The Fritter Feast

We're renting a mooring from Donnie's Boat Rentals. This makes Donnie our land lord. (Water lord?). Every now and then, when the spirit moves him, he'll cook up something yummy and hand it out to whomever happens to be on the dock. We were visiting "Ripple", a Wharram catamaran, when Donnie came along with a plate full of lobster bits and fried onions. They were so delicious that when, a couple of days later, he invited all his "borders" to enjoy Conch Fritters at the "boatyard/workshop" Lew accepted readily.
　
That morning, Kathy (from "Puff") and I had dinghied up the sound to Abaco Boatyard to do our laundry. We had no idea that there was a "plan" in the works. By the time we got back to Harmony it was 2:30 and Lew was afraid we would be late for Donnie's party. However, we were on "island time" and there was no problem. Nevertheless, there was no way we could have anticipated the events of the next 3 hours or so.
Dave and Kathy followed Lew and I to the dock and walked back into the boatyard. Now the term "boat yard" isn't quite what one might imagine. The small, locally owned business, hidden from the water on a dirt road, through tall sea grapes and mangroves, is an open air workshop. Boating machinery and miscellaneous, mysterious items crowd any horizontal surface. For the afternoon, a small work bench held a buzz saw and close at hand, a 4'x8' sheet of raw plywood was set on saw horses. A hand drill was holding down the cord to the deep fat fryer sitting on one end. (That kept the magnetic plug in place we were told.) At the other end of the large plywood, Matt - Donnie's helper in everything it seems - was grinding ingredients for the Conch Fritters. Clearly we were not late for anything. With a meat grinder like my grandmother's, Matt had created piles of conch, celery and onion and was preparing a green pepper. Within reach was a 14 oz can of tomato sauce, salt and pepper, hot sauce and some garlic salt.

As I went over to see how these fritters are made, Donnie put us all to work! He seemed to have jobs for everyone. Every few minutes Donnie would announce "It's not workin!" then proceed to delegate some unfinished task.


Lew was directed to "Pappa Earl" to help build the supports for a fish cleaning table for the dock. Simultaneously Donnie asked Dave and Kathy to go with him to cut fire wood for the grill. (We were also having grilled Wahooh soaked in soy sauce and garlic.) So the carpenter went off in the truck while the shrink built a table.

The chickens and rooster wandered around by the office/shed. Donnie's dog slept on the front seat of the golf cart. As soon as Donnie was gone, Matt got upset. Donnie had forgotten to get flour for the fritters! This was a calamity. Well, on Harmony, I had a 2 lb. bag of flour. Lew and I hopped in our dinghy to fetch it. I also got the camera because this was turning into an afternoon not to be forgotten. When we returned the food production gathered speed again. However, in the middle of the preparations, Matt was requested by another boater for assistance… so the "chef" disappeared for awhile.

Donnie and "crew" returned with firewood ("It's Workin!") and a hilarious tale of his brother's pig. As other boaters were beginning to arrive we heard about how one night this huge animal smelled the left-overs from a rib roast and broke into the local bar/restaurant. Trying to eat all it could, it knocked over some bottles of rum and proceeded to enjoy them too, breaking booze bottles all over the floor and slurping the puddles. By the time anyone found him, the pig was totally drunk and refused to go home. With Donnie 's brother pulling on a long lead and his wife pushing it up the road with the golf cart, the critter eventually returned to its pen.
　
Of course this led to yet another excursion in which Kathy took my camera to get pictures of this infamous beast. Couples from "Red Head" and "Drama Queen" had joined us. Sure enough, Ted and Diane went into town in and among the provisions they were after, brought back mixers for the party. Michael was later sent up the hill to deliver fritters.. Dave and Kathy, on yet another unexpected trip, helped Donnie gather more button wood. Donnie calls everyone "Pappa" or "Mamma". I suppose that makes names easier to remember.



At about 4:30 the light, crunchy fritters, fried onions and grilled fish were finally ready for consumption. Over the afternoon, we had managed to get tortilla chips from "Puff" and oreos from "Harmony". It had become the least planned pot luck ever. There were paper towels for "plates" and no utensils. But most of us said the Fritters were the best we've ever tasted. And the Wahooh was incredibly delicious, too.

pictures

I have been meaning to add more pictures so here is another of Puff on the banks.

You get to see some unusual boats:

When you are tho only catamaran travelling with monohulls, you become "THE PARTY BOAT"

Sometimes the internet connection is very poor and I get somewhat frustrated.

