30-Jun to 04-Jul: Up to Edisto, SC

Chased by Weather

The weather forecast was still unsettled when we awoke on Thursday, 30-Jun, but it looked good enough to make the run north to Edisto.  But first we stopped at the Harbor Town fuel dock to take on 500 gallons of diesel.  By the time we got that done and got underway it was 1000.  We plowed the first 10 miles or so on the inside behind Hilton Head Island, then exited to the Atlantic through Port Royal Sound. 

Approaching Edisto Island

Seas were tame at around 2 to 3 feet with light winds out of the southeast, and we were pleased with our new autopilot settings – cranking up the counter-rudder settings on the Simrad made a significant different in Ghost Rider’s tracking with following seas and currents.  The weather cooperated initially, but by mid-afternoon the TRWs started popping over the mainland to our southwest and started moving our way.  Tracking their movement via radar and our XM weather satellite display told us they’d likely catch us before we got to Edisto….so we bumped up the throttle and took some distance off the route by shortcutting a few turn points into shallower water, but still deep enough for our 6 foot draft.  We endured a light shower as we negotiated the final few miles of the Edisto River and St. Pierre Creek, but managed to avoid the really nasty stuff.

Docked Up -- in the Marshes According
to the Furuno Chartplotter

We had bypassed the Edisto Island Marina – they told us they were full up for the next 2 months – and threaded our way about 5 miles up river to Paul & D.D.’s place….we are pretty sure the locals don’t typically see Nordhavns motoring or docking up in this area, but thankfully the depths (if you know what side of the river to cheat towards) are excellent, especially at high tide (7+ feet this time of year.)  The charts aren’t particularly accurate up this way, either….it’s strictly a visual approach.  But we had plenty of water and room to tie up at Paul’s place. 

Paul's & DD's Place in Edisto, SC

Once again we experienced amazing hospitality from our friends....Paul & DD's place is remote but absolutely huge and quite luxurious.  Chelle and I had an entire upstairs suite to ourselves, and the food and drink was reminiscent of a 5 star resort.  A couple of days after we arrived we were also joined by our good friends from Atlanta -- Dale, Cal and Kara -- and we had a fantastic reunion....while also eating and drinking way too much.

Ghost Rider Docked at Paul's
Place in Edisto, SC, at High Tide

Paul took us on a tour of the local rivers and low country in his 20 foot skiff, and from what we saw of the nearby ICW, we were easily convinced that the best route to Charleston is definitely on the outside. But this area is both peaceful and beautiful, with plenty of wildlife, including lots of dolphins and acrobatic sturgeon.

More pics of the journey and local area are below.

We'll likely stay here a couple more days -- or until they kick us out -- and then make the short one day hop up to Charleston, where we'll likely hang out for a week or so.  

Our Track from Hilton Head to Edisto

Our Path Up River to Paul's Place

Edisto Marina...About 5 Miles Down River

Big Bay Creek Behind Edisto Island

Pretty Odd to See a Nordy Docked Up Here

Another Shot at High Tide 

Ditto

And at Low Tide

Michelle and Paul on the Skiff

Social Time on the Dock

And More of That

Never Forget

27-Jun to 29-Jun: Overnight Run To Hilton Head

Hotel Alcazar Original Pool

We had a fun time yesterday (Sunday) during our 1-day weather delay; we went into old St. Augustine and did the tourista thing with Kathy – eating lunch at the historic Hotel Alcazar building (once home of the world’s largest indoor swimming pool, which now hosts the Café Alcazar restaurant and the Lightner Museum.)  We also did a lot of walking in the historic Lincolnville District, or put another way, Rick got conned into a geo-caching exercise with Kathy and Michelle.

