Catching Up

Time to catch up

Days are never dull even if we are spending a lot of hours cruising as we head north for a stop in St Augustine to visit our mail in Green Cove Springs.  Yesterday we found the bar in the Melbourne Harbor channel – Tow Boat got us off by rearranging the sand making it no surprise that the channel is hard to find.  The tow boat maneuver is interesting.  He tied on to us closely and revved up his engine to dig a hole under us then pulled us off into this hole, thus rearranging the bottom once again.  We read and the towboat operator confirmed he does almost daily in this channel if not more often….  While we enjoyed our walk in historic Melbourne this constant channel fluctuation makes the entrance and exit plenty of fun. 

In the end it did not delay us more than an hour and we got to Titusville with ample time for a walk into town.  While groceries are basic in the SavAlot the Café Chocolat and the Sunshine Bakery make this a must stop.  The café boasts handmade chocolates sold by the pound – if you dare – reasonably priced and tasty meals like “Half of Everything” 9.75 (which includes a mini appetizer, salad, sandwich and dessert bar) Then there are the desserts - pure nirvana.  Even with my help Steve could not finish his portion of chocolate lovin’ spoon cake – more a slab of fudge than cake.  We managed to take some home for a midnight snack.

This morning our pilot house depth sounder has decided not to work just as we cleared the Haulover Cut which was dotted with manatee pools. We slowed to watch these graceful beasts frolic and found no depth signal as we resumed and made the turn. Thankfully we have the upstairs back up and finding a fix keeps the big guy busy, exercised and awake.

As a result, our stop in Daytona Beach included a run to the Post Office which turned out to be in a beautiful Beaux Arts historic building in the heart of downtown.  The service was excellent as we shipped our malfunctioning DSM back to its source for we hope a speedy repair or replacement.  

This unintended shore stop was an easy dink ride south to a lovely dock in Manatee Park a half block from the shops on the main drag – and that unique Post Office. The street seemed devoid of pedestrians but the shops were quaint – although with a heavy emphasis on biker gear and the mild temps made sitting in the sidewalk café tables a pleasant option, but we headed back to the boat for our early start on the (hopefully uneventful) run  into St Augustine – Bridge of Lions mooring field.

Fort Myers and on EAST

Fort Myers and heading on East

With brisk winds only slightly diminished, we headed south took a left turn up the Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers Yacht Basin a few blocks from the heart of their refurbished downtown.  It is also handy to a Publix on the courtesy town trolley where we made a pit stop to restock.  Our main purpose for stopping in Fort Myers, however, was to pick up our new boat bikes.  The trusty bikes we used for a year on the loop were recalled and replaced by West Marine.  However, our replacements were not scheduled to arrive in Panama City before we left, so they kindly arranged for us to pick them up at their store in Fort Myers.  It was a short taxi ride to the West Marine superstore and a five mile ride back – we had to make stops for a new lock – somehow the old one got left on our shore bikes as did the bells which required yet another stop. Frankly I was grateful Florida is extremely flat (since the winds were still blowing) and we had those required stops for essentials so I could recover and hydrate. Our return route passed the busy Ford and Edison Winter Home complex which we visited several years ago – another good rest stop. 

With good luck there was a Farmer’s Market in the park with a tempting French Bakery stall – perfect for breakfast before a bike ride. Also a bonus, the Yacht Basin hosted a dock party on the local paddle wheeler the night of our arrival, but we passed on more water based fun for an evening on terra firma. 

We did meet several other Krogen owners in the Basin – one is for sale and the other a pristine 2008 44 where we were entertained by the owners, Glen and Linda with their adventures on land, sea and in the air.  We have rarely seen two Krogens in the same place let alone four (there was a Manatee also moored in the basin.)

On leaving Fort Myers we continued up the river through the locks leading toward Lake Okeechobee our shortcut to Stuart and the ICW. We soon realized that the boat behind us looked very familiar – it was a Krogen 39 being moved by charter captains from Pensacola to Stuart. We again had the strange experience of see ourselves passing us as he headed out a little faster than we travel.  We tag teamed all day and finally left him as we docked for the night in Moore Haven just before the lake. 

A few minutes later the boat that was a few miles behind us pulled in – another Krogen, this time a brand new KK55 with cordial Captain Peter and Admiral Anne.  They graciously gave us the full tour of their beautiful custom boat – where they comfortably live fulltime moving from winter harbors in Florida to summer digs in Massachusetts. While we find our boat comfy, theirs is palatial with full size appliances in the kitchen - truly a floating condo.  But for Steve, probably the most tempting feature is the walk in engine room. We will be sure not to stop at the Krogen office in Stuart since Peter and Anne only went in for some advice on upgrades to their ‘older’ Krogen 48 and ended up with their new home. They also kindly gave us their reservation in Indian Town since we had to wait  “two hours for the trains to clear before transiting the lock at Moore Haven.  At our slow speed we would have been arriving after dark in Stuart – our intended destination.  So, we sit secure on the Indian Town Marina dock with a gentle rain and power for the A/C if this humidity doesn’t break. The marina staff left at 2 – well before we arrived, but friendly fellow mariners jumped out to grab our lines and ease us into the dock. Life is good even the cats are happy.

 The big guy keeps busy!

 Did he see our 'Noles flag?