting software, there's a bunch it doesn't do. Moreover, it can only be used on one computer - if you need to move it to a different one, you have to convince Maptech that it's a legal move. Those 'features' are the kind that killed Lotus 123 and dBase as premier software packages in the '80s. Apparently big companies don't learn all that well.

That said, there are two programs that I know of that are free and use the free downloadable charts from NOAA.

Before I go there, though, there are two types of charts NOAA supplies called Raster Navigational Charts (RNC) and Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC). RNCs are a digital picture of the real paper charts. If you could print them out on a large size printer you would have essentially what you purchase in a store as paper charts - in fact, a company (Bellingham Chart Printers) exists that prints these files in grey scale for a fraction of the price of new colored charts. I know of world cruisers that have used them quite happily.

ENCs are data rich vector charts - they contain, essentially, a database of objects with attributes. If you query a mark, you'll receive the information about it such as name, color, purpose, height and other things. The charts themselves are visualized somewhat strangely to people used to using paper charts because they're line drawn. There's no shading. It's like looking at an architectural drawing, except with buoys.

Most chart plotters actually use both chart sets - the visualization is with the raster chart so it looks familiar, but when you click on something for information, it querys the underlying vector chart based on your cursor position and you get the presentation of the information.

Don't worry if this is getting too technical - if you're familiar with the transparencies of the human body in an encyclopedia (most have them) then you can picture how this works. If not, just take my word for it.

Now for the programs. The two I'll discuss are SeaClear II and OpenCPN. Although both are capable chart plotters and navigation aids, OpenCPN offers the ability to control the autopilot and set and save routes to follow. Both integrate easily with GPS units, with SeaClear II able to connect to Garmin units using the USB without modification. The OpenCPN uses NMEA 0183 exclusively.

Sea Clear II uses the RNCs and is very easy to use - it is not designed to be a full fledged navigation system, in my opinion. But it is very easy to use and very useful as a chart plotter. It allows you to make routes and save waypoints. I've used it for couple of years and it's great for deciding overall trip strategy. I like it alot.

I've recently been turned on to OpenCPN. I'm a big fan of open source software and I use Open Office instead of paying Microsoft huge sums of cash for a questionably useful product. But I digress. OpenCPN was written specifically to do all the things a chart plotter does - run autopilots, set and follow routes, provide information about navigational items and much more. As you move from place to place the program automatically loads the chart for that area at the closest scale it can find for where you currently on. Sometimes, that takes a few seconds, but I suspect that has more to do with my computer than anything else.

OpenCPN uses both RNCs and ENCs as I've explained above. There's a huge implication to this fact - first, all the charts that NOAA provides are free to download, and second, if you have a PC with a decent monitor and three USB or serial ports and a GPS unit you can have a full fledged navigation system/chart plotter. It will run any NMEA 0183 autopilot (like, for instance, Raymarine). It will use any NMEA GPS antenna (like, for instance Raymarine or Garmin). And it will run on Windows and Linux (and maybe Mac but I won't vouch for that). It accepts AIS input and displays it. It is very powerful.

So, if you wanted a system you could purchase a decent laptop for $500 or so, load it with Ubuntu (free linux), install the OpenCPN, connect your autopilot, your GPS antenna ($250), your AIS receiver (optional, but fun $500) and you'd have the equivalent of a $3000-$6000 system. Moreover, with a little ingenuity, you could add a display at your helm with a touch screen. To be perfectly honest, I'm tempted to try this myself...

Anyway, there you have it - free navigation software. If you've got the time and a PC, I'd sure enough have a look at both. The charts are free from NOAA - RNCs and ENCs. I find downloading them by Coast Guard Zone the easiest. Unzip to a directory you'll remember and point the program at it - then go to town (sea)!

That's it for now. I'm leaving Charleston to spend Christmas with friends in Brunswick GA.

See you on the water!