April 15, 2019      Aurora has been made ready, with plans for us to cast off on Easter Sunday, destination, hopefully the Exumas, Bahamas.  It will be a new experience for us, although our second attempt.  
For those of you who followed us, we tried in 2013, but were struck by lightning outside of Miami, forcing us to make repairs and turn for Punta Gorda, while six other boats safely made the crossing. 

April 21- Day 1- Home to St. James City anchorage.  Avoided lots of crazy fast "Easter holiday" boaters on the ICW. Sadly, there was a fatality somewhere near Pine Island. 

April 22- Day 2- After a comfortable night's rest, weighed anchor at 7:00 just before sunrise and motored back onto the now quiet ICW, south, and under the Sanibel Bridge around 7:30.  Winds out of the east meant a perfect day for sailing in the Gulf without our engine. We were thankful for a peaceful 4 hour sail into Naples Sailing and Yacht Club.  Friends Steve and Sherry Lane joined us for dinner and great music at Shea's Pub on 5th Ave.  

April 23- Day 3 - Change of plans.  Rather than stay 2 nights in Naples we opted to go the short distance to Marco instead and be a couple of hours closer to Marathon.  Arrived at 10:45 in Marco and spent the day walking, exploring, finding a Coldstone ice cream shop...and you know what!  Day 4 would be long haul to Marathon so retired early. 

April 24 - Day 4 - With light winds predicted for today, and more for tomorrow from the wrong direction, we got up at 5:00, cast off at 6:00, skipped anchoring at Little Shark, and make the 12 hour trip to Marathon in one day, rather than two. 
Question of the day, what would your preference be?  "One 12 hour day, or two 6 hour days?"  










  

Day 17-20    April 28-May 1     St. Augustine

After the overnight here we docked at City Marina, rested, did laundry then rode our bikes to the nearest grocery store, Winn Dixie, stopping too at a roadside market to buy local blueberries.  Later we explored and talked over what else to do as we would be here for a few days because of winds.

 

The next day we were hoping to move to a mooring ball, but with the slips and balls all reserved, instead had to anchor north of the bridge with a few other boats.  It turned out ok, but didn’t put the dinghy down to go into town and hung out on the boat.  That night Dennis did not sleep well, thinking about what we should do about going further north. Our schedule was to over night to Charleston, SC, when weather would permit, probably Tuesday.  Both of us were having second thoughts.  We decided to sleep on it another night, but pretty much agreed, we would be happy to head back south to explore Florida instead. 

 

On Sunday we got onto a mooring and were again able to dinghy to the historic city.  Monday morning we biked 3 miles to the Y, I did yoga, and Dennis weights and elliptical, then 3 miles back to the marina. The Rum distillery and Chocolate Factory tours would fill up our afternoon, but just as we were getting ready to leave the boat, my back spasms started, and kept me aboard.  Dennis went on with a promise to bring me samples, which he did.  I had fixed chili early that morning so we had it for dinner.

 First, let me say that our goal for this trip was to get to Boston and explore New England.  One issue with trying to get to a certain place in a sailboat is that the wind and weather really dictate where, when, and how fast you can cruise.  Captain’s motto since a couple of rough overnights to the Dry Tortugas has been, “We are not leaving a safe port to go out into high wind or weather.”  Trying to decide what would be the right thing we went to our notes from the last trip.  2012 winds most days were 5-10 and calm seas, we spent extra days in Marathon and Ft. Lauderdale, but after those we were able to travel every day unless we chose to stay put. We cruised all the way to New York City without major weather or wind issues except for one storm in Atlantic City.

2018 winds have been 10-15, some 20s-30s, and kept us in port 4 days in Naples, 4 days in Ft. Lauderdale and 4 days in St. Augustine.  There seems to be a pattern here, and although we love being on the boat, to stay in ports will probably keep us from achieving our goal.  In fact the weather since January has been very different in Florida and in most other places, which makes us think at this rate we probably would not make it to New England.

Even if the wind and weather were perfect, another issue we recalled from 2012, were the many 10-12 hour motoring days to get up the coast to New York City, and then the return trip in the heat of the summer.  As we compared notes, dread might be too strong a word, but neither of us were looking forward to those days in July and August. 

All things considered, we decided to relax, head south, and stay in Florida exploring new places or return to places we love.  Best thing, we are not disappointed, but instead very happy with our change of plans.  Maybe instead a car trip to New England and Maine are in our future!