So here we are.

Bahama banks

Having left Lake Worth , Florida at 5 AM, we were ready to call it an early day. We had made it across the Gulf Stream and past Memory Rock but not as far as Great Sale Cay. The evening and night promised to be calm so Harmony and Puff dropped anchor in about 15’ of water, about 15 miles away from West End. The boats rocked gently on satin water as the sunset was an enveloping world of soft pinks and turquoise. But it was the night that held the magic.

Imagine that it is late in a clear, dark night. You are on deck, enjoying the quiet and solitude in the center of a vast inverted velvet bowl. The moon is a tiny crescent. Thousands of stars sparkle above and around you. Some are very bright and it feels like you could touch them. The horizon is a dark gray pastel blur punctuated by an elongated soft glow to the south. That is the inhabited western end of Grand Bahama Island. Closer to the boat, dancing lights point across the water toward you. They are the reflections of the stars.

This is why we endured the long trip south and two weeks of bitter cold in Florida. When it is beautiful in the Bahamas, it is spectacular. We were careful to cross the Gulf Stream under good conditions but rarely is it so perfect on the Banks. Now we are happily on a mooring in Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay. We will probably stay here for a few weeks before we go farther south in the Abacos to visit friends in Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbour and to simply enjoy the coves and fun of this snowbirds lifestyle.

View Larger MapIt has been awhile.  We left Vero about 6:30 AM and motored down to Fort Pierce where we went out into the Atlantic to sail down to Lake Worth (Palm Beach).  It was a beautiful day with good winds and speeds up to 9 knots...fast for us.  Got into Lake Worth about 5:30 PM with Puff and hit the hay.  5 AM and we are on our way again with Winsome, Puff and Sandra Lee.  Puff had to replace an impeller in the middle of the Gulf Stream so we stayed with her to make sure she was OK.  On to the Bahamas and we (us and Puff) anchored out on the Banks.  An idealic night with no wind at all and no clouds.  The stars reflected off the water to completely surround us.  The next day we were off to Great Sale...there about noon and Winsome was there and we all had coctails on her that night.  The next day we was a nice sail to Allens-Pensacola, like great sale, an uninhabited island, and walked over to the ocean side.  Up again early to sail to Green Turtle Cay, getting there about 11:30.  We were supposed to anchor out to go to customs but we pulled into Black Sound.  Puff followed us while Winsome anchored out.  We got the last two moorings at Donnies.  He helped us moor and drove us in a golf cart to customs and immigration.  Very easy entrance into the country, paid our $300 for a cruising permit (180 days) and fishing license.  We are liking it so much that we are thinking about spending the next 2, 3, or 4 weeks here.
Lots of pictures but they will have to wait until better internet.
 Lew
S/V Harmony
http://CatamaranHarmony.blogspot.com

View Larger MapScroll up to see our present position, the green arrow. Not sure why the map came out this way.
We left Vero about 6:30 this morning. Motored down to Ft. Pierce and out to the ocean. Wind was with us 10 to 15 and sometimes to 20. A great sail (sometimes motor sail) getting us in to Palm Beach (Lake Worth) before 5PM...A distance of about 55 nautical miles +/-. Looks like tomorrow will be a good day to go across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. We will leave about 5 AM and motor all day if the weather report is right. Today was a lot more than predicted. We shall see.

Weather Permitting

Hello all,
The sun has come out for two days in a row.  It is up to 60 degrees already and it isn't even 10 AM.  This has been an awful two week stretch of horrible weather.  It has gotten down to 38 degrees at least twice - inside Harmony.  But everyone in the country seems to have had a rough time with the freezing weather.  I hope we all have survived.
 
When the weather is nice, Vero Beach and its City Marina are absolutely lovely.  Yesterday my friend Kathy, on "Puff", identified why it is so inviting here.  Of all the marinas we've been to over the years, this is the most relaxing.  We are situated within a residential community, not out in the williwacks where there is nothing but the marina, or in some overly stimulating place like Atlantic City.  It is an easy mile-walk to the Atlantic Ocean, along streets  lined with 200 year old live oaks and enormous palms.  The free bus takes us anywhere we might need to go: shopping, movies, West Marine and much, much more.  The moorings are strong and the marina is well protected.  The birds are wonderful to see: egrets, great blue herons, little blue herons, lots of pelicans, terns and even an owl in the very early morning.  The social life is as abundant as you might want.  And we're are only about 1/2 mile from one of the best little Museums I've seen.  No wonder it is called "Velcro Beach" by many boaters.
 