From Pool to Restaurant

We slept late the next day, made final departure preparations and tossed off the lines around 1345 on Monday 27-Jun.  The exit via the St. Augustine inlet was straightforward and uneventful thanks to a high tide and very benign conditions on the outside…although it’s notable that charts do not depict the channel markers, as they get moved around a lot to accommodate the constant shoaling there.  In good visibility (daylight) it's fine, but otherwise the interval and size of the markers would be challenging to pick up. The channel also extends to nearly 2NM offshore before you can be sure you’re in deep enough water to make the turn north.

Harbor Town Lighthouse from the FB

Winds were light from the northeast, with seas running around 3 feet, but with comfortable intervals, initially around 8 seconds, then later in the day down to 4 seconds – it was similar to a smooth rocking chair ride.  Sky conditions were mostly “severe clear” – some widely scattered high cirrus clouds in the distance, with the radar and XM weather screens clear of precipitation along our track.  We ran sans generator but with an ambient temperature of 85F during the day, and around 80F after sunset, with the sea breeze we remained comfy underway.

Harbor Town Marina from the FB

As darkness fell Rick took the first night watch, manning the helm until 0200 (Tuesday), with continued good weather and sea conditions.  Moonrise wasn’t until 0145, so it was IMC for a good part of the night.  Chelle assumed the watch from 0230 to 0700, and then Rick took it from there into Hilton Head.  We approached from the east through the Savannah entry channel and then veered off to the north to enter Calibogue Sound, and while that area is subject to frequent shoaling and some interesting cross-currents, we maintained adequate depth and steerage throughout the approach (with some local advice), arriving Harbor Town Marina shortly after 1100, making for just under 22 hours of sortie time.

View of Ghost Rider from the Harbor
Town Lighthouse / Museum

 Then it was bath time – both for the boat and ourselves – followed by an afternoon of the usual boat chores and casual distractions.  We also hung out here again on Wednesday 29-Jun to explore the local area, and lunched on fresh grouper and shrimp before the TRWs moved in.

Exactly when we depart for Edisto will depend on when we can find a suitable weather window, and right now we're sandwiched between a nearby cold front and an upper level trough (which are occasionally triggering some severe cells) -- and the so-called experts can't seem to discern where they're going or when.  In cases like this it's best to wait until the next morning to see what's cooking out there.

26-Jun: Weather Delay

Lousy Weather with More Coming

Well crap.  We awoke this morning surrounded by TRWs with more building on our planned route.  Apparently that cold front has more teeth than the forecasters originally thought.  So we’re staying here in St. Augustine another day.

We'll just relax today and head into town to enjoy the local area. There are worst places to be delayed...St. Augustine is the oldest established settlement in the U.S. and has plenty of history, entertainment and eateries to keep one enjoyably occupied.

20-Jun to 25-Jun: Palm Beach to St. Augustine

On Monday 20-Jun we tossed off the lines and finally boogied out of Palm Beach, taking the “inside” route up the ICW, heading north once again in the general direction of St. Augustine, with interim layovers planned at Fort Pierce, Cape Canaveral and Ponce de Leon.  We had to deal with quite a few bridges on this initial leg, but nonetheless still made reasonably good time, arriving at Fort Pierce City Marina by 1530 after a 0900 departure from Old Port Cove.

Along the AICW

Negotiating the ICW in this part of Florida entails a lot of “hand flying” – you can’t just punch the auto-heading or nav function on the autopilot and hope to keep it between the beacons for very long….so it isn’t as relaxing as running on the outside.  Still, we got some good fly bridge time, and the few inlets that we got a look at as we passed them made it obvious that the inside route was the right move – the winds were cranking out the ENE @ 20K+ and the Atlantic was boiling at 7 to 9 feet.  While the boat can punch into those head seas with no problem, it isn’t comfortable for its occupants.  Likewise, running any of those inlets (in either direction) would have been dicey at best.

