January 12th-January 30th - Happily Luxuriating at Vero Beach Loggerhead Marina

Life At Loggerhead Marina



What a beautiful spot.
 

We've been more than a little lazy for the past two-and-a-half weeks as we've loafed and played - and dealt with yet a few more repair adventures.  First the fun stuff, though.  This area and the marina are so pleasant with many opportunities for walking or driving in beautiful surroundings.  We thought you might like to see some of the views.


A walk across the mangroves to the community glof course
 

Our marina pool
 

An endlessly replenished popcorn machine, one of
our marina amenities, located in the captains' lounge.

This community, Grand Harbor, and the golf courses and mangroves that meander through the landscape are full of Florida plants and wildlife.  We've been able to get up close and personal with a few of them.


 A handsome local woodpecker

This is not a red headed woodpecker, according to signs along the walkways.  He's a red bellied woodpecker and his color contrasts of red head and sharp black and white wings are very striking.






Below, if you look closely you can see a bee busily working deep in the depths of this hibiscus, probably my favorite tropical flower.  We're seeing all the best of Florida's flowers and plants this year, from hibiscus to bird of paradise to bougainvillea and many more.

Hibiscus flower and visiting bee

Above is a great blue heron.  They fish in the ponds around the community and here in the marina.  We haven't yet gotten a photo of the distinctive rare, white pelicans that live in this area too, along with huge numbers of small, white ibis.

 

Our best shot yet of a manatee, nose coming up for a breath
of air.  You can really see his/her body shape under the water.

 

We've spent the last several weeks visiting two local quilt shops and I had an opportunity to attend an author talk at the Vero Beach Book Center by author Jennifer Chiavarini, who wrote the newly released story,  Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.  I enjoyed meeting her and letting her know how much I've enjoyed the 20 historical fiction titles she's written that revolve around quilting.

 





Author Jennifer Chiaverini 

 A Visit From the Dogs

 

Captain Chloe

  Colleen also returned with her friend, Marla, to The Quilt Place in Rockledge to choose some lush Asian prints to make a quilt for her to use in her RV.  That is proving to be a fun project.  Marla joined us on the boat with her two standard poodles, Chloe and TeeDee, last weekend and we got started on the quilt.  We had a few reservations about whether the dogs (each one the size of a small horse) could maneuver onto our boat.  Our first effort to lure them on involved some comedic heaving and hoeing of the dogs on Marla and Wayne's part while Colleen stood by and laughed.  Once they were able to pull the dogs' two foot long splayed legs, (that's four feet wide altogether!) up on the step and over the short water drop onto the side, everyone was happy - until we had to get them off again.  More hysterical laughter on Colleen's part.  No one ended up in the drink, though, and these two very smart dogs easily got on and off after that first boarding.  All three of our visitors were a pleasure to have aboard as we enjoyed a take-out dinner of Sonny's baby back ribs, beans, and slaw and Marla's strawberries on our angel food cake with whipped cream.

 

Left to right - Chloe, Marla and TeeDee

Chloe is the lap dog and where she goes, so does TeeDee
Thanks for coming Marla!!!  Really, we mean it.

The Repairs Never End

 

We'd been feeling pretty lucky as far as boat repairs go during our first few weeks here.  Wayne busied himself with some minor maintenance and repairs but mostly loafed around reading and taking me to a few movies.  On the topic of movies we heartily recommend Le Mis, but The Hobbit was a bust as far as I was concerned.  Wayne liked it somewhat but it was one of those movies that leaves the plot hanging at the end so you'll show up for the soon-to-be-released sequel.  We've also seen Anna Karenina.  The staging choice for this movie was unusual and surely was meant to make you think of Shakespeare's quote, "All the world's a stage.  And all the men and women merely players."  It's a lavish production - very beautiful costumes and scenery and a timeless plot.  Wayne and his brother, Howard were not impressed while sister-in-law, Donna, and Colleen enjoyed it.  (Wayne - sort of like Dr. Zhivago without snow, Alice in Wonderland w/o the rabbit, Phantom of the Opera w/o the Phantom, and Elvira Madigan w/o the bullets to the head - all rolled into one)

