Wednesday, February 6, 2013 – Willoughby Creek – Whiticar Boatyard (Mile 951 – Mile 986):

            No sleeping in this morning.  We woke up to a few seconds of sun, which gave way to black puffy clouds, which gave way to white puffy clouds – well, that’s definitely better than black puffy clouds.  After a light breakfast, we battened everything down (in anticipation of having to negotiate large wakes from speedy boaters), and then the first order of the day was to get diesel and a pump-out.  The temperature is already climbing, and we are in shorts and t-shirts.  We have to wait our turn, but we finally pull up to the marina fuel dock.  Let’s be brutally honest, there is nothing like the smell of sewage and diesel to get you going in the morning!

            It takes us a little while to fill the fuel tanks, but the boat finally gets her full, but when Bob goes to pay the bill, the credit card company faints and says we have to call them to tell them we really have spent that much money at a gas station!  So I do, and the nice man I talk to on the phone says he is “so and so” from Columbus, Ohio, and I tell him my name, and that I am on a boat in Florida.  After several ha ha’s, I explain that yes we really did spend “that much money” on diesel, and please make a note on our card that we are traveling and may have to do it again!  He takes the hold off our card, and Bob finishes paying the bill!

            We are finally on our way further south again.  The puffy clouds have mostly given way to blue sky.  The landscape still resembles the Thousand Islands with this very narrow channel in the middle of what appears to be a very large body of water.  Tiny little islands and sandbars dot the landscape.   These small islands usually have a few trees holding on for dear life and some that have given up.  Every now and then you see a bird seemingly walking about in the middle of the water, but then you realize he is actually standing on the bottom!  And that, of course, reminds you not to stray out of the channel!  We did see a couple of unfortunate boaters that appeared to have done just that, and they were solidly aground. 

The speck in the middle of the water is a bird!

            We passed through Fort Pierce and through the Fort Pierce North Bridge, which opens on demand, and we got right through.  The area is now starting to look very developed with more and more condos on the ocean side. 

            I still haven’t seen any manatees, but while we were underway, we kept hearing this slapping noise.  I thought it was maybe the isinglass hitting the bimini frame, but after staring at the isinglass for a few minutes, that didn’t seem to be it, so I got up and looked over the side, and the slapping noise turned out to be two dolphins having a leaping contest next to the boat!  They were putting on quite a show, and we never get tired of watching them!

Dolphins leaping alongside the boat

            The area we were in had quite a few boaters, and I am glad we were going through here on a weekday, and not on a weekend.  Most of the boaters were polite, but you had to be aware of what was going on around you all the time, and be prepared to deal with the wakes from the other boats.  We did ok, and didn’t have any crashes down below like we had near Morehead City. 

            Just about the time we were leaving the Fort Pierce area, Bob noticed that the engine room lights had been left on, so I told him to let me drive and he could go down and turn them off, but just as we were about to switch drivers, the Raymarine Chart plotter went blank!!  This is proof that you need two chart plotters plus paper charts!  We have no idea what caused the Raymarine system to turn itself off, but it turned itself back on again right away.  I guess the Sea Gods were reminding us not to step out of line.  After that curious incident everything seemed to be ok again which made me very happy as we had to head into another very shallow area to get up into Willoughby Creek.

            The people at Whiticar Boatyard had told us that when we got to a certain mark to give them a call, and they would send a boat out to guide us into their place, and so we did.  We didn’t realize it at the time, but the channel into the creek was actually well marked, but apparently they are happy to come out and guide you in.  The markers look like mooring balls all lined up in two rows, and if you pay attention, there is plenty of water in the channel.  They must guide in a lot of boats, though, as one of the guys who came out jumped on our boat, so we actually had two guides!  There were plenty of guys on the dock to help us get tied up, and almost as soon as we did, the electronics repairman came on board and fixed the auto-pilot that we were having trouble with.  I think we will be out of here on Friday!

            Stuart is a short drive from here, and the boatyard said they would lend us a courtesy car to go exploring if we wanted to.  Our next repair that we need done is to one of the heads, and we may just borrow that car and get outta here while that repair is being made tomorrow!  The cat can fend for herself!

            Speaking of the cat, I think she has figured out our travel mode.  As soon as she hears the engines start up in the morning, she heads for “under the covers”, but somehow, she has figured out when we have stopped for the night.  I’m not sure it has to do with turning the engines off, because the engines were off, of course, when we stopped for fuel, and she still remained under the covers.  But when we stopped here for the night, she came right out, and actually stuck her head outside to see what the new sights were.  I think she realizes that the boat is a constant, but the outdoor views change, and she has adjusted to that.  I think she really is turning into a boat cat (she better not get any long-term ideas, however!).

            Right now, there are black clouds rolling in, but I haven’t listened to the weather to see if there is rain in the forecast.  Whatever the weather it doesn’t seem to be affecting the flight from the Martin County Airport as the noise from the jets taking off is rather loud at times.  I only hope they stop flying at night and the sound of jet engines is replaced by train whistles. 

View looking south at Vero Beach at sunset (I needed a tripod)