"Tonight
Considerable cloudiness through early evening then clearing and cold. Lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds diminishing to 5 to 10 mph."
Ah Yes, NOAA at its best. This is taken right off their page and is the forecast for Fort Pierce tonight! Of course, it was proceeded by a day of very stiff winds out of the northwest which didn't allow the temperature to get above 60, or at least not by much. With the wind it seemed like a cold, raw day . . .hardly the stuff of Florida or at least what one would expect in Florida.
I have disappointing news to report . .. . . the owner of the Nauticat 44 showed up today, he and two buddies. The spent about an hour aboard checking things out before leaving again. I was hoping to get a chance to talk with them but I couldn't swing it. I wanted to warn them that the state police will be by some night soon to check on whether or not they are showing an anchor light as is required of all boats outside of a designated anchorage or indeed any boat anchored and not on a mooring. Sadly, the arrival of the owner also means that there will be no finder's fee though if they haven't done something about the chafe on the anchor rode, "salvage rights" might still come into play! Not that I would wish that on anyone, but a good $60-70,000 would be nice to have. It would certainly easy my financial worries.
The wind was in the 30mph range throughout most of the days and so ABISHAG danced back and forth along her anchor rode though she basically stayed in place. With the onset of the evening, the wind has lessened considerably with only occasional gusts that high. It will make for easier sleeping. When the wind gets above 7mph, it turns the wind generator and it has a particular whine that can be a bit of a deterrent to easily dropping of to sleep. As the wind increases, the whine gets higher in pitch and louder in volume. When it gets much above 25mph or the wind generator control read full battery, it shuts down with a thump! The system somehow reverses the generator so that it feeds against itself and this acts like a brake. Sometimes, in a high wind, it almost sounds like something hit the boat. Of course, you add all that to the heel of the boat and the jerk when it comes up on the end of the rode and well, it can certainly interrupt your gently falling off to sleep. And that doesn't take into consideration the water slapping against the hull, the whine of the wind through the shrouds, the odd halyard slapping, and all sorts of stuff like that. Of course, a large "Dark & Storm Night" - a drink made of rum and ginger beer - goes along way to blotting out all these disturbances. Of Course, one must have the "fixin's" for a "Dark & Stormy!"
Poor Brad, the guy from the other boat I am helping out. He got a ticket for speeding through a "Manatee Zone" in his dinghy on the way to his boat. They are very serious here about protecting the Manatees, with know congregating area reduced speed zones that net you a $90 ticket if you exceed "idle speed" when passing through. The funny thing about the Manatees is that kudzu, boa constrictors and the Brazilian Pepper Tree, they are not native to Florida. They were brought here from somewhere else and they escaped into the wild. But unlike kudzu, boas and the Brazilian Pepper Tree, which Floridians would like to eradicate, the Manatee is protected. It certainly isn't because they're cute I can tell you that, it is just that they have " a good lobby!" I still haven't seen one yet. They are congregating near sources of warm water because the water in the Indian River and other places in this part of Florida is still too cold. I am sure that I will encounter one or more as son as I start moving south again, but until then, I will certainly respect that Manatee Zone signs. Without the finder's fee for the Nauticat, I ain't got the bucks for the fine.
Ah Yes, NOAA at its best. This is taken right off their page and is the forecast for Fort Pierce tonight! Of course, it was proceeded by a day of very stiff winds out of the northwest which didn't allow the temperature to get above 60, or at least not by much. With the wind it seemed like a cold, raw day . . .hardly the stuff of Florida or at least what one would expect in Florida.
I have disappointing news to report . .. . . the owner of the Nauticat 44 showed up today, he and two buddies. The spent about an hour aboard checking things out before leaving again. I was hoping to get a chance to talk with them but I couldn't swing it. I wanted to warn them that the state police will be by some night soon to check on whether or not they are showing an anchor light as is required of all boats outside of a designated anchorage or indeed any boat anchored and not on a mooring. Sadly, the arrival of the owner also means that there will be no finder's fee though if they haven't done something about the chafe on the anchor rode, "salvage rights" might still come into play! Not that I would wish that on anyone, but a good $60-70,000 would be nice to have. It would certainly easy my financial worries.
The wind was in the 30mph range throughout most of the days and so ABISHAG danced back and forth along her anchor rode though she basically stayed in place. With the onset of the evening, the wind has lessened considerably with only occasional gusts that high. It will make for easier sleeping. When the wind gets above 7mph, it turns the wind generator and it has a particular whine that can be a bit of a deterrent to easily dropping of to sleep. As the wind increases, the whine gets higher in pitch and louder in volume. When it gets much above 25mph or the wind generator control read full battery, it shuts down with a thump! The system somehow reverses the generator so that it feeds against itself and this acts like a brake. Sometimes, in a high wind, it almost sounds like something hit the boat. Of course, you add all that to the heel of the boat and the jerk when it comes up on the end of the rode and well, it can certainly interrupt your gently falling off to sleep. And that doesn't take into consideration the water slapping against the hull, the whine of the wind through the shrouds, the odd halyard slapping, and all sorts of stuff like that. Of course, a large "Dark & Storm Night" - a drink made of rum and ginger beer - goes along way to blotting out all these disturbances. Of Course, one must have the "fixin's" for a "Dark & Stormy!"
Poor Brad, the guy from the other boat I am helping out. He got a ticket for speeding through a "Manatee Zone" in his dinghy on the way to his boat. They are very serious here about protecting the Manatees, with know congregating area reduced speed zones that net you a $90 ticket if you exceed "idle speed" when passing through. The funny thing about the Manatees is that kudzu, boa constrictors and the Brazilian Pepper Tree, they are not native to Florida. They were brought here from somewhere else and they escaped into the wild. But unlike kudzu, boas and the Brazilian Pepper Tree, which Floridians would like to eradicate, the Manatee is protected. It certainly isn't because they're cute I can tell you that, it is just that they have " a good lobby!" I still haven't seen one yet. They are congregating near sources of warm water because the water in the Indian River and other places in this part of Florida is still too cold. I am sure that I will encounter one or more as son as I start moving south again, but until then, I will certainly respect that Manatee Zone signs. Without the finder's fee for the Nauticat, I ain't got the bucks for the fine.
