EXILE's 2016 adventures

On January 25th, 2016 we left our slip in St. Augustine at Camachee Cove just before 8am. It was a brisk 35 degrees and we were thankful to have the side curtains of our cockpit enclosure up. We headed offshore and had an enjoyable motor-sail to Ponce Inlet. Nine hours later we were tucked into a slip at the New Smyrna Beach City Marina where we've stayed many times and always enjoy.

Leaving St. Augustine - Vilano Beach

Bye bye downtown St. Augustine

St. Augustine lighthouse from offshore

Shrimper near Ponce Inlet

Ponce Inlet breakwater and lighthouse

Northerly swell crashed the breakwater once in awhile

Meanwhile.... at my son's house in Long Island

Our friends Cindy and Jeff on Salty Dog, weren't there and after inquiring with the dockmaster, we were told they would be returning from Titusville the next day. We would be keeping our eyes open for them as we sailed south.  Some sights along the way from New Smyrna Beach to Cocoa Beach:

One of the canals off the ICW

Got Bait?

Another southbound sailboat

Walking on water?

Our friends

And more...

Aha! Salty Dog is nearing

Literally, two ships passing in the "day"

Nice waving at ya! See you in the Abacos

Ready to blow this sandbar?

Haulover Canal Bridge, between Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River

How's the fishing? 

Convention!

Indian River fly-by

The next day we headed out once again down the "ditch" and had our sights set on Cocoa Village Marina. After changing fuel filters, we were off the dock at 9:12 in partly cloudy skies and 61 degrees. We arrived at Cocoa Village around 3:30 in drizzle. The forecast wasn't looking good for the next two days, so we made the decision to hunker down there, where there's a neat area to walk around, shop and eat. I, of course wanted to beeline for cute little boutiques, while Jeff's first choice was to wander through the local hardware store. What a cute place I found called Bobbi's at Parkside! They offer boaters a 10% discount at various times of the year if you can show a boat card or some other type of proof that you're on a boat! Very nice people and we hope to catch up with them in the Abacos later this year. Bet Jeff didn't have that much fun in the hardware store...

Cocoa Village is a great place to be holed up, very quaint and happy. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Cafe Margaux where we have eaten once before a few years ago. If you're in the area, it is exquisite!

Docked in Cocoa Village Marina settling in during the rain

After checking and re-checking the forecast after experiencing less than expected in the way of storms on Wednesday, we decided to head out the next morning instead of waiting another day. What a good decision that was! It was drizzly and foggy in some places, but otherwise relatively warm and non-eventful. In other words - no thunderstorms! We reserved a slip at the Loggerhead Marina where we've stayed many times and settled into slip A59 there for the night just as the heavy rains began.

Perfect timing!

Even the birds stay put on rainy days!

Not sure I'd be happy sleeping in my own s#*t but he seems pretty comfy

I always enjoy nature, No. Matter. What.

We fueled up Friday morning in chilly weather (it was actually cooler Friday with the sun out than it was the previous day in the rain & fog). Go figure. Plans always change in the boating world. Previously we had thought we'd head to Palm Beach Gardens and then on to Pompano Beach however, we ended up in Stuart and took a facedock at the Sailfish Marina in Manatee Pocket, thinking that we could head offshore in the morning and have a clear sail (or motor, due to lack of wind) from the St. Lucie inlet to the Hillsboro inlet and avoid tons of bridges - always an issue with our tall mast. Most fixed bridges in the ICW are 65'. We need 64'5" to clear our mast, antenna and wind indicator. There (most of the time) are tide boards on the bridges that indicate the clearance. With as much rain as Florida has seen this year, the Indian River was unusually high, making it nearly impossible for us to pass - definitely a "pucker factor" of 10+ for Captain Jeff, especially when the current is pulling us under the bridge. Several times we cleared with the antenna bending at a 45 degree angle. Fortunately, it's still on top of the mast and working.

We had minimal room to spare several times during this run. The antenna bent a few times! 

Does St. Augustine need another pirate ship?

Mama and Papa Osprey getting ready for spring

Interesting way to advertise

Arriving in Manatee Pocket

The next morning as the sun rose we prepared to leave the Sailfish Marina and head offshore through the St. Lucie Inlet and head toward Pompano Beach where my mom and uncle both own condos.

Fishermen heading out at dawn

Sun is up - it's our turn to head out

Out the St Lucie Inlet and offshore in Stuart

The following pictures are the view of the seaside mansions in Palm Beach. We were about 1.5 miles offshore and were able to see them in their full glory without the 15' tall privacy hedges that keep you from seeing them from the roadside.

What a spread!

Arriving at Hillsboro Inlet

Awaiting an opening at the Hillsboro Inlet bridge

Here we go!

Down the ICW in Pompano Beach to the Sands Marina

We arrived at 3:15 after an 8 hour motor sail down the coast. We have stayed at the Sands Marina many times because of the proximity to mom's condo just an easy 8 block walk away. This time the intended slip we had booked was given away and we ended up in a slip in the middle of "charter row", with dive boats and fishing boats packed in tightly. We were literally a fender away from the dive boat on our port side. There was no rest for the weary as these guys take two or three trips daily with a boat full of eager divers and fishermen. Their noisy day begins at 6:15! Sunday morning we enjoyed brunch with Mom and Bob looking out at the ocean. We love getting together with them and enjoy hearing all the stories they have to share.

Sunday brunch with Uncle Bob and Mom at the Beachcomber

Uncle Bob having a tour of our home

After wishing us well at the dock as we set out, Mom and Bob drove to a park by the Hillsboro Inlet and made their best effort to get us to see them by waving and calling. Mom called on the phone a little while later to tell me they had done so. We were thrilled that they made the effort to do that and sad that we didn't know in advance so that we could have seen them! What an effort they made and how appreciative we are that we have them in our lives.

Bob and Mom "tossing our dock lines"

Back to the Hillsboro Inlet

On our way to Great Harbour in the Berrys

The above shot from MarineTraffic.com shows us entering the Gulf Stream. We had to turn into it at 130 degrees on the compass to maintain our over the ground course of 103 degrees. The picture of our chart plotter screen below shows our first waypoint (under the magnifying glass). The blue on the right is the Bahama Bank and the little bit of land (blue) on the left is Freeport. All the little triangles are cruise ships, tankers and freighters. Thankfully, with AIS and radar we can see them and they can see us at night which makes for a safe passage. We are the little black "boat" on the radar screen.

When the moon came up around 2:30am it was an incredibly gorgeous sight shining a deep blood orange. The picture below is actually the sunrise, but the color was essentially the same.

February 2nd at around noon we arrived at the Great Harbour Marina entrance channel and proceeded to slip #39 where our friends John and Cherre and the dockmaster Hans greeted us. We had been up for 30 hours at that point and were so happy to be in the Bahamas that we promptly changed into our bathing suits, jumped in our dinghy (after clearing customs, naturally) and followed John & Cherre to a really nice beach nearby and celebrated accordingly.

EXILE has arrived

Naturally, Jeff and John set to work fixing the trim tabs with the parts we brought along for them while Cherre and I enjoyed catching up and catching up and catching up... Stay tuned for further fun!

The boys...