St Augustine

Monday is here, and I feel that I should update everyone on the weekend's activities.

No runs, no hits and no errors, our journey was fairly uneventful. Friday was pretty busy, I got home late from work which put a wrench into my plans and the time to accomplish each little task that needed doing before departure.

Hyacinth was carried to the Barco, we dropped her off and made way to the Publix (forget going to the Commissary on a Payday/Retiree Payday) for all the food we would be needing. Afterwards, we went back to the house and had Publix hotwings for dinner.

Taps came pretty early for a Friday, we were a snoozin' by 2100. 0500 came real early, we loaded the truck and shifted over to the Barco Sin Vela. We were underway just after 0700 and in fairly short order we were zooming through downtown Jacksonville (Don't make a wake!) and we slid along just under ten knots, heading for the Dames Point Bridge. This is where I remembered I needed to prove I was out and about with evidence.



So in order to have full disclosure, here is a shot of the GPS



The Hyacinth Kitteh was acting as the fantail watch, ensuring that no one fell into the water with out her knowing about it!



Everything was going to plan, with the exception of the weather. It was looking like the winds were going to be out of the Southeast, and at least 15 knots, which added to our forward progress of about 10 knots, would mean we would be heading into 25 knots of apparent wind.

No thanks. Down the Intra Coastal Waterway we went.



Meanwhile, back in the engine compartment, the squirrels who run in the circular contraption that we call a "Generator" decided that they would continue to run no more. That meant the airconditioning, the fridge and the icemaker would also show solidaity with the down trodden squirrels and also cease function.

I opened up the floor access panels and entered the noisy domain of mechanical magic. My mind's narrator was an imaginary Marlon Perkins from that old "Wild Kingdom" show, {Picture Jim going in to wrestle the crocodile}

Marlon Perkins: "Watch out, Jim! Those teeth are razor sharp!!!" Remember that Marlon was never getting into the scene himself?.

My admiration for Jim remains, even if Marlon and Jim may not be here to talk over my entrance to the domain of fan belts and fast spinning things.

The once over of hoses, connections and security were performed and I warily looked behind the generator. I noticed water pouring into the boat via the propeller shaft at the stern gland.

A hasty explanation was offered to She Who Will be Obeyed, and we shut down the starboard engine, so I could reach in with a 9/16's wrench and tighten the two nuts which hold the flax packing in the shaft/ocean interface. A tightening we will go!

Moments later, I reported the completion of the task. But we still didn't have a generator. Due to my lack of mechanical talent, I decided to leave the generator to those Mystic's who work magic on such devices.

No point in breaking something worse. This has happened to me before, where I started fiddling with something til it breaks properly.

I switched our fridge to DC power on the DC panel and called it a morning.



These two were fishing in da' ditch in their Ocean Kayaks. This must be a sign of the poor economy, cuz normally a couple a characters like this would be in a small motor boat. We have a couple of these kayaks, you will get wet and they aren't very stable, see the photos from the trip to Hontoon. Gators are in all Florida waters!



All this fun and we have barely entered the ICW with the Wonderwood Bridge was upon us.

The "Wonderwood Expressway" was planned and built to accomodate the residents of Arlington driving to Naval Station Mayport, back when the Forrestal and Saratoga made their home their. I remember sitting in the Mayport Road parking lot at 0630 and 1700, with all six thousand cars heading like lemmings to the base and home.

We all dreamed of a time when they would actually put in a straight highway to the base. We "wonder would" they build this road with all of the environmentalists fighting it each inch of the way.

The Ol' Sara and the FID went away, but the dream of a road with a bridge remained. They finished the bridge sometime in 2005, I think. I hope they bring a Carrier back to Mayport. I don't have a dog in the fight, I live across town.

Back to the ICW:

Our first non-fishing boat traveler!


A nice Canadian going home. Lucky feller.

Soon we found ourselves in Ponte Vedra, a small beach community know for the Pro Golfers Tour, and little else. A really straight cut begins, no more winding about until you get past Palm Valley.






You can tell you are in Palm Valley because the ICW starts to wind, again. There is a nice anchorage at the end of Cabbage Swamp. You can see the straight cut on the chart:



This portion of the Intracoastal waterway was straightened out to accommodate barge traffic, especially during World War 2, when freighters were being sunk within sight of Jacksonville Beach. Even though there is plenty of wildness, the depth is a uniform seven or eight feet (mostly).

I will be back and finish this in an hour, or so. Thanks for reading and commenting!

Underway; Shift Colors!

I cannot believe how busy May Day was. I was supposed to be gone at 1600 from the J OH B, but it was not to be, so there was much running around with nothing really being accomplished.

