Still in HHI, SC

Waiting and waiting and waiting. We got hauled out on Monday since the new engine was to arrive the same day - which it did. Getting hauled out was quite the experience! When the tide is low, the slip where the travel lift pulls the boats has zero water (see picture to right). So we had to wait for high tide which was around noon. The boat was pulled in, bow to, which made getting the boat in the lift just right so the forestay wasn't hitting the lift a challenge. John Ray went up, and then down. The slings were moved. John Ray went up and then down again. The slings were moved. John Ray went up, and then down again. The slings were moved. I believe it was on the 4th or 5th try that they got the position right. I wasn't sure they were going to get it right before the tide started heading out again. It was a harrowing experience watching the boat being jostled and leaning first to starboard, then port. Then the bow was tilted down and the stern was up in the air. Then the stern was tilted down and the bow was up in the air. It was crazy, but they got the job done. Looking forward to doing it all again when we get put back in the water :) - which by the way, who knows when that will be. At least we're not stuck in Belhaven!!!!

So Monday afternoon, the boat was prepped to have workers going off and on. Some hoses were drained and that was about it for Monday. We probably could have stayed on the boat Monday night, but we got a hotel room for two nights. Oh, and by the way, we met a couple, Sue and Mike (and their youngest son Philip), on Adamo. We were docked next to them when we first arrived here last week. They recently got back from cruising and are now settling here to find jobs for a while. Their middle son, attends high school here at Hilton Head and lives with grandma. Their oldest is in college. Anyway, they have a car and a Jeep Sahara. They offered us the use of the Jeep while we are here (unless they need it). We were able to drive back and forth to the hotel which is approximately 3 miles away - probably a little more.

On Tuesday morning, we got to the marina bright and early to keep an eye on the hours that they spend working on the boat (something like $95/hr. for labor). In the morning, the everything was disconnected from the old engine. Then the boat sat idle for a large part of the day while the mechanic got called out to an emergency job. Very frustrating. We went off bike riding as there was nothing we could do. By the late afternoon, the mechanic was back and the old engine was lifted out with a crane. Check out pictures at: http://tinyurl.com/johnray-hiltonhead. When the engine was out, they realized that the raw water pump was different on the new engine so a new one had to be ordered and sent overnight. On Wednesday, Steve worked on the boat most of the day pulling all the old wiring to the control panel (saving some labor bucks :) and installing the new wiring. Michele worked on uploading pictures and dealing with her frustrating job situation - very long story.

Mike and Sue invited us over for drinks last night (Wed.) and we ended up being the guests that wouldn't leave (since we didn't have the hotel room anymore and the boat is in complete disarray - including no electricity.) By 9:00, they ended up feeding us dinner too. At midnight we finally headed over to our boat and slept there on the settees.

Today was another day of waiting as measurements were taken and new mounts had to be created so that the new engine would work in the old engine room without cutting any fiberglass. We went for a bike ride today, but spent most of the day just moseying around the Palmetto Bay pavillion. There's lots of activity with three restaurants, shops, the marina, and a tiki bar. The weather has been gorgeous, but this waiting is getting old. Michele wants to get home!

Hilton Head, SC

So for those of you who still read this blog (or did we lose all our followers?) . . .

Georgia was a long, but beautiful trip. We crossed a few sounds and travelled through many windy rivers and creeks. We passed some of the most beautiful houses that we've seen so far - even the Osprey's homes were incredible.

On Sunday afternoon, though we made our grand entrance into Hilton Head. Sunday started out to be just another beautiful day cruising up the ICW completing our last few miles in Georgia. When we realized we missed a turn and were heading up the Savanna River instead of continuing on the ICW to Charleston, we altered our course and headed back in the right direction. But then we realized, in horror, where we were supposed to go - Field's Cut. We read numerous reports about this section of the ICW being very shoaled and less than 4' in places during low tide. And what time did we get there? Low tide. Based on our history, what we should've done was drop the anchor and have lunch before even attempting this challenge, but we didn't. Skipper Bob told us to favor the green side and we'd be okay. Well, when our new depth sounder started beeping at us, this time we listened and immediately went into neutral. Then we tried to reverse, but the engine just made a bunch of crackling noises and didn't revers. Neutral again. Forward. Same thing. Steve quickly went below to check on the transmission - which we just had work done on twice already. Not good! The shaft seal that we replace in Palm Beach had completely backed off and all the oil was draining from the transmission. Very, very bad! We were stuck, not being able to motor forward or back, so we immediately dropped the hook and called Sea Tow. There was no way we could sail through such a narrow, shallow canal without an engine.