 

Anyway, after no major repair issues for several weeks we were feeling pretty complacent.  That all ended this past Monday morning when Wayne and I both got up around 3:45 AM, he to sit outside for awhile and me to use the bathroom.  Of course I left the lights off and then began to hear an odd toilet noise after leaving the head.  I waited a bit, hoping it would go away and then thought I'd better investigate further.  Lights on to see with horror fresh water flowing at rapid speed from something broken in the back of the toilet.  The toilet bowl was overflowing and the small bathroom floor space was completely flooded.  I started throwing towels on the floor and hollering for Wayne.  He eventually heard me and came to the rescue, stopping the flow by shutting off the dockside water.  While I went back to sleep, trusting in my faithful repairman to figure out the problem, he sat up for an hour reading the toilet system's owners manual to figure out how to fix things before going back to bed.  After disassembling the flushing valve, he found that the valve consisted of a bronze shuttle valve mounted in a plastic housing.  Green corrosion had jammed the valve and caused it to stick open flooding the toilet bowl.  A good cleaning and some lubrication - problem solved in about one hour.

The toilet valve is located at the RH end of the white water hose

 

 

Cleaning old fenders so the they only look used instead of ready to throw away



The bathroom shower curtain over the window had corroded snap fasteners. 
After drilling off the old it was a cinch to install new snaps with the very expensive tool shown on the table.
This tool has been used many times with canvas work over the last 5 months and is slowly but surely paying back its cost.



We have been chasing a leak near our shower.  First a window leak was sealed.
Then Wayne cut the caulk around the shower sump, removed the sump plate and re-caulked it.  We fervently hope this has solved the problem.

 Photos from around the marina

 

 

 

 

Merritt Island to Vero Beach - Jan 3-Jan. 11, 2013

From Merritt Island to Vero Beach

We're on the road again - so to speak.  We left Harbortown Marina on January 6th, holding tanks pumped out, water tanks full, refrigerator stocked, one hundred gallons of fuel added and happy to be back on the water.

Our departure was delayed again this year by unfavorable weather.
We didn't pull away from the dock until the fog lifted about 10AM
 

 

Looking at the bridge on the Canaveral Barge Canal as we left Harbortown Marina

Passing under the bridge leading to Patrick AFB - NASA tracking and recovery station



Colleen napping under the comfy cabana/ocean/palm trees quilt she sewed on the boat last year.

We spent a leisurely two days to travel the fifty-five water miles from Merritt Island to Vero Beach with fantastic clouds, a beautiful sunset, lots of bird and dolphin sightings and even an encounter with some sailboats that were actually under sail. The night of the 6th found us at Marker 21, a spoil island along the ICW and the destination for many family boating trips in the past when we lived in FL and traveled with the Central FL Cruise Club.  More than thirty years ago our three boys fished, explored the island, dug in the sand and swam here.  Storms and hurricanes have whittled away at the island but it's still a pretty spot and provides a welcome shelter from winds as we anchored on its southerly side.
It did not quite work out as we planned though.  The winds were forecast to be from the NW overnight and we anchored for that.  However the winds came out of the NE and we moved constantly all night in the wind and waves.  We have learned to rest easy in such weather, though, once we're assured that the anchor is holding so we both got a good night's sleep.




Beautiful Clouds



and more clouds



More clouds



A sailboat race was proceeding right down the middle of the channel



We had to pass through this regatta

It is difficult to catch a photo of a dolphin jumping - 3 years and still no success.
This is a dolphin fin.  We're at the stage now that we just try to enjoy seeing them
and rarely try for a photo.  We do see a lot of them.

Colleen on sandbar of Marker 21 Island

The island in late afternoon before the winds came in



Sunset at the island from our anchor position for the night



Shot of our GPS chart plotter as we approached Vero Beach mooring field.  Our course would take us
 up to the red bridge then a LH turn along the bridge and a turn down and behind the skinny green peninsula shown here. 