Fort Pierce City Marina

The boat ran well the entire leg, with just one burp from the port side stabilizer fin (cleared up on its own).  Entry to the Fort Pierce City Marina was uneventful in spite of the winds and a frisky current.  The marina is very nice, and the adjacent downtown area looks very appealing….we’ll need to spend more time here at some point in the future, perhaps on the return trip.  The new floating concrete docks that were added are superb, and although there had been reports of the new GCFI system causing breaker trips, we had no issues, even at the dock’s relatively low 110/220V output.  And their Wi-Fi signal was excellent.



Merritt Island Anchorage

We departed Fort Pierce on Tuesday 21-Jun but not until around 1000.  Since our plan was to spend the next night at anchor, we weren’t in any rush.  The breeze was still fairly stiff out of the northeast at around 13K, but certainly better than yesterday.  Seas were forecast at 4 to 6 feet, but we stuck with our plan for going up the inside.  It was a pleasant day with highs in the low to mid 80’s and relatively low humidity (58%) for Florida, so we spend the entire day on the fly bridge.

With a following current much of the way we made good time running between 7 and 8 knots, and dropped the anchor around 1730 just east of the ICW a few miles south of Cape Canaveral near Merritt Island.  It was well protected from the easterly wind and we had a relaxing night hanging on the hook.  Apart from still finicky air handlers (that eventually start working) from what we can tell, nothing else on the boat broke today.  Hoorah.

Canaveral in the Distance

On Wednesday 22-Jun we picked up the hook shortly after 0930 and continued motoring north towards our next planned anchorage In the Ponce Inlet area.  The ICW has a lot of twists and turns in this general area, but not too many bridges, and we managed to keep it between the beacons.  The water quality, though, was turbid, especially so in Mosquito Lagoon – the winds were kicking up a lot of bottom silt and it looked more like chocolate milk than sea water.

Once we got to the Ponce Inlet area we were challenged to find a usable anchorage….all options were either already full-up or not nearly deep or wide enough for our comfort zone.  We ended up continuing north for another two hours into the Daytona area only to find the same situation.  It was nearing 2000 hours and sunset, and we weren’t crazy about the idea of continuing towards St. Augustine in the dark in such narrow and skinny waterways.  So we launched a “Hail Mary” phone call to the after-hours number for Halifax Harbor Marina – and sure enough, they answered, gave us a great slip on the end of a floating concrete t-dock, and we got tucked in for the night just as the sun set.

The next morning (Thu, 23-Jun) we continued the trek north to St. Augustine.  Winds were calm, the ICW was absolutely glass smooth, and we were wishing for an inlet to get us back outside in the big water where Ghost Rider belongs.  Alas, there is no such option in this area, so we stayed with the inside route plan.  We negotiated openings with a few bridges along the way with no significant delays, but we were bucking currents occasionally – I think we got passed by a manatee and a sea turtle at one point.  

View of Conch House
Marina from Our Fly Bridge

However, as we neared the St. Augustine vicinity the current reversed sharply, and we had over a couple of knots on the tail.  Even with that helping push we just missed the Bridge of Lions opening at 1630 by 5 minutes and had to wait nearly another hour for the next one.  A cigar and some Brad Paisley music helped pass the loitering time. Nonetheless, we arrived without incident at Conch House Marina in St. Augustine and were docked up around 1800 hours.  It was low tide with a decent remnant current, and it was a bit of a squeeze in a tight fairway, but we pulled it off without bouncing off of anything.



We finished the day with an enjoyable visit from Kathy Clark, who along with hubby Bradley Rosenberg are here aboard their Nordhavn 72, Shear Madness.  Although Bradley was back home in Naples taking care of some family business, it was still good to meet up with more of the Nordy community and learn from them.



Shear Madness, a Gorgeous Nordhavn 72, Also
Moored at Conch House Marina

Friday the 24^th was a fairly lazy day, a combination of taking some down time – bits of administrative stuff, plus Chelle and Kathy played golf – and catching up on some routine scheduled boat maintenance.  That included topping off the fresh water tank, replacing a faulty gauge on the electrical panel, playing with the inverter and battery monitor settings (still a work in progress), resetting some of the A/C air handlers to factory specs (hoping that addresses some of our intermittent cooling issues), and a few other minor things.  Apart from the stock market panic over the Brexit silliness, all in all it was a good day.