John Ray being towed by Sea Tow.

At this point we were 10-12 miles north of Savanna and about the same distance south of Hilton Head. We opted to be towed to Hilton Head. Now to figure out what was going on.

Steve and the Yanmar mechanic agreed that there is probably an internal problem with the transmission for the seal to have come off twice. Of course, there's no way to prove it without taking out the transmission. No problem, right? Wrong! Where the transmission is located, the entire engine would need to be moved around or completely removed - just to determine that we'd need a new transmission anyway. Then, with all that effort (and labor $$) why put a new transmission on a 20 year old engine - an engine which we don't know the history of? What if we spent all this money on a new transmission and the engine went anyway? After much contemplating and soul searching, we have decided to completely re-power John Ray. What does that mean? Well, it means a brand new transmission, engine, starter, alternator, control panel, etc., etc., etc. We're being hauled for the 3rd time on this trip. However, this time, we can not live on the boat while they work on her. We have to get a hotel room for a couple of days. (At least it's not Belhaven, NC.) We will keeping John Ray for many, many years to come.

On the bright side, we will be bringing the boat all the way back to New England. We were actually thinking of hauling it out in Oriental, NC and putting her on the hard for a while while we went back to work. Now, storing the boat is not going to be an option. A new engine needs to be run in order to be broken in. We also don't want to have a brand new engine sitting idle while the warranty runs out. So, we will have a boat to use all summer again, yeah! Another summer in Maine will be quite nice.

So for now, we are stuck in Hilton Head for at least a week (poor us :). It's too bad we don't golf. There are a couple of very elaborate mini-golf courses here as well, so maybe we'll take in 18 holes there. So that's all for now. There's never a dull moment in the life and times of John Ray.

Jekyll Island, GA

Here we are in Georgia now. No more Florida. This morning we left from Fernindina Beach, FL after filling up the water and fuel tanks. When we arrived at Fernindina yesterday, it was fairly early - 11:00 a.m. - as we only had to travel 10 or so miles from Alligator Creek. After not getting much sleep the night before with the high winds, we decided that an easy day was deserved. Despite the wind blowing like stink yesterday when we went to grab our mooring, we managed to have one of our best performances ever. The current, the noise and the smell from the paper mills in Fernindina make this anchorage a little less than desirable. Additionally, the grocery store is almost 2 miles away. However, we were very excited when we arrived at the mooring field and Norm and Linda, from Ariel (from NEB, RI) offered to drive us with their rental car. So of course, just picking up a few things ended up being over a hundred dollars worth of stuff. Gotta love it when you get those rides. We hadn't seen Norm and Linda since November when we bumped into them back in Deltaville, VA on our way down. (Well, we did see them just briefly as they were anchored in Daytona across from the restaurant where we met Ray and Helen for dinner last week.) They high-tailed it right to the Bahamas and got there before Christmas. They stayed over there all winter. Pretty funny how we keep bumping into the same people.

On our way up the ICW in Georgia we went by Cumerland Island and saw wild horses just grazing down by the water. I din't take a picture because they were too far away to get a good shot. (Besides, I still have no way of downloading the pictures from camera.) We could see the horses okay from the boat, but we got a much better look at them through the binnoculas. There were a three horses hanging out together, then another horse a litte ways away from them. A 1/2 mile up we saw a couple more. They were all very good looking horses. None of them looked mal nourished or anything. It's pretty cool how they can live free out in the wild, and live off the land without anyone bothering them. I always feel bad for those horses pulling the buggies with tourists in them around cities. They always look so hot and sweaty and miserable. We saw that in St. Augustines,FL and we'll see it again in Charlestown, SC. Sometimes I have much more compassion for animals than people (oops, did I just say that!) Okay, well I guess I'm digressing.

