After four days in Purgatory (Sebastian), we’ve now had two days of Heaven. Sunny skies, fair winds, calm seas, and cute little towns to visit. It’s such a pleasure to travel in conditions like this!

We left Cocoa Village at 8 this morning, and we were tied up in New Smyrna Beach in time for lunch.

Both stops featured cute little towns with lots of restaurants, art galleries, and home decor stores.

In retrospect, it’s a shame that Key West is dominated by T-Shirt shops. There are a couple of galleries and decor stores, but they are simply swallowed up in the junk.

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It’s interesting that my fraternity brother Jim Quinn used to work for Cummins Diesel, and he marketed the engine that powers Freedom. It is rock-solid. Other parts may fail, but the Cummins just keeps chugging along.

Also interesting that my friend from third grade – Ted Sikorsky – worked for Bradford-White, the folks who built my water heater (at home and on Freedom.) Another piece of equipment I absolutely count on.

Good work, guys!

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Tomorrow, we’re heading for St. Augustine for two days. I hope to connect with an old business associate of mine: Allison.

Also, surprisingly, my Key West buddies Steve and Jane (the ones who live in Beach Haven) are also going to be in St. Augustine – for 10 days. I expect to get together with them, as well!

After St. Augustine, we are off to Brunswick, GA (Zzzzzzzz) and then Skidaway Island, just below Savannah.

I’m expecting another great travel day tomorrow.

While I enjoy pulling into a marina each afternoon, it doesn’t compare to the feeling I get setting out each day.

I am totally focused on the task ahead – the journey.  Tides, currents, winds and waves.  RPM’s; Speed Over Ground (SOG); engine temperature; gear pressure; and the channel markers, of course.

Every new day brings excitement – with a measure of anxiety, of course. Anything can go wrong.

A journey like mine may seem romantic, but what this journal reveals is that it exposes one to frustrations, and even danger.

Time for truth: when the transmission cooler failed four days ago, it was very dicey.  It was a very blustery day, with 3’ waves and wind gusts to 35 mph: a legitimate gale.  

We’ve been out in conditions like that before.  We weren’t in the ocean; we were in the ICW.  We weren’t trying to go far that day, and we certainly weren’t trying to go fast.  But when the transmission failed, I had no control of the boat.  I tried to make it into the closest marina, but I couldn’t. 

I dropped the anchor, but in 35 knots, it wouldn’t hold. Despite letting out all the anchor rode, we were drifting south, in very shallow water, at risk of running aground, or hitting several docks – outcomes that would have seriously damaged the boat.  

I called TowBoatsUS, of course, but they were an hour away, on another job.  We drifted slowly, the anchor slowing the speed of our drift, somehow missing every pole while bumping off the bottom. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I dumped my last quart of ATF into the transmission and managed to claw my way to deeper (safer) water.  

Then, miraculously, right on time, TowBoatsUS appeared and got me to safety.  Two boats.  I don’t want to exaggerate, but in 35 knot winds, what they did was truly heroic: first, they got a bridle on my bow and towed me out of danger; then they lashed the second boat to my port side and – like a tugboat – muscled me into the marina.  I owe them a lot.

I showed good presence of mind by deploying the anchor: it bought me time.  And my last-minute decision to retrieve the anchor and try to motor out to deeper water turned out to be a good one.

But it could have been much worse.  Much worse.  Not loss of life, certainly.  But serious.

But once again, I have been soooo fortunate,. The TowBoat guys knew I’d need repairs and took me to the right marina. We have a new transmission cooler installed, the seawater is purged from the system, and we’re almost ready to go. (After I pay the tab.)

Interestingly, my Key West friend David Hall just called and said the same thing happened to him: corrosion in the transmission cooler emptied all the ATF overboard.

He also insisted that I NOT go to Titusville, but rather stop in Cocoa Village, which has a lot more charm, including (supposedly) the world’s most amazing hardware store. I’d like to get closer to St. Augustine, but I give up on trying to hold to any schedule!

Anyway, all is well.  Every challenge overcome builds confidence and character.

Today’s a new day.

Some day I’ll write a song called “Stuck in Sebastian.” It won’t be pretty. Kind of a gloomy dirge.

Four nights in this Gastronomic Paradise is about all I can stand. Last night the two good restaurants were both closed…what a concept…let’s both close on Tuesday nights! We walked to Rosie’s – a genuine biker bar. All they could offer me was a turkey club sandwich. Sheesh.

I hope to leave tomorrow. The new transmission cooler is installed, and tomorrow morning we do a final purge to ensure that all (or almost all) of the seawater is out of the transmission. It’s supposed to look red. Right now, it looks like Pepto Bismol.

