Water pumps and Xmas decorations

They call it (Vero Beach) Velcro Beach for a reason - because most people have a hard time leaving. We, on the other hand, were able to pull ourselves away but regretted leaving about 10 miles into the trip.  Our raw water pump had been starting to fail over the past week.  Ted would come up out of the engine room reporting 1 drip every 4 minutes.  Given the problems we have faced recently, I didn't think this was too bad! However, after sitting in Vero for a few days, the drip increased to 1 drip every few seconds.  Not wanting to risk water getting into the engine, we dropped anchor in Fort Pierce to inspect things further and make a new plan.  Luckily, Ted was ahead of the game and ordered a replacement pump to be delivered to Aunt Lynne.  Even luckier, the part was delivered on Saturday instead of the scheduled Monday.  Even luckier still, Lynne offered to deliver it to us today.

So, today, we had a wonderful time making Xmas decorations with our ever-so-crafty Aunt Lynne while Ted successfully replaced the water pump. Tomorrow, we will try to head south again, for either Peck Lake or Lake Worth.

Painting shells

Here they are decorating plastic bulbs with paint and/or filling them with shells, painting shells and painting wooden ornaments.  Lynne thought of everything! 

We now have a new raw water pump.
(Thank you Lynne!!!) 

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving today in Vero Beach. Over 200 cruisers gathered for a potluck feast. It has been so much fun to spend time with such an impressive group of people and we are so amazed by the stories of adventure that surround us. We continue to meet more families with kids and retirees who did this when they were younger with their kids. Everyone has been incredibly encouraging of our trip and choice to be doing it now with Lucy and Scout. It has been nice to hear this from those who truly know. Tomorrow we are having coffee on another Valiant 40. Its owners sailed it around the world in the late 1980's with their two sons. It was their second circumnavigation - their first being in the early 1970's aboard their 30 foot boat!

On this day of giving thanks, we feel especially fortunate and know we have so much for which to be thankful. We were able to Skype with our families tonight just before we returned to the boat. During these past four years of living in India and now on Momo, we have found that this is one of the hardest days to be away from them. They are what we are the most thankful for and we can't wait to celebrate next Thanksgiving with them. 

Tomorrow we will take advantage of the free bus system to do some provisioning, and then Saturday we will continue south. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

The parking lot.

Dinghy race vs. s/v Sheila after the feast

Momo on the Chesapeake. (A few throwback photos taken by s/v Sheila from last month)

Entering the ICW in VA. We spent the night on the sea wall just past the bridge.

Vero Beach

Sunday we spent the day hanging around Titusville. We did some shopping and spent a lot of time at the playground. The highlight of the afternoon was spotting an alligator in the pond next the the playground. but only bring 3 feet long we doubted it had eaten many children. Yesterday we left Titusville with s/v Sheila and s/v La Smala and made the 30 mile trip to Melbourne. We anchored in the lee of a causeway, so we did not go ashore, however we enjoyed watching pelicans dive for fish all around the boat until well after dark. They soar about 50 feet above the water until they spot a fish and then tuck into a tight dive and hit the water with a big splash. Very fun to watch.
This morning we left Melbourne at 0700. We knew a big front was on the way (the precursor to the storm making Thanksgiving headlines), so we planned to get into Vero Beach as early as possible. About 30 minutes into the trip we spotted an 8 foot long alligator right next to the ICW! By 1230 we were hanging on a mooring in the sheltered cove in front of the city marina. This place is great and it is no wonder why cruisers flock here. $13 moorings, good showers and facilities, a great beach and town, and best of all - free buses anywhere in the county! We went ashore and took advantage of the free transportation with a trip to the beach and to get some ice cream. We will probably stay here through Thanksgiving because the weather looks rough tomorrow and the big potluck on Turkey Day seems like it will be worth staying for.

