Return to the home page...

Go Back   Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians > Discussion Topics > General Interest

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #51   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 01-31-2019, 04:38 PM
ndutton's Avatar
ndutton ndutton is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 9,619
Thanks: 198
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,425 Posts
Maybe everybody knows about it but I recommend the No Name Pub on Big Pine Key (a few miles down the road, maybe you're headed there?), cool place. Look for my dollar bill on the far left side way down low under the service window identified Neil and Kimberlee (daughter).

https://nonamepubestore.com/pub/
__________________
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others

Last edited by ndutton; 01-31-2019 at 05:29 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #52   IP: 76.7.130.36
Old 01-31-2019, 06:25 PM
Marian Claire's Avatar
Marian Claire Marian Claire is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,797
Thanks: 33
Thanked 129 Times in 94 Posts
+1. Linda and I enjoyed lunch there as we headed south. April 2018.
Dan
S/V Marian Claire
Reply With Quote
  #53   IP: 174.228.140.224
Old 02-01-2019, 11:22 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadnsky View Post
Ed-
From very recent experience...
try to get as far away from the mangroves as possible.
No-see-ums and skeeters will make sleeping ugly.
It was a good news/bad news situation. After the front went through, the temp plummeted. This made exploring in the dink unattractive, but kept the bugs down in Little Shark River.

No bug issues so far in Boot Key Harbor anchorage, but it's warming up.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #54   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 02-01-2019, 06:36 PM
ndutton's Avatar
ndutton ndutton is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 9,619
Thanks: 198
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,425 Posts
Did you see the meteor today?
__________________
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
Reply With Quote
  #55   IP: 174.228.11.176
Old 02-02-2019, 10:40 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
No, what meteor?
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #56   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 02-02-2019, 10:51 AM
ndutton's Avatar
ndutton ndutton is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 9,619
Thanks: 198
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,425 Posts
A significant meteor crashed into Cuba yesterday on a North to South trajectory. Reports said it was visible from the Keys in the western sky, big smoke trail.
__________________
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
Reply With Quote
  #57   IP: 174.228.138.9
Old 02-19-2019, 11:02 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Just an update.

We've spent the last 3 weeks in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Took us 12 days at anchor to work our way up the mooring ball waiting list from #24!

We really like it here , and I understand why some people come for a weak and stay 10 years!

We took a bus trip to Key West for the day and played tourist.

Yesterday, Joan got in the dinghy to scrub Dolce Vita's waterline, when she got a visit from a large adult manatee.
Attached Images
 
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #58   IP: 192.186.122.174
Old 02-19-2019, 04:26 PM
GregH's Avatar
GregH GregH is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Kingston, ON
Posts: 564
Thanks: 385
Thanked 103 Times in 80 Posts
Wonder if your mooring is close to this camera!?

http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/governm...marina-webcam/

- looks to be down currently though otherwise let us know when you are doing a web show!
__________________
Greg
1975 Alberg 30
Reply With Quote
  #59   IP: 71.38.119.29
Old 02-20-2019, 10:04 AM
roadnsky's Avatar
roadnsky roadnsky is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Lake Mead, NV
Posts: 3,104
Thanks: 24
Thanked 467 Times in 309 Posts
You guys hafta go have a basket of fries and watch the sunset at Burdines while you're there.
Attached Images
 
__________________
-Jerry

'Lone Ranger'

1978 RANGER 30
Reply With Quote
  #60   IP: 173.12.115.37
Old 02-20-2019, 04:02 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Indeed, we did that for Valentines Day.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #61   IP: 173.12.115.37
Old 02-20-2019, 04:09 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregH View Post
Wonder if your mooring is close to this camera!?

http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/governm...marina-webcam/

- looks to be down currently though otherwise let us know when you are doing a web show!
We are on mooring ball N1, almost directly out from the marina (see image), so we probably would be visible if the webcam was working. Alas, a lot of infrastructure is still down from Irma damage, and they're waiting for FEMA approval. If they start any repairs before then, they forfeit their aide grant.
Attached Images
 
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4


Last edited by edwardc; 02-20-2019 at 05:17 PM. Reason: Forgot attachment
Reply With Quote
  #62   IP: 63.245.126.154
Old 03-01-2019, 11:11 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Bimini!

Well, the morning of Feb 28, we said goodby to Marathon and headed out.

