Fernandina Beach (04/19 & 04/20/21)

Monday  4/19/21 & Tuesday 04/20/21

Day Miles:      61

Total Miles:    4197

Travel Days:   78

Total Days     174

Good news is that it finally stopped raining when we left St. Augustine on Monday morning.  The sun was out although just a little chilly.  More good news is that I recommissioned the Auto Pilot and made some adjustments and it seems to be working better now.  We ran 61 miles to Fernandina Beach.  I ran the boat on plane most of the way, wanted to watch to see if we were going to overheat again.  Not a lot to see other than marsh land and houses.  We did pass a Navy work yard and were quickly informed that we were too close by the Security Boat.  We moved!  Good news is that it did not overheat, but when I checked the fluid level it was down about a gallon.  Continue to research and troubleshoot with Washington Marine.

Leaving St. Augustine

Shrimpin Boat - think it was named "Jenny"

Lot of flat ground

6 miles of no wake zone - yes it was hard

Navy Yard

Long docks

Town of Fernandina Beach

We arrived at Fernanda around 1:00.  I did a quick wash on the back of the boat and some checks, then we cleaned up and walked into town.  The 1st stop was the Marlin & Barrel Distillery.  They close at 4:00 and are not open on Tuesdays.  We made it there and sampled some of their Rum and Vodka's.  I was bummed they were sold out of their Bourbon.  We decided to go into the old bar Palace Saloon.   Florida's oldest tavern.  Originally named the "Ship Captain's Bar", the Palace Saloon has been a bar since 1903. (Prior to that it was a haberdashery).  The original bar was a true "gentleman's establishment" with complimentary towels for patron's to wipe the foam from their mustaches and solid brass spittoons for those who enjoyed a good chew with their beer.  Check out the original carved mahogany bar, brass cash register, tin ceiling and inlaid tile floors.   

I had to purchase a bottle of Smoked Pepper Vodka for my Bloody Mary's.

Bar Picture

Brass register 

Original tile floor

Original tinceiling

Marcia tried their Signature drink - Pirate Punch

While we were at the bar, fellow Loopers Jack and JoAnn from Jackpot and Rommel and Amy from Happiness Is also came in.  We ended up staying there most of the afternoon and then we all walked to the Salty Pelican for dinner.  Good move as the seafood pot pie was excellent.

Seafood Pot Pie

Dinner group

After dinner it was a short walk back to the marina.  Nice view of our boats and we caught a great sunset.

Back at the boats, we continued the party on "Jackpot".  I did have a cigar and then got into the Bourbon.  We all made plans to walk up into town and get breakfast in the morning.  Not going to lie that I was feeling a little rough for breakfast.  Jackpot and Happiness Is left for Jekyll Island and we did some chores.  Laundry, chart plotting, engine room checks, mainly for the overheating issue.  Turned out to be a nice day.  

PS - "Happiness Is" has a cat and a dog on the boat.  They purchased a collar for their cat but it did not fit.  Now Lucy is sporting a new harness.

Palm Coast & St Augustine (04/16, 17, 18 -2021)

Friday  4/16/21 

Day Miles:      29  

Total Miles:    4111

Travel Days:   76

Total Days     170

Saturday 4/17/21

Day Miles:      0

Total Miles:    4111

Travel Days:   76

Total Days     171

Sunday 4/17/21

Day Miles:      25

Total Miles:    4136

Travel Days:   77

Total Days     172

So alot has happened over the last few days.  We left Daytona expecting an easy run up to Palm Coast.  We only made it about 1 mile before I had an alarm going off on the Port engine.  After shutting it down, we went out of the channel and I began to investigate.  The engine was over heating and it was a high temperature alarm.  Down in the engine room I removed the strainer cap and opened the seacock to be sure we did not have a water flow issue.  That being good I next took the cover off of the impeller, or raw water pump, that pumps water through the engine.  At a glace it appeared to be OK.  We had plans to meet Andrew and Cheri Hyde in Palm Coast and decided it would be better to go forward and get there instead of going back to our marina.  It was a long day running the 20+ miles on 1 engine.  Several calls with Washington Marina with Tom, Mike and Greg to help trouble shoot what the issue might be.  Going to give the short version now.  Went to 2 auto parts store to get a pump to do  a pressure check.  Neither store had what I needed.  Decided to change the impeller on Saturday morning and added coolant to the system.  The impeller change was as hard if not harder than I expected, but managed to get it changed.  Will run the boat on Sunday to St. Augustine to test engine temperatures

Impeller that need to be pulled and changed.

.We made plans to eat dinner at Andrew and Cheri's house on Friday night.  The have a very nice house off the intracostal on a canal.  It was raining, so we decided to order pizza instead of grilling out.  Dinner was good and it was great catching up with them.  

Andrew picked us up in the morning and we made a quick Publix run to restock a few things.  After shopping I went to work on changing the impeller.  Andrew and Cheri picked us up again and we headed into downtown St. Augustine.  It is nice that their house was only 2 miles from the boat.  St Augustine was really neat and we had a lot of fun at the outdoor bars and restaurants as well as visiting a lot of the shops.

St. Augustine

Almost bought some Ass spices.

We did find a Biker Bar - Thought of Don, Steve and Joni.