Monday the 7th we arrived at the Vero Beach City Marina.  We had hoped to find a spot on the city docks but were informed that they were full for long term boaters so we hooked a buoy (Colleen's easiest snagging yet!!) and are happily settled in for as long as we decide to stay.  The weather is almost too warm (Colleen speaking here).  Wayne loves it.

This was the 7 day forecast last week.  We would show you the one
for the upcoming week, but it looks just the same!

 Two days ago Wayne hitched a ride with his brother back to Merritt Island and brought our car down here so we can dinghy to shore whenever we want and explore the area some more.  So far we've found a trio of musicians jamming in the shade of the marina and a group of ladies who carry a card table out under the trees to play mahjong on a regular basis.  It's a busy community.

We enjoyed listening and talking with the jammers under the gazebo.

Repairs

Let me introduce you to my new best friend - plastic disposable gloves. 

These are great.  Almost the same feel as bare hands.  I might go through 3 to 5 pair on one job
 depending on what I get on my hands or what I don't want to touch with what is on the gloves.
A box of 100 costs about $7.00.

Note the round pieces.  They are the bottoms of the strainer baskets
and they are no longer attached to the strainer tube, rendering the strainer ineffective.

The only significant repair completed since the last blog was the replacement of the strainer baskets in the sea strainers that keep debris from entering the engine water supply pump and getting into the heat exchanger (radiator on a boat engine).  When I replaced the raw water impeller, shown in a previous blog, I discovered that the stainless steel basket in the sea strainer was rusted and that the bronze bottom had come disconnected from the basket cylinder.  Yes, stainless steel does rust away!  I ordered two plastic baskets to replace both engine strainer baskets.  As you can see in the photo above, the second basket fell apart when I placed it on the table and touched it again. Not good.  Both are updated and replaced now.

And now to our next anchorage

After being unable to get dock space at the Vero Beach City Marina, Wayne did a little research looking for other possible marinas in town.  He found one called Loggerhead Marina, in a gated community in mainland Vero.  It looked pretty luxurious.  We did the math, factoring in the mooring ball rent for a month, dinghy gas and fuel to run the generator for several hours a day to keep us powered up.  The result was that, for about $100 more, we can stay in the marina.  Even though we miss having open water nearby, the tradeoff is easy access to shore, unlimited water and electricity, more opportunity to meet and get to know new people and the chance for friends and relatives to visit us here. We concluded that living in the marina is a vacation while living at anchor or on a buoy is an adventure.  We'll take a mix of both on this trip.

 If you're coming to visit or want to send us fuel and dockage money, here's our new address -
Slip # A-41, Loggerhead Club and Marina, 1221 Marina Village Circle, Vero Beach, FL  32967

Merritt Island and points north (Far North), December 19-January 3

Yippee!  No repairs!  We've learned from our friends Jann and Gary that when you get into trouble on the boat, you just tie a knot and hang on.  That sounds like what we were doing the first few weeks of December.  Thankfully, it wasn't necessary around Christmas.

That last week before the big holiday was spent finishing up several sewing projects for presents and preparing to fly out to Portland, OR, where we have two treasured grandgirls.  Our friends, Roger and Marcy, hosted a big party for family and friends just before we left.  The party featured a variety of luscious homemade soups and the annual nighttime boat parade.  It must have been the longest parade they've ever held with 90+ lighted boats.  The theme this year was "Redneck Christmas."  Just use your imagination.  There were some very funny entries.

These people threw every Christmas light they owned on their boat

 Wayne and I also traveled over to Orlando for our annual cookie making extravaganza with Harlan and Patty, an old and treasured family tradition.  Patty, Kaylin (her granddaughter) and I mass produced nearly 100 decorated sugar cookies.