We’re planning a short leg tomorrow – to Titusville. Another town with little to recommend it, but it’s 60 miles closer to home. It’s a slow leg with many Manatee Zones, which require reduced speed. Then a 100-mile leg to St. Augustine. If we make it that far, then we go another 100 miles to Brunswick GA, and then Skidaway Island, just below Savannah. Out of Florida at last!

Tonight I’m going to order pizza delivery. I expect to be in my usual high spirits tomorrow. I am always happier when we’re underway!

It turns out I didn’t break the transmission. And the problem is unrelated to the broken water pump belt.

The transmission fluid runs through a heat exchanger, where it is cooled by sea water. It turns out that the interface between the automatic transmission fluid and the sea water developed a leak, and any ATM added to the transmission was gradually being pumped overboard. The mechanics here immediately suspected the cause, because they have seen it many times before, and today’s diagnostics confirmed it. New cooler on the way.

As I read back over yesterday’s post, it is clear that I was worn out by the recurring repair issues. Sometimes it’s hard to remember how far you have traveled when roadblocks appear in your path.

Fortunately, it looks like we’ll be able to dispense with this one as we did the others.

Meanwhile, as my classmate JayZee points out, there’s not a lot going on in Sebastian Florida. Breakfast at Mama Meg’s; $5 hamburgers at the Chubby Mullet for lunch; and dinner at Three Finger Louie’s.

NOAA forecasts good weather for the next few days. Too bad we’re stuck at the slip. So it goes.

I am thinking that EVERY mishap on this trip is my fault. It’s very hard to admit that to yourself, but if this is going to be a learning and growth experience, then I have to face facts.

Running aground and snapping the rudder key: clearly my fault. Damaging the prop: clearly my fault. Now the transmission.

Here’s what happened…The blown belt was NOT my fault; these things happen. But in my impatience to get the belt replaced and get underway, I neglected to do my usual pre-trip check. At my next stop, I realized the transmission fluid was very low – possibly vaporized by the overheating. I filled it at my next stop, but I think the damage was done.

Demerits to me for impatience and a lack of discipline – not following best practices. Are you seeing a pattern when I mention impatience?

Good thing I’m not an airplane pilot.

OK. Good. Now I’ve admitted that to myself (and to my readers). Let’s compartmentalize that and move on.

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While I’m waiting for repairs, I thought I might publish a post that I wrote earlier but never published:

The World’s Ugliest Squeaky Toy

When we were visiting Mel and Bonni in Sarasota, Bonni pointed out how much Guinness loved THEIR dog’s squeaky toys, and she guilted me into buying some for Guinness. He does love them.

After he eats, he is always full of energy and wants to play. Unfortunately, I am probably sitting around with a glass of Pinot Grigio and a cigar.

So the squeaky toys provide the play.

Here’s the first one: this possum is inherently ugly (a really good possum replica), but now it is missing one ear and 2-1/2legs. It definitely looks like road kill.

I’m pretty sure the tail will go next.

The possum essentially functions as a throw toy. I toss it into the forward cabin; Guinness propels himself down the companionway steps and retrieves it. I throw it up the dock, and he launches himself off the boat and retrieves it, and the cycle continues.

Once the possum is destroyed, a duck and a snake are waiting in the wings.

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I’ll report more on the transmission issue when I know more.

Well, we didn’t make it to Titusville today. It’s simply too rough, even on the ICW. Wind’s gusting over 35 knots. One of the nastiest days we’ve seen the entire trip.

Plus the transmission started acting erratically. I thought it was foolish to continue, so we pulled into the closest full-service yard. I think it’s related to the blown water pump belt, but we’ll know more once the mechanics het a look at it.

For EVERYONE who is expecting a visit from me in the next couple days or weeks: everything has to be on hold pending this diagnosis. If the tranny is fried, I may be flying or driving home! 🙂

At least we are safe and sound. Drama but no trauma!

We had a good trip yesterday. The waves were better than predicted: just 2 feet. About 5 hours dock-to-dock.

Last night we had dinner with two yacht club friends – Paul and Ro – who live in Stuart in the winter. Stuart is a little off the beaten path – about ten miles up the St. Lucie River, but I’m glad I made the trip; the river is very pretty. And the meal was wonderful. Stuffed shells, meatballs and sausage, all cooked from scratch. Heaven!

We’ve already lost 5-10 degrees in temperature. Our last day in Key West was 82 degrees; today’s high will be 72. And today is gray and stormy-looking. Back to jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

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When we left Key West, several days ago, we were headed almost due east. Then at Key Largo, we turned NE. Now we’ll be traveling more northward.

