5/17/2009

We’ve been here at Vero Beach for a week now. It is a fairly quiet anchorage, but we have discovered another myth that has been told about catamarans is bunk. We read - or were told, I don’t recall - that catamarans will “burble” once as a wave or a wake comes by, not rolling for several minutes “as a monohull will.” That is a load of manatee poop. Every time a boat comes by we roll for several minutes, even if it is one of the rare power boats that is considerate enough to keep their speed below 5 or 10 knots. It may be because we are on a mooring in a narrow part of the harbor, where the wakes reflect off the other side and come back to us quickly, but we have experienced this before in other locations, as well. It just seems worse here. But I now believe it woud happen anywhere we are anchored or moored.

Vero Beach is nice. The marina has bathrooms that are fairly clean, and showers are only $1 (plus tax) if you are on a mooring (free to those on the docks.) The town (county?) provides free public transportation, a shuttle bus system that covers most of the town and a bit of the outlying area of the county. We can get to a Publix supermarket on one bus from the marina, but have to transfer if we want to go to the Indian River Mall, Home Depot, Target, or to Walmart/Sam’s Club. The town has quite a bit to offer, and if we were more willing to explore, I am sure we could keep entertained.

As it is, we are basically in a holding pattern until our boat broker and his Fort Lauderdale agent return from business they are dealing with out of the country. The owner/broker is in France, and the agent who will be handing our boat is heading to Cancun to bring back a boat. We are trying to relax, but at the same time, we are trying to get the boat cleaned up and “ship-shape”. The agent has found us a slip behind a private home in Pomano Beach where we will be able to leave our boat while he is trying to sell it(for $500 a month, which he assures us is a good deal.) We simply do not want to be living on it while it is being shown and, hopefully, sold. Besides, we have so much of our stuff aboard that it would look cramped and small as it is right now. Even though $500 is cheap for that area, we are praying that it sells quickly, so that it doesn’t eat too deeply into what we net from the boat.

We just got word from the agent that there is a fellow who would like to come look at the boat tomorrow afternoon. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

After searching the Web for trailers, and reading about fifth wheels vs travel trailers, we have decided the extra stability and towing ease of the fifth wheel will work better for us. They tend to be heavier, though, so we have to look for an “ultralite” model that can be towed by our choice of truck, the Toyota Tundra. The double cab model with the long bed, four wheel drive, 5.7 liter V8 engine and the towing package with sway bar is supposed to be able to pull 10,000 pounds of trailer, so if we get an ultralight model of 6500 to 7000 pounds, we will be able to load our stuff in it and still stay below the 10,000 limit. I think.

I remember our last fifth wheel. It was a 33 foot Vacationeer, pulled by my one-ton crew-cab F350 4x4 with the 7.3 liter diesel engine. It pulled that trailer through the mountains like it wasn’t even there when it was empty, but I recall having to drop to third gear through the same mountain pass once I put everything in it that I thought we would need. I’ll try not to do that this time ;-) Shirley and I lived in that for almost six years, and now that we are retired, we should enjoy it even more than when we were still working as we traveled across the country. The only real blessing here is that we should be able to see more of you folks, and sooner, once we are back on terra firma. We are looking forward to that.

Since I haven't figured out how to label my photos, here's the story: a photo of a sunrise over the Gulf Stream as we crossed back to the States, a picture of Beasely truly enjoying some "personal" attention from Shirley, a photo of the bulging tubing on my "shade-tree" plumbing repair, a photo of the boardwalk in Ft Pierce, FL, and a sign indicating a "manatee zone" on the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway).

We went to Green Turtle Cay. As my wife’s Okie father used to say, “Not much punkin’.” The town was fairly clean, it had a nice little library, with a very friendly and helpful librarian. However, most of the local folks would not look at you or respond to a friendly wave. Maybe it is a cultural thing, but it was the same no matter the race or the gender. We paid $9.95 for a gallon of milk, and both small grocery stores had prices that were much higher than even at Marsh Harbor or Man-O-War. The Post Office wasn’t open even when it was supposed to be. Warning for folks cruising the Bahamas - forget about getting anything by mail, especially needed parts or medications. Stick to FedEx.

The Atlantic side of the cay had a couple of nice beaches, but I don’t understand the way the guidebooks and Internet sites rave about Green Turtle. We stayed at a brand new marina being developed, in Black Sound, called “Leeward Yacht Club”. The bathrooms and showers had not been built yet, but they did have power and water. The young couple managing it were very nice, pleasant and warm and welcoming, far beyond what you would expect from folks just wanting to drum up business. The rates were low, probably at least partially due to the lack of on shore facilities, only $0.65 per foot a day. Water was $0.30 per gallon, and power a reasonable $.040 per KWH. Not bad for the Bahamas. We stayed for five days, waiting for the winds to die down a little before starting back along the northern Abacos chain of cays toward West End and the trip across the Gulf Stream to Florida. Our plan was to stop at Allans-Pensacola the first night, Great Sale the second night, then West End (very expensive, $3.30 per foot per night) for a partial night - leaving at 0500 - to cross.