Unfortunately the weather has been so cold that there has been a fish kill.  Hundreds of fish have gone belly up and now line the shore at low tide.  Some are being havested by local boaters for crab bait.  Even the lizards have been falling out of the trees, frozen stiff.  That is sad to see (for those of us that like the little creatures).

Lew & I are hoping to get off this mooring on Monday morning and travel with "Puff" down to Lake Worth.  On Tuesday, very early, we hope to cross the Gulf Stream (FINALLY!) to get to West End on Grand Bahama Island.  So,after Monday night, we will be out of any kind of regular contact for awhile.  We have been happily spoiled by the accessible email and easy cell phone service here.  No more cell phones in the Bahamas though we will try to call via Baltelco once we are in Treasure Cay.
 
We listen to Chris Parker every morning to find out about safe travel and then we check in with the Cruiseheimer's Net on the USB (SSB) to let them know where we are.  We expect to meander among the smaller islands of the North Bahamas for a few days before getting to Green Turtle and then to Treasure Cay.  Later we'll go to Marsh Harbour and some of our other favorite places.  We might even get to Eleuthera this winter, weather permitting.
 
Stay warm y'all.  We'll see you againn the spring.
Florrie
&
Lew
S/V Harmony

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That's our friend Eric from C://(ESC) up his mast at Vero Beach. Unfortunately, the anchor light he was about to install ripped out of the bag and ended up on the deck in many pieces. Harmony is the right hand catamaran rafted up with Zing.
We almost left yesterday for the Bahamas but it looked like a choice of sitting here for 5 days more or crossing and sitting in West End, Bahamas for 5 days. Also looks like a good window next week. Cross your fingers.

NOAA WEATHER: for Vero Beach, FL

Today: Sunny, with a high near 57. Wind chill values as low as 33 early. Northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 56. Wind chill values as low as 25 early. Windy, with a northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. West northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 58. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. West northwest wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. West northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. West southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. West northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Thur night is the only "window" as the winds do not come from the North quadrant.

Brrr in Florida

OK - so you guys have snow... I understand. BUT it is 48 degrees IN THE BOAT this morning and we don't have the kind of heat you take for ganted. This is supposed to be like this for another 4 days and nights at least. When we run the generator we can plug in the electric heater and wait. We close off everything but the salon & galley and maybe get this place up to 60. This is as close to the plight of homeless people living on the streets as I ever want to get! You can stay indoors and crank up the heat any time you want. If the heat goes out you can call the Gas company and they will come fix it, eventually. We just have to cope with this until Mother Nature decides to sweep away this horrible front that we're stuck in.

It got up to 50 in Maimi yesterday. That is farther south and should be warmer. Hah!

At least we brought arctic sleeping bags so we are reasonably warm at night. But mornings are brutal until about 9 or 10 AM when the sun has warmed up the cockpit. Our cockpit is enclosed so it heats up before the rest of the boat. Hopefully the sun will come out soon. Sometimes we sit out there in the sun and warm our bones awhile.

So much for the daily "report". Friends from NJ are returning to their boats this afternoon and we will have a dinner party for 7 or 9 people aboard. The body warmth will be nice.

We hear that Florida warms up in Mid-January, then we'll have the kind of weather you northerners seem to think we're having now. BRRRRR until then!? Christmas Day was nice. So was New Year's Day come to think of it. We take advantage of any sunny day and get the laundy done or go somewhere.

Julie's Birthday

Most people don't even know they are celebrating Ms. Proudfoot's (AKA my sister Julie's) birthday tonight but all over the world they do. Here in Vero, we will be lucky if we are able to stay up past 9pm. I talked to several other cruisers and they too plan to sleep thru the celebration...sorry Julie.
Today we had a treat and went to a movie at the mall. Meryl Streep starred in "It's Complicated" and Florrie and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I think tomorrow is laundry. Such is life.

Pelicans and Potluck

Anne, Lew and Florrie at the potluck.
This morning we watched the "pelican show" from our deck. We're at the south end of the Vero Beach mooring field, about 50 yards east of a mangrove and Australian pine island. The birds take naps after fishing in the early dawn. There was a Great Blue Heron, an egret, some smaller blue bird and an osprey, all within a few feet of each other. It is so funny to see half a dozen pelicans roosting on the same fluffy tree, making it bend almost to the water! About 8:30 they all take off and we don't see them until the next day, not in so many numbers anyway. There were over a dozen pelicans roosting in the area this morning.