For those of you who have followed us this far, thanks, and sorry to disappoint.  Next year, if possible, we will attempt a trip to the Bahamas, but for now we will probably sign off the Cesaris blogspot, with this our last post. Fair winds till next time!

Nautical Miles:  573 in 21 days

Day 16-17     April 26-27     Overnight Ft. Pierce to St. Augustine

Knowing it would be long 170 miles to St. Augustine we loosed the lines and pushed away from the dock at 7:00 a.m. (Thursday).  With favorable winds and weather plus a desire to get out of Florida sooner than later we decided to do an overnight to Florida’s oldest city.  If it became necessary we could always go in at Port Canaveral, but set our heading towards the further destination. 

So often we have no choice but to motor, but today we had plenty of wind from the west which made for excellent sailing northwest with the engine silenced, and the only sound being the swoosh as Aurora cut through the sapphire water of the Atlantic.  Normally, whether under sail or motoring, we average around 6-7 knots.  So doing the math, 170 miles divided by 6.5 knots is about 26 hours to St. Augustine putting us in around 9:00 a.m. (Friday).  The big question is could we sail the whole way?   It makes for a pleasant day to have the engines off so hopefully we could keep them off at least for a while.

When darkness fell on the water the moon illuminated the way.  Another sailboat, “Salt Shaker,” who had been off to starboard all day called on the radio and found they too were overnighting to St. Augustine, as well as a catamaran, “Shenanegans,” who was in our anchorage last night. We have been amazed at the number of boats we’ve seen on this trip both day and night, compared to very few in 2012. 

Taking turns sleeping for 2 hours is what works the best for us and I took the first watch at the wheel right as the sun went down and Dennis stretched out on our berth below.  And so it went, 2 hours on, then 2 off and the winds stayed 10-12 steady, but the direction starting out NW then N, then NE, then E, then SE, finally S., eventually clocking around a full 360 degrees.  Predicted wind was to have been 10 from the west all night.  Around 3:00 it jumped to  SW 15-20 for a couple of hours.  Now with full sails up it would have been hard to keep the boat upright, but before sunset we decided to reef down the main sail by 1/3, and then reef the head sail as necessary, which really helped with the wind picked up for those couple of hours.  I was grateful it was not during my watch and Captain handled the sails beautifully, keeping the ride comfortable.   We traveled about 8 miles off shore all night with Salt Shaker close by, but when the winds increased they headed in to 2 miles off shore to be more comfortable.

ETA was 9:00 on Friday, and we made the Bridge of Lions at 8:30, it had been a good night, but a long one, and Dennis was ready for a nap.  Sounds like more high winds for the next few days, so will probably be in St. Augustine until Tuesday and then overnight to Charleston, SC.

Nautical Miles:  170  and only used 17 gallons of fuel. Averaged 6.5 knots. Thankful for the wind and safe passage!

Day 15     April 25, 2018     Lake Worth to Ft. Piece

In almost every Florida channel you will find large container and cruise ships transversing accompanied by a pilot boat out ahead, warning of their entrance or exit.  This morning motoring slowly out of the anchorage, seeing the pilot’s flashing lights, but not the ship, Captain slowed Aurora.  AIS describes them as having “limited maneuverability,” i.e.; they’re huge!  When this big girl came creeping around the corner and into view, we were thankful for the pilot’s early morning alert.

Several huge dredgers with long tubes sucking up sand to return back to the eroded beaches were moving parallel to the shore today.  Maybe that’s what need on the Gulf Coast to replenish after storms wash our sandy playground out to sea.

In 2012 we anchored in the Ft. Pierce channel, but unable to purchase fuel there today motored a short way into the Ft. Pierce Marina on the Indian River.  With 237 dockage slips many live aboards on all sizes and shapes of boats call this cruiser-friendly marina home. Walking around downtown and a waterfront market didn’t take long and left us wondering how a mammoth Federal Courthouse came to be there.  Afterwards we wound up back at the marina’s tiki hut using our 20% off coupon for dinner. 

Tomorrow we are planning to do an overnight 170 miles to St. Augustine.  Forgetting to get ice until 8:30 we called and the friendly dock hand quickly agreed to meet Dennis and get us some.  Couldn’t get any better customer service, definitely a 5 star marina!