We needed a good 3-day weather window to get from KW to Stuart, because I wanted to run outside in Hawk Channel, and then in the ocean as we passed Miami and made our way to Stuart. That’s why I was so frustrated waiting for parts in Key Largo…I was wasting good weather days.

To some extent, I am just trying to chew up some mileage during this stretch. This complete northbound route will cover about 1,400 miles, and 660 of it are in Florida and the Keys. Once we get into Georgia and the Carolinas, we’ll be visiting folks and taking longer layovers.

From here north, the ICW will be less crowded, and we can travel in the ICW if we choose to. I’m really happy we made it this far, because – as I feared – the winds are going to pick up the next few days, with waves building to 5-6 feet outside. Nasty. In the ICW, they are predicting just a moderate chop.

Today we head for Titusville. There’s not much there, but it is the next convenient stop. I’m really happy we made it this far, because the winds are going to pick up the next few days, with waves building to 5-6 feet. Nasty. We’ll go inside all the way to minimize the effect of the wind and waves.

Gotta run; the sun is coming up, and it’s time to go.

We got a break on the waves today: mostly 2′ and nothing close to 5′. The only hairy part was around Miami

• dodging cruise ships
• dodging container ships
• dodging small outboard fishing boats who seemed to be anchored directly on our compass course.
• dodging southbound boats steering a reciprocal course. We come at each other at an effective closing speed of about 50 mph

Despite these challenges, we made it in about 5 hours (8AM to 1PM), so we had time to grab some lunch at Coconuts on the Water, wash the boat, and take a walk. I took Guinness over to the beach at 5PM…he’s not allowed on the beach, but I figured the life guards might have gone home by then.

Surprisingly, he didn’t want to swim; he wanted to walk north up A1A, with the beach on our right and the bars on our left. Guinness was correct again: What a Scene!

The beach and the bars were jumping, and I was surprised at the heavy police presence:

• barriers along both sidewalks (presumably so drunks wouldn’t jaywalk)
• at least 40 police cars
• K-9 units
• And 6 horses from the Mounted unit.

I actually asked one of the cops whether this was normal. He said “No, just for Spring Break.” I was so confused, because I’ve been away so long, until I realized: “Hey. Yeah. Mid-March. Holy Cow! Ft Lauderdale at the height of Spring Break! Yowza!”

The horses were arguably the most fun, because I realized that Guinness had never seen a horse before. He knew they weren’t giant dogs, but he wasn’t sure what they were. He barked at them and they just looked at him implacably. The Mounted officers were very nice to him, especially Sarah.

Great fun, and a memorable stop on the way home!

Here’s why the last post was so brief…

While waiting in Marathon for the new water pump belt, I kept calculating and re-calculating my LPD – Last Possible Time for Departure. I had already lost 1 day being towed, and most of another day waiting for the replacement belt to arrive.  I didn’t want to lose another day, because the winds are expected to increase as the week proceeds.  (I lost two fairly calm days getting towed in and waiting for repairs.) I figured I could make it to Key Largo by sunset if I left by 3PM. I didn’t want to arrive after dark.

I FINALLY got underway at 2:45 PM!

Sea conditions were moderate, and the repairs seemed to be working fine: we were making 19 knots and the engine temperature was normal (178 degrees).

The waves abated as the afternoon proceeded, and we made it to Key Largo just as the sun set.  In fact, it grew dark as we finished tying up. WHEW!

We had dinner at a nearby restaurant – outdoors with live music.  The diners looked like a bunch of old hippies, but there were BMW’s and Maserati’s in the lot! I hope I live long enough to outlive every band who keeps playing those tired old 1970’s playlists… Does anybody really need to hear “Black Magic Woman” or “Ramblin Man” one more time? Come on people, they were good songs, but you’ve been listening to the same stuff for 50 Years!

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BTW, in my post last night, I was dictating into my phone, and I forgot to check the spelling…I meant to say that I was “tucking into” a Hogfish sandwich.  (It’s an expression I picked up from my UK travels.)  I will correct the post.

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It’s 6:45 AM now on Friday, and Guinness is bugging me for a walk. He’s very subtle: he just plants a paw in the middle of the keyboard and looks me right in the eye. If I ignore him, he repeats the process and adds a sharp bark.

Today was supposed to be an easy 4-hour trip to Ft Lauderdale, but sea conditions have worsened overnight, and we expect to encounter 5-foot seas off Miami. We’ll just have to take it slow. Time to get moving.

We made it! We rolled into the marina at 6:30 just as the sun was setting. It’s now 7 o’clock, and we’re already tucking into a grilled hog fish sandwich. More details to follow!