Being Third Can Be A Good Thing!!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

Wednesday's Location: Hooker Cove -27'40.163N/ 081' 30.009W

Got out of Lake Worth at the crack of 9:30 to begin my relatively short trip up to Jensen Beach, north of Stuart. It was a relatively light bridge day, a mere six with three more that didn't need to be opened. It was an even split, three I made and three I missed. . . .
. . . .. . At this particular moment in time last night(Wednesday) the local water police came by and asked me to move my boat farther from the travel channel in the Okeechobee Water way. So I moved and the whole blog that I had written disappeared into the ether and I was so tired to start again, so I waited until now. . .. . .


I traveled most of the day with two other sailboats, a Island Packet 35(ISLAND MOON) and a Gemini 32 (DESTINY). It was good to travel this way for you had someone to talk to when we waited out bridge openings. Things are changing as i move north. The Spanish Hacienda/ Italian Villa architecture has been replaced for the most part by more normal styled housing though lots of it is still much too large to be useful, except as a small hotel. The concrete walls lining the ICW have also disappeared which means that when some lowlife in a powerboat speeds by, you are only shaken up by his way and not by the three or four it causes bouncing off the walls.

Among the ugliest of housing are the condos built for the retirees, at least those who lack a lot of assets. The look almost prison like, or at least like country jails. Some even have bars on the windows and all the porches are covered with screening. They seem all painted the same dreadful min green/lime green mix. They are so depressing and "the inmates" must thin k so too. They all seem to line the walkways staring out at the boats passing by, waving and seemingly desirous of rescue. It is sad. Terribly so.

Our three craft got to the bridge at Jensen beach where we all had planned to anchor. We must have read the same guides. Island Moon led the way and promptly went soft aground. He was utterly amazed as he said that he had anchored there just a few years before with a boat that had a deeper draft. I asked what he was drawing and he said 4'2" which wasmore than a foot less than ABISHAG so there was no way I could get in or even close enough to him to help him out. As he worked out, I check out another cruising guide spot a little further on and found it shoaled up as well. It was pretty clear that I wasn't anchoring here and while there were some other spots a little further on, I had no idea what there condition was, so I decided that I would head for the St. Lucie River where I anchored on the way down and where I knew IT was plenty deep. Island Moon said he would try the spots further on and took off. Destiny, which draws 2' with he boards up, anchored in a drop of dew.

It took me an hour and a half to get to Hooker Cove and I dropped the hook and steeled in and had almost finished the blog when the Police came by and asked me to move. I did, and as I said, it vanished into the ether. Got the hook up and then down in the dark and I slept the sleep of the just.

Boat Names of the day: Breaking Wind; Passing Wind; My Other Love; Dock Crasher; Sea Ya; Sea - E - O; Sea Wheels; For All The Wrong Reasons; Primerry; And The Horse You Rode In On. And I saw a PWC with a Bimini on it. That was a first!

THURSDAY March17, 2001

Left Hooker Cove at 9:30 for the run up to Ft. Pierce. Call Brad Smith, the guy who had been working on his boat when last I was up there and he was still there and still working. He was thrilled that I would be stopping by and shared all the work he expected "us" to accomplish during my stay. My stay should only be til Monday, weather permitting as I have a "visiting friends" window of the 20th thru the 30th in Melbourne.ned, til Monday, and then weather permitting, it is off to Melbourne where I have a 10 winbdo

I called Brad Smith, the guy who was working on his boat when last I anchored here and he was still there and still working. He was thrilled to hear that I would arrived and shared all the work "we" would accomplish during my stay. I only have a short stay planned and will be leaving on Monday, weather permitting, to catch a of opportunity for visiting with some friends in Melbourne. I hope to see Gerry here in Ft. Pierce and to catch a shower, do laundry and to pick up some real shear pins I have on order.

It was a beautiful run to Ft. Pierce and I had been hoping to make it a sailing day as there were no opening bridges and it was pretty much a straight course, but after weeks of south eat winds, which would have been perfect, the wind was on the nose, just slightly east of north. Oh well, at least it was sunny and warm. That hasn 't changed!

I anchored in the same spot, right next to Brad and we shot the breeze for a while as I got top see what he had accomplished on his boat. He is ripping up the deck in parts to rep[lace the underdeck which is rotted and he plans to do some glassing work and I'll help him. I love the smell of styrene in the morning. It smells like . . . . like . . . .victory!