Natie M. Log

November11, 2008 Up before dawn again, but just finishing breakfast when Lutria was casting off lines and heading out.  They were on a little more of a schedule than I so waved them off.  I was not too much latter in leaving though and I could see Lutria about a mile or two ahead of me as the sun rose above the horizon.  Another sunny day in sunny Florida.  The ICW winds its way through a maze of salt water marsh and mangrove islands.  Some houses could be seen on the west coast, small modest waterfront, each with its prerequisite docks and fishing boats.  Gradually though the houses disappeared as did the islands and the Natie M. entered into the Mosquito Lagoon.  Off in the distance I could see the massive structure of the vertical assembly building at Cape Canaveral.  It was to remain on the horizon for most of the day.  I could also pick out the launch gantries of the space port.   Suddenly the channel makes a sharp turn to starboard and you enter a short and narrow canal bisected by a drawbridge, and emerging on the opposite side into the Indian River which forms a large body of water that runs north and south, separating the Atlantic with the mainland Florida.  Titusville passed by, but other than that it was the unspoiled expanse of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.   With the construction of the ICW and numerous small islands were created where they piled up the dredging materials.  These are now densely vegetated and quite scenic.  Again lots of bird life was evident, even spotting several White Pelicans.  The shy birds, know to be quite shy, could be spotted off against the far shoreline.  Even from a half mile away their large bodies and white plumage was easy to pick out.  Of course dolphin where plentiful, making sudden and exciting appearance alongside as I sailed along.  All along this section of the waterway were numerous speed limit signs in an effort, albeit a belated one, to protect the last surviving manatees.  I kept an eye out for them, and my maximum 6 knot speed was a minimal threat, but none were sighted.  It seems kinda ludicrous that they took so long to start imposing speed limits when it was obvious by all the scars on the surviving ones backs, what was killing them, motor boat propellers.  But chalk one up for the power boat lobby; they got rid of those pesky sea cows.  Another species which foolishly got in the way of our right to go fast, make as much noise as possible, and burn as much petroleum products doing same.  But what the hell do I know; I'm a tree huggin, dirt worshipper. With the west winds most of the day I was able to be under sail with minimal motoring, the way I prefer it.  The further south I went the more civilization I began to encounter, cities and towns like Titusville, Cocoa, and houses became more common on the eastern shore of Merritt Island as I left the wildlife preserve behind.  I had chosen this way south as opposed to offshore due to the weather forecast, but the relative comfort of the ICW had its drawbacks, or rather drawbridges, which were becoming more common.   And this was just the beginning.  The ICW is like a highway this time of year, crowded with all sorts of sail and motorboats (trawlers and spot fisherman), almost all bigger, and some cases mush bigger than the Natie M.  Remember the little blue boat?  Anyway, dawn begins the commuter traffic in that everyone gets underway at about the same time and eventually around 1100 or so the fast boat catch up to the slow boats, i.e. Natie M. and pass, leaving the sailboats generally in the back of the pack, only to all bunch up again at the bridges as they wait for the operator to raise them.  Most of the big motor boats where considerate as they pass slowly on the narrow channel so as not to upset your coffee cup and galley pots from their wake, then there are others, casting off their backside a good 2 foot set of waves turning your mast into a giant metronome. N28o08.76 W80o36.13   Merritt Island finally tapers off to a point called Dragon Point where it is barely 10 feet wide.   Used to be a 100ft long concrete dragon, but now its not much more than a heap of green concrete and rebar rubble.  Behind it are the town of Indian Harbor Beach and an excellent anchorage.  I pulled in just at dusk and already it was crowded with most of the boats that passed me during the day, including the Lutia.  The vessel was dark so I snuck into one of the posh marinas to fill my water tanks.  I was hoping to get some fuel but everything was closed.  Going back to the anchorage, ran into the crew of Lutia heading in their dinghy to get some groceries and get a bite to eat.  They invited me along, so I set the anchor and jumped in their dinghy.  It was a walk, complete with Lutia's two dogs, and over sandwiches and beers we each talked of our planned voyages and adventures which of course will never turn out exactly that way.  Lugged some ice and bread back to the dinghy and by 2100 was tucked in to my sleeping bag. November 12, 2008 Was underway at daylight and decided to take it slow today and so continued my southward course on the ICW motoring and sailing with the genny up at a leisurely pace.  The scenery was giving way from the undeveloped to the developed, with more houses on both sides becoming more common and of course larger and larger with a relative increase in the size of the motor boats at dock.  Arrived at Vero Beach at around 03:30 and, as they do not allow anchoring in their harbor, I reserved and paid for a mooring.  These are stout pieces of line attached to a large piece of something heavy at the bottom, usually a hunk of concrete and at the surface a big red ball or float.  You simply motor up and grab the line and tie up.  Once thing is you don't have to worry about your anchor dragging in weather.  Anyway, decided to spend the next day in Vero, do some maintenance and maybe ride the local bus to see the sights.  Took the dinghy in to watch a local baseball game next to the municipal marina and got a meal at a local pub.  November 13, 2008 I had picked up some oil the day before at the marina office and so first thing changed the oil in the motor.  After that and a couple of other chores took the dinghy in to turn in the waste oil and check out the town.  Grabbed the local bus, which stops conveniently right in front of the marina and headed to the beach.  Vero is very nice, on the ocean side that is.   Like much of the east coast of Florida it's not what side of the tracks you live on, it's what side of the Intercoastal you live on.  Day spas, resorts, expensive restaurants, and clothing boutiques with large condos and houses on the beach give way to tire stores, fast food, and the grungy old decaying look of "old" Florida.  Found a Panera bread though with great Wi-Fi and was able to post my last entry.  