We left Indiantown Marina by about 9 am and headed for Stuart, FL. The scenery along the way was beautiful. We elected to stay at Sunset Marina on a mooring ball. It gave us the usual privileges (showers, restrooms,and dinghy dock). The mooring balls were different from the ones we encounted in Naples. The balls had a length of rope with a hoop at the end. We snagged it first time and pulled it up onto the bow where we slipped double lines through the hoop and secured them to the two cleats on the boat. In no time at all we were in the dinghy and off to explore Stuart.
Stuart has a historic area within walking distance of the marina, full of touristy stores and restaurants.
And it also has sections of town that hold shattered dreams.
That evening Rusty took Gigi in the dinghy to shore for her evening walk. We are not sure if it happened then.
Thursday, April 7th
Early morning we picked up a few groceries at Publix, about 1/2 mile away. It was a pleasant walk and we treated ourselves to a latte at Dunkin Donuts. I paid. You will soon understand the significance of that statement.
We got the boat ready to go when Rusty did a rather thorough walkthrough to locate his wallet. It was not to be found. It had to be either on the boat or in the water. If it was in the water, it was gone. If it was in the boat, we would find it. So off we went.
Along the way we made the call to our bank and they informed us that my debit card was still ok because it had a separate number.
About 4 pm we passed Vero Beach where our new friends from the Cassie Lea were moored. Not sure whether the debit card would really work and with only Canadian money (or so we thought), we opted to find an anchorage. The one marked in the chartbook looked like we would have to go over some flats so we motored on. We saw a boat anchored in an inlet, made contact, and as they welcome us to join them, they informed us there was probably a shoal between them and us. At that precise moment there was a slow down in our forward motion. We backed off the shoal and found the anchorage. And we did another search of the boat for the missing wallet.
Friday, April 8
An early morning departure made for any early anchorage in Cocoa, FL. It was a marked anchorage except that all the boats were anchored off to one side. We approached one of the boat owners and he told us where the shallow water was so we followed suit and stayed with the rest of the boats. The wind was blowing a bit more that usual but we needed to take the dinghy ashore, for Gigi and to try out my debit card. The dinghy motor cut out just as we let go the lines. The motor would not come back on. Fortunately we have oars. Unfortunately there were waves. Rusty got a workout. A minor adjustment fixed the motor for our trip back to the boat.
Cocoa is touristy but it does have some practical shops.
Bonus time: the debit card worked and we had USD again. We had finished the banana bread the night before and needed some more dessert. Upon the recommendation of the best stocked hardware store in the state, Travis Hardware (we purchased a crowbar to adjust the belts on the engine and springs for the windshield wiper), we took home bread pudding from a local restaurant. Did you get that? I called the boat "home".
Saturday, April 9
The winds had settled down over night. After an uneventful dinghy trip to town (for Gigi) we motored on to New Smyrna Beach. On the way Gigi got a bath in our bathtub. She loved it as much as she normally does which is "not" but I'm bigger than she is.
We anchored out again. Gotta make up for the lost cash that was in the wallet.
There are no public dinghy docks in New Smyrna Beach. And we did want to go ashore. So we found a stretch of shoreline that appeared to be public domain, tied up, and of course we got our shoes wet. Lesson learned: we'll pay for dinghy dock space rather than do this again.
Stores again were in the touristy range. We ended up in the old part of town and there happened to be one of the best antique car shows Rusty had ever seen lining the main street.
Sunday, April 10
No church so we we listened to Mozart's Requiem as we cruised to Daytona Beach, arriving there about noon. Along the way we saw the floating snack stand and the rookery:
We stayed at the Halifax Harbor Marina, home to Monk36 owners Don and Rebecca (Becky). They are AGLCA harbor hosts and could not have been more generous with their time. Becky took me shopping at Publix. Don poured over the charts with Rusty and provided hints and caveats for the rest of the ICW to Norfolk, VA. The exchange of information from "experts" to "greenies" was so very apppreciated.
Rusty had noticed that there was anti-freeze leaking under the engine. And our raw water washdown pump had finally failed. We decided to sleep on it.
Monday, April 11
Rusty woke up determined to get a few things out of the way. He also remembered in the middle of the night that the bulk of the cash had been transferred from his wallet to another safekeeping spot. And it was on the boat and it was there. So our cash loss was minimal. Hooray!
The driver's license bureau was two miles away and they opened at 8 am. Rusty got on the bike and off he went. I finished up some laundry and before I knew it, he was back with a new driver's license. He had photocopied the lost license and with that he was able to get a new one. He was in and out within 10 minutes.
Finally a posting to the Monk Association forum regarding our anti-freeze problem yielded some very good responses but not before we contacted a terrific mechanic (Rupert Vaughan) who had helped us out last November. He is based at the Marina at Hammock Beach in the Palm Coast, only 25 miles north of Daytona Beach. What luck!
We pulled into the marina about 2:30, let the engine cool down and Rupert went to work. Rusty had purchased spare pumps and parts on the recommendation of a Perkins dealer and we happened to have a spare pump for the raw water washdown in the compartment under the bed. Up went the mattress, the moisture barrier foam, and the plywood. The pump was installed but it was discovered that there was no on/off switch and it was drawing the water from the same thru-hull as the air conditioner. Rupert recommended we consider making this safer. So now the pump is hooked up to the windlass switch. As the pump is used only when we anchor (at least in salt water), this combination makes sense.
The anti-freeze was leaking because of a faulty fresh water pump at the Perkins 135. And wouldn't you know it, we remembered early the next day that we had one of those spare pumps on board. We are getting good at accessing the compartment under the bed.
That night we tried out the cheapo pressure cooker I bought at Target. It cooked a chuck roast in an hour. It was tender and tasty so I guess it was a good investment afterall. Keylime pie was our dessert along with a cup of chrysanthemum tea from China. Mmmm. We are eating well.
Tuesday, April 12
It's about noon and the work is almost finished. We may even get out this afternoon and head to St. Augustine.
The Marina is gorgeous and it is a beautiful place to relax but it is not accessible to anything close by. The rates are $2.25 per foot per night with all the amenities. Without the amentities it is $1.75. The amenties don't allow dogs but it does include the spa-like showers. Time to get moving.
Every day sounds like a new adventure! :-)
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