The Cookie Ladies - 2012

Then on to Portland, Oregon.  As usual at this time of the year Portland is wet and cold but the presence of two grandgirls, Amelia and Paloma, warms things up.  Michael and Wayne spent our first day there installing a new, woodburning stove.  It was a wonderful addition to their family room and the space quickly became our favorite gathering spot throughout our six days there.

It works!!

My daughter-in-law, Monica, and I cooked up some delicious meals together.  The internet helped us to master tempura cooking.  We discovered that vodka is the key (hic!) and, before long, were tempuring every food in sight - mushrooms, shrimp, broccoli, asparagus, onions, potatoes. 

Yum.  Tempura and more tempura

Michael, Monica, Amelia and Paloma recently became enthusiastic chicken farmers so we enjoyed really fresh eggs supplied by their four beautiful hens.  This would explain the many chicken-themed gifts we gave them for Christmas.  The placemats above feature chicken themed fabric, as do the napkins.  Napkin rings are made of chicken wire print fabric.

Paloma and one of four talented egg layers

The week included a trip to the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals, www.ricenorthwestmuseum.org, a stop at Krispy Kreme doughtnut shop and not nearly enough time at Powell's Bookstore, www.powells.com.  I doubt that any other bookstore in the US has such a wide variety of books, new and used.  I inquired after two obscure books and, of course, they had them in stock.

Krispy Kreme, our favorite stop for junk food

  Monica, who shares my quilting interest, joined me one day for a shop hop of downtown Portland quilt stores.  We found that bright, bold contemporary colors and prints were most on display at the three shops we vsited.  As one of the shop owners put it when we asked the reason, "Think Portland in the winter.  We have to have bright colors."  Two highlights of our shop hop - the gigantic collection of well organized buttons at Josephine's Dry Goods Store and the friendly official shop baby at SewPo.

Josephine's Dry Goods
The wall at the back is solidly packed with boxes of hundreds
(maybe thousands) of buttons

A few of our favorite people - Michael, Monica, Amelia and Paloma

Our time here in Merritt Island is winding down to a close.  This Sunday we'll begin the next leg of our trip and expect to be in Vero Beach by early next week.  Great weather.  We are feeling some sympathy for all you Northerners.

Still in Merritt Island, December 9th-18th

Wayne will be telling you later about his ongoing repair challenges but first, the fun things that have happened over the past week-and-a-half:

On December 10th we enjoyed a family gathering to belatedly celebrate Wayne's 65th birthday and his big brother, Howard's, somewhat larger upcoming birthday.  Sister Judy arranged to include brother Harlan and his wife, Patty, sister-in-law Nancy, and Wayne's oldest brother, Howard, with the two of us.  We all gathered for supper out at a local restaurant and then several returned to our "house" for birthday cake on the boat.  It was fun to spend some time with these Thrailkills.  Candles on the cake for the two birthday boys?  Forget it.  We would have burned the place down.  They had to make do with one that sang "Happy Birthday" to them. 


Wayne, Judy, Harlan, Howard

Later that week we got together with Roger and Marcy's family to celebrate their granddaughter Nathalie's fifth birthday.


Happy five-year-old Nathalie

Colleen with Gemini, a very docile great Dane who attended Nathalie's party.

Quilting News

Last Thursday Marcy joined me (Colleen) for a Shop Hop.  This is what quilters call a quilters' shopping trip to multiple quilt shops.  We had great fun visiting three local stores - Sew Central in Merritt Island, Quilting Folks in Cocoa and The Quilt Place in Rockledge. 



The bright, cheery shop at Sew Central

Long arm machines at The Quilt Place work on the
quilting of customers' homemade quilt tops.

We looked at quilting gadgets - you can't imagine the number of specialized tools that are out there just for us, and we browsed through thousands of bolts of beautiful fabric and chatted with enthusiastic shop owners and clerks.






Sample quilts hang from the ceiling of The Quilt Place.  What a paradise!

Then, on Friday morning Marcy and I visited the monthly meeting of Rocket Quilters, the guild in the town of Cocoa, serving this space oriented community around Kennedy Space Center.  This guild is very active - 125 members and a waiting list and lots of quilting activities going on.  We were welcomed with open arms and enjoyed getting to know the guild's members.