We stayed at Crab Cay instead of Allans-Pensacola, as it had a more sheltered anchorage and better holding. That was good, as the winds did pipe up a bit during the night. Great Sale was OK, except that there were waves at 90 degrees to the wind all the way into the anchorage, rocking us during the night. So, we were protected from the wind, but kept awake by the almost constant rocking. At West End, we hoped to anchor instead of paying the high rates, but the holding was poor, and exposed to Atlantic waves, so we bit the bullet and got a slip on a face dock. The place was packed, with a couple of seventy-foot mega yachts tied to face docks, as we were.

It was wise to wait out the winds the way we had, as the crossing was a bit rough at the start, but smoothed out as we got further into the Gulf Stream. Not a bad crossing, almost as smooth as when we crossed into the Bahamas. We have made it back to the U.S. Arrived in Fort Pierce, Florida around 1700 hours on May 2, 2009. We chose to take a slip at the City Marina and, true to form, our timing was terrible. The marina was full, due to a huge fishing tournament that takes place this time every year (we learned from the dockmaster.) We bought fuel, and the marina graciously allowed us to remain tied up at the fuel dock (they have two, and this one is used less) accessing electricity from an adjacent slip.

Okay. Let’s look at what we know. We have already learned that the definition of cruising is “Fixing your boat in exotic places.” Well, that did not turn out to be entirely accurate in our case. For us, cruising consisted of constantly, continuously fixing our boat no matter where we were. Also true to form, not long before we left the Bahamas, another boat system developed problems. We thought that the starboard PSS shaft seal, sealing the hole in the hull where the propeller shaft travels from the transmission to the propeller, was leaking. Good news: the shaft seal is fine, no leak. Bad news: the pressurized fresh water system was leaking from one of the hot water lines. It was trickling back - along one of the 1/2” Qest-pex tubings - back to where the shaft seal is located, which is why the seal was mistakenly blamed. The real leak was from a “T” connection, and when it was tightened, the leak stopped. As usual, the very next day, it failed. The fitting cracked, and proceeded to pump a lot of our fresh water into the bilge.

Now, if this had occurred in the States - or, in all fairness, in Marsh Harbor, which has a great store called Standard Hardware, very well stocked - it would have been the work of a few minutes to fix. Other than the difficulty of getting to the store from the boat. However, with that being out of the question (we were sitting at a deserted cay called Cab Cay when it failed), I jerry-rigged a repair from three different sizes of vinyl tubing, each fitting snugly into the larger size, and the largest (1”) being the right size to attach to the Qwest T-fitting. Would have worked great on the cold water side, but the 1” tubing was not reinforced as the smaller sizes were, so the hot water caused it to soften and balloon, making it questionable under pressure. So until we can get a replacement fitting, it still is not safe to use.

We are fervently hoping that we can get the boat sold before we have replaced every part and fitting that exists on this boat. We dread the possibility that something even more costly will fail. Our remaining savings wouldn’t last long if an engine needed overhaul or the mast or standing rigging (recently replaced, thank goodness) were to go. And we’d sure like to avoid even the need to Break Out Another Thousand.

Our next move is already in play. We have called the broker and are making arrangements to list the boat. We may leave it in Ft Lauderdale to be sold by one of his associate brokers, and go up to CT to stay with my sister for a while. Hopefully only four to six weeks, as the broker thinks the boat will sell quickly. If the boat doesn’t look like it will sell quickly, we will look for a short-term rental, always difficult when you have a dog, even one as adorable as Beasely.

We found a car dealer in Peekskill, NY with a good price on a new 2009 Toyota Tundra, which is what we have decided to buy once we have sold the boat. Then we will look for the RV. We still have not settled the question of 5th wheel or bumper hitch. Both have their good and bad points. We are familiar with 5th wheels, from having lived in one for six years, but I would sure like to not have to mount a hitch in the bed of the truck. We will probably opt to buy a newer used trailer, unless we come across a dealer who simply needs to dump some inventory. There are so many different manufacturers and models that it will be quite a job figuring out what is a good deal, but I believe it can be done, with some research.

The next week or two will be spent somewhere in the vicinity of either Vero Beach or Cocoa Beach, visiting my stepmother. During this time, I will spend some time apologizing to friends and family who we offered to take sailing when we got to their part of the country. It doesn’t look like it will happen now, unless our broker tells us that we will be liable for the original sales tax should we leave the boat in Florida to sell. If that is the case (with our luck, it wouldn’t surprise me), we will most likely move the boat to Connecticut for the summer. Then, at least a few folks might get a chance to come aboard, and my sister won’t have to put up with having us as boarders. Although I actually think she might enjoy the company.

As usual, this post will be accompanied by some photos of where we were on our travels. A couple of snaps of the Atlantic side of Green Turtle Cay, a couple of Crab Cay (the one next to the eastern tip of Great Abacos Island), and one of Great Sale, where lots of cruisers stage their boats, going to and from the States. Plus one of Beasely :-)