On Our Way to Marathon – finally!

Are they searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

They are working to build a breakwater for the marina here in
Ft Pierce.  The marina was pretty much taken out by
a hurricane in 1994

This is a major project - we've learned alot by
watching from our sundeck

12A Buoy - great place to eat!

Art sculpture in the City Park

Great day to see Ft Pierce by bicycle

Neat sculptures in the City park

We spent the last couple of days at Cocoa getting everything ready to travel.  Since we’d spent over two months here it seemed we had a lot to do.  First and foremost – Mike had worked hard to get it where we would be able to put the Whaler up on top where the other dinghy had ridden.  That was quite an ordeal!  Then, of course, we had the new “scooter”.  We knew we could leave it here in storage but we really didn’t want to.  SO Mike was determined to find a place for it on NautiNell, too.   After a lot of R & D and experimentation – Mike finally designed a way to get it up on the top next to the Whaler.  It really wasn’t that much trouble once he had it all figured out.  We did, however, have to move the boat over to an area where we could load it from the side.  Thanks to George and Sara for the help.  I wish we could have taken pictures when the davit was lifting the scooter, but all hands were needed for safety – at least that’s what we thought at the time.  Now that it’s done – it won't be that big of a deal next time.  Let’s hope!

I want to give a big shout out to George and Sara (La Dolce Vita).  They were good neighbors at Cocoa.  We really enjoyed our visits.  And thanks for the trip to the local Publix.  We never turn down a chance to stock up our cupboards. 

Friday morning we had everything loaded and headed out around 9:30.  It was an easy day down the Intercostal Waterway (ICW).  It felt good to be on the move again.  We had planned on stopping earlier but we changed our minds.  However, when we were ready to stop – there were no good anchorages that we could find.  So we finally stopped about 5:00 p.m. at Vero Beach City Marina.  We stayed the night on a mooring ball.   It was a nice night.  We had dinner on the sundeck and we really enjoyed the change of scenery.

The night didn’t turn out so good though after all.  The breeze seemed to just stop – and the humidity rose.  And with that – came the bugs.  We didn’t have our fans and we didn’t get much sleep.

To top all of that – We had quite a surprise when Mike checked the engine room the next morning.  He found about 12 inches of water in the bilge.  Twelve inches!  And the bilge pump had not kicked on!  This could have been really serious!  That’s a lot of water!  A hose clamp had broken and there was a tiny steady stream of water coming in.  It was really a good thing Mike had checked the engine room that morning.  We had no idea that the water was coming in.  Again the humidity was terrible and here Mike had to work on this first thing.  He did finally get the water pumped out once he fixed the pump (wire had broken loose) and then proceeded to install a new hose clamp.  (Lucky we had one on the boat)

We finally left the mooring ball about 10:30 a.m.  We had planned to leave about 8:00 and have a nice short travel to Ft Pierce.  There is a great farmers market there every Saturday.  Since we had such a late start we missed the market.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

We had lunch at the Tiki Bar and came back to find that the air conditioner was not cooling.  Poor Mike!  Back down in the engine room he went.  Do you think that it might have had something to do with the pump being submerged in the 12 inches of water? 

I had to include an email that Mike had sent to some of his buddies – it really explains how this situation went down …….  In his own words……..

Left Cocoa Beach Saturday, grabbed a mooring @ Vero Beach, leaving out early this am - checking batteries and found LOTS OF WATER in the bilge, further inspection showed a broken hose clamp on the hose containing the drive shaft, additional inspection revealed a broken wire on the forward auto bilge pump! The combination creates lots of water in the bilge, like 12 inches!

I have recently replaced the pump with a 1600 gal per hour and it pumped water for 1/2 hour. probably not to volume since there is some lift but none the less LOTS OF WATER! Got all that straightened out, and traveled on to Ft. Pierce into city marina. Turned on the air before we went to lunch and when we came back wasn't very cool. the circuit breaker had tripped , then tripped again ... started the chase, no water pumping out the side , turns out the water in the bilge had got into the a/c pump. Remove the pump...it's under the water heater...take it apart ok ..check all lines, ok ..test with new power source, pump is good… put back in place, no pumping ...more checking... switch good...start with wiring ...find relay box....open up ...get shocked...cuss...turn off electric power...find black fuse holder with blown fuse....ride bicycle 1 1/2 miles to West Marine (uphill both ways) ...buy fuses $2.49 ...install...pump works now better than ever, and I know more about a/c than I wanted.

It’s a little rainy and cool so don't need the air,  figures.

I will be putting double hose clamps on the shaft hoses today!

Couldn’t have said it better!  -

We stayed here in Ft Pierce for a couple more days than planned.  We found a place to eat  - 12A Buoy.  It has really great food and was a really neat place.  We rode our bikes around town and found a funny little local bar – Buckshot Bay Rockin’ Café.  We hit it at Happy Hour.  Quirky little spot -  just like the ones we love.  

We plan to leave in the morning and go as far as Manatee Pocket.  We hope to be on anchor for a few days – these days in marinas get a little expensive.

Till next time!

Admiral “C”