"AND I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A LONG, LONG TIME 'TIL TOUCHDOWN BRINGS ME 'ROUND AGAIN TO FIND…"

Day 15

There are a few things I suspect may happen on this trip. Steve's probably gonna fall (jump) off. 

Steve's favorite perch

I'm gonna screw up a dockage in front of a gaggle of onlookers. My anchor's gonna drag in the middle of the night. I'm gonna drop my phone in the water. Steve's importation papers are going to be scrutinized. A storm is going to catch me with my sails up. I'm going to run aground. I'm going to have to sit and wait for my weather window before crossing the stream. And I suspect I'm probably going to drink some rum when I get to the islands.

What I DON'T expect to happen is that I'll get up one morning and bust it out of the Titusville Marina to get a jump on the "Magenta Line," only to find the NASA Causeway bridge is closed 'til 3 pm due to the Rocket Man Triathlon. OMFG! I made large progress the day before and now I have to sit here until there are only 3 hours of daylight left? The USCG made a point to broadcast the closure all day long, but apparently it didn't occur to them that broadcasting it the day before the event might have been the better call. Really bummed. And I'm not the only one…the bridge-tender gets an ear-full from some of the fleet.

When the gates open, it's like the starting line in a regatta. 20+ boats take off in a mad dash to make the most of the time left in the day. They smoke me…but one by one they peel off and I continue on into the night…finding an anchorage in Palm Shores.

Rocket Man Regatta

"YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY..."

Day 16

Early start

Up at 5, running by 6. Quick pit-stop to take Steve ashore and we're rolling with a 15kt wind out of the east. The boat is heeling like crazy but we're not going that fast. She's overpowered…the wind has kicked up a notch…it's now blowing 18 - 23. I pull over to reef the main sail. Much better now…faster and without all of the stress. 

I think Vero Beach may be the locale for all magazine cover shots of waterfront property. Unbelievably nice homes ….not gaudy, not terribly ostentatious…and really tastefully done. 

The water turned teal blue today….right about the time I hit Fort Pierce.  Not a lot of Forts you can brag about (Macon, Worth, Lauderdale, Wayne, Collins), but this place (at least from the ICW) looks pretty inviting. Perhaps the fact that it's a beautiful day had something to do with it. Steve's been doing laps non-stop around the boat looking for dolphins and manatees. He's soaking wet from the sea-spray…and he doesn't care. He's happy…and he doesn't even know it's his birthday. # 5

He's beat by the end of the day, but the wind has increased and I missed my planned anchorage because I misread the ICW guidebook. I think about turning back (1 mile) but those miles are hard earned and I decide to just pull over to a 7-foot deep area and drop the hook. Birthday or no birthday…he's gotta hold it 'til tomorrow. Just as I'm lowering the anchor the rains come. Sheets of driving rain and whistling wind. I hate rain…always have…but this wash down is welcome because the boat is salt-laden from today's 12-hour run. 

We're in St. Lucie.

BRIDGE OF SIGHS

Day 17

Last night was the first night I haven't slept well. The anchor chain was twisting and the boat bounced in the chop all night. I beat my alarm…it's 5. I take my time squaring the boat, checking the oil, securing the dink and fixing a nasty cup of instant coffee. As we set off I notice how quickly it warms up. No waiting 'til 10 or 11 a.m….as soon as the sun's up it warms up. I pass an ideal spot to drop Steve off for his business. Funny... any deceleration of the engine and he looks straight at me as if to say: "We're stopping, right!?!"  I first noticed this when I'd kill the engine while sailing or slow down for a bridge….he's tuned in. But no, we're not stopping…I'll find something better. And in no time flat, I do. Occasionally, developers will build a nice dock on an undeveloped lot so as to entice the potential buyers with the real life image of life on the water. These docks are perfect for nestling up to while Steve jumps and dumps. Happy Birthday, Steve…a day late.

We're off to a great start. South Jupiter Island is mind-boggling gorgeous. The ICW homes are more like small plantations and it seems they all have beaches. Yes, beaches. White sand beach areas with bent palms for shade right at the water's edge. It's something.

West Palm Beach is opulent in its own right…but more along the lines of "big" vs."bigger." Yes, there are some incredible homes with 80' yachts parked out front…but it's as if they have no pulse. They don't emote any sense of joy or memory making, rather they just seem to signify wealth and competition…and even on this sunny day they look lifeless.

Saweeeet!

Channel 9 is the VHF channel for hailing the bridge tender in Florida… I should know. I've been through a bunch of 'em over the last 3 states…mostly "on demand," meaning: You call 'em, they open for you. Well you can kiss that goodbye in West Palm. Get through a bridge that opens on the bottom of the hour….go around the bend and there's another one that opens at the top of the hour….go a little further and it opens at 15 'til and 15 past. Get to one 3 minutes late…tough shit….sail tight circles for 30 minutes and race to catch the next one. Get to one on time…it opens 3 minutes late. Get the name of the bridge wrong and you'll get a curt reply. Get too close and they'll ask you to back up…lag too far behind and they'll ask you to push it. I must have wasted 2-3 hours waiting on bridges today.  I read about this…how the cruisers would go "outside" for an ocean run just to avoid the nerve-racking consternation of these damn bridges around Palm, Lauderdale and Miami….but I'm stuck because it's blowing a gale outside with small-craft advisories in effect. That means more bridges tomorrow. Sigh.

Bridges!!!

Day 18

I take back what I said about the bridges in West Palm…they're nothing compared to Pompano, Lauderdale and Hollywood. There was one span (pun) today that included 4 bridges in 6 miles. My boat can't fight a 4 knot current and make the intervals between the bridges…it's just too slow and the bridge tenders have no mercy. Miss-timed a bridge so badly that I anchored for 30 minutes…missed another where I had time to pull over to a dock and let Steve run…had another where I came 10' from running into the mangroves because I zoned out reading the waterway guide. I get lucky occasionally when a large vessel is oncoming and everyone let's him through (because he has current at his back, which is more difficult to manage in slow maneuvering situations) … this gives me time to catch up. 

Some pretty damn impressive real estate 'round these parts. But I pass some of them and ask "Why?" Here you've built this magnificent home on a canal peninsula …encompassing the entire point with lush landscape, pool, yacht dock, outdoor dining, poolside bar with a quarter-acre flat screen TV….and look at your view. You're staring at a line of high-rise condos less than 100 yards away. I don't get it. 

And boats….well if you're gonna talk boats you're gonna talk Lauderdale. A 200' yacht is impressive…anywhere but here. Gotta be a whole lotta compensation at play to own one of these monsters…and there are hundreds of them.  

I made it to south Hollywood….gonna try to hit Biscayne tomorrow and make the leap from there on Friday if the window is open. The weather service says if you don't go Friday…you're not going 'til after Thanksgiving because there's a front dropping down bringing north winds. We'll see. It's still howling now…in fact, I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this boat slip tomorrow morning with a 15-20 kt wind jamming my stern back into the slip. 

Can't help but think that I'd be in Biscayne right now were it not for that triathlon bridge closure in Titusville.  Bridges….pfffttttt.