We grabbed clothing and Hyacinth, ran down to the Barco and loaded them on. Had to go to Publix for food and snacks, and went home to relax.

Hyacinth will be happier on the boat.

We celebrated reveille at 0500, the Spousal Unit is in the rain locker and I will replace her in said space in moments. We hope to get underway no later than 0700. Winds and seas are supposed to be 10 to 15 from the South with 2 to 4 foot seas.

Not looking too good for a offshore fishing jaunt. Comfort is the name of the game around these parts!

There will be a review of weather conditions when we reach the Mayport area, otherwise it is the obvious choice to take the ICW.

I can hear the 1MC in my head;

<Bosun's whistle attention sound> "Underway, Shift Colors!" "Now set the normal underway watch".

Back on Thursday

We are approaching the Friday, it being only ten hours away, endure the work day and we will see freedom in approximately 26 hours.

Went to a planning meeting for the weekend trip. There was an excellent presentation by Revere Supply Co, makers of fine life rafts and other marine survival gear.

Was that supposed to be some sort of foreshadowing moment? It's only a thirty mile jaunt offshore...

This trip is to be a cruise/fishing contest. Bring in the biggest five fish (excluding barracuda, bonita, sharks, remora) and who ever has the heaviest aggregate, wins.

What? Like I really think I can catch five fish, much less excluding all those other fish listed in the parentheses. I haven't caught five fish in six years, much less expect to do so this weekend.

The thing we are looking forward to (as if you didn't know it) is the thrill of getting underway on Saturday morning, watching the sun rise up as we traverse the thirty miles to the ocean. Or to the Intracoastal waterway, and heading South in a gloriously warm Spring day.

I expect to see this:

View Larger Map

St Augustine is on the South Eastern corner and we will begin the trip by the bridge on the St Johns, Buckman Bridge. Sixty miles, overall.

There is a couple of offshore poles available to me, I have some fine larger Rapala lures and I hope we can somehow score a nice Dorado that will serve as the main course ofr Saturday's dinner. But we shall bring some frozen steaks in case the fish ignore my weak catching skills.

After we do the post weekend report I will return to Southampton England (via memory lane) and catch everyone up on the continuing story of the Wildebeest III, "The Journey to a new home".

Reader Fire Fox has never seen a Cat on a Boat

Until now.

Here is Mao standing on the Helm Console on last Barco, Superbowl 2005 in Jacksonville;



Mao really loves being on a boat, he just likes other boats, too. He will go on "walkabout".

Planning meeting tonight for St Augustine

At 1800, there will be a meeting of boat Skippers for the St Augustine Cruise and Fishing Contest.

We will be talking about our berthing arrangements at Camachee Cove
and also whatever they want to discuss concerning the fishing.

I'm not sure of the way we will go; Either the ocean or the Intracoastal. The ocean is quicker and we can drag a lure behind and maybe catch a Dorado or Mackerel. We can also just set the autohelm and throttle and just relax, there are no obstructions and it is a big ocean.

The ICW is protected from the winds and ocean swells, so it would be much smoother but slower going. Not to mention the rude boats going the speed of heat who leave irresponsible wakes.

See this Google Map to get a better idea:

View Larger Map

Does anyone know how to get rid of the stupid address bubble when adding Google Map to Blog?

Anyhow, you can see that the Intracoastal is twisty while the ocean looks invitingly straight. It will just depend on winds and wave heights.

Hyacinth gets scared, you know.

Howza 'bout wrappin' this manuscript up!

Ok, ok.

Thursday night was very sedate, we had a light meal, watched the sunset and hit the rack at about 2100. We planned on an early morning departure, maybe around 0700.

Not.

Woke at the crack of 0730, made some coffee and some brekky and prepared to get underway in minimum time. About 0830, started motors and pulled the lines in. There was a slight breeze from the East, but shouldn't be a problem.

I backed out, towards that other trawler when things went really wrong. I ran aground, and the wind began twisting us to the right, towards that other boat!

There is a small crowd watching me slowly try to recover, but I had to go forward to get off the mud. This brought Barco in between the docks, heading for more shallow!
I started some real adrenalin pumping as I tried to turn the boat around, while the wind and the rudders resisted me... I got real aggressive, as people started yelling and giving bad advice.

I pumped the starboard engine forward while firing the port engine at about 1200 rpm to twist the boat to the left. I centered the rudders, put bot engined to idle as I shifted to full reverse.

The nice person from the Trawler behind (the one who kinda forgot to tell me that there was a bank just to his left... started to tell me what I already knew what to do. As the boat began to leave the docks, he told me to stop and avoid the other bank which had been immediately in front of me.