Kathy & Chelle, with Shear Madness
in the Background

 On Saturday (25-Jun) we enjoyed hosting another visitor, this time John Stanton, who classifies himself as a “Nordhavn Dreamer”, and drove from Gainesville to St. Augustine for a look at a N47, but mostly to glean some experiences from former-dreamers-turned-owners.  We had a good 3-hour discussion on the pros, cons and some “gotchas” to watch for, and we hope it was helpful for him in his upcoming pursuit of his own Nordhavn 47.  Chelle and Kathy also got in another round of golf - they must really like that game, the heat index was 102F here today!  To complete our final full day in St. Augustine we then had the pleasure of Kathy’s company for dinner.  If you ever visit here, check out the Blackfly restaurant (http://www.blackflytherestaurant.com/) - acoustics are lacking, but the food is really good.

 

Tomorrow we plan to depart St. Augustine and make an overnight run up to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina to hang out there for a couple of days before continuing on to Edisto Island to meet up with some friends.  The enroute weather forecast is reasonably good, with only a fairly weak cold front and some scattered showers to deal with along the way.

Mid-June: Service Wrap-Up and Sea Trial



Stripped Bottom After Soda Blasting...Down
to the Gelcoat

We finally got all the players and parts aligned for the bottom painting over the past weekend / week….the soda blasting wrapped up after two days, then the layers of new paint started going on the hull – we went with two coats of barrier epoxy (Pettit Protect 4700), and then 2 coats of Pettit ablative (Hydro Eco), observing the dry / apply windows per the experts.  In other words, that all took 5+ days.  And we opportunistically decided to renew all the sacrificial (zinc) anodes while we were on the hard.


First Coat of Barrier Paint (Grey)...Second
Coat Was White

But while that was going on we kept working on the other punch list items (in spite of the heat…air conditioning doesn’t work when the boat is out of the water.  Geez, it was hot.)  That included upgrading some of our faucets, as well as replacing the Racor water sensor gauge which suddenly was glowing red, theoretically indicating there was water in the fuel at the bottom of the supply tank.  (Our fuel system design makes it easy to verify that – and there was no H2O in there.)

Getting Ready to Splash

One of the good things about being laid up in the boat yard is that we ran into our friend and mentor Captain Bernie Francis, who was there helping the new owner of a Nordhavn 78 learn his new boat (Ammonite) and also getting some repairs done there.  It was good to see Bernie again, and also meet another new Nordy owner, Kaj Liljebladh, who hails from Sweden.

We finally splashed the boat on Thursday (16-Jun) around noon (video here) and ran some sea trials enroute from the Cracker Boy yard to Old Port Cove Marina to verify all service work done to date.  Along the way we ran aground – twice – in the middle of the channel; it was low tide and stiff west winds were blowing water out, so that made for some skinny water in that northern part of Lake Worth.  The bottom was very soft sand, so we managed to wiggle loose each time with a hefty dose of backing down and some thruster pivots.  Not a good way to treat your new bottom paint.  To top it off along the way we also lost functionality in the starboard stabilizer fin.  Let’s say we’ve had better days.  But at least Ghost Rider also got a much needed bath after we docked up at Old Port Cove….being on jacks in a boat yard for 2 weeks results in an extremely dirty vessel.

Rebuilt Stuffing Box on the Wing Engine...
Who Would Have Guessed Such a Small
Thing Could Cause Such Grief?

It took an extra day to fine-tune the stuffing box adjustments on the wing engine – but we got good water flow and have conquered the shaft overheating issue (at last.)   And then we required yet another day to fix the stabilizer issue (new solenoid & potentiometer.)

