Our time in the Abacos was really enjoyable. We plan to be back in the Bahamas this fall to continue to explore all that we can.
We left Great Sale Cay in the Abacos at 11:30am on June 13 (no, Meg, we didn’t get any discounted sailing!) and arrived outside of Fort Pierce, Florida, around 6am on the 14th. Though there was some chop, the crossing was quick and mostly uneventful. We had a reservation for a slip in Fort Pierce but decided to go further north to Vero Beach, where we docked at the VB City Marina. On Friday we took a look around Vero – a very nice town. Saturday morning Robin grabbed a rental car and went to visit her parents for two weeks while Bob stayed with the boat. On June 28th, our friend Amanda Harvie joined the boat at the dock in Vero Beach. The next day, Robin came back to the East Coast. After a day of touring and shopping in Vero, we fueled up and resumed our trip north towards New England. For boats headed from Florida to points north there are two primary options: you can sail off the Atlantic coast or make your way up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW is an engineered series of channels connecting naturally-occurring bodies of water, just a short distance from the coastline. It starts at the bottom of the Chesapeake—technically in Norfolk, VA—and continues south around Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. This route allows protected passage but it is slower because of the sometimes-serpentine routes. It is also rare to have favorable winds so you will be using the motor quite a bit. Our plan is to stay on the ICW until we get to Jacksonville and then head out if the weather is favorable. More than a few sailing veterans have told us the Georgia section of the ICW is known as the swamp and that a lot of time is spent swatting the poodle-sized biting flies. After a few days of northward travel, Amanda decided that life on a boat was not for her and asked to be let off in Daytona. From there she would make her way back to her home. Though there were a few nice memories, life on the water is not for everyone. This was a reminder that we all have our comfort zones. Blue Bonnet has become our comfort zone but we cannot expect everyone to appreciate the same things. As it turned out, this may have been a fortunate turn of events. Late in the afternoon of the 3rd, we entered waters south of St Augustine where we planned to anchor and take in the fireworks for the 4th of July. We approached the beautiful Bridge of Lions and requested to pass under at the 6pm opening. The current and Blue Bonnet worked to get us there about a minute early, which was perfect. We slowed Blue Bonnet down so that we would not approach the bridge prior to the sections being fully raised. Still moving a little quicker than we wanted, we put the boat in reverse. We heard a loud CLUNK and suddenly found ourselves without propulsion. We could not make the boat go forward or backward. Immediately Robin called the bridge then grabbed a fender and headed to the bow. The bridge tender radioed back, warning that the current would push us into the city pier. Bob called a distress (Pan Pan) on the emergency channel of VHF and let out some anchor. He tried steering away from danger, but the current was, indeed, pushing us towards the pier under the west end of the bridge, and rather swiftly. To make matters worse, two big beautiful boats were tied up at the city pier. One was the pirate ship Black Raven; the other was the schooner Freedom. As the Freedom loomed closer and closer, Robin shouted to their crew for assistance. Luckily, the captain and a crew member were on deck and able to help. Our bow hit the side of Freedom leaving a small ding in her steel hull. The captain, Kevin, said the damage should be easy to buff and paint. Apparent damage to Blue Bonnet was limited to our anchor roller on the bow. It could have been A LOT worse! On the bright side, the accident allowed us to meet: the captains of both the schooner and the pirate ship, the manager of the city docks, the local water/fire rescue squad, our insurance company, a representative from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the local US tow boat guy. Almost all of these folks were wonderful and helpful. Among the ironies of the day was the fact that the only place that Trey the tow boat driver could take us turned out to be the exact location Robin had picked as our anchorage for the night. (The city marina would not allow a disabled vessel to stay there.) The fourth of July started with a visit from a very kind and friendly FWC representative. Officer Harris assured us that we were at the very low end of incidents he dealt with, and that the damage to the Freedom looked minimal. After he left, we decided to chill and enjoy the beautiful views. The numerous fireworks displays that started before sunset that night were eclipsed by the spectacular view we had of the St Augustine city fireworks show that started at 9:30pm. Hundreds of boats were in the harbor to watch. We were about 1 mile away on the other side of the Vilano Bridge, which gave us a great view but kept us safely out of the crowd. Today, Blue Bonnet is sitting safely at the dock of the St Augustine Marine Center. Diagnosis: broken/cracked shaft and coupler. She will be hauled out Monday or Tuesday, a new shaft has been ordered, and will hopefully be installed this week. If you’re thinking that we have had more than our share of disasters, then Robin would agree with you. But it is all part of the adventure! We chose to take a room on Anastasia Island through AirBNB. Bob has had a health issue that made life at the dock uncomfortable. He is doing much better and we plan to enjoy some of the St Augustine attractions while Blue Bonnet gets mended. The Ancient City is a great place to be stranded for a week or two. Stay tuned for pictures. We plan to hit up several museums, restaurants, beaches, and maybe a ghost tour or two. Boo!
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AuthorRobin and Bob recently quit their jobs, sold all their belongings, and headed south to begin a new life on the sea. Check back here to find out how life adrift is going. Archives
February 2019
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