Titusville

Yesterday, with strong northerly winds and favorable current, we made excellent time from St. Augustine, averaging close to 7.5 knots all day. We ended up anchoring in New Smyrna Beach and immediately went ashore to stretch our legs. We met up with more of Amie's relatives, her cousin, Cindy, and her two children. Lucy and Scout had so much fun playing with them at the playground and then we all enjoyed some excellent Thai food for dinner. Thank you Cindy!
This morning we awoke to grey skies and stiff easterly winds with the threat of rain. We pulled anchor and were able to make the 30 miles to Titusville by shortly after noon. We went ashore and happily reunited with the crew of s/v Sheila. It has been great to reconnect with them and the girls had so much fun playing together. Tonight it is blowing pretty hard from the southeast and Momo is moving around quite a bit. Strong southerly winds and thunderstorms are forecasted for tomorrow so the plan is to stay put here for one more day. The good news is that it is warm!
No pictures from today, but here are a few random ones from the past couple weeks.

St. Augustine

Well our first morning in Florida started off on the chilly side. We had quite a bit of frost on the boat, but after a couple of hours it warmed considerably and even pushed into the 60's by mid-afternoon. We motored the 10 miles to St. Augustine in time to make the 0930 bridge opening in the center of town. The first thing we did when we went ashore was take much needed showers and do some laundry. Next we went for a scooter/walk and found incredibly tasty pizza nearby. Things were feeling better. Unfortunately, we lost most of the afternoon to a fruitless attempt to renew Lucy's passport. It involved too many taxi rides with little accomplished other than passport photos. This is one of those things we should have taken care of months ago but kept putting off. We finally decided we would take care of it in person at the Miami Passport Agency, which means we will be going to Miami. Although not exactly what we had planned, it will set us up nicely for our approach across the Gulf Stream and into the Bahamas. We ended the day with a nice visit with Amie's cousin and her two children. 

Frost!

St. Augustine is good for scooters!

Too cold to rest

We woke up to 29 degrees outside and still a stiff northerly wind. We hunkered down in the cabin trying to stay warm. By 0930 we gave up. It was just too cold to motivate to get the dingy in the water and make what would have likely been a wet ride over to the island. We decided the better course of action was to keep heading south and take a rest day in St. Augustine in a day or so. We put on all of our clothes and pulled the anchor. We headed down the Cumberland River and then turned to the east and rode a favorable current out of St. Mary's inlet and into the Atlantic Ocean. We sailed the 20 miles or so down to the St. John's Inlet and then turned west again to negotiate the channel back inland. That is when things got interesting. Behind us we could see a massive US Naval tanker heading in our direction. Just as we came around a bend in the channel we saw a HUGE car carrier coming right at us. I then had my proudest moment on the VHF to date. Within a span of about 2 minutes, we were hailed by the car carrier, US Navy and the US Coastguard. All went well and we negotiated a safe pass, but it was exciting. A few minutes later we turned south again to rejoin the ICW and then continued until dark when we dropped the hook in a quiet marsh just off the channel. We are ten miles from St. Augustine and plan to head there early in the morning and then go ashore for groceries, showers, scootering and stretching our legs. It is forecasted to be in the 60's - we can't wait.

Yikes!

This guy was not messing around.

Crab pots, tornados and cold temps

It has been 6 days since we stepped off the boat and we are starting to feel it. We have been going basically from sun up to sun down, and although it has been nice to make some progress, we are exhausted. Yesterday we spent the first half of the day trying to figure out a plan to deal with the tornado warning we learned about over the VHF. We were trying our hardest to make time in order to get to an anchorage with decent protection. We pulled into a little creek in the marsh and tucked behind a stand of trees at 1300, knowing the front with severe weather was just minutes away. We quickly tied everything down and then all went below. There had already been tornados to our west and the radio warned of 75 knot winds accompanying severe thunderstorms. We watched the radar carefully and were relieved when the worst of it passed to our south. The front moved so quickly we pulled up the hook an hour later and travelled another 15 miles before dusk. Then last night it blew hard out of the NW. Thankfully we found an even better creek with excellent holding, but Momo still did circles as the gusty wind and strong current fought for control of her position. Things were quieter this morning, but Momo's dancing last night caused the anchor chain to wrap around a crab pot. Nevertheless we untangled and were on our way by 0715. About an hour later, just outside of St. Simon's Island, Amie and I were in the cockpit when we heard a bang from beneath us. I immediately looked at the depth sounder and saw 18 feet. We were in the middle of the channel. I throttled back and we looked behind us and there was a crab trap buoy floating away in three pieces. It must have been submerged and at the exact depth for our prop to chop it up. We spent a few minutes making sure everything was running fine and we were relieved to find that indeed it was. We seem to have been having moments like this recently. Two days ago we were about 100 yards shy of a particularly troublesome area with lots of shoals. In these areas Amie and I often work together to navigate them. We were both in the cockpit, looking at the chartplotter, depth sounder, water in front of us and the ICW guidebook when all of a sudden all of the instruments went blank! We had a brief moment of panic until we looked down and there was Scouty at the instrument panel with a guilty look on her face. She had hit the breaker switch (when just a couple hours earlier she and I had discussed why she should never do this). To top it all off, it is stinkin' cold. It has been in the 30's in the mornings and today I don't think it got out of the 40's. Tomorrow morning is forecast to be in the 20's. With no heater on board, we have been chilly. We are REALLY ready for warmer weather. We can see Florida from our anchorage here at Cumberland Island, so we can't be that far from warmer temps, right?
Tomorrow we are taking the day off to explore Cumberland Island. 