Besides the water being really brown, Georgia's ICW route seems really beautiful. (Actually, the water has been really brown since we got into central Florida.) The wildlife so far is great. At least being back in the US we've seen tons of dolphins. We didn't see any in the Bahamas - although we did see many other cool fish, rays and sharks.

We will hopefully be in Charleston, SC by Saturday. We are now at latitude 31 and we need to get all the way up 42 - just 11 more degrees to go! But we also need to get another 10 degrees east on the longitude end. We're getting there :).

St. Augustine, FL for Easter

We arrived in St. Augustine Friday, April 10th after a long day traversing the ICW. After anchoring and setting up the dinghy, Michele went ashore and her sister. They went to the Ripley's Believe it Not museum (the kids really wanted to go) and then went out for pizza. At the hotel the kids went for a swim while Auntie had some alone time in the hotel having very long, hot shower (besides it was 9:00 p.m. - cruisers' midnight)! When the Miller family returned it was still an hour or so before we settled down for the night. By the time lights went out, it was 11:00 p.m.

The next morning (well closer to noon actually), we met Uncle Steve and toured St. Augustine's. First on the agenda was the Castillo de San Marcos. A picnic lunch was enjoyed by all under a shadey tree on the grounds of the castle. We went by the Fountain of Youth which we thought was just a park to walk through, but found out it cost way too much money and it probably wasn't worth it. We went to Flagler College, The Government House and the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine (the oldest continually active Catholic faith community in the continental US - founded on September 8, 1565.) Again, I would show you pictures, but my computer and camera are still fighting. I've tried to get them to work out their problems, but they refuse to speak to each other.

On Easter Sunday morning, there was a sunrise service at the fort that we could hear through load speakers. We did go ashore for fuel, water and showers to get our $10 worth of dinghy dock usage at the marina. We met several boats that we've heard on the radio a few times including Passport, Plumpuppet, Triple Star (well, TS we just met without previous radio knowledge, but they were on an IP anchored right near us and they are travelling up the east coast to Maine where they have a house).

Yesterday we left St. A's with weather warnings for the afternoon. You'd think we've learned a lesson from the day we left Vero with severe wind warnings. However, there were many boats doing the same, and we also thought that we could travel during the morning and anchor before the weather got too bad. As it turned out, we had a southerly wind behind us most of the day with following seas. We had the current with us as well. We had a tentative plan to stay at the Palm Cove Marina at Jacksonville. However, when we arrived in Jacksonville, it was only 11:30 a.m. and the weather was still holding out. We decided to continue on (as did Celtic Cross a boat a couple of miles ahead of us that we'd seen at Vero Beach.) At about 3:30 (and 50 miles into the trip) we followed Celtic Cross into Alligator Creek - about 10 miles (or another 2 hours) south of Fernandina Beach. The wind picked up considerably so it was nice to get the anchor set and relax to wait out the impending storm and Tornado warnings. Thunder storms started around 7:00 p.m. and continued until at least midnight. After the thunderstorms, came the heavy winds. From about 1:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. the wind gusted from 25 - 35 with gusts as high as 45. At around 5:00 a.m. the snubber line on the anchor chain snapped. Steve replaced it with another one, but the wind settled down shortly after. Gotta love this cruising thing!

Mosquito Lagoon to Daytona, FL

When we anchored in the Mosquito Lagoon, the scene was beautiful. The sun was near setting and the huge, full moon was also out. The space shuttle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Station could be seen way off in the distance. A fire way off to west brought the smell of fire which made it feel like we were camping in the wilderness. The water was calm and it was a very relaxing evening. The morning was even more spectacular. The water was as smooth as glass with the exception of the dolphins coming up for air. There were numerous fishing boats off in the distance and just a very slight fog. The mangroves looked as if they had a frost on them, but it was probably just white from the salt. Every now and then a boat would go by and create a ripple across the water which made the scene even more splendid. (I was going to add a picture, but my camera is not being recognized by windows, ugh! - sorry. I better call tech support - oh wait, that's me :).


