All downhill from here...

As you have probably gathered from recent posts, we continue to head south, toward the warm, away from the cold.  Sometimes we move fast enough, sometimes, not.

We left St. Augustine after visiting the two most interesting people in the world, so anything else we add to our blog will seem as an afterthought.

But we will carry on and tell you and show you of all of our fun and travails, our hots and our colds, and of new friends well met and old friends met again.

We met Nick and Thea, a very nice couple on another Morgan Out Island.  Unfortunately we took no photographs of them.  So you'll just have to imagine.  He's a very tall, thin, short fat guy.  She isn't.  So if you see the two of them, tell them we said 'hello' and please send us a photo.

Our first stop after St. Augustine was Daytona, though we only anchored there overnight after unceremoniously running aground, due to an error in dimension.  We were supposed to turn right a hundred feet from the shore, not a hundred yards.

Then on to Cocoa.

 This is the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse near New Smyrna. It's a lot prettier than it looks.

Past new Smyrna and up Mosquito Lagoon (where there are no mosquitoes which we saw.  Hey, the Dismal Swamp isn't Dismal,  Alligator River has no Alligators, Mill Creek has no mills, Rattle Snake Island has no rattlesnakes that we know of, though we took no chances.  And occasionally, you can see a No see'um.  Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be if there's anything in a name.) Pardon my digression.  Above is the opening bridge at Haulover Cut between the aforementioned Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River (upon which there are no Indians).

 

There are guys fishing in Haulover Cut.  And Manatees. And probably the occasional Alligator, though this guy didn't seem frightened at all.

 

First thing you see on entering the Indian River are the very famous Bird Poop Rocks of which, until now, no one has ever heard.

You will also encounter a couple of rookery islands.  You'll see all kinds of birds there.

Except penguins, ostriches and dodos.  Dodos are extinct but its fun to say, so I included it here. I was a bit disappointed about the penguins.  I was told they stay where it's very cold and sharks eat them.  Stupid birds.

After we passed Titusville, right across from the top secret missile launching facility, Cape Canaveral, we passed this most unique little boat.

Two hulls, but the sails are only on the starboard hull.  The port hull had a dinghy.  Or maybe a bathtub.

The other side had a place the sailor could sleep - or possibly he was transporting a coffin. It was hard to tell.  But the boat looked like a home built.  He probably built it to sail around the world.

So I took lots of pictures so you could build one like it in case you want to sail around the world.  Let me know how it works out.

We could tell we were getting close to Cocoa when we saw these tall smoke stacks.  My dad always used to say, "No matter how tall they build them, they always overflow."  Dad wasn't as funny as I am.

Then, suddenly, when and where we least expected it, a B.U.B. (Big Ugly Boat) loomed up in the distance.

B.U.B.'s loom up a lot.  We have no idea why.

But this one sat just off the marked channel, doing a very good job of trying to look big and ugly.  You could probably pick it up cheap.  You probably couldn't move it though.

 

We know Cocoa well having stayed there and even worked there, and made friends there.  Here's a couple, now.  Say hello to Margaurite and Mike:

She owns Bambi's Boatworks - a custom boat canvas fabrication and installation business for whom Suzi worked when we were in Cocoa four years ago.  Mike does boat carpentry and other stuff.  Both very nice folks who drove us to Fishlips for lunch.

Another boat at anchor with us in Cocoa had a unique paint job.  Sometimes a picture is only worth a few words, in this case, one: "Whaaa???"

Cocoa welcomes the cruisers with a very nice dinghy dock.  But then there's a sign that says you can only stay three hours.  Mixed message.  We ignored the sign.

Having been drinking too much, I finally overflowed.

Or so I thought...

But it turned out (whew) that Suzi had only lined me up funny at the fountain. She cracks me up.

While in Cocoa, we visited the World's Best Hardware Store.  We live in a world of superlatives.

But how many hardware stores have a selection of wrenches that nobody can lift except the Governor of California (or possibly Minnesota - is Jesse Ventura still there?)

On our way back to the boat, we discovered a new decoration on our bow pulpit.