Today is Father’s Day, and forecast to be another stormy day here in south Florida, so we’ve declared it a day of rest and pre-departure preps.  And watching the U.S. Open.  We’ve got a decent weather window starting tomorrow – well, at least in terms of reduced thunderstorm activity….the winds will be cranking offshore with seas at 7 to 9 feet, so we’re going to slog up the inside route via the ICW for a few days. 

Regardless, it will be good to get moving again.

Early June: Service & a Side Trip

The day after we arrived at Old Port Cove in Palm Beach, Rick changed the oil & oil filters on both the main engine and the generator as a part of our routine maintenance regimen (250 and 200 hour intervals respectively); that’s pretty straightforward stuff given the convenience of the Reverso oil drain pump, but between the two diesels they consumed 28 quarts of fresh 15W-40 engine oil.

Tivoli Looking Good @ OPC

The evening before we left Palm Beach for St. Louis we hooked up with Clayton and Deanna, owners of N50 Tivoli, who were docked next to us at OPC.  They were just wrapping up their own Yacht Tech punch list, and headed north towards Maine for the summer.  As always it was fun to meet other Nordy owners and learn from their experiences.

Danielle Wake Surfing Behind
Their Tige Boat

Nick Wake Surfing at Lake
 of the Ozarks

Our side trip to St. Louis was fabulous…a little golf and a lot of family time, including a weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks with Nick, Danielle & our three grand kids, all with excellent weather.  It actually felt a little odd taking a spin in a boat that could reach 40 MPH, and it was a blast watching them wake-surfing.  It was even more fun watching Danielle surfing with 4-year-old Grace tucked in between her legs.  (EDIT: here's a YouTube video link of that.)


But while we were away from Ghost Rider, and now having returned to Palm Beach, we’ve also been getting a lot of work done on the boat courtesy of James Knight’s gang at Yacht Tech.  We have a lengthy punch list, including:

·        R&R the wing engine’s stuffing box…after 8 months of mucking around with multiple adjustments in a vain effort to cool it down, in the end the boat had to be hauled out and the wing shaft pulled, engine lifted, followed by modification and repacking of the stuffing box.

·        Re-wire the engine room intake fans to the battery bus bar (vs. a single battery) and install a new inline 24V converter.

·        Repair / rewire the LinkPro battery monitor gauge & reconfigure for our 24V system.

·        Replace the raw water pump on the generator; it had an intermittent leak at the rear seal; it also turned out the impeller was starting to come apart, too, and we were careful to retrieve the missing chunks from the heat exchanger.

·        The slow transmission oil leak at the base of the dipstick turned out to be a worn out crush washer which was replaced.

·        We also decided to address some minor plumbing issues with the fresh water system (low pressure at a couple of faucets – replacing with new assemblies.)


·        Strip & repaint the bottom….the latest ablative coat was simply not adhering to the previous coats of bottom paint (see pics); bottom line (I suppose that’s a pun) is that bottom paint is a consumable that needs to be periodically replenished; the soda blasting, however, is an expensive procedure & hopefully never needed again.

Peeling Bottom Paint

Most of these items are getting knocked out efficiently, but as I write this the boat is still up on jacks in the boatyard for all the bottom paint work that needs to be done; getting all the players and supplies coordinated for that has been like herding cats.  Plus the weather is not cooperating – all this rainfall is not conducive to quality outdoor painting.  We are guessing at approximately a week’s delay as a result.  Even that may be optimistic, but a revised departure date of 18-Jun is the current plan.

Bagging the Bottom to Prep for
the Soda Blasting

The good news is that our great friends Bernie and Sylvia are located nearby in Jupiter, and have given us a place to crash as well as a car (a Jaguar, not bad for a free rental, eh?)  Their hospitality has been and remains amazing….although we may accidentally found out how long they can tolerate us.

In the interim I’m contemplating an addition to my “bucket list”….while we’ve made good progress with acquiring the right vessel and pursuing the desired adventures, am wondering if operating that vessel for at least a period of time without an open punch list might also be achievable.  Once in a while you have to howl at the moon and tilt at a windmill, right?

