mile 966-898
We enjoyed our stay at the Fort Pierce City marina. Everyone was very friendly. There is a whole community of seasonal live aboards there. Many are retired sailors. Many live on motor boats for 6 months and go north to other boats or homes in the summer. Their winter boats stay at the marina.
We even met a couple, Michael and Melissa who live near Crisfield, Md in the summer. She was trying to describe to us where that was, before realizing that we knew well. We will look for them at the summer festival and art show in Cape Charles; she is a jeweler.
There were also some interesting boats in the harbour. One was a Westsail, the same boat as Alboe. This boat, S/V The Mighty Sparrow, was docked behind us and we had admired her before learning her story.
Her owner, Jerome Rand, took her singlehanded around the 5 capes in 2017-2018 on a journey lasting 271 days. He has a you-tube channel, Sailing into Oblivion, a book by the same name, and a podcast. We plan to check all of these out in the upcoming rainy days. Jerome’s neighbor told us that when he goes out for a sail, he will leave and go 800 miles out into the ocean and then return.
He used to work at a boatyard in Rockland, Maine but now does speaking at yacht clubs and works as a sailing coach, helping people learn to sail their boats on passages. Right now he is with someone on a passage to Charleston. He sounds like a most valuable resource.
His boat does not have an anchor on the bow but has one stowed. He has kept things simple with a wind vane steering mechanism and no roller parts. He does have pulpits at the mast to hold on to while raising and lowering sails.
We did not rush to leave but left in the morning. We had no issues leaving the marina and timed it for the 730 am opening of the north causeway bridge. This was the bridge where our friends had engine trouble.
Shortly after the bridge I checked in with them. They had done fine yesterday but upon leaving their anchorage near Melbourne today, had engine issues again. They were still anchored there, running some checks on the motor. They were unable to get a spot at the marina in Melbourne.
We also had our eye on Melbourne as our friend Bruce from the fall was there for the winter. We were not sure if he was there or not as he was planning to fly to the Abacos sometime this spring. We had planned to text him as we got close. He would certainly answer with a phone call and he and David would catch up.
Aurora’s situation was something that perhaps Bruce would be able to help with. He was a retired mechanic. David texted him. And of course, Bruce said, “feel free to give them my number.”
Bruce gave them some more troubleshooting advice. When we reached their anchorage outside of Melbourne, we went over to check on them. A local race was taking place nearby and we might have been in the way crossing to them. We felt bad but we had to stay in deeper water and Laura pointed out that we gave them great maneuvering practice.
They had done some things and had started the engine and it was doing well, they were optimistic. They urged us to continue on.
We continued and decided to anchor on the east side of the river to be more sheltered from the wind. We picked a spot just north of the Merritt Island bridge, aka Hubert Humphrey bridge.
We checked in with Aurora and their engine had problems again after we left. Bruce had arranged a spot for them at the marina next to his slip and they had sailed there and used their engine only briefly. Then Bruce had helped them replace their thermostat. He only had an old one to fit their engine but it was in working order and seemed to fix the problem for now. Amazing.
