We had to get through the ready-to-fail RR bridge before it shuts down for a week of repairs. But when we woke at 6:00 AM on Tuesday to get a 6:30 start we were fogged in completely. Any delay and we would have to wait until 7:00 PM for the next bridge opening and that would mean docking in the dark. Not good! We decided to head out at 7 mph until the fog lifted with the sunrise. We had only seen several boats all the previous day so we thought we had only a small chance of an encounter. There won't be any other boats out there. Right? Who in their right mind would venture out in this fog? We ran a course parallel to the charted channel but 200 yards to the west so that we would hopefully avoid a collision with another vessel. We could see only about 100 yards at best and crab trap floats would regularly suddenly appear and we had to swerve around each of the hundreds that we encountered. The fog did not lift until three hours later. Gosh, talk about neck and back muscles contracting!
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| Almost total whiteout |
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| Ah! The sun is up. But the fog became harder to see through. We started seeing land mirages. |
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| That is not a mirage. There is the bridge at Glen Cove Springs. Amazingly, we were right on target. After this bridge the fog cleared completely in about 10 minutes. Whew! |
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| NAS Jax where Wayne worked as a student engineer in 1966 and 1967. |
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| The Navy is still flying Orions, albeit a much newer P3 model, in search of Russian subs. |
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| Two days of pushing hard and finally Jacksonville |
We made it to the bridge over an hour before it was supposed to open at 2:00 so we waited just off the channel. Both of us were thrilled when the guys working the bridge took pity on us and opened it twenty minutes early. We cruised on through and tied up to the Jacksonville Landing. We can stay here for FREE for 72 hours. No water, no shore power but no problem - we carry our own.
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| This is the cause of our consternation, the Fla. East Coast Railway bridge. There has been a RR bridge here since the 1860s. This one looks like it was built in the 1800s! Here you see it in its coveted raised position. |
Jacksonville views on Tuesday
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| Very cool lift bridge. This thing is really big. We walked across it to meet our friend Roger and the lift section is about 250 feet wide. At night, as pedestrians cross it we can see their huge shadows on the buildings behind. |
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| A barge pushed by a tug that floated past our boat |
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| Here you can see some of the five bridges within a mile of each other along this stretch of the river. |
Wayne ended up with a lukewarm shower this morning. So as a courtesy to Colleen, he fired up the gen set to run the hot water heater and heat some water for her shower. The result was SQEALLLLLLL !!! Wayne quickly shut down the gen set. An inspection of the belts showed immediately that the belt to the cooling water pump pulley was not turning and the belt was being burned up. The pump had to be removed to determine whether it was an impeller problem or a bearing seizing. When the cover was removed, the pump spun smoothly without binding. The shaft spun freely after the impeller was removed from the housing. Years ago I ran into an impeller that had swelled in thickness and bound against the housing and cover plate. Due to tight funding then, I ground the impeller a little and put it back in place and it has pumped fine for the last 20 years. This time I installed the new spare impeller and O-ring that I had in stock. The pump and hoses were reattached, the system was tested and we were back making hot water.
Note: We did not need the generator to charge the batteries today---the newly installed solar system is keeping the batteries charged. Hooray!
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| Removing the generator water pump to see why it will not turn. Back into the hold, matey! Get to work. |
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| Surgery complete! The organ is in my hands. |
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| The impeller and pump looked good but the impeller bound too tightly against the housing when the cover was tightened. This impeller was installed last spring and should still be good. |
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| We had a spare impeller aboard so I replaced it and the pump turned smoothly. No breakfast. Cold cup of coffee. No hair brush yet. No teeth brushed yet either. She said get the repairs done first! |
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| OK. Now can I get hot water for a shower? And then I'll fix you your favorite oatmeal |
Fog Again!
Wednesday morning the fog rolled in about 7AM. It's a good thing we decided to stay here for at least one more day.
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| Not the best weather for navigating a narrowing waterway and maneuvering bridges |
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| The fog did not start to clear until about 11AM |
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| 11:15 and all the fog has finally vanished |
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| We hopped the water taxi that took us on a quick trip across the river and visited the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History, known as MOSH hereabouts. |
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| An owl that Colleen liked at the museum. He fixed his eyes on her as she tried to take his picture exactly as he would have zeroed in on some tasty prey. |
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| Fountain in Freedom Park across the river |
What a beautiful day it turned out to be.
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| Wayne's photo choice. Our boat is far left. |
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| Colleen's photo choice. Which do you like? |
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| Statue of Andrew Jackson for whom Jacksonville was named. |
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| Our friend Roger had business in Jax and stopped by. We were stranded on the other side of the river waiting on the water taxi. We walked over the lift bridge instead and beat the water taxi and had a nice (short) visit with Roger. |
Coffee? Breakfast? That man eats impellers, belts and bearings for breakfast!
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