Over the summer we did some changes to our SSB installation trying to improve the radio’s reception and transmission and reduce radio frequency interference (RFI). Here’s a summary of what we did – Installed 6/2 AWG wire from house bank to pilothouse…
Tag Archives | trawlers
Merry Christmas 2010
December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas Dear Family and Friends!
We are safely in Ft. Myers Beach. We have celebrated Jesus’ Birthday with good friends, but we miss our family very much.
We hope that you have been able to celebrate this special d…
Three@Sea Holiday Greeting
This year’s holiday greeting comes to you via satellite phone from the North Atlantic Ocean, somewhere between the Turks and Caicos Islands and Puerto Rico. We will arrive in Puerto Rico late Christmas night, so the satellite phone is our only option for sending you this greeting. Due to the limited bandwidth, we must dispense […]
Planning our next adventure
Well we are starting to get the fever again for some cruising and are planning our tri to complete the loop that we didn’t in 2008. We are going to cruise from Panama City , Fl to the Texas Coast the first of April 2011. The planning is always one of m…
Happy Holidays to all!
Hi everyone. We are in Loggerhead Marina Hollywood, FL til January doing some final repairs before leaving for Central America. Our plan is to depart from Key West for Isla Mujeres on the first weather window available and then work our way sout…
Sloppy Sea Slog
Seasickness Sally here to report on our sloppy sea slog from Florida to the Bahama Bank. If you’re following Dave’s blog you know that Yacht Tech pulled off a Herculean effort in getting Three@Sea back in the water on Friday after all of her maintenance and repairs. The weather gods seemed to smile upon us […]
South Beach, Miami
On Thursday, we sailed on the outside from Ft. Lauderdale to South Beach, Miami, with Kevin and Courtney. We had a southerly breeze, which made the trip a little lumpy. As we approached Government Cut, we heard the Coast Guard warning recreational vessels to keep 100 yards away from a cruise ship that was stuck in the channel. We turned off before we got close, but we were betting that it made the news. We had a great steak dinner onboard and wonderful conversation.
Friday morning from our anchorage, we watched three cruise ships arrive and one depart. We launched the dinghy, rode down a canal, tied up to a traffic barrier, and spent most of the day in Miami Beach. We strolled up and down the Lincoln Street Mall and shopped in many of the trendy shops there. Lunch, courtesy of Kevin and Courtney, was at Van Dykes. We had be best grilled calamari appetizer that any of us had ever had.
We had dinner aboard and watched “Captain Ron” in the evening.
Ft. Lauderdale
Monday, December 13, 2010, Day 78: We traveled the 6 miles from Pompano Beach to Ft. Lauderdale. The strong winds, 20 knots from the west, made maneuvering difficult. We tied up at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. It was great to see Chris and Joyce (Celebrate, our sponsors here) when they visited in the afternoon. Kathy, an American Express/sailing friend of Linda’s for 28 years, and her friends Priscilla and Robert came for cocktails aboard. Wonderful to see them after Kathy’s many years in Asia. It is unusually cold here — the temperature range was 63/43, which is very cold for Ft. Lauderdale. The wind makes it feel even colder.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010, Day 79: Our Reston neighbor, Ray, who lives in Miami came to pick us up for lunch–a delicious lunch at Seasons 52 in the nearby Galleria. Then the fun really began. We needed to sign up for the Department of Homeland Security’s Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS), that allows us to leave and enter the country with a phone call vs. stopping by in person. I won’t go into all of the details, but this task (which is advertised as taking 15 minutes), actually required a day and a half, a $ 35 cab ride and, because that was absurdly expensive, a rental car. One note for those reading this blog, each crew member must sign up. This is a change. Before, only the captain needed to sign up.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010, Day 80: We finished the effort to sign up for the SVRS and provisioned Escapade. Kevin and Courtney arrived for a holiday visit in the evening. It is so nice seeing them and we look forward to their 10 day visit.
