We're Outta Here!

November 18, 2004
By Various Artists

Friday, November 12, 2004 - Manatee Pocket, Stuart, FL

I hate Vero Beach. We were up all night being eaten alive by no-see-ums. The little suckers infiltrated our bedroom and then were crawling in the covers. Between being itchy and being paranoid about bugs, it was a long night.

That settled the questions of whether we were leaving Vero. I finally fell asleep around 6:30 AM, but Thomas pulled me out of bed again about 7:30. We took on fuel and water and headed south.

Early on in the trip, I saw my first manatee. He was right in front of the boat. He submerged quickly, so I didn't get a good look at him. Basically, I can say he was very large and dark colored and semi-suicidal because we came closer than I wanted to hitting the poor thing, even though we can't even approach the 25 MPH speed limit for manatee zones.

While underway, Thomas changed the oil in the little Honda generator. Also made bread and pizza dough, so dinner will be good!

In other news, we got to watch an air show for free. As we approached Stuart, FL, we saw four jets doing synchronized flying with smoke. Later, one jet did some more tricks, including a controlled stall, which was kind of eerie.

The show was over by the time we got to the Indian River bridge. We waited for the 2 PM opening and proceeded to Manatee Pocket. The area seems nice enough, if covered with houses. There's a West Marine nearby, where we finally found our Bahamas charts. Good thing because we intend to cross over as soon as there is a weather window. Our final opinion on Manatee Pocket will, however, depend on how many bugs come over for dinner tonight with the intention of joining me in bed.

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - Lake Worth, Palm Beach, FL

Although Manatee Pocket exhibited minimal bug activity, we decided to continue south to Lake Worth nonetheless. Near the inlet, we had our first sighting of Caribbean-blue water, and it was mega-cool. Finally our wacky boat colors are beginning to blend with our surroundings.

To make busy while motoring, I made coffee and then chocolate chip cookies. (Yes, this is Amy writing. Thomas does let me in the kitchen occassionally.) All else was uneventful until we got to the bridges. There are 7 opening bridges in this 25 mile stretch, most packed in the last 5 miles. With large sailboats and the ubiquitous mega-yachts all waiting in line, it got a little hairy.

To make matters worse, we had absolute idiots with us on the waterway. One French couple was waiting in line for an opening and then somehow forgot to go through the dang bridge with the rest of us. They then started calling the bridge over and over, by various names until nearly every bridge tender in those 5 miles was in on the conversation. They then updated us all on their progress (we're passing the first bend...we're speeding up...are you still holding the bridge?...) every 2 minutes or so.

Another boat refused to look at their chart to see what the bridge clearance was (whether they could fit under without an opening) and insisted on calling each bridge tender, even though none of the tenders would answer the question. Then an old dude in an aging mega-yacht tried to run over us three times waiting for a single bridge opening.

We were glad to arrive safely at the anchorage. Judging from the anchor sets around us, there will be many boats dragging tomorrow, when NOAA is predicting gale force winds from the north. We tucked in to the front (north) of the anchorage so that all the adventure would be happening behind us. Our neighbors can drag into each other rather than into us.

As for good news, Jellicle Cat is here. Hopefully they'll be around for a few days, as we will be here for quite a while waiting on weather to cross to the Bahamas.

BTW, not sure if we ever mentioned it, but Maggie is fine. She did have a bout of stomach upset a couple days ago. Of course, this happened while Thomas was in the shower, so I got to observe it and then clean everything up. Anyway, she slept a lot that day and was in good shape by morning. I didn't want any of Wicky's fan club to be worrying about her health

Sunday, November 14, 2004 - Lake Worth, Palm Beach, FL - Amy

NOAA predicted that the wind would kick up tonight or tomorrow morning. They continue to suck: the wind showed up around 3 AM. It blew pretty good, and when we swung around, we felt that we were too close to the folks on Arctic Cat out of Eagle, Alaska. We moved our anchor around 8 AM.

Thomas wanted to see the NASCAR race, so we went to Duffy's, a sports bar here. Thomas ended up talking to Peter, who is on a boat out here. I went to the grocery store, bought a paper, and ordered coffee at the bar. That way, it was a great Sunday for me.

We went fishing in the cut where we had seen some Pompano, but we didn't catch anything. With no fresh fish, we had Bratwurst on the grill for dinner.

While sitting around the cockpit last night, we decided it would be cool to move the main sail over to the toe rail while we're at anchor. Thomas did that, and it really opens up the cockpit.

Listened to football on the radio and went to bed at a decent hour, although I couldn't sleep so stayed up past midnight reading The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve. It's ready to go to the book swap now.

Monday, November 15, 2004 - Lake Worth, Palm Beach, FL - Amy

We checked the weather and we aren't going to be crossing to the Bahamas anytime soon. Friday at the earliest.