She Who Will Be Obeyed told everyone that we were just doing all of this yanking and banking for their entertainment, call it "Anchor Follies".

We got away cleanly, just some minor errors. The mudbanks are not listed in the NOAA charts, so it is a "Local Knowledge" kinda thing.

Now I Know! That will never happen again. I really hate looking stupid, but it would have been nice if I got the memo. Some people love to see someone fail because it makes themselves feel a bit superior.

Whatever...

So we slowly made our way to the North, enjoying another cup of coffee and some relief.

We passed the familiar places noticing it was all bass fisherman, up and down the river. The speed was kept slow to not cause unnecessary wakes. The winds began to pick up to 15, gusting to 22 out of the East. The NOAA weather broadcast on the VHF radio began to tell of small craft warnings due to "Lake Effect". Lake Effect is the influence strong winds produce on flat waters... think of the big waves on the ocean from the winds, only on a lake, there are steep and choppy waves which can flip a small boat.

Not Barco. We are simply too big for that kind of thing. We can get uncomfortable, maybe even hit bottom in some shallows, but we really are too long and beamy for much concern. I knew it would become bumpy on Lake George.

Charlie Mike!

We got past the bridge and made way to Lake George. As we left Astor, we got waked by a couple of power boats, unecessarily. Thanks, "Wags to Riches". You f^#*&^g Maggot, hope you ran aground at your Silver Glen Springs arrival!

The other boat, "50/50", also waked us. But it was clear that this was a 18 foot power boat (probably also making Silver Glen Springs their destination...) that was being captained by someone who did not know the rules. Or how to navigate.

"Wags to Riches" was about a quarter mile ahead, entering the Volusia Bank channel, where they waked "50/50", who was in the mud throwing up a muddy rooster tail. Stuck.

We snickered, as we passed by slowly. The captain of "50/50" began waving at us, trying to get us to go back and pull them off.

Right.

We draw 3.5 feet, they draw about a foot and a half. No way am I going to pull someone like that off. Besides, the wind was now steady above 25 knots, and the waves were picking up.

The VHF started making talk noises...

"50/50 calling..."

Silence.

"50/50 calling..."

Silence.

The Spousal Unit began to feel sorry for these folks. It wasn't too many years ago, (17) where we needed to have a tow and someone we did not know came to help us.

No way was I going to risk our boat for people who were going to be alright, even if they hopped out of the boat and pushed it off the mud. By the way, if we had a light boat I had their boat, I would be off of it getting us off the mud and back underway.

Then again, I always have convenient answers, don't I. Jerk.

"50/50, this is Barco Sin Vela on One Six"

"This is 50/50, over"

"50/50, please switch to channel One Seven, Over"

I switch to channel 17 so we would not clobber channel 16, which is for hailing and emergency use, only.

When I made the switch, I noticed the screen of my radio said, "Channel 17, Government/Harbor Pilot"

Huh? These radios tell you everything, including Lat and Long.

50/50 noticed this, too. I call him back.

"50/50, Barco Sin Vela".

"50/50 here, are you a pilot?"

Cue the Scooby-doo. "Arrrughhh"?

"Uh, no. You gotta pen?"

"Why do I need a pen?"

"Just get one," I said.

After a few minutes goes by... "Ok, Barco. I have a pen"

"Write this down, 800-888-4869. You get that?"

He reads it back. I tell him to call Towboat US at that number. They will send someone out to get them.

"Don't forget to tell them you are on the Volusia Bank"

"Roger. Thank you..."

So we enter Lake George feeling nice for helping out the stranded boater.

Note about Boat US; I have been covered under their "Unlimited" towing since returning to the US eight years ago. I pay about a hundred bucks a year, and if I need to be towed Boat US pays the entire amount. I ran aground in the Intracoastal near St Augustine, and rather than wreck the boat more, I called Boat US who pulled me off. The charge was $675, but I paid nothing.

50/50 will be calling the Boat US folks on a land line. They will give him the opportunity to join (if he hasn't already) and his first tow will essentially cost a hundred bucks. Not too bad.

The winds and the swells are picking up. There is a pontoon boat behind us, about 200 yards back. He is bouncing around, but it looks like he is trying to stay in our wake to smooth out his ride. We kept an eye on this boat in case he flips over, I wish he would pull up closer, in order to take advantage of the close in wake and avoid the waves that are tossing him around, but he doesnt, despite us slowing down.

There are no pictures because it is really is bumpy and there is water splashing over our bow. But the sun is still shining, and we are snug and dry inside the plastic enclosure. Our buddy is still making wqay, and within an hour we are leaving Lake George.