Into Georgia

Yesterday was long, cold and beautiful. We traveled 75 ICW miles. We left Wappoo Creek at 0800 and had great motor-sailing wind for much of the day. We wound our way through marshes, inlets and cuts, always keeping an eye on the depth finder. We have carefully timed our passages over the next few days to be sure we hit the skinny spots with as much water as possible. We had hoped to be offshore for these parts of the ICW but the conditions have not been what we have wanted, so we will continue inside until we get a good window to jump outside. We anchored after dark in Cowen Creek just south of Beaufort, SC. 

This morning we left shortly after 0700, again trying to time our approaches to areas of shoaling. The day started with cold rain and ended with warm sunshine. In between we continued to meander through beautiful marshland and passed well known places such as Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, GA. By mid-afternoon we again found ourselves surrounded by vast marshland and dropped the hook seemingly in the middle of nowhere, in a little creek interestingly named Big Tom Creek. There are a few other cruisers sprinkled in the area in other little creeks, but otherwise, complete darkness now surrounds the boat. Tomorrow we hope to make it to St. Simon's Island where we hope to take on fuel and much needed groceries.

Raising the Thanksgiving flag!

It was cold today!

Sunset just past Beaufort, SC

Wappoo Creek

We pulled up the anchor just before 1000 this morning, after twiddling our thumbs since waking at 0530. We did manage to make pancakes, do some school time and have multiple rounds of coffee while waiting for enough water to start moving. We had a nice northeasterly wind behind us for much of the day, and we were able to set the genoa for some added speed. We passed by Charleston but decided not to stop there - an idea we had tossed around. It feels so good to be making progress again, and that, coupled with cold weather, just makes us want to keep moving. Perhaps we will stop in Charleston when heading north again. We are just past Charleston in Wappoo Creek. We barely made the 1600 opening of the Wappoo Creek Bascule bridge, which then closes until 1830 for rush hour traffic. We are tucked into a little spot off the creek and in front of some upscale homes. It is supposed to dip below freezing tonight and is already in the 30's. Without a heater on board, we have used every excuse possible to light the oven or stove. (Amie just made some tea but I don't think she has any plans of actually drinking it, she just wanted to use the stove again). It works for a while but gets cold again quickly.

Dinner tonight in our winter jackets.

Found this photo tonight - taken on one of the girls' last days in India. It is remarkable how much life has changed for them in 6 months. Their adaptability, flexibility and willingness to go along with our crazy ideas just amazes us. 

McClellanville

Momo went back in the water this morning. After hosing her off, filling the water tanks and saying a big goodbye and thanks to our new friends at Hazzard Marine, we pulled off the dock. It has been so great to be on the move again. We went about 30 miles to McClellanville, which is supposed to be a great little fishing village, however we are anchored about a mile away and will likely not go ashore. Tomorrow we will hopefully make it to Charleston, however we have to wait for high tide in the morning in order to get over some areas of shoaling between here and there.

Momo about to go back in the water.

The girls watch with anticipation.