Nautical Miles: 49.7

Day 14    April 24, 2018     Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Worth 

        

Most bridge openings are on a schedule, while some are on request.  When we came in the Port Everglades inlet on Saturday there were several sizes and shapes of boats on both sides of the bridge waiting patiently for the scheduled 3:30 p.m. opening.   This morning for the 7:00 a.m. it was only Aurora who stopped traffic.  Sure hope she didn’t cause anyone to be a few minutes late to their destination.  She was into the Atlantic early to avoid the predicted rainstorms in the afternoon, with sails up for a short time, then motoring 3 miles off shore avoiding any wave action for the rest of the trip.

 

It was a clear, calm day and arrived to the Lake Worth inlet around 1:00.  What wasn’t calm were the currents where we anchored, and after noticing every boat in the anchorage had their bow facing a different direction decided we were too close for comfort and went a few yards farther into the anchorage.

As predicted the storms came rolling through in the evening cleaning the sea salt off Aurora’s topside, but thankfully didn’t produce any significant lightening.  Even with the shift in current overnight our anchor held us in place for another comfortable night’s rest.

Nautical Miles:  45

Day 12-13     April 22-23    Las Olas Marina, Ft. Lauderdale

There are much worse things than being forced to spend two extra days in Ft. Lauderdale on a boat.  From a cruiser’s perspective it’s probably the best place to be weathered in.  It’s where Dennis repaired Aurora in 2013, after we were struck by lightning in Miami, finding every possible resource at our fingertips plus the largest West Marine in the world. 

Two days in between the rain showers to do laundry, to walk the boardwalk, to clean the boat, and to take a memorable trolley ride!  Our destination was a trolley stop 7 blocks from West Marine, another stop on the way back at Publix, and be returned to the original trolley stop one block from the Marina.  Sounded simple enough.  Right?  After accomplishing two of three, we hopped the trolley at the same stop where 1st one dropped us expecting to return to our point of entry.  All I can say we should have saved our six bucks from the all day pass, and ridden our bikes.  We did have a nice tour of Las Olas Blvd., got off the trolley after realizing it was going the wrong direction, waited for the next one that never came, then wound up walking back to the marina, our backpacks still heavily laden with Publix goods.  Thank goodness for Map Quest and phones to point the way to home.

Nautical Miles: 0  Walking miles: 5

Day 11     April 21, 2018     Rodriguez Key to Ft. Lauderdale, Las Olas Marina

Our custom mattress from Bedmasters in Port Charlotte makes for an awesome night’s rest, and occasionally can even lull us into sleeping in until 7:00.  This was not a morning to lounge, and were up at 5:00 checking the wind and weather forecasts.  Aurora’s cruising speed is around 6 to 6 ½ knots, making Ft. Lauderdale, 71 nautical miles away, a long haul from Rodriguez.  We had plan B, if the weather became a factor, we’d be stopping at No Name Harbor in Miami instead.  Rodriguez Key is an easy in and out wide open anchorage, so leaving at 6:15 without much light was not a problem.  Thus it being an anchorage many use to leave from on their Bahamas crossing.

Wind can be your friend or foe.  East/Northeast at 8-10 it was definitely on our side today.  Our Genoa, the head sail, was unfurled the whole distance helping Aurora average 7.77 knots.  No Name Harbor came into view around 11:30, and the weather although overcast, stayed clear of storms, so we passed it, cleared Government Cut, Miami by 12:30, entering the way point for Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale. Our entrance into the channel was smooth, making the 3:30 opening of the 17^th Street Bridge, took on fuel at the City Marina and were docked at Las Olas Marina by 4:00.   This marina is a block from the Ft. Lauderdale Beach, so of course we headed there first to walk and then eat.

Today there were a couple of interesting boats along the way. First was a huge cargo ship, 0.182 nm. long and 148 ft beam, 39 ft. draft, employed by the Maersk Line.  It came out of the Government Cut loaded to the top with containers, making it several stories high and passed a quarter a mile in front of Aurora.  Second boat, the T/S Gunilla, a three masted tall ship, 164 ft. long, 26 ft. beam, was built in 1941 in Sweden, destination Charleston. It is listed as a training ship and appeared to have many young people aboard, although not sure for what kind of training.

   

Nautical Miles:  71.7