Our original plan had been to work our way up to Rodridguez Key (near Key Largo), anchor overnight, and then cross the gulf stream over to Bimini.

But since our friend Bil has joined us, we have the option of overnight passeages with double overlapping watches, se we decided to head directly to Bimini from Marathon. Chris Parker gave us a good weather window for this, so off we went.

Took about 24 hrs, and was an easy motorsail (thanks Chris!), and we got into Bimini early this morning. Thhe A4 performed flawlessly, consuming about a gallon an hour. We have a 30 gal tank, but at the halfway point I added 5 gal from a jerry jug just to be sure of not running out just as we were entering the channel!

The Bull sharks are still here, circiling under the boats in 11 ft of crystal clear water at the dock.

Total NM for the trip so far has reached 1500!
Attached Images
 
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4


Last edited by edwardc; 03-01-2019 at 11:16 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #63   IP: 24.244.145.188
Old 03-19-2019, 02:39 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Wow! I didn't realize it had been almost 3 weeks since my last post!

After spending 3 days in Bimini, we set out for Great Harbor Cay in the Berries. In order to get in ahead of some upcoming weather, we did it as a single 16 hour overnight run.

Spent 6 days in Great Harbor. I've always liked this Cay. We met a number of other cruisers at the marina, rented a jeep (Suzuki Sidekick) for the day, drove from the "Ghost Town" at the northern tip to the beautiful shelling beach at the south, had lots of lobster and fresh fish, and generally had a great time.

We left Great Harbor, looped around the cruise ship district in the north, and crossed Providence channel to Sandy point, on the SW end of Great Abaco Island. We had picked a good weather window and it was an easy crossing of this sometimes rough area.

We spent a few hours at anchor, but needed to leave at 1AM in order to time our arrival at the Sea of Abaco at Little Harbour Inlet so as to have slack high tide and the sun behind us. I had originally planned to the anchor behind Lynyard Cay, but more weather was coming the next day, so we pressed on North all the way to Marsh Harbour, where we anchored.

Marsh Harbour is an OK place, but it's more like the Florida Keys than the Bahamas. Four (!) hardware stores, a real full-sized grocery, numerous resturants and marinas. But this makes it a good place to reprovision, so we did.

Our friend Bill also left us here, catching a flight out and back home to the frozen north (Baltimore).

A really severe front was predicted to be coming through on tue-wed, so we wanted to move before then so as to not be stuck in Marsh Harbour for that long. So, on Sunday we moved to a mooring in the NW mooring field in Man O War cay. This place is bombproof, with all around shelter, but the moorings are spaced VERY close. Less than one boat length between boats!

It's now tue afternoon, and it's raining like mad with winds 25-28 kts, but zero chop in here. Great for the wind generator!
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #64   IP: 71.38.87.228
Old 03-22-2019, 07:26 PM
roadnsky's Avatar
roadnsky roadnsky is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Lake Mead, NV
Posts: 3,104
Thanks: 24
Thanked 467 Times in 309 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by edwardc View Post
The Bull sharks are still here, circiling under the boats in 11 ft of crystal clear water at the dock.
A story related to those bull sharks...

A couple years back we did the same crossing.
Marathon to Bimini

Once we were tied up at Brown's Marina, I jumped off the stern into that inviting crystal clean water for a refreshing dip.
One of the Brown's Dock guys came running down the dock waving his arms and screaming for me to "get out of the water NOW!"
I thought maybe it was some sort of Marina regulation not to swim or something.
After climbing out, the dock hand apologized for yelling but explained there were a couple of very large bulls that frequented the dock area and they were very aggressive.
Right then, just to prove his point, a large 6-7 foot bull just like Ed's picture, cruised slowly by.

It seems the Big Game Club Resort just a few yards down like to chum the water to attract them and they charge money for the tourists to come see them.
Maybe by now they just feed a tourist to them for the attraction.
__________________
-Jerry

'Lone Ranger'

1978 RANGER 30
Reply With Quote
  #65   IP: 108.60.227.7
Old 03-23-2019, 10:58 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Yeah, there's a group of three bull sharks and one nurse shark that make the rounds between the fish cleaning stations at Brown's, Blue Water, and Bimini Big Game!