Yesterday we got to Daytona around 3:00 p.m. Although the weather reported 70's the day felt very chilly motoring up the ICW. We just couldn't get the chill out. Michele even put a scarf on (thanks to Nathan's Christmas present last December). Since the sun was behind us all day, the cockpit remained in shade making it even harder to warm up. The wind was usually blowing around 10 knots. When we arrived in Daytona and it was time to anchor, however, the winds decided to pick up to 18 to 20. It just loves doing that! Even though we didn't have a plan B on where to go, Steve wanted to just keep on going. We passed up two anchorages (including the one we were in last December). After continuing on past all the bridges in Daytona, we decided on a spot to drop the hook. We were happy we did too.


At around 5:30 we met Ray and Helen, Rigamarole, at Carribbean Jack's for dinner and drinks. Since we hadn't seen them since Maryland last year, we had a lot to catch up on. Originally they had planned to go to the Bahamas this winter, but circumstances kept them land locked (except for a weekend cruise to Nassau over Valentine's). They will also be heading back up north within a couple of weeks, so we hope they catch up to us and we can travel together up the east coast. It was really fun to hang out with them again.


When we were dinghying ashore to go to dinner, we noticed another Island Packet anchored before the last bridge (where we were going to anchor). Michele thought the name was Ariel, but couldn't see it well enough to be sure. On the way bag to the boat from dinner, we could clearly make out the name and low and behold, it was Ariel. We know Norm and Linda from NEB in Rhode Island and ran into them at Deltaville back in Virginia. As they hurried down the east coast, they made it to Bahamas back in the fall and stayed there all winter. It seems that their pace up the coast might be quicker than ours, but maybe we'll catch up to them in Fernandina. This cruising stuff is pretty funny how you just keep running into people you know.


This morning we started the engine at 7:30 and were back in the ICW by 7:45. We are on our way to St. Augustine's which is approximately 50 miles. Yes, a one hour car ride will take us 10 hours at 5 knts./hour. If the current isn't against us, we may do 6 knots and arrive in maybe 8 hours. It still remains to be seen how long we will stay in St. Augustine's and if the Millers will join us for a day or two. Happy Good Friday to all the Christians.

On the Move

We left Vero Beach on Tuesday with a wind advisory. A wind advisory means that there are 20 knot winds steadily with gusts into the 30s and 40s. Sometimes we are just stupid. Okay, well maybe, sometimes we just don't make good decisions. In the morning the wind was blowing 20 knots steady on the nose. By mid morning they started to increase to 30. We were in the ICW so it wasn't a huge deal. However, it was freezing out and the waves were washing over the the boat like crazy. The boat got covered in salt. We ended up anchoring at Eau Gallie bridge - which is the same as Melbourne, FL. Steve was very annoyed that we decided to leave today, but felt just a little pressured by Michele because she wanted to meet her sister in St. Augustine by Thursday - which isn't going to happen anyway. By the time we anchored last night the wind calmed down, and we had a very relaxing evening. In addition to trying to make it to St. Augustines, we also thought that we needed to be above Cape Hatteras by May 1st. Turns out it isn't until June 1st. We have plenty of time - except we have to get our dogs (well, correction - Michele has to get her dog Chuey).

This morning we left Melbourne and did about 50 miles to the Mosquito Lagoon. Michele thought that today was Tuesday and that we still had plenty of time to make it to St. Augustines by Thursday. However, it is already Wednesday and there is no possible way that we would make it there by Thursday. In addition, after talking to Beth, she wouldn't be able to get to St. Augustine's by Thursday either (as Nathan, Michele's nephew, is in a baseball tournament until Friday). So now we can take our time to get to St. As. The kids are on spring break anyway and after Easter, Beth can drive to St. As and meet us there whenever. There is no longer a huge rush. Tonight we are anchored just out of the channel of the ICW in 7 feet of water. Today was a beautiful day - especially compared to yesterday. We went past Cape Canaveral and Titusville - where we spent a week and a half last December. Well, actually the boat spent that much time in Titusville while we went to the West Coast of Florida. December in Titusville was also the last time we saw our friends Dennis and Trudy from Rapscallion II. After leaving Titusville, they went straight to Miami, then to Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and now they are in the Spanish Carribean Island of Calebra. (They are on a 4-year cruising plan.)