Calm returns as the winds are masked by the shore. The pontoon boat breaks to the East and runs to his home and we begin to relax. I got a picture of an eagle that snatched a fish about twenty yards away. But due to the camera not being ready, I had to be happy with a stern shot.


We continued up past Little Lake George and approached Welaka. There, we planned on stopping by to see our friends, "Bob and Nicky".

I pulled up to their dock, made the smoothest approach and landing. Opened up some beer and relaxed for the first time in five hours.



We finished dinner and had an early night, we were underway at 0830 and heading home. Very nice evening and we could feel the pressures of the coming week. We don't like ending vacations!

As we came around the bend to Murphy's isalnd, we noticed the railroad bridge was DOWN! What? First time I had ever seen that bridge even operate!

No big deal, the train went through and we continued to Palatka. Clouds were rolling in and it started to look like rain. We passed Palatka, very windy and temperatures were dropping. Rain was sure to begin as we made the twists and turns.

I bumped the speed up to 2000 RPM's, and we started to get to the blistering speed of 9 knots! Yikes!




We blasted through a Sailboat Race, North of the Shands bridge. We stayed well clear and admired all of the nice boats having a fabulous sail, winds out of the East at about 20 knots.

WE arrived at the Pirate's Cove at about 1630, wrapping up about eight hours underway.

In order to drag our vacation out just one more night, we did dinner and drinks at the Yacht Club. Taps was called at 2100 and we settled in for the night. At 0500, I woke up, sensing something wrong. I couldn't really figure what it was, but, hmmm. Turned on the Airconditioner, I smelled fuel. I chose to ignore it, hoping I was just sensitive.

She Who Will Be Obeyed says, "is that diesel?"

Darn. Gonna have to do something about it. I opened up the aft engine compartment; Nothing. Just a smell of raw diesel. Go to the front; Bingo.

Two cups of diesel in the bilge (The Bilge Pump had been in the Off Position!) Nothing pumped over the side. Whew!

The offending item was a Racor filter dripping fuel slowly. I tried to tighten it, but the leak remained. I shut off the fuel valves from the port tank and placed a bowl under the filter.

Saved Again!
I could have had a major incident, losing a hundred gallons of diesel into the bilge, which would have been up to the engines! A second bilge pump might have kicked on, polluting an entire cove off of the St Johns, possibly resulting in a fine of over ten grand. Maybe up to 100K. Shudder.

Instead, I shut the fuel system down and cleaned up the small mess. I had my buddy come out and replace the filter. We called it a vacation and went home to the abused Siamese, and a home filled with dirty clothes and a return to normalcy.

The Lord watches out for fools and drunks.

Our next mission?

St Augustine, May Day! (May 1-May 3)


We will be in the Marina by the Villano Bridge, Camachee Cove. Look on the North by the big bridge, you can see the small marina on the West Bank of the Intracoastal.

Wasn't I just here Monday? Get on with the story!!

Great weekend, here in Jacksonville. Warm breezes and clear skies making sunburn a problem once again to the uncovered.

Delmonico steaks with Spanish wine started our weekend, followed by a Heidsieck Monopole Champagne to round out the night. The decision to stay home for Friday was easy, since we had a couple hard nights entertaining guests and were still feeling the weariness of the previous ten days.

Hyacinth Kitty was not pleased with our decision to stay home, since her habit is a boat weekend that begins at 1800, Friday. On the boat, thank you very much.

Saturday morning was a slow and unhurried one, until a call came in from one of my so-called friends; He asked if I was busy... Why, no. Just trying to come up with something for my Blog.

Could I go to the boat and bring some parts? Hmmm?

Sure, ok. (I haven't mentioned that this guy is a Diesel Technician, did I?) Oh yes, I am available. Good ol' John had helped me just a couple days ago, changing RACOR's on the Barco, it's the beginning of a underground economy relationship!

Take that, tax hungry gubmint parasites.

So the Spousal Unit and I bustered out to the local boat parts place on Lakeshore (Lamb's Yacht Center) and waited 20 minutes to get a couple of fuel system parts for a 6 hp OMC outboard. Then it was off to the Barco to await the sailing arrival of my friend.

An hour and a half later, they creeped slowly into Pirates Cove and I met them at the dock with the parts and burgers w/PBR. Naturally, there was a screw missing, so off to the hardware store we went. An hour and a half after that trip, my friends were off and running, like a herd of turtles.

That was my morning. Not too bad, especially since I had no where to be and the Florida sunshine was present and accounted for.