We spent a great 6 days at Man O War Cay. The place is clean, neat, and well maintained. A perfect mix of quaint small village and modern. We really liked it!

One day we hiked out to "The Low Place", where the island is only about a hundred feet wide, and the Oceanside waves crash over the "road" at high tide.

This morning, we departed and motorsailed the 5 miles to Hopetown Harbour. Though we were warned that the Harbour was packed, we went inside and got very lucky, finding a mooring that had just been vacated this morning! Our friends on S/V Erin Kjarr anchored outside the Harbour.

We plan on staying here for a few days, as always, dependent on the weather.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #66   IP: 71.38.87.228
Old 03-24-2019, 09:57 AM
roadnsky's Avatar
roadnsky roadnsky is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Lake Mead, NV
Posts: 3,104
Thanks: 24
Thanked 467 Times in 309 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by edwardc View Post
This morning, we departed and motorsailed the 5 miles to Hopetown Harbour.

We plan on staying here for a few days, as always, dependent on the weather.
Take the lighthouse tour.
Interesting and worth it.
__________________
-Jerry

'Lone Ranger'

1978 RANGER 30
Reply With Quote
  #67   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 03-24-2019, 10:27 AM
ndutton's Avatar
ndutton ndutton is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 9,619
Thanks: 198
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,425 Posts
Edward, I am so enjoying traveling with you vicariously with the strains of Jimmy Buffet's One Particular Harbor playing in my brain. Thank you for sharing.
__________________
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to ndutton For This Useful Post:
Peter (03-24-2019)
  #68   IP: 76.7.131.76
Old 03-24-2019, 11:56 AM
Marian Claire's Avatar
Marian Claire Marian Claire is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,797
Thanks: 33
Thanked 129 Times in 94 Posts
+1
I think this is the spot Ed is talking about. Looking north.

http://www.moyermarineforum.com/foru...&pictureid=973

Dan
S/V Marian Claire
Reply With Quote
  #69   IP: 174.227.4.163
Old 04-26-2019, 12:11 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Well, we're back in Florida, headed up the ICW towards home.

But need to catch you up first.

After Hopetown, we went to Great Guana Cay and checked out the three competing bars (Nipper's, Grabbers, and Captain Kidd) and made qualitative comparisons of their signature drinks (The Nipper, The Grabber, and The Gripper respectively). I favored the Nipper.

From there, we went to Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay and spent 6 days on a mooring while we explored the island and its town, New Plymouth. After that, a day at No Name Cay to see the feral pigs. Then, a couple of days moving back and forth from the West to the East shore and then back to the West as a front went through. Then three days anchored off Manjack Cay while we explored the mangrove swamps in our dinghy and inflatable tandem kayak.

Then, a really nasty front sent us scurrying back to a slip in Black Sound because it is so well protected.

We spent 8 extra days in Green Turtle Cay, waiting for a weather window to cross back. We left Green Turtle on tue morning and made a 10 hour trip to Great Sale Cay, in the middle of nowhere in the Northern Abacos. There were 30 boats at anchor in the harbor at Great Sale Cay, some newly arrived from the U.S. , and some outbound like us. The trip from Great Sale to Ft Pierce FL, is about 115 nm and would take us about 24 hours. We left at 10:30 am on Wed in order to time our arrival at Ft Pierce inlet to coincide with slack tide there. The inlet is subject to violent "rages" when the wind and tide are opposed.

We motored across the Little Bahama Bank, and then on to the Gulf Stream at night. Joan got to stand her first solo nighttime watches, and she handled it like a pro. The winds were light and favorable, and the seas almost flat. 4 hours on watch and 4 hours off to sleep made it fairly easy on us.

The Gulf Stream current was strong. We were aimed due West and motoring at 5 kts, but our course was being deflected northward by 30 degrees! By the time we exited the Stream, we were actually 6 miles north of the rhumb line to Ft Pierce!

10:30 am Thurs saw us entering a calm inlet. I love it when a plan comes together.

Originally, we had planned to anchor in Ft Pierce, sleep, and resume our travels on Friday, but with two 4 hour sleep shifts under my belt, I felt pretty good. That's more sleep than I usually get in a night!

So instead, we fueled up and continued North on the ICW for another 35 miles, anchoring south of Melbourne just before sunset, near a little town called Malabar. NOW I'm tired! 32 hrs and 150 nm since we left Great Sale.

