March
12, 2004 --
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Photos
What a week this has been. Right now we’re sitting at Port
Canaveral waiting for some engine work but let me start at the
beginning of the week.
We left Plantation Yacht Harbor as planned on Monday. The
winds had picked up Sunday night and by 8 am. The weather
person was calling for 20 knot winds but we were ready. Our
new friends from the marina helped us out of the slip and then
to fuel. After 4 months of sitting Bob and I were both a
little rusty on our boat handling skills.
We traveled the inside but still had pretty rough seas. We
made it to Fort Lauderdale where we spent the night at the
Hall of Fame Marina. Our first order of business was to rinse
the salt off the boat and us.
Tuesday morning the wind was still blowing so we were back on
the inside. The scenery on the Intercoastal here is one
opulent home after another with megayachts parked out front.
Between the Manatee Zones and the No Wake Zones we only made
it to Jupiter, Fl. where we stayed at the Jib Yacht Club and
Marina. It was a nice little marina with a big fuel business.
We woke up to 20 knot winds again so back on the Intercoastal.
This stretch had several wide open spaces so we could get up
and run until we were headed due north into the 20 knot winds.
More rough waters. More salt in our faces. By 3 PM it was so
rough we couldn’t pick out the channel markers until we were
right on them and the wind was cold and damp. I made the
executive decision that Melbourne Marina was our destination.
The marina was tucked back behind a peninsula out of the wind.
Halleluiah! I was warm for the first time that day. We did
talk to a new “Looper” on the radio. The Amanda K had started
out that day on their Great Loop journey. The Great Loop
burgee draws a lot of conversation.
Thursday morning dawned bright and clear with calmer winds. We
cleared the marina channel and proceeded down the Intercoastal
enjoying cruising for the first time in several days. I went
down below and heard an unusual noise. I asked Bob to
investigate while I took the wheel. He opened the engine hatch
and black smoke came billowing out. I turned the engines off
and Bob went into the engine room to investigate. At first he
thought it was the shaft packing then the transmission but
after the smoke cleared he diagnosed a burned bearing in the
V-drive. We limped along trying to find someone who could pull
us out. After several phone calls we decided to come to
Canaveral and try our luck here.
We locked thru a short canal by the Sea Ray plant. The lock
was short and quick but the tide was running and we only had
the starboard engine. The tide was pinning us against the lock
wall. I don’t want to do that again.
We limped to one marina in hopes of some service. Their
customer service was less than helpful. We did find a ZF shop
here. They came to the boat for a diagnosis. No smiles on
their faces but they did get us to another marina who are
friendly and can pull the engine.
March 15, 2004 --View the
Photos
We’re still at Cape Canaveral. We had planned to be in St.
Augustine this week end so rather than by boat we decided we
would go by car.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. One of our fellow travelers
told us there was a rocket launch Thursday night. Our spot at
the marina would give us a good view. We also decided since we
were so close we should go to the Kennedy Space Center. What
an incredible place! The movies and the exhibits are really
informative and well done. The iMax movie of the space station
is incredible. It’s done using 3D glasses. Watching the
astronauts glide around weightless in 3D tells the story
better than I could have imagined.
We spent about 5 hours there and still didn’t see all the
movies or read all the info from the exhibits. There was a
rocket launch scheduled for Friday night/Saturday morning at
12:40 am. We set our clock to see the launch. We saw the
bright ball of light then heard a huge rumble. What a sight!!
I wonder what the space shuttle would look like.
Saturday we traveled by land to St. Augustine. Not near as
much fun as by water but we got away from the marina and could
do some sightseeing. It’s hard to imagine buildings from the
1700’s. The old town area has lots of sights I’m sure we
missed. Things are tucked down every street.
We spent the night and visited with a friend from Jacksonville
on Sunday then back to the dusty marina.
Today was laundry day and engine room prep for the big
procedure. If all goes well the port engine, v-drive and what
ever else will be lifted up, the broken part taken out. On
Wednesday the new part goes in, aligned and hopefully ready to
test.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments.
March
22, 2004
It’s Monday again and we’re still in Canaveral. I will
continue to admire the Eddy Creek Shop guys working as a team
to take care of engine repair. ZF hasn’t helped with their
piecemeal parts ordering but on Friday this shop had no
forklift to put the V drive in and this morning someone forgot
to pick up two bushings. Well the drive is half in and half
out, the tides dropping and the fork lift is down as low as it
can go. I feel like I’m in the middle of a drama.
We have spent another
lovely week in Florida. The sun’s been shining and hot.
Great for the cruise boats and the beach bunnies. This marina
is right across the Banana River from the cruise ship port.
We’ve seen Mickey’s boat come and go regularly in addition to
several Norwegian Cruise boats. Sizes range from big to
gigantic.
We rented a car again this
time to explore Coca Beach and Merritt Island. There is
definitely a Spring Break crowd here but it seems more like
families taking their break together. We joined the throng
Saturday at Ron Jon Surf Shop. This place is about 3 square
blocks of merchandise open 24 hours a day on one of the main
walk ways to the beach. Prices were fair and folks were lined
up to buy T shirts and surf boards. This building is huge,
yellow and has its own covered parking garage. The beach
business is alive and well.
Otherwise the week has
been uneventful. Lot’s of early starts for nothing. We have
read thru the library of books that we started with so a
restock trip to Barnes and Noble and the grocery were
yesterday’s project.
There’s lots of grunting
going on in the engine room. I hope that means progress.
We’ll keep you posted.
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