Ahh...back in her element.

Tomorrow we splash (again)

It has been a long but productive week in Georgetown. We had hoped to be well on our way by now, but the weather has not been great for drying paint. However, tomorrow morning we relaunch and Momo now sports a new cutlass bearing, mostly refinished brightwork, and a freshly serviced Max prop, in addition to her bottom work. We truly lucked out in finding Hazzard Marine (our only option, really, as no other boatyard has a travel lift within 50 miles). They were happy with us doing the work ourselves, were incredible resources for questions and advice, helped in getting materials, loaned us tons of tools, and generally made us feel welcomed and well-taken care of. We thanked them today with a case of beer, which they greatly appreciated.
We are all anxious to be underway again, and the hope is that we will make some progress south tomorrow. The weather is not ideal for going outside, so we will stick to the ICW to Charleston and then hope for a better window to go outside from there.

Georgetown's streets are lined with beautiful old trees.

Scout working on a new move. 

Momo's home for the past week.

We continue to develop our kite-flying skills.

She has her own ideas about fashion - but her "appleshirt" is assuredly underneath.

The girls inspect the bottom, before heading for the shower.

Georgetown

Nothing too exciting to report. We are making steady progress on our boat projects - aiming to get back in the water by the middle of next week. While Amie and I switch off between watching the girls and working on the boat, the girls have been doing a lot of school, hitting the playground and exploring the surrounding neighborhood. Living on the hard certainly has its disadvantages, but we are enjoying showers and ice cream every day!

Scouty's life-sized self portrait. The girls have had a blast with the whiteboard in the "Captain's Lounge" here at the marina.

Change of plans...

Well, things can change quickly - especially when you bump the bottom where the chartplotter shows 10 feet of depth! On our way out of Winyah Bay yesterday we were turned around after an unsettling bump. We decided to have the boat pulled to see what happened. By 10am Momo was sitting in the slings at a marina in Georgetown and we were incredibly relieved to see that no major damage occurred. Still, we will keep her out of the water for a few days while we do some bottom work and take advantage of the time on the hard to complete a few other projects. We hope to be back in the water soon. Georgetown is a great little town, the folks at the marina could not be more nice and helpful, and there is a great playground next door. 

Winyah Bay

Today was down-right cold...but beautiful.  We traveled about 25 miles to Winyah Bay, just beyond Georgetown, SC.  We attempted to anchor at least 6 times, unsuccessfully, on the eastern shore.  We then moved to the western shore and grabbed hold easily on the first try.  We had an excursion on shore but we were not very adventurous because, truthfully, we were a little afraid of alligators and snakes after the stories our waitress from last night had to tell us.

We did find a HUGE horseshoe crab and several nice pieces of seaglass (including a bright bright pink piece).

Tomorrow we will head off-shore to Charleston, SC, approximately 60 miles south.

Gator hunting

On Saturday we decided to ride out the storm at the marina, as there were no anchoring options nearby. The day was cold and rainy - it never got out of the 40's and never stopped raining. The winds kicked up in the evening, and although we never saw the forecasted 40 kts, we were happy to be well protected. Amie's good friend Alissa and her two sons visited from nearby NC, and it was great for the girls to have some time to play with new kiddos, even though much of the day was spent hiding from the rain and cold in the marina laundry room! Thanks Alissa for visiting!
Yesterday, we left the marina under brilliant blue skies but temps in the 30's. It gradually warmed throughout the day, but never got above 50. It is great to be traveling with s/v Sheila once again. We made our way past Myrtle Beach's golf courses and hotels and eventually ended up in the Waccamaw River. This area is quite beautiful. It is a cypress swamp and feels very much in the wilderness. We stopped mid-afternoon and anchored in Cow House Creek. After some swamp explorations and unsuccessful attempts to spot a gator (there are plenty around) we went to a nearby restaurant to try to watch the Patriots game. I could not believe it when we walked through the door and there was Boston sports paraphernalia all over the walls. It turns out this little restaurant in the middle of the South Carolina swamp is owned by Boston fans!

Gator huntin'.

Momo's stern can be seen through the crick opening.

Cow House Creek

Good win for the Pats!