We are very happy here. I love the sunny weather and all the wild life. Occasionally a dolphin comes into this mooring field to fish or just investigate us all. We are warm enough and are quite content to just hang out here for awhile longer.

Boaters are an amazing bunch of people. They really sieze the moment. In the past two weeks Lew & I have had more social life together than we have in NJ in 6 months. If anyone wants to get together, it is NOW... not two months from now, when someone's social calendar permits. We all know that we might not be able to spend more time with each other because everyone is on their way somewhere else. This morning a lot of boats left, going south. Yesterday our friends on Wilde Mathilda left. We have enjoyed their company so much and I wonder if we will catch up with each other someday in the future. I hope so. Their boats name, in German, is pronounced Vil-dah Matilda. It sounds like the beginning of an Ogden Nash poem.

The Christmas Day pot luck luncheon was so much fun! We were really lucky that the 40% chance of rain only gave us about 7 minutes of running for cover. More than 80 people from about 38 boats all brought their best recipes to share. Thanks to the folks on Kumbaya, who have a printer on board, we had an official signup sheet. That is all it takes to get such an event started. At about noon, Barbara from Laughalot, Sarah from Wilde Mathilda and Marge from Winfield Lash helped decorate and organize the varous dishes as they began to arrive.



The "buffet" was set up on the clothes washers and dryers. People could file through from one side of the building to the other. It was really very civilized. Then we all dispersed and found places to sit under the gazebos or in the lounge or on the various benches around the marina. For those of us who enjoy such marginal chaos, this was a wonderful event. A few boats had arrived the day before and were so glad to find out that something was going on to celebrate. We all miss our famiies and it helps a lot to enjoy happy company for awhile.

Of course such an event is not the cup of tea for some people. Probably less than half the boaters at the Marina participated, though some dropped in to say hello. Many flew home for the Holidays and will begin to return over the next few days. There will be a lull before whatever happens on New Year's Eve. For now, we all seem to be getting back to boat "fix it" chores.

We hope you all had a happily memorable Christmas.

Cold on Harmony

I know the northerners will give no sympathy and the southerners won't admit it but it gets cold in Florida. Went and checked the west coast even down to Key West and it is cold everywhere down here. In Vero it got down to 39 degrees last night and the Keys were not that much better. Thank goodness the sun is now out...at least until Thursday...and it should get into the high 50s today and a little warmer tomorrow.

Harmony in Vero

TEE HEE
Happy Birthday, Melissa
Happy Birthday...yesterday...Sarah

One adventure after another

From Vero Beach Municipal Marina,Thursday Morning.
 
Well folks, we finally made it to Vero Beach Municipal Marina.  We're rafted near "Puff" the boat of our friends Kathy and Dave, from Sayerville NJ. Considering that Harmony left Keyport early in September, it has taken over three months to go the distance it would take about 24 hours to drive.  This is not what people imagine when they think we are going "cruising". 
 
The past four days have given us a season's worth of adventures already.  Lew described the fog very well. We considered staying put until the fog completely cleared.  However, we really wanted to reach Dave & Kathy before they left "Puff" here to go north for Christmas.  Harmony as a good GPS system, so we decided to risk boating traffic and go south from our anchor spot in the Mosquito Lagoon.
 
By the way, the lagoon is well named.  Even in weather so wet you'd think the little critters couldn't fly, we killed seven buzzers during the night.  I think we got them before they got us.  The fog was too dense to see the birds that are abundant in that area.
 
It was a bit tense motoring just on the instruments but if Honeywind can do off the coast of Maine in fog, we figured we could.  We had far less to bump into than that rocky coast.  All we had to do was stay on the GPS line of the ICW.  That's all.  
 
We pulled up anchor at about 10 AM and headed on our way.  It felt like some clipper ship from "Master and Commander" was going to emerge out of the fog at any minute!  That's silly, of course, because the Lagoon is about four feet deep in most places, except for the dredged canal marked by red and green buoys.  We couldn't see from one marker to the next but when we got closer, the next one would emerge like a very still ghost.
 