Then went to grocery next door and loaded up.  Fortunately, the same bus comes right to the door.  I had about eight bags of groceries, would have been an ordeal to walk to far. I got back to the marina by 1400 and thinking that I might move on to another place, with a free anchorage, checked out at the office and loaded the groceries into the dinghy.  As I was motoring away from the dinghy dock came upon a woman trying to start her outboard on her dinghy.  I turned around, as it was obvious that the thing was not going to start, and offered to tow her to her vessel in my "brand new" dinghy and outboard.  After a couple more pulls on the starter cord she gratefully assented.  Her boat was of course on the exact opposite end of where the Natie M was moored but I insisted.  After about 15 minutes we were approaching her boat when within 10 feet of the stern my outboard suddenly died.  Hmmm, that's odd, this new motor is not supposed to do that.  After she had her dinghy secured and was on board, she thanked me as I attempted to restart my motor.  Finally realizing that my outboard was out of commission at least for the time being, I deployed the oars and began to row.  Fortunately the wind and waves were pushing me along and in a half hour or so I was alongside the Natie M.   Once there, and before hauling the new and newly dysfunctional outboard onboard, I attempted to start it again.  I immediately jumped to life, purring along quite normally.  Ok, guess I'll put it down for miracle cure.    Up anchor and was underway to Ft Pierce about 10 miles south to anchor about three hours later. November 14, 2008 Briefly dinghied into Ft Pierce for some breakfast and to visit the local West Marine for a part and to add to the slowly growing collection of fishing lures and tackle.  My attempts to augment my protein intake have been somewhat disappointing.  I've only managed to make a meal of a bluefish, which also managed to take the tip of one my thumbs before I was able to dispatch the sucker.  Anyway, I talked about that already.  Back to the boat. By 1030 I was underway with a stiff south wind blowing, so it was motor all the way into spray and waves to Jenson Beach, where I called it quits for the day.   Still had the dinghy inflated so went in to check out the local watering hole and then the town.  Luck would have it I arrived at the the opening of the Pineapple Festival.  It was quite a Mardi Gras affair.  By 9:30 I was back to the boat, but could hear the festivities almost a mile away.  Should have stayed longer, it was killing me to see the crowning of the Pineapple Queen.  November 15, 2008 If you're starting to detect a monotonous pattern to this narrative, you would be not far off.  Southern Florida along the ICW.  Wake up and head south, along with all the other snow birds.  Wave as they pass or you pass them, talk to the bridge tenders but I was definitely getting into the part of Florida where we are the dominate specie.  I arrived at St Lucie Inlet, where I had hoped I would be able to jump offshore again, but the weather was not cooperating and the wind was still blowing out of the south, making a sail offshore a tedious and slow affair.  It was nice to see the blue-green water though of the sea coming in with the tide instead of the brown water of the ICW.  You could see almost to the bottom 20 feet down.  I elected to continue on the ICW and stop in a couple of miles at a wildlife refuge called Peck Lake. I arrived there around 1:30 and it looked promising.  Except fro a couple of condos on the western shore it was a body of water where the ICW widens to about a half mile wide making a shallow bay surrounded for the most part by mangroves.  The big attraction was the small beach on the east shore where a path made for a short walk to the Atlantic Ocean.    Got the dinghy back out and motored in and it was exactly as advertised.  The small sand beach had a sign that marked the beginning of the short trail to the beach.  After a short walk through the dense foliage, you emerged onto a dune which descended to a pristine Atlantic shore.  It was warm as the forecasted cold front had not arrived so it was pretty warm.  The several motor boats had brought people to the park, which is the only way to get there, and the relatively deserted beach had maybe a dozen parties lying on the beach.  But as the beach when on for at least 4 miles, it was relatively deserted.  I brought the ULI with me and inflated it and headed for a beach break a little ways down.  I had a great time providing entertainment to the people on the beach as I introduced myself to a new sport.  I was having a great time, though to a shore observer it looked like was attempting to stand on a surf board while wildly waving a long paddle with jerky contortions before falling off.   After a couple of hours in the surf dragged my butt back in, pretty exhausted.  Decided to stay another day here as it was just too nice a spot. November 16, 2008 That night I was awoken by the arrival of the cold front.  The wind was picking up with some gusts well about 25 kts and I was concerned as always about the anchor.  There were a couple of big trawlers that had arrived late the previous afternoon, and of course they had to anchor immediately down wind of me.  I kept waking up in ½ hour intervals to make sure I was not moving anywhere.  The lake had a north south orientation so some waves where starting to pick up and the Natie M. pitched and rolled throughout the night.  At one point, I was sure I was dragging towards one of the floating condos and got the motor started and gear ready to reset the anchor.  I had second thoughts for two reasons, one it seemed the anchor was holding and two; I thought there was more of a chance of going aground if I screwed up the anchor resent.  So I stood down and just kept an eye on everything for the rest of the night.  Following morning the wind was still blowing and was supposed to stay that way until the afternoon.  I was within 75 feet of the nearest trawler and about 9am they decided to leave, pretty much leaving me the entire anchorage.  I spent the day doing some chores, eating and reading.  By afternoon it was calming just a little so I returned to the beach.  It was cold and I wimped out and didn't go out in the waves, which in my defense were kind of sloppy.  Ok, I wimped out.  Got back in the dinghy and did a little poking around the mangroves until the "new" outboard died again.  This time it was an hour long row against waves and wind to get back to the boat.  Now it's a problem.  Looking forward to a warranty claim when I get to Ft Lauderdale.  Back at the boat made ready to get underway the following morning.  Obviously I needed to decrease the latitude further and keep ahead of the pursuing frost line, chasing me further southwards.