Tomorrow, we'll go 30 nm to Cocoa, FL and take a slip there for a few days to visit with Joan's cousin.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #70   IP: 174.227.0.66
Old 04-30-2019, 11:29 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Currently anchored just south of Titusville in order to see the SpaceX launch at 3:59 am tomorrow morning. We're within sight of the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and about 12 mi from the launch pad.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #71   IP: 76.7.131.76
Old 04-30-2019, 11:51 AM
Marian Claire's Avatar
Marian Claire Marian Claire is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,797
Thanks: 33
Thanked 129 Times in 94 Posts
Welcome back. Enjoy the show.
Dan S/V Marian Claire
Reply With Quote
  #72   IP: 138.207.175.58
Old 04-30-2019, 03:43 PM
Administrator's Avatar
Administrator Administrator is offline
MMI Webmaster
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Chestertown, MD (Langford Creek)
Posts: 2,198
Thanks: 1,335
Thanked 365 Times in 182 Posts
Ed:

You've mentioned trouble with fronts passing through on multiple occasions. It's enough to make me consider crossing off a charter in the Caribbean from my bucket list.

Bill
Reply With Quote
  #73   IP: 174.227.0.66
Old 05-01-2019, 07:31 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marian Claire View Post
Welcome back. Enjoy the show.
Dan S/V Marian Claire
Unfortunately, the launch got delayed 2 more days, so we're moving on to try and get ahead of some weather.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Administrator View Post
Ed:

You've mentioned trouble with fronts passing through on multiple occasions. It's enough to make me consider crossing off a charter in the Caribbean from my bucket list.

Bill
I know exactly what you mean. I often see charter boats heading out "because they have to", while I stay put. I've come to understand that the most dangerous thing on a cruising boat is a calendar!
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to edwardc For This Useful Post:
Administrator (05-01-2019)
  #74   IP: 174.218.16.51
Old 05-09-2019, 07:14 AM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
After Titusville, we spent 4 days in a slip in St Augustine to reprovision and wait out some rainy weather. I always enjoy a stop in St Augustine.

From there, we stopped at the free dock in Jacksonville for the first time. It made for a short day, but put us there early to better the chance of getting a place. We were boat #3. By sunset, the dock was full. A pretty nice place for free. Floating concrete face dock. Big currents and 5-6' tides.

Timed our transit of Fernandina for mid rising tide and followed bob423's track through there. Left Florida and spent the night at Jekyll Island.

Left pre-dawn and first light to time our transit through the notorious Little Mud River and high tide, but this meant going through north Jekyll Creek at low tide. Saw less than 6'!

Got through Little Mud ok, and made a short day, anchoring at Back River in order to time the next day's tide. Don't you just love the Georgia ICW? The shallow unmaintained waterways make using it a real technical process. That and the 8' tides! In 3 more days, we should be in SC. Stay tuned.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to edwardc For This Useful Post:
lat 64 (05-10-2019)
  #75   IP: 174.193.131.162
Old 05-11-2019, 06:33 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
HX Failure!

Well, it finally happened. A breakdown.

On the way to Beaufort, SC, I noticed the bilge pump cycling every minute and a half! A quick trip below with a flashlight showed water spraying from the top of the HX!

Quickly rolled out the jib, gave the helm to Joan, and tried to cobble a quick fix with rescue tape and hose clamps. No go.

The temp was still a steady 180, the bilge pump was keeping up, and we were only an hour away from our anchorage, so I restarted and pressed on, keeping careful track of the bilge pump's duty cycle.

Got to the anchorage in Factory Creek, set the hook, and started tearing into the HX. Here's a photo of what I found.

The base of one of the raw water connections had corroded through in two places! One was the source of the leak, the other opened up when I wire brushed it!

Trying to decide whether to try and solder it , or use epoxy.
Attached Images
 
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
In need of a good guy near South Portland, Maine gary randall Good Guys 10 04-27-2018 08:25 PM
2017 - South from the Chesapeake PT26 Grampian 67 12-30-2017 06:15 PM
Charleston NC or further south, mechanic Sony2000 Good Guys 8 01-20-2013 08:39 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


Universal® is a registered trademark of Westerbeke Corporation

Copyright © 2004-2024 Moyer Marine Inc.

All Rights Reserved