We saw a number of local fishermen in their little 17' boats.  I guess fog is good fishng weather.  Thank heavens a power boat was coming out of the Haulover Canal, where we turn west through a narrow island out ofhe Lagoon, into the Indian River.  Totally unexpectedly the fog lifted completely when we went past the Bascule Bridge in the middle of the canal.  All of a sudden there were clear skies.  We looked back behind us and it was as if the bridge were holding the fog at bay. 
 
Across the expanse of the IndianRiver to Titusville, there was more fog but it was less dense.  It felt like we might be in an airplane flying through the very tops of cumulus clouds. It was a magical seascape.  Here and there there were glows of different colors as the sun reflected through thin clouds off denser ones farther away.  Hundreds of birds were sitting on sand bars, waiting for better flying weather maybe.  
 
We made it to Titusville about 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon. We were making good tme!  Even in the fog!  We got the fuel we needed, some simple groceries, and a pump-out.  Ready to keep going south in the now-clear weather, we found out that the swing bridge just below Titusville was broken! The Bridge Tender couldn't tell when he'd be able to open the bridge for the boaters.  It might not be until 5:30 - after dark!  Oh No!
 
Fortunately he was able to open it briefly.  Now the nerve wracking suspense was, would we be able to make it through the NASA (Addison Point) Bridge before it closed from 3:30 to 5 for Cape Canaveral commuter traffic?  Harmony was leading two more sail boats.  We all kept going at our fastest speed, which varied for each of us.  Harmony and Wide Matilda made it. TaTo got stuck on the other side.  NASA runs on a very strict clock!
 
Having anchored the night before near Wide Matilda in the fog and having been near her at a couple of previous bridge openings, we had some radio contact but no real meeting.  Tuesday evening, both anchored in a broad area of water that was not particularly protected but seemed fine.  We finally met Les  and Sarah when they dinghied over to us, joying drinks and noshes on deck as sun set.
 
The nights had been calm so far, which made for peaceful sleeping.  And that's what we got - until 3 AM when the anchor alarm went off!  Harmony had dragged quite a way away from the other boat.  Lew and I "did the deck dance", succesfully resetting the anchor and going back to sleep... until 5:45 when the alarm went off again. This time we said "the heck with it".
 
For the second morning in a row we took off in most unusual (for us) conditions.  In the pre-dawn dark, we relied on instruments again to get us down "the ditch" until we  see the markers.  The wind picked up to about 15, which helped us go almost 8 knots with the jib up.
 
You think the adventure was over?  Read on...
 
We surprised "Puff" by getting here at about 1:45.  We were tired but so happy to get a mooring right near our friends.  All we had to do was get our dinghy in the water and motor over to them.  Lew untied and lowered it and started the engine just fine.  Imagine our surprise when, as soon as I let the line to Harmony   go,the motor konked out! We were pushed by the wind back down the mooring field!
 
Lew was trying to row us but the wind was too strong and the oars kept coming out of the locks.  He got us near enough another boat for me to hang on.  I "walked" us around that boat and it's buddy on the mooring, finally getting up to the mooring ball a hanging on for dear life.  Thank heavens for cell phones.  We called Dave, who jumped in his dinghy and towed us back .
 
The end of this saga (so far) is that we had a wonderful evening with Dave and Kathy and Tom&June-their buddies on their mooring.  Today we will take it easy and maybe even get our motor fixed.  We're warm and safe and glad to be here.
(by Florrie it is extremely diffcult to correct spelling - sorry!)

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8 AM on Harmony

Picture the color light gray. Then picture youself surrounded by light gray. Thats us in pea soup FOG. It did clear up last night to a beautiful starry night. At least about 4 AM. But by 6, you could barely see the mast head light from our bunk so it was back to sleep for awhile. NOAA weather reports a "fog advisory" for all of central Florida so drivers take extra caution. We could go down the ICW by GPS except that it is very narrow and there is some commercial traffic. Do not want to meet a tug with no room to move. Parts of the channel have 2 feet debths on either side. So it takes an extra day or two to get to Vero. Oh well.

Mosquito Lagoon

View Larger MapThe fog began to clear about 10:45 so we took off. Got to Mosquito Lagoon when it socked us in again. Pulled about 1000 feet east of the channel and set the hook...about 3:15. We will stay here tonight and set out again, hopefully, tomorrow.

Daytona in fog

Another great picture from National Geographic.