That meant it could be a lazy day on the boat. Thomas explored the area on shore. Ok, he took the trash in and went to West Marine to get lightbulbs. When he returned, he fished off the back of the boat and caught two ocean perch and three grunts, all about one foot in length. I did my best impression of the sharks from Nemo, yelling "I'm having fish tonight!" across the anchorage. We did them as nuggets in beer/Bisquick batter, and they were really good.

With Thomas killing fish, he wasn't killing aliens on his video game, so I monopolized the computer.

We made an emergency paper towel run to the grocery store and got sucked into Duffy's for drinks. Once we escaped the Duffy tractor beam, we came back to the boat by way of Jellicle Cat. We didn't stay too long, but it was good to see them. They are heading out tomorrow for points south.

Post-fishes, it was a pretty normal night. Thomas made up for his lack of alien killing for a while and then played guitar; I read books

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - Lake Worth, Palm Beach, FL - Tom

We awoke to the sound of rain again this morning. What is it with Florida and rain? It hasn't rained on us in months, and now that we are in Florida it rains everyday.

We went to West Marine again today (hopefully for the last time) and bought the remaining charts we need for the Bahamas as well as a new cruising guide to that area. We also got two more, five gallon water jugs so that we will be able to ferry water from shore to the mother ship.

In talking with other cruisers who have been over before, I think we must really be roughing it. Most of them tell us that they get between 7 and 10 days on something like 65 or 70 gallons! We are making it more like 4 weeks on our 100 gallons. Maybe we smell?

I also went to the bookstore and dropped $50 on a new computer book on Advanced Patterns in the C# Environment. A real page turner I am sure. Now I will have something else to learn whilst in the islands.

As our three long term readers (and you know who you are) well know, I have taken several steps to insure our ability to catch and process seafood while we are out and about. One of these devices is the Flingable Fish Suppressor.

The FFS (as it is referred to on board) is a 6 foot cast net and just as the name implies, this is a large, round net that you cast into the water. The idea being you can manage to ensnare all sorts of little sea dudes that can then be used for bait. Simple in concept, much more difficult in reality.

I finally broke down and got the net out today. I have never used one of these before, but I did download several how-to articles of the net months ago, which I have been studying extensively.

We experienced no joy in Mudville today sports fans, and the only thing I caught was Maggie. It's definitely much harder than it looks. After about 25 or so casts, I have yet to get the net to open fully. I'd like to say the net is defective, but I think the fault probably lies in my technique. I plan on further test throws tomorrow and I am still trying to find someone who can give me 15 minutes of instruction.

Anyway, after the netting debacle, we went back into the local pub and the 2 for 1 happy hour. Bourbon chicken and rice for dinner back on the mother ship

Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - Lake Worth, Palm Beach, FL - Amy

Rain, rain, go away! Not only is there no sun, but now the wind has died as well. Good for our upcoming crossing (the Gulf Stream should be laying down as we speak), but bad for the power situation. I am currently writing this to the relaxing tune of our little Honda generator. It came as a big blow to our egos to have to run it. It's the first time since Solomon's Island on the Chesapeake Bay. But, it was either that or forgo computer usage for the rest of the day, and logs, email, and alien killing are big priorities around here.

Most of the day has been spent doing errands. This morning, Thomas biked like 15 miles to get two blocks of our favorite cheese from Albertson's while I got to do paperwork and bills.

We met back at the mother ship for more net-casting practice. Our neighbors were getting such a kick out of that spectacle, we figured we'd really give them something to watch. We put away our net and both of us donned our wet suits, flippers, and masks. We looked mah-velous. Maggie was frightened, but so was the green goo on the hull of our boat, which we scrubbed away with limited success. We'll need to do a better job once we get to the Bahamas where the visibility is better.

After all that, it was still early, so we still needed to be productive. Off to West Marine and the grocery store. Thomas is now installing our flag halyard so we can hoist our "quarantine" flag in style when we reach the Bahamas. Fortunately, 2 for 1 happy hour is fast approaching and we can stop with all of this work stuff.

Thursday, November 18, 2004 - Lake Worth Inlet, West Palm Beach, FL - Tom

Today is my brothers birthday. Happy birthday pudmonkey.

Well, for good bad or worse we are ready to depart. We made two final runs to the Publix store and $350 and 2 inches on the water line later we are ready to go.

We moved the boat down stream about 6 miles taking on fuel and water in the process. We are now in an exposed anchorage behind Peanut Island right at the entrance to Lake Worth Inlet and the open ocean.

Our plan (subject to change based on weather) is to get up around 1 am tomorrow morning and head out for the gulf stream and the Bahamas. We are planning on crossing onto the Bahamas banks north of West End on Grand Bahama. From there we will sail on til we get to Great Sale Cay where we will stop for the night. After that it should be a short sail over to Green Turtle Cay where we will clear customs, hoist our Bahamian courtesy flag and sing God Save the Queen.

Our web site updates probably won't be as regular as they have been, but I will continue posting them at every opportunity. See you on the other side.

Houston we are go for lift off