A More Interactive Tracking Map?

Ghost Rider's Track Summary
from 09-May to 26-May, 2016

While enjoying some family and "down time" in St. Louis, I started playing with the concept of a more interactive tracking map.  By downloading a KML format of our Spot track, and then uploading to Google's "My Maps", I came up with something that might be useful for summarizing our tracks over certain periods of time.

Click HERE for Ghost Rider's track summary from 09-May through 26-May, 2016.

You can click on any track point on the resulting map to see a date & time stamp associated with each position.

May 30th: Memorial Day

Here in the U.S. today is a special day where 

Lt. Dan, Our Lead Ghost Rider, is Still Out In
Front And On The Point

we remember and honor those who gave their lives serving our country in the armed forces.  Practically speaking, for obvious reasons, every day is a day of remembrance for our family.  But we are always heartened by the special sentiments we receive on this day from so many others expressing their sincere gratitude.  Our thanks go out to all of them.  Likewise our gratitude and thanks go out to all the Gold Star families - we will never forget. It's the very spirit of Ghost Rider.

May 22nd – 26th: Key West to Palm Beach

We departed Key West on Sunday the 22nd around 1030 (after pancakes for breakfast!) and started the journey towards the east coast.  Today’s destination was Marathon (again), a short run of around 40 nautical miles.  We had perfect weather – sunny, warm, and humid, with a light breeze out of the west and flat water running up Hawk Channel inside the reef.  Since both stone crabs and lobsters are currently out of season, the number of trap pots to dodge was as close to zero as it gets in the Keys. And once again we had several large sea turtle sighting and bottlenose dolphins in the bow wave off and on during this leg.  If you're curious as to why the dolphins do what they do, so was I and found this helpful article online: Bow-Riding-Marine-Mammals.

Placard Details How to Position Fuel
Valves for Consumption Test

 With the boat was humming along nicely with no major chores demanding attention, we spent some time doing a fuel consumption test while enroute. On an expedition boat such as Ghost Rider one doesn’t rely on fuel/fuel flow gauges for either measuring fuel on board or fuel burn rates.  Instead it is done with fuel tank sight gauges.  And while our Murphy PowerView digital display provides very accurate gallons-per-hour fuel flow data in real time (via the engine’s ECU), it does not also measure what the generator is consuming.  The only reliable method of obtaining actual total burn rate is to time the actual fuel burn in tenths of gallons measured on the supply tank’s sight gauge.

Supply Tank Sight Gauge
With Graduated Scale

Over a 30 minute period we measured a burn of 1.55 gallons at 1635 RPM making 7.0 knots SOG.  That extrapolates to an hourly burn of 3.1 gallons per hour.  For comparison, the Murphy PowerView display was reporting a main engine burn rate of 2.7 gallons per hour.  That meant that the genset was drinking 0.4 gallons per hour.  Extrapolating those numbers, theoretically at least, with a full load of diesel fuel (1470 gallons) we could cover 3,319 nautical miles.  With a 10% reserve that gets reduced to 2,987 miles.

To be fair (and realistic) this consumption test was performed in absolutely ideal conditions – wind and current on the tail, flat seas, and only a moderately loaded genset (air conditioning was cranked up, but no water heater, water maker or other 240V appliances running.)  We obviously need to repeat the test in sloppy weather / seas to get more real-world planning numbers, as well as with and without the genset running.

Approaching Seven Mile Bridge (Again)

We pulled into Marathon Marina around 1545, but then got surprised by a current absolutely ripping along the outer fairway where our assigned slip was located.  I saw 1700 RPM on the tach by the time I was able to get the boat moving into the current – at maybe a half knot.  With barely a boat length of width between those western docks and the shallows, I decided the situation was too adverse for a safe docking maneuver.  So I backed out to the main channel and Chelle checked the nearest current station (Mosher Channel), which was calling for 2 knots – but we were hitting much more than that.