We plan to be in Daytona by tomorrow. Here we need to fuel up and get water. We are also hoping to hook up with Ray and Helen from Rigamarole. We met them on the way down in the fall. They are friends of David and Barbara Frost (from NEB in RI) who told us to look out for them. We ended up seeing them several times before actually talking to them in Solomons in the Chesapeake. They winter in Daytona and are also heading back north at the end of April. Hopefully, we can meet up with them while in Daytona. Well that's it for now. Hope all is well with our friends and family and fellow cruisers.

Vero Beach, FL

We arrived in Vero Beach on Saturday [correction -arrived on Friday]. We are rafted on a mooring with Smiles, Betsy and Jim Smiley, a couple from Charleston, SC. The weather was atrocious on Saturday [Friday]- rained buckets, so we stayed on the boat. Yesterday, we did some errands (laundry, perscriptions, shopping, etc.) and today we'll probably just go to the beach. There is another cold front with some weather (more thunderstorms) expected Monday into tomorrow. Steve wants to leave tomorrow, but Michele wants to leave today. Today would be a good weather day, but the ICW is very, very busy on weekends - with powerboats whizzing by every few seconds. Personally, I'd rather deal with power boaters than weather, but we'll see. We could always stay put until Wednesday. Why deal with weather or power boats? It is expected to go down to the 40's in the next couple of days. We'll have to break out the sweaters again. Well, that's it for now. I'm afraid my posts have become just a little boring lately, sigh. Being back on the same track as the way down is a little less exotic than being in the Bahamas.

Stuart, FL

We left Cracker Boy Boat Yard this morning, and I wish I could say that it was uneventful... but noooooo! There's always a story. We were supposed to go into the water at 10:00, but it turned out to be closer to 11:00. That was no big deal though. When we walked down to the water alongside the boat in the lift, the first thing we noticed was the current and the chop in the water. When the boat was lowered, thankfully there were no problems/leaks. So we proceeded. The guys working the lift instructed us that they would walk us out of the slip and that we were to gun it in reverse when we were ready to go. We needed to clear a barge that was parked the next slip over. Well, with the current, wind and prop wash all pushing us to starboard towards the barge, we hit, and there was nothing we could have done to stop it. We got a gash in the side of the boat, but luckily it is just in the gel coat. The gash is fairly high above the water line, so we shouldn't have any issues with water getting in. Unbelievable! Every #$&!? time we go in or out of a dock there seems to be a problem. Just another issue to deal with - and more money $$$.

So, now we're heading back up north. It officially feels like cruising is over - at least for this year. Although I'm happy to be heading home, I already miss all the friends we've met along the way. We still have many miles before getting home, but the excitement of going to new places has worn off. We'll have to make it a point to stop at anchorages that we missed on the way down to make it feel like we're still cruisers. Hopefully, we'll meet new people along the way too.

Today we travelled about 40 miles from Riviera Beach to Jensen Beach. We are anchored just north of the Causeway Bridge. Jensen beach is about 4 miles from Stuart, FL and the St. Lucie Inlet. Tomorrow, we hope to get to Vero Beach and pick up a couple of supplies that we forgot while provisioning in Palm Beach. After that, continue northward. We'll be home before you know it.

Cracker Boy Boat Yard, FL

On the way to get the boat hauled out, we ran into quite the convoy of power boats from the West Palm Beach Boat show that just ended. They had no quams about passing us on all sides. I guess 4 knots in a no wake manatee zone was just a little too slow for them.


