Cruising the Florida Coast

Cruising Again

Now that our time as dirt dwellers was over it was time to get cruising again.  On May 7^th we had a good weather window and were ready to leave dock at Harbourside Marina in Fort Pierce Florida and commence our trip north to Canada. Our next port of entry was to be Fernandia Beach, Florida on the border of Georgia and Florida which was a 260 nautical mile run over 33 hours offshore.  But it wasn’t meant to be.  We were underway at 09:00 and at 13:00 we discovered an oil leak. Ted was able to isolate it to a gasket on one of the head covers.  We monitored the situation and recalculated our cruise plan for the day. Our only option was to go into Port Canaveral and find a marina. While Ted was down checking the engine I observed a rocket launch that had been announced by NASA and the coast guard. It happened so fast that I didn’t even get a chance to grab my camera and take pictures. All I saw was a yellow object heading straight up with a long trail of smoke. At 15:45 the oil leak increased and the oil pressure dropped.

SEATOW to the rescue

Time to call in for assistance. We radioed SeaTow and explained the situation that we were concerned about doing damage to the engine if the oil got too low.  They rendezvoused with us at the entrance of the Canaveral Barge Canal and took us under tow while we shut down our engine.  I was a little busy at the bow getting the tow line in place and watching for traffic to take pictures. Rick the towboat driver brought us under tow into Sunrise Marina but not without a few more marks on our newly paint hull.  Once at dock the staff wanted to move us off the gas docks and back us into a slip. We discussed our strategy and decided that SeaTow would pull the boat and Ted would start the engine to assist with the manoeuvre.   I was at the stern when I heard a shout and then a crash. One of the staff on the stern with me rushed to the fuel pump which got knocked over by one of our ropes which had been left unattended. Luckily no gas leak, no explosion and no damage except for the glass in the front of the pump. As a precaution they took it out of service.  We washed down the boat and waited for engine to cool down before starting the much needed clean-up of our oil spill in the bilge.  Within a few hours the next morning we had the gasket replaced on the head cover, the bilge and engine cleaned and had time to enjoy a Mothers Day breakfast before getting back underway at 11:00. We timed our departure so that we would arrive in Fernandina Beach at daybreak the following day. Once again we called John and Nora aboard SaberTooth to check in with them as our shore contact during our offshore run. We shut down at 19:00 for 20 minutes to check the oil levels on the engine. Winds were light and waves were less than 2 feet so we just drifted in the Atlantic Ocean rather than dropping an anchor. At daybreak we were approaching the entrance of St. Marys River and Fernandina Beach. We dodged the many fishing trawler who were already out shrimping at the entrance of the River.  By 07:45 we were at dock at Florida Petroleum, our cheapest fuel stop along the entire trip. We take on 630 gallons of fuel and a wash down to get rid of the salt spray before walking into town along the picturesque little town on Amelia Island. Back to the boat for dinner with Nora and John we get a chance to catch up with them on their winter experiences cruising in the Bahamas. We had not seen them since leaving Fernandina last November.

Pictures to follow once I have a chance to upload them.