The pin marker is where we were supposed to dock...note
the shallows to the left / west.

As Falstaff says in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, “The better part of Valour is Discretion.”  Or in fighter pilot jargon, “extend and live to fight another day.”  So basically we got the hell out of there and dropped the hook out in the open water next to Boot Key.  Had we been able to get a slip on the (protected) east side of that dock we likely would have been more protected from the current, but that wasn’t an option with all the construction going on at the marina.  We enjoy being at anchor, but the generator use that entails means we’re going to be bumping up against its next oil change interval sooner than desired.

A Load of Trash Line Retrieved from the Bottom

On Monday the 23rd we pulled up the hook just before 1000 and began the day’s run (sans generator) towards Tavernier to the ENE.  As we pulled the anchor up we noticed it had fouled on a lengthy piece of 3/8” line, nearly pulling the anchor back into the hull as it came tight – with a little reverse maneuvering Chelle gained us some slack.  Once we got it untangled we spent a little time retrieving the entire length of the trash line to hopefully spare someone else that same fate in the future.  (It did not appear to be attached to anything, or if it was we yanked it loose.  And it had a nasty odor, thus the plastic garbage bag you see in the picture.)

Seas were forecast at 2 feet or less and the winds were light with a high overcast providing some relief from the sun.  So rather than running in close via Hawk Channel we first took a southeast heading and went outside the reef into 300+ feet of water and trolled two lines off the stern of Ghost Rider fishing for some mahi.  Radio chatter among the local fishing boats didn’t sound too promising – in water from 300 to 800 feet they were getting skunked.

We didn’t drag the lures for very long….maybe an hour or so, and then we lost bottom reading on both depth finders (Ghost Rider has two transducers) so we went into troubleshooting mode; it took us a while to figure it out, but the short of it is that the Furuno Sonar display had an incorrect “Mode” setting, and that one was rectified easily enough.  But the Furuno digital readout on the RD30 instrument is still a mystery – it seems to lose bottom lock in depths of 200 to 400 feet.

Our Whacky SPOT Track

If you look at our SPOT track for the day, it was a real zig-zag as we navigated from deep to shallow and back out to deep water trying to troubleshoot the depth sounder issues.  Once we got the basic problems either solved or framed up, we deployed fishing lines again – but like the pros who were further offshore, we too got skunked.

Sunset Moored Behind Tavernier Key 

Even with all the zig-zagging, we arrived at Tavernier Key in good time – it was another nice downhill run today with strong pushing currents from residual Gulf Stream effect – and set the anchor in very shallow water (less than 2’ under the keel) at low tide on the northwest side of the island in time for another magnificent sunset.

Tavernier Key Off the Bow

Boat stuff:

·         Rick spent the early evening investigating a raw water pump leak on the generator; it’s quite slight (and intermittent) for now, but will require attention by the time we reach Palm Beach at the end of the week.

·       The air handler in the main state room isn’t cooling (also intermittent) ; am guessing its water ball valve is stuck closed, similar to the issue that occasionally afflicts the PH air handler; another Palm Beach maintenance item.

We awoke on Tuesday the 24^th to a calm, clear and warm morning and got an early start (for us) around 0830 and headed north past Key Largo and towards Biscayne Bay just south of Miami.  The original plan was to anchor in the bay, but since we spent an extra night on the hook at Marathon, we opted to dock up at Dinner Key Marina.  Two hours out they gave us a slip assignment with a 16’ width – which won’t work for a boat with a 16.1’ beam.  So Michelle scrambled for an alternate and we diverted to Grove Isle Marina.

Entry Channel to Grove Isle

Grove Isle Looking Towards Biscayne Bay

Thunderstorms had started popping over distant waters to the east as well as on the mainland, but we were easily able to run between them until we angled into Biscayne Bay, where one got a bit close as we approached Grove Isle.  Practically speaking, the entry channel to the marina was more of a concern than the storm cell – it is surely the most convoluted & skinny water entrance we’ve had to maneuver in any of our boats, and saw as little as 1.5’ of depth under the keel approaching a low tide.