Next we went to Vero Beach.  Some call it Velcro Beach.  We intended to spend a day, but spent a week.  Big dinghy dock, free bus, lots of socializing.  Interesting town.

We walked around town and saw unusual flowers like these...

and these. Pretty, huh?

Lots of towns in the south have fiberglass sculptures. Some have mermaids (remember the one in Beaufort, SC), seahorses, manatees, and Vero has turtles.

It rained a lot in Vero, or was overcast so we stayed a while but didn't take too many photos.  On out last evening there, our friends Kathy and John from Hartge's pulled in on their boat.  IB and Rebecca, also from Hartge's had been there for a bit and all came over to our boat for sundowners.

This is Kathy and John.

And this is IB (pronounced I B) and Rebecca.

The next day we left for Fort Pierce.  We anchored between the bridges and another couple from Hartge's came by to say hello.

This is Cheryl and Alex on Aisling.  The just circled the boat and chatted a few minutes before continuing.

They're heading to the Bahamas.

Our friends Skip and Harriet were staying at Harbortown (where I had worked part time as a carpenter years back) and we took the dinghy in and visited them, went to lunch and forgot to take our camera.  So you'll just have to read all the stupid stuff without benefit of photography.

We also went to the Ft. Pierce City Marina's Tiki Bar (where both Tara and Colleen worked when we were here 12 years ago) and met our friends Phil and Terrie, along with Skip and Harriet for a very good dinner.  The bartender, Sherry, remembered us (after 12 years - this probably doesn't speak well for our habits).

Here's the opening bridge north of  Ft. Pierce where we were anchored. When opposing wind an current made the anchorage crazy, we pulled up anchor and went to a protected anchorage called Faber Cove.  It's very secret, so don't tell anyone.

Then it rained, and the wind blew.  And it rained some more. And the wind blew some more.  And the bolt broke on the alternator. Again! (Sheesh! as my Uncle Ellie used to say).  But I fixed it. And the weather's supposed to be better tomorrow.

So we'll leave for West Palm, where Tiger Woods kept his boat until he went into hiding. (It's bigger than our boat (155')- we saw it last time we were here.)

Then we'll wait for weather and head outside to Miami and then on to Marathon Key.

Sorry this wasn't as interesting as the last post.  Didn't have as much to work with.

How to Permanently Repair your Dinghy Engine

As you who have been reading our blog know,  we have been plagued with repair problems on the boat.  I have come to the conclusion that, "In Paradise, everything is broken; just to give you something to do."  You can quote me (with attribution, of course, and links to all of our sites, thank you.)

I have for you a solution, which has worked amazingly well for us.  I have finally succeeded in repairing our dinghy engine in a manner which guarantees that there will be no further need for repair.  What follows is a step by step procedure:

This is a photo of our dinghy engine as it sets on the stern of our boat.  I used a special 'personality' filter to take this photo.

Step 1: Remove the cover and remove the carburetor.

(Being careful not to lose anything overboard - I'm speaking from experience here.)

Step 2: Disassemble carburetor.

This is a closeup photo of the carburetor with the float valve, the idle jet and the high speed jet removed.  They are soaking in carburetor cleaner as this photo was taken.

Step 3. Consult instructions.

This is an exploded diagram of my carburetor excerpted (fun word, huh?) from my parts manual.  My carburetor doesn't look a thing like the exploded diagram.  I thought it should and could only think of one solution.

Step 5.  Gather needed parts.

I looked in the Yellow Pages and found "Explosives 'R' Us.  They're not difficult to locate.  They are all over the country, due to a less than adequate enforcement of their No Smoking Policy.

Step 6. Install parts.

After carefully installing my purchase in the space formerly occupied by the carburetor, I lit the fuse and stepped back.

Step 7.  Check the effectiveness of your repair.

I doubt that the ringing in my ears will ever stop, but I believe this photo will attest to the permanency of my dinghy repair solution.

Step 8.  Clean up.

I still have some clean up, glass work, and some new stanchions to install, but I'll never have to work on that devil of a dinghy engine again - and that's a relief.