On the Hard Again!

I guess Willie Nelson would say, “On the hard again.” The boat is not gently swaying with the currents and the wind just whistles and howls through the rigging—well not so tonight since the rigging is on the ground! We left Fort Pierce City Marina last Wednesday for Riverside Boatyard expecting to have the mast pulled on Friday. Riverside is a huge boat yard. There are easily 2 or 3 hundred boats here in various states of repair and disrepair.

At any rate, we expected to have the mast pulled on Friday after Thanksgiving. Then we learned that we could have it pulled on Monday or Tuesday. There were two or three other boats whose owners wanted to pull or restep their masts and there is economy in numbers. Economy only goes so far when you have to pay for each day you sit on the jackstands even when no work is being done. So, this AM, we contracted for a crane and the mast was pulled. It was a really painless operation completed in a matter of 30 minutes.

The unwelcome surprise came when Peter removed the original mast step and found it to be unsalvageable. So now, the welding shop is fabricating a new step, adding 3 ½ inches to its height to compensate for the corroded part of the mast that Peter cut off. While the mast is on the ground, Peter will move the radar further aloft in order to add track to the front of the mast so we can store the whisker pole on the mast. This is for Claudia’s comfort and pleasure when “scampering” along the sidedeck uncluttered by the likes of a whisker pole. Then, he will replace the incandescent steaming light with LED and maybe replace the coax for the VHF with heavier coax.





The mast step



The bottom of the mast

We spent a somewhat uneventful Thanksgiving Day. Friends on board “Second Wind,” we met them at the City Marina, volunteered at a mission and brought us leftover turkey and fixings from the meal that was served there. Mostly we spent the day preparing to have the mast pulled; removing the mainsail, the lazy jacks, binding all the halyards to the mast, disconnecting wires, etc.
Before we left the City Marina, we had a night visitor, an osprey that was completely unfazed by the fake snake dangling from the bow pulpit of the boat next to ours. The osprey was equally unfazed by the flash of our camera and remained perched for well over an hour. The next day, he had lighted atop our mast and sat there for quite some time. Later, we saw him with a fish in his talons.

Yesterday, Peter took a walk from Riverside to Harbourtown Marina. There is a big citrus shipper about a quarter of a mile from the boatyard. If one were so inclined, he could help himself to Indian River grapefruits off a semi trailer. Then, the road is lined with bushes bearing gourmet pink peppercorns. Finally and of ultimate importance, about a half a mile away is a store that sells that all important commodity—RUM.

Exotic Flowers and Not So Elegant Mussels

Finally, the wind has abated. For thirty-six hours it howled in the rigging and the dock lines creaked and the boat rocked in the slip. By afternoon, the gray skies of morning and occasional drizzles gave way to bright sunshine and warmer temps. We took in the famous Ft Pierce farmers’ market. We really don’t need any provisions but it is fun to see what other things are being sold—crafts and the like. The market seems to have greatly expanded since last December when we were here. We took a fancy to a wind chime on board one of the boats in the marina. The skipper told us he got it at the farmers’ market. So, we looked up the vendor, a really nice guy named Jeff. His wind chimes are made of bits of stained glass, shells and glass beads. Hanging from Now or Never’s bimini frame is a tinkling wind chime of cobalt blue glass.
A bit further on, we came across a vendor who specializes in bromeliads and exotic flowers. We saw an air plant that we just had to have. A ball of greenery with a few patches of red beginning to show. We hung it from the dodger frame.
When we were here last March, we had a delightful meal at Yellowtail Grill—Thai Ginger Mussels, an interesting variation on the classic Moules Marinières and Ahi tuna with a wasabi cream sauce. We have been looking forward to a repeat performance. Unfortunately it was not to be. The mussels were not up to the standard that we expected and the tuna, while good, was not what it should have been. The bottle of Australian Pinot Grigio, however, was very good and we still had a pleasant evening out.

We’ve decided to repair the mast step here in Ft Pierce rather than risk the 17 or 18 hour trip down the coast with the problem. We expect to hear from the boatyard on Monday or Tuesday to schedule a haulout or a slip where we will await the haulout. It looks like we will spend Thanksgiving in Ft Pierce. Actually, the weather does not look good for sailing down the coast anyway, so maybe things will work out well.

Peacocks and Pelicans

After fifty hours and 33 minutes the first leg of our winter trip is complete. We left Brunswick on Saturday, Nov 12 at 9AM. We passed under the Sidney Lanier Bridge, cruised past St Simons light house and three hours later we were in the Atlantic and headed south—the two of us and a guest. Randy, a fellow sailor from Dock 6 joined us for the trip. He was a big help, a great crew member and fun to have on board. We spent two moonlit nights on the ocean and witnessed two glorious and very welcome sunrises. Monday afternoon, we pulled into Ft Pierce inlet with great trepidation. The inlet can be the “inlet from Hell” with huge, erratic waves that toss the boat about like a cork, especially on a falling tide. As it was, we approached the inlet 3 hours into a falling tide! It wasn’t planned that way; we were supposed to arrive before high tide but the wind just wasn’t cooperative. Luck was with us and our worries were for naught, the inlet was calm.
The only excitement during the trip occurred sometime Monday morning. Passing Cape Canaveral, we heard a heavy thud but couldn’t identify its source. We were sailing close-hauled in about 12 knots of wind and the rig was loaded. Peter noticed that the shrouds on the leeward side were pretty loose but attributed that to the fact that they were not really doing any work. Later, when he went below, he noticed that the base of the mast must have shifted since a bilge cover had been displaced. The mast was becoming unstepped! Furl the ginny and douse the main! Get the load off the mast!
Thankfully the seas were kind and didn’t toss us about too much, sparing any further stress on the mast. The problem was caused by galvanic corrosion between the aluminum mast and the steel mast step. We’d been monitoring the problem for quite some time but didn’t realize that it had progressed so far. So, next stop, Playboy Marine in Ft Lauderdale where we will have the stick pulled and repairs done.
Meanwhile, here we sit in Ft Pierce waiting for a weather window and watching pelicans dive for their dinner. Yesterday, Randy rented a car and chauffeured us from errand to errand. Once, all traffic on Orange Avenue came to a standstill in order to allow a peacock cross the road.