Yesterday we left St. Augustine heading south. Got a late start (8:40) but averaged over 6 knots with the usual troubles. Arrived in Daytona about 4:30 and anchored just south of Memorial Bridge with about 20 other boats.
View Larger Map

This morning we got up about 5, Florrie misread the clock as 6, to heavy fog. Not going anywhere until that burns off at least enough to see the next mark.

pogo Xmas

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!

Don't we know archaic barrel
Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you!

Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!
Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!

Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo!
Chilly Filly's name is Chollie,
Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
Tizzy seas on melon collie!
Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!

The picture came from National Geographic

Harmony at the dock

We are still in St. Augustine and at the dock. It has been rainy, windy and cold with fronts coming by every 2 or 3 days. I know we will get no sympathy from those from the north. Only one more package expected from West Marine and, if it warms up by Sun/Mon, we will take off for the Municipal Marina at Vero Beach for about 3 weeks. And now back to my book: Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (a birthday present from Florrie).

St Augustine

We arrived here yesterday morning...41 degrees and drizziling. Yuck. The sun came out in the afternoon but it didn't do much for the temperature. Luckily we are at a dock and have electricity and a heater for the boat. Woke up this morning with dew dripping on my face from the hatch. It doesn't look like it will warm up much until Tuesday when it will also rain (NOAA says 30 per cent chance). Florrie keeps asking about why we are here and do I really want to live on a boat. Bad times make good stories.

Norfolk to St. Augustine at SpotAdventures

Map created by SpotAdventures:GPS Geotagging

We (crew of Terry Parker and Gordon White) started out in Norfolk, Va when MOAA predicted a nice weather window with winds from the NW. Of course the actual wind was from the SE and on the nose. But if was light so we continued on down the Virginia coast past Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks NC. The wind did swing around to the NE and we had a nice sail/motor-sail for awhile. The starboard engine (that is the good one) overheated and we went on the port one while trying to fix the starboard one. The engine was pumping plenty of water so it wasn't the water pump or impeller. Finally we figured it out that the fan belt had broke. No problem. I had asked Florrie to pick up a couple of spares and they were on the boat. Sure! They were too small. We did gave one of these "link" fit any size belts which did actually work and around Cape Hat eras we went. The wind picked up and we got to sail...up to 10 knots down the 3 foot waves. After a few hours the wind died and we put on the engine again. Broke the belt several times. After about four hours working on it we were off Cape Fear and it seemed like a good idea to go in and get the engine working. By this time it was about 9 at night and we were 7 miles out. I didn't want to come in to the Cape Fear River at night so we Hove to. For those who don't know, heaving to is when you have the jib on one side and the main on the other working against each other. The main fills and drives the boat up into the wind where it luffs and the jib catches on the other side and drives the boat backward. You maintain this see-saw motion while the boat is pretty much sideways to the waves and end up going down wind at about 1/2 knot per hour. Effectively you are stopped and if the waves are not too steep, it is quite restful and comfortable. We stayed like this for 5 hours while I got some sleep. I woke up with what I thought might be a solution. The belt was about 1 inch short even with the alternator loosened all the way so I forced the belt over one of the pulleys with a couple of screw drivers and it was on with a little play. Tested it out and it worked like a charm. Set up the sails and we took off for Charleston at 8 knors. We had a nice motor sail and got into a slip in Charleston at about 7 PM. Tied up the lines and 15 minutes later the skies opened up and the Nor'Easter began. You remember...the one which joined up with Hurricane Ida and tore up the coast of the Outer Banks, Hatteras and Virginia Beach with 77mps winds and 18 foot waves.
We sat it all out while watching the weather channel at the bar and thanking our lucky stars. Three days later it was over and we took off about 6:30 AM. Got some fuel and rode the tide down the Charleston River to the ocean and headed SW in a light SW breeze. The trip to St. Augustine took 28 hours of ocean motor sailing. We could have sailed but I wanted to make sure that we got into St. Augustine during the daylight hours. Good thing as the shifting sands at the entrance means that they have to keep moving the markers and they are not on any of the charts. On top of that, NONE of the entrance markers have lights. We made the 1:30 opening of the Lions Bridge and motored up to Oyster Creek Marina on the San Sebastian River just behind St. Augustine. I left the boat there and hoped on a train from Jacksonville to Newark, spent the night at home and then drove to Maine for my Niece's wedding.

Catamaron Harmony. More on the trip

This link takes you a Google Earth map of our trip south showing the "check ins" we sent to the wives and a small section of the track where we were doing over 10 knots at times.