Titusville to Vero Beach to Okeechobee Waterway
December 9-13, 2010
We left early from Titusville because we had 75 miles to go to Vero Beach. Titusville Municipal Marina has many resident ospreys. One had chosen the “soft” post on Grateful’s port side to eat its breakfast. As we were making to leave, it puffed its feathers and spread its wings to make itself BIG, but I still won the battle and it finally flew away with its catch.
We looked forward to Vero Beach because we had heard so many positive comments and we had heard that there was a dog beach close by. Our intention was to spend the weekend there. We stopped and got fuel – another 300 gallons – and they put us into a nice slip. Unfortunately it was raining off and on and things were a little soggy. However, it made a lovely sunset picture.
Friday dawned on a foggy morning and it didn’t clear until 9:00. But when it cleared, the day was brilliant and warm. We did find the dog park, and after a few Frisbee throws, Porter went to the drainage ditch for a drink – pretty much guaranteed a bath for him. Later in the day, Mark and I used the free city shuttle and went shopping. We needed dog chow, milk and sweet vermouth. My O&M friends would be proud of me because I figured out the bus schedule and we were standing on the correct side of the road to catch our ride home. But, alas, we decided to leave Vero Beach early as a cold front was going to be moving through on Sunday bringing high winds and freezing temperatures. We were able to rearrange our marina reservations so we were all set.
Saturday dawned with heavy fog again. We were ready to go but needed to wait until we could see the sailboats anchored in the harbor. Well, we could see them and we had our trusty GPS and radar, so by 8:30 we departed.
 |
| Finally the sun broke through to shine on a gigantic USA flag |
The day cleared to a bright, cool day. We traveled the Indian River this whole day. The river is sometimes a mile wide, but with only a very narrow channel with 8-10 ft depths. The channel is lined with spoil islands – some have trees, beaches and room for camping.
As we approached St Lucie Inlet, the water became that beautiful aqua. There were many more dolphin sightings and some came to swim with us. There were a lot of boats out enjoying the day. At the St. Lucie Inlet we had to turn inland to find the Okeechobee waterway. The first test was getting through a set of three bridges – one high, an open RR bridge, and a low bascule bridge. Finally we were through and into the canal.
 |
| St . Lucie Inlet |
 |
| Wall dripping with purple flowers |
 |
| Tight quarters through RR bridge and bascule bridge |
 |
| Finally through the bridges |
We made it through the St. Lucie lock – a 13 ft lift. We are old hands at locks, but this one seemed hard. In the Midwest, water is run into the lock through a pump system – water seems to boil up from the depths. So far these locks seem to work by simply opening the lock door at the other end. We had a heck of a surge as 13 feet of water poured into the lock – we both were holding on for dear life!!
 |
| Entering the Okeechobee Waterway |
 |
| Just narrow canal |
 |
| St. Lucie Lock gates opening |
We cruised until we came to the RiverForestYachtCenter. This is not a marina, but has electrical power and water. This is one of the places we are considering to store Grateful rather than cruising to South Carolina.
 |
| Grateful at sunset |
We had reservations at Indiantown for both Sunday and Monday evenings. We knew the cold front was beginning to move through the area. Sunday morning arrived peacefully and calm.
 |
| Dawn in the harboe |
 |
| Love these “bottle-brush” palms |
However, Sunday morning I called Indiantown Marina to find out when we could arrive. Because the cold front was due to arrive, the boats that were going to leave the marina had not left. We offered to stay where we were – and the same happened for Monday.
The wind that has arrived with the cold front is crazy – gusts to 35 mph. We have been out rearranging fenders continuously as the wind bumps us against the wall. Travel across Lake Okeechobee is not advised – weather channels call it “rough”. Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake within the boundaries of the US, but it is only about 13 feet deep. Winds can make crossing the lake quite hazardous. When I called the Indiantown Marina today, they did not think anyone was leaving throughout the week. I guess we will wait. According to weather forecasts, we might be able to cross Lake Okeechobee by Wednesday – we will make the attempt. We will start from RiverForest rather than 13 miles closer at Indiantown.
Until then……….
Pompano Beach
While the trip from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale is relatively short, we felt that with a cold front predicted tonight with strong northerlies, it would be best to go some of the way today and take a slip in a marina. We are glad that we did. While …