Back to Hontoon Island:

After returning to the Barco from our cross island Force March, we cracked into the afternoon refreshments and did lunch. I brought out my fish killin' stick and proceeded to drown some worms. A power boat pulled up with a couple of retired airline pilots, who seemed nice enough.

That is exactly what took us through to sunset, which was when I decided to install our new Barbecue device. (99 bucks at West Marine!) and then the real beer and wine started to flow, coinciding with the proper grilling of our beef products, after which more beer and wine were consumed. We got tired of yelling across to Bud and Ed, so we invited them aboard to quietly continue our important conversation.





Ed asked me if I had ever heard of his Navy Helo buddy, Rich Lam***t. Class of 1968?

Why yes. I flew with that person from 1982 through 1985 when I was at an Alameda Helo squadron. (Look at the bottom of the page at the white helicopter, the mentioned person may have been flying that day!)

What a small world.

The next morning, we had some real bad storms passing through, there was a tornado watch and some real threatening clouds circling us. We packed the kitty into her bag and ducked out to the ranger office for cover.

This Manatee came up to say hello.


The manatee was in and out of the marina, lurking about in about two feet of water. You could see it about three or four times a day.

The next day, the weather had cleared up and we decided to take a canoe up the St Francis river. 15.00 for three hours, not a bad rate. We would normally take our kayaks, but you will see why we didn't. Foreshadowing...





No swim call, today!

We paddled to Snake Creek, and halfway up this creek, with both paddles, we started being slowed down by the water hyacinth rafts, to the point of having to be surrounded and push our way through.

Did you know that water moccasins like to be in those patches of plants?

Maybe not, but I like mobility to avoid my friendly snakes. They can have anything they want but me.

So we made a dignified retreat to the reverse course.

There were plenty of bass fishing boats and pontoon boats, but most annoying were Yahoo's who rented party houseboats traveling up and down the creek with their favorite music blasting out, making rebel yells and drinking to excess.

Looked like good ol' fashioned fun to me, but really, turn the music down and don't try to match Jim Morrison singing, "Break on through to the other side...!" In unison. Ouch.

We paddled back and turned in the canoe. That was a workout!

The next morning

We found ourselves short of that substance that turns bitter coffee into the happy, blonde way to start the day, half and half. We were roughing it, alright. We also needed some mayonnaise and an excuse to see the booming metropolis of Deland, Florida.

I also found that I was down to about ten beers.

Most people would be able to suss out the reason for our trip to Deland. Nail clippers, right?

Off onto the trusty electric powered ferry we did go.


Good thing the cost of the ferry was the exact change I had in my pocket, which was "none". We went over to Hontoon Resort and Marina, where ewe too, can rent a pontoon boat for about 65 bucks!

Hontoon Landing is actually a very nice facility, not quite as rustic as the State Park. They have all the amenities like worms, t-shirts and beer. But it is gonna cost 10 bucks for a six pack of bud. Not.


I stepped into the marina shop and asked if they had a number to a Taxi. They began to hand me a phone book when a nice gentleman offered to run us into town, since he had missed a maintenance appointment for his houseboat.

Jaii Hein is his name and Sound Productions is his game. Jaii was very, very nice to volunteer to drive us to the Main street in Deland and show us his home town.

I need to find my radio station voice over:
For quality Sound Equipment for your next concert or charity doo, call Jaii Hein Sound Productions!
Big sound at budget prices!

Jaii is the kind of person who may be growing older, but definitely not up. We drove into town and had lunch at a little soup/sandwich kitchen. Then, off to the record store (just like Rasputin Records, on Telegraph Ave, Berkeley), a new age shop where Jaii bought one of those "Coexist" bumper stickers and also a quick stop for a haircuts, for Yours Truly.

Jaii proudly told me that he hasn't had a haircut since he left the Navy in 1973! I on the other hand, have had the same hairdo since Jerry Garcia was still alive and jammin'.

Back to Winn Dixie for some PBR and mayo and back to the boat.

Really nice guy, we offered to have him stop by that afternoon, but it didn't work out. We did honk as we passed him the next morning. Hope we all get to meet again, as Jaii made our dull afternoon into a great event. Thanks, again.

It was time to try fishing some more; So I cast my Rapala bass lure a couple more times. On my third cast, I actually had a bass on the line. It was fighting me and I was trying to get some attention for my victory when I lost my head and gave a mighty tug to set the hook. The bass jumped out of the water and spit my miserable lure back at me. That was the only time I had even a smidgen of luck.

Oh well. I don't really like eating fish, anyhow, and all I would have done was snapped a picture and tossed it back to live a little longer.

UPDATE:

Buck complimented my sunset picture of the grill, so I figure I better add in some other sunset photos.