Sailboat races

After St. Augustine went went to the European Village which was very close to the boat.  We relaxed there and ended up eating at an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Dinner was excellent and a lot of it.

Even though the weather was not predicted to be very nice, we decide to try to make the 25 mile run to St. Augustine anyway, mainly to check and see if the engine was going to over heat or not.  So far the repairs that I made seem to be working.  The engine did not overheat.  Not ready to call it completely fixed yet though.  We have about a 60 mile run tomorrow and I will keep my eye on it.  Not a very nice day for boating, but we made it here to St. Augustine and are tied up at a nice marina downtown.  Sun did come out in the afternoon.  There are several loopers here that are talking about getting together for docktails this evening.  If the weather holds out we will join.  Keep your finger crossed and us in your prayers.

 

Daytona Beach - Halifax Marina (04/15/21)

Thursday  4/15/21 

Day Miles:      15  

Total Miles:    4083

Travel Days:   75

Total Days     169

So it was nice to have a short travel day, only 15 miles.  We took our time in the morning and cast off around 9:00.  Most of the trip was in no wake zone, but we didn't mind as we did not have far to go today.  Turns out that I spent most of the 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Simrad trying to get the auto pilot working again.  Just before we turned into Halifax Marina, we think we made some headway by selecting a different GPS and compass.  I won't bore you with all of the details and troubleshooting that we went through.  After getting fuel, a pump-out, tied up in our slip and our normal daily wash and engine room checks we took a walk up into town.  The Marina is on the Intracostal Waterway (ICW) so too far to walk to the beach.  The "strip" was small and nothing really notable.  Short post today just to keep you up to date.  Plan is to go to Palm Coast tomorrow and spend an extra day exploring St. Augustine.

Walking through town

Picture of Halifax Marina

New Smyrna Beach - 04/14/21

 

Wednesday 4/14/21 

Day Miles:      51  

Total Miles:    4066

Travel Days:   74

Total Days     168

So just a quick post today.  Really not an eventful 51 miles.  We left early in the morning and arrived around noon.  I had issues with Simrad Electronics today trying to fix what their help desk messed up.  After a call with them, engine room check, and quick wash down, we showered and headed into downtown.  Nice small downtown area.  We did find a Brewery for a beer and then went to Corkscrew for dinner.  Dinner was good and outside table was very scenic.   Looking forward to a short trip tomorrow to Daytona Beach.  Like I said.  Quick entry tonight.  Some pictures for today's travels.

Leaving Cocoa Village Marina

Space center vehicle assembly 

Canal cut through. 

Nice trailer parks

Very nice and interesting home

New Smyrna Beach Marina 

Cocoa Villiage, FL - 04/13/21

 Tuesday 4/13/21 (Cocoa Village)

Day Miles:      68   

Total Miles:    4015

Travel Days:   73

Total Days     167

So our plan was to get up early, get fuel and then head out for Cocoa Village, about 68 miles.  You know what they say about plans....   Anyway, we set alarms and dragged out of bed at 6:30 to prepare to go over to the fuel dock.  Remember we did not get it on Sunday due to the weather.  Fuel dock opens at 6:30.  We were very efficient and tied up at the fuel dock at 6:45.  Frustrating that the kid that was supposed to open up must of had a rough night and did not show up until 7:20.  Anyway, took on 300 gallons and turned left (North) up the ICW.  We passed Vero Beach, where we left the boat in April and May after the Bahamas.  It was cool to be navigating in un-traveled waters again.  

Vero Beach, Loggerhead Marina

New Water

Nice house with private beach

I called Simrad, electronics on boat, to get help on a minor chart plotter issue I was having.  BIG MISTAKE!!.  The "tech" had me soft reboot the system.  Short version is almost nothing was working.  I spent at least an hour of cruising trying to restore my setups and equipment.  Could go on for a while about it, will not bore you here.  Let's just say it reminded me of Direct TV.

We made good time and pulled into Cocoa Village Marina around 12:45.  Turns out we are docked right next to Island Time, Ray and Holly who we met at Rolland Martin.  I did a quick wash down on the back of the boat to get some of the diesel soot off and then took a shower.  We walked up into check out the Cocoa Village Downtown.  Plan was to grab pizza for dinner at Ryans on the balcony, but turns out they are closed on Tuesdays.  We did find a Beir Garden to stop in and have a beverage.

We walked around and visited some of the shops and managed not to purchase anything.

We ended up drinking and eating dinner at Murdocks.  Fish dip, po boy, and flat bread was good and service was better.  We are back at the boat now, and I am enjoy a MJ12 (cigar) and Marcia is watching a show.  Plan is to run about 50 miles tomorrow to New Smyrna Beach.  

Lucy seems to be adjusting to the boat again, somewhat.  Don't think she likes cruising as much as not moving, but she does not have much of a choice.

Lucy does seem to have settled in for dinner time!

She does like it better when we are at dock.

For you who have not noticed, Cluck Norris is still with us and has been in every post so far.  OK, just kidding.  But I did make you think about it.  As you can tell from his expression, it does not seem to bother him if we are moving or not.

I did mention that we were day drinking and now I am having a Bourbon, right?  It is a beautiful night here and we are happy to be continuing our trip.  Blogging 1 day is a lot easier than trying to recap 3 days.  :)