Marcy at the guild meeting with Rocket Quilters

 

Another Boating Adventure
Friday afternoon Roger and Marcy joined us on the boat for an overnight trip.  We traveled down the Intracoastal Waterway for about five miles, anchored just off Cocoa Village and fixed a supper of hamburgers, boiled potatoes (made in the rice cooker) and salad.



"Captain" Roger multitasking as he
pilots Cool Change


 

Flat Kate sews with Marcy on the boat.  She is traveling around the country as
part of a geography lesson in our granddaughter Kate's extended day program
in Boston.  Having spent some time in the North Carolina mountains and
with great-aunt Judy in Colorado, she's now wintering with us here in Florida for
a few weeks before heading out to Portland, Oregon. 

The next morning we started up the generator and it quickly overheated and shut itself down.  Once our mechanic had determined that the problem should not be fixed at the anchorage and that we could safely continue our travel, we sat back and enjoyed a beautiful cruise down to the end of Merritt Island on the ICW and then back to the marina by way of the Banana River which runs along the east side of the island.  Merritt Island is a strip of land that starts with the Kennedy Space Center at the north end and runs to Melbourne, FL at the south end.  The Banana River separates M.I. from the beaches and the ICW (the Indian River) separates it from the mainland of Florida.  It's a unique, fragile envirionment and a close-knit community, despite its long, narrow geography.

Merritt Island - our marina is at the top left hand edge of the "A" balloon

Morning on the Indian River



 

Next the Bad News...........

 

We had decided early on to call this year's trip the "people cruise".  But it is beginning to become the "repair cruise".  The problem with the generator turned out to be self-inflicted.  Wayne tested the seacock valve that lets water flow to the generator set when he was replacing the starboard motor impeller.  But....he somehow left it closed.  The result was that the gen set water pump ran dry and disintegrated.  Oh boy, another impeller to replace.  Actually this neglect led us to find that the water hose leading to the pump was ready to fall off because the single hose clamp securing it had corroded in two.  Marine standards recommend two hose clamps on all water and fuel hose so that there is a backup to secure the hoses.  Back at the dock the repair took just a couple of hours as we had a spare impeller onboard and Wayne is highly skilled at impeller replacement by now.

The pump is somewhere here where the belts are.

Carefully capturing all the pieces of the rubber impeller from the generator motor.

Now for the next repair!  During the night whle we were anchored, our water system pump kept coming on every 3 minutes or so.  The deduction - we have sprung a leak in our water system line somewhere.  No big problem when all that will empty into the bilge of the boat is the contents of our 70 gallon water tank.  But it could sink our boat when hooked up to constantly flowing city water at the marina.  Knowing that this would become a real issue shortly, we were attentive for any sound of water inside the boat and planned to tackle this problem on day two back at the marina.  The problem did not wait.  Before we could start the search for the leak, our aft bilge pump came on automatically and pumped on and on.  We turned on the middle and forward bilge pumps and they ran for ten mnutes to empty the bilge.  Lots of Water!!!! 

A search below the master stateroom bed (moving the queen-sized mattress that covers the water heater tank is quite a job in itself) revealed that the hot water heater was leaking at the PVC elbow coming out of the water heater.  When the elbow was touched it just fell apart. It took longer to find the part at Ace and then Home Depot than it did to complete the repair job.

The leak is in the smaller whte elbow at the end of the smaller white tubing.

The nut to the left is supposed to be part of the elbow.

So, just for fun, let's recap our repairs so far this trip:

Replace the bow thruster gear box
Sand and paint the entire bottom of the boat
Starboard impeller replacement
Generator impeller replacement
Doubling of clamps on the cooling system hoses to the gen set after finding a disintegrated clamp
Water system repair

Are we having fun yet?  Sure we are.  The weather is great and we're enjoying the company of lots of interesting people.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!
Wayne and Colleen