Anyway, we docked up without issues and spent a relaxing although occasionally wet night there.

On Wednesday the 25^th we departed Grove Isle Marina and Biscayne Bay and headed north to Fort Lauderdale….with a 15 to 20K wind out of the northeast, the main challenge of the day was figuring out how to depart the t-dock without leaving Chelle behind as she untied our lines.  We looped a couple of side ties that could be removed from the boat to solve that.

Offshore the winds were cranking and seas were beam to quartering on the starboard bow at 3 to 5 feet and 4 second intervals – sloppy but apart from getting very salty Ghost Rider had no problems with it.

At Pier 66...We Were One of the Smallest
Boats There

The Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) entrance channel was a sloppy mess with an outgoing current and incoming 4 to 5 foot steep-faced rollers; the channel is wide and deep, but it was still a busy time keeping Ghost Rider pointed in the right direction – it’s got a broad ass end that can get pushed around in big following seas, so one has to really have to pay attention.  I’ve come to appreciate the Simrad autopilot’s follow-up jog lever (basically a joystick) in such circumstances, finding that I can hold a heading better with that than either the AP’s auto-heading mode or with manual steering.  It reminds me of the B-52’s autopilot-assisted air refueling mode (which, to be honest, I hated and almost never used.)

Ghost Rider Docked Up @ Pier 66....Really
Nice Floating Concrete Docks

We had to delay our entry to the Hyatt Pier 66 Marina a few minutes to troubleshoot a Bluetooth headset issue – the boom mic on Rick’s had gone missing.  (Headsets are much better than shouting at each other during close quarters maneuvering, which is why they are called “marriage savers”.)  We substituted a small spare mic and got docked up with no issues in spite of the stiff winds.  Later, when washing down the boat, we found the missing boom mic wedged under the boarding ladder on the swim platform aft of the transom (soaking wet).  It probably dislodged from the headset while on the fly bridge shortly after departure, and got wind-blown to the aft end – how it stayed on the transom during those lumpy seas is a small miracle – and in spite of the soaking, it still works.  Lucky break.

BTW, Pier 66 is a very nice marina -- close to the ocean inlet, very protected just off the ICW, new concrete floating docks, recently upgraded Wi-Fi, pool, gym, clubhouse and a Hyatt hotel on the property.

FLL Can Be a Busy Port

Thursday the 25^th started with another clear and warm morning and a steady 10-15K breeze out the northeast; we were underway before 0900 with Chelle manning the helm and Rick handling the deck duties this time.  The Port Everglades inlet is typically a busy shipping lane and that was true this morning, but Chelle weaved us through the traffic, which included a close pass with the beast of a container ship pictured here.

We once again avoided the ICW inside route and took Ghost Rider outside into 3 foot seas for the leg up to Palm Beach.  We’d rather deal with lumpy water rather than all the bridges, narrow passages and amateur boat drivers that frequent the ditch.  Seas built to 4 feet by the time we arrived at the Lake Worth inlet at 1545 making for another sloppy inlet ride and more jog-lever steering, but after we rounded Peanut Island we enjoyed a smooth run on the final few miles leading to Old Port Cove (OPC) Marina in Palm Beach.

Old Port Cove Looking East

This is our first trip back to OPC since we purchased the boat last August and had all of Ghost Rider’s refit work done here by Yacht Tech.  It’s good to be back as we have a healthy punch list for them before we continue our journey north in about 2 weeks.  Rick also has to change oil and filters on both the main engine and the genset.  While here we’ll also be taking a side trip, flying to St. Louis to visit with family and partake in a charity fund raising event for the Lt. Dan Scholarship Fund.  We’re looking forward to that and being dirt-dwellers for a short break.