The boat was hauled out on Monday as planned, what wasn't planned was that we were still on it as it was being lifted out of the water. They did finally let us off once the bow was even with the dock. We got to work right away. Steve was having a bear of a time trying to back off the nut for the triducer. Michele tried to help from the outside of the boat, but it proved quite difficult as the sizes of the wrenches we were using were crazy big! Michele could barely hold up the wrench she had (never mind lifting it over her head and readjusting it every time Steve turned the nut from inside). Steve's situation was even worse as his wrench was 10x heavier/larger, and he had to squeeze both arms along with the wrench into a small rectangular hole to access the bildge area, whew! The hot, humid weather didn't help either . . . sweat was dripping off in buckets (yah, yah, people up north have no sympathy for that, but 90 humid degrees is as bad as 20 freezing degrees.) Michele decided she would be more helpful collecting the 4 loads of laundry and walking over to the Riveria Beach marina to start the washing - not an easy task either, luggging 4 large bags of clothes 1/2 of a mile - in the 90^o temperature. You think cruising is easy. Well, let me tell you . . . IT"S NOT! And, we still had to worry about reprovisioning and there isn't a grocery for miles.


In addition to the work we were doing, the Yanmar mechanic came from Jas Marine. After checking out the transmission situation, he proclaimed that we needed an additional part that he had to order as it wasn't in stock. It was looking like we would be settling in at the boat yard for a few days.

On Monday evening - even though we were both exhausted from a full day's hard labor, we still HAD to celebrate Michele's birthday - oh yes, I did mention in an earlier post that Monday was Michele's birthday, and oh what a day she was having!! No rest for the weary. After showering off the day's grime, we went to the tiki bar/restaurant next door. As we waited for the Murray's to join us, Michele enjoyed a most delicious marguerita and Steve a frosty brew while munching on fried calamarie. When the Murray's arrived, we all ordered and chowed down (Michele, Steve and Cameron all got prime rib! Leighia had a fish something or other as she doesn't eat meat and kids had pasta). A most delicious chocholate cake complete with a birthday candle and happy birthday song was enjoyed by all - especially the kids who ran around for quite some time afterward from the sugar rush). Since our bed was covered with all kinds of junk from the garage (the back berth which needed to be cleaned out while working on the engine), and the clean sheets had not been added yet, we crashed in the salon for the night. Another busy day tomorrow.

On Tuesday, we got to work straight away -although not quite early enough for Mr. Papile as Michele didn't get up until 8:30-ish. After discussing the situation with Cameron the night before, Steve thought of trying to use one of the boat stands to hold the transducer in place on the outside of the boat (because frankly, Michele was somewhat useless) while he turned from the inside. Alas, the nut came off. Now the real fun began for Steve. He had to rewire the new unit which meant disassembling the helm. Michele was relieved when Leighia called. She had access to a car all day and picked Michele up for a major reprovisioning. The Murray's are leaving for the Bahamas on Thursday so a trip to Costco was first. We didn't really need to buy too much in bulk at Costco, but still managed to spend over $100. Over $200 more at Publix, but hopefully we'll be provisioned well enough to get us home without having to buy too much along the way. However, since we'll be at least another month, we'll definitely be needing fresh produce and stuff along the way. It was a harried day and Michele managed to lose the $70 cash back that she got at the store. Very depressing! Steve handled it much better than expected. Michele can't seem to let it go though.

Yesterday we also had our main halyard picked up by Florida rigging. While we weathered the storms crossing the Gulf Stream, the line became chaffed and was nearly all the way worn through. So another $300 on that! When we got the line back today, it wasn't the same size either. The size is supposed to be 7/16", but they did 9/16". It's a little thick, but hopefully it will be okay as we have no way (or time) to get the line back to Florida rigging and replaced.

While Michele was out shopping yesterday, Jas Marine received the part for the transmission and got all that taken care of. The price on that is still out... but probably at least $600. This has been a very pricey stop for us (and I didn't even mention the price of the triducer or the haulout). But hey, which one hasn't been? So cruising is VERY expensive and a LOT of work. Michele's longing to be back in the Bahamas because at least we got to go swimming and snorkeling.

Okay, well break is over. Time to get back to work. We're splashing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Still much to do!