Work and Play...

The work - and play - continues. We are still at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart, Florida and while we continue to think about leaving, we admit that it has been just an inkling of a thought at the back of our minds. Instead we've continued to take the opportunity to get a few things done. The big project was the fuel tank. A baffle had come loose in the tank on the way down and when the waves hit the bow just right we were getting some clanking as the metal baffle hit the sides of the metal tank. Captain Dave decided to take a look and see what he could do. Unfortunately, on inspection, there is little we can do without taking the tank out to get it rewelded. That is not going to happen right now so instead we opted for Plan B which was to set the baffle in such a position that it would make minimal noise. That solution appears to be holding us for now but when the 'Breezer' reaches port for its spring haul, we will need to look at dismantling the windlass and pulling the tank for a repair.

Our projects around the boat did not come without cost. Captain Dave had a major blowout with his shorts and was in quick need of some carpentry work as he was going about boat repairs. It was duct tape to the rescue or let him flaunt his buns and briefs to the neighborhood. As you can see I opted for the duct tape route.

With the project done it was time for some well deserved fun. Of course our optimal work to fun quotient is always leaning in favor of fun - big time. So, it was up to the marina pool and hot tub for a bit of R&R. We sampled our first fish tacos and now we have become fish taco converts. If you haven't tried them, definitely add them to your list of a must try!

So as you can see, we are really roughing it again this season and between the pool, hot tub and bar service direct to pool side, we are really struggling to drop the dock lines and move on.

The Admiral

Home Base...

As in years past, we are using Stuart as a home base for a while allowing us to get mail, take care of repairs, provision etc. Our first stop was provisioning. Thanks to friends Blair and Laurie on Odissea XX, we had access to a car and were able to make a run to the local Sam's Club for all the important stuff. You can tell from the dock cart what we deem important. The Yuengling beer and limes for gin and tonic would be on the Admiral's priority list. The Captain, on the other hand, is more inclined to prioritize the Rice Krispie treats and M&M cookies.

The Admiral

We woke the next morning with a dilemma. Should we stay inside and continue south on the ICW or pop outside to the Atlantic waters. The wind was out of the north suggesting a good offshore run, but most of the buoy reports (farther offshore than we would be) were indicating some big waves out there. We made the safe choice and opted to stay inside.

We were glad we did. We hadn't traveled the waterway from St. Augustine to Ft. Pierce in quite some time and had forgotten how it widens out enabling sailors to take advantage of the space and in the right winds hoist sail. For the next three days the winds held firm and we felt like we were speeding down the ICW. Each day we made over 60 miles of headway south. I know this doesn't sound like much but we normally average about 50 miles a day on the ICW in the fall so to us the 60+ mile days were huge.

On reaching the Ft. Pierce and then the St. Lucie inlets on the third day we saw something we've never seen before. We saw the line between the muddy river water and the clear Atlantic waters meet. It was clear as day. As if someone had colored the waters brown on one side of the line and a very pale green on the other side. The pictures really don't do it justice as we could look in front of us and behind and as far as we could see was this division of the waters forced by the changing tide.

The Admiral

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We apologize for falling woefully behind on the blog and confess that we have not been in Fernandina Beach, Florida this whole time. Instead we continued down the waterway and then took a hiatus for the holiday. So as a first order of business, let's catch you all up over the next several blog entries and then let you know what is in store for the rest of the boating season.

First stop - St. Augustine!

St. Augustine is one of our favorite waterway stops and with the new mooring field it is all the better. This time we met up with friends Kevin and Marlene for the day. We enjoyed a tour of San Sebastian Winery and learned some things about wine that we did not know. The winery uses a lot of moscato grapes in their wines so since our visit Captain Dave has been sampling various wines using moscato grapes as a base. We also bummed around the pedestrian district doing some shopping. From there it was off to Pizza Alley for lunch. Kevin and Marlene also introduced us to something new (to us) in St. Augustine - a gelato place - oh my!!

The Admiral