Anam Cara Adventures

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Journey South

Shortly after X-mas we headed out of St. Marys, on a now familiar route down the ICW. Cold stormy weather and the want to test out all our systems kept us on the "inside" for the time being, even though I was itching to sail. In St. Augustine we stopped for New Years, and enjoyed a fabulous brunch on New Years Day with Tom and Laurel. We anchored north of the Bridge of Lions for several days, enjoying the lingering Holiday Spirit. When it was time to leave, we were in for a bit of a surprise!

Fouled Anchor

As Dave hoisted the anchor, I noticed he was straining to get it up. He persevered, and the more he pulled, the more Anam Cara's bow kept getting closer and closer to the waterline. OOPs, I thought, the anchor is fouled. I put the boat in gear trying to get the anchor free, but to no avail. Eventually we gave up, and called our best insurance we ever bought - Boat Tow US. While we waited for them to arrive, Dave realized that the rapidly rising tide was pulling the bow further and further into the water. The problem - the chain on the anchor gypsy was now so tight that we could no longer get it off.

We had to use winches and ropes and a whole lot of effort to finally free the chain off the gypsy, and Anam Cara heaved back up to a more stable position. Wheew! Within an hour the Tow Boat fellow arrived in his red boat, and another thirty minutes later a diver. Temperatures were almost at the freezing point, and it was windy and COLD. But, the diver happily dove into the arctic water, and told us within minutes that our anchor chain was wrapped several times around a huge concrete block with protruding reinforcing metal bars. No wonder we weren't able to budge!

The anchor incidence put us behind schedule, and so we opted to anchor not far from St. Augustine, in a lovely bend in the river. In the distance we could see a not so lucky fellow who had run aground and was left almost totally high and dry in the mud for hours. We aren't the only ones with mis-adventures after all!

Cold Spell

The push to go south became more and more urgent as the weather got colder and colder. We pressed south, but to no avail. At night the temperatures dipped well below freezing, and we put on all the warm clothes we own and then some. In the night and mornings we would awaken to an insanely wet boat, often with condensation dripping onto our bed. Washing became a thing of the past, as even taking my gloves off was almost unacceptable. Our friends who were already further south than us confirmed that even Miami was experiencing record lows. And there was no end in sight to the cold spell! By the time we hit Vero Beach, we were miserable and tired of trying to stay warm, so we paid for a mooring ball that allowed us the luxury of warm showers at the marina, and a coffee shop where we could at least warm up during the day. The remainder of the time we spent underneath our down comforter in bed with three fleece layers on and woolly hats and gloves.

In fact it was so cold that the fish could not survive, and before we knew it, the marina was full of fish floating belly up and being washed up ashore. The headlines in the newspapers told the same sad story for the local turtles and manatees, and huge rescue operations were underway by the wildlife rescue people. Lizards and iguanas were falling out of trees in a state of frozen paralysis, even the alligators, we were told, were having that problem. Luckily not one fell on us!

I believe it took two weeks until we finally had a bit of respite from the cold, and boy did we enjoy it when we finally thawed out! We left Vero Beach after fixing a propane gas leak, on a sunny morning, and were accompanied by dolphins for miles south! In Hobe Sound, our next anchorage, we waited out some bad weather, giving each other our monthly haircuts, and enjoying a bit of quiet time together.

The previous year we had run aground in Jupiter Inlet, so I was none too keen to go through there again. But as Murphy would have it, the minute we entered this tricky area, with the tide pushing us towards the bridge (that still needed to open for us!) it started to rain like there was no tomorrow. And with that the wind howled and the visibility went down to practically nothing. So little in fact, that the next bridge tender kept saying he wouldn't open the bridge for us because he couldn't see us, which translated to him that we weren't there! Nevertheless we are very pleased to report that we made it all without incidence, as we have learnt a thing or two. One wisdom we have gained is that we can call Boat Tow US before we leave in the morning if we have any doubts about any shoaling. Since they are the lucky ones who get to pull everyone off who has run aground, they know exactly where these spots are! You have to know that shoals are constantly changing on the ICW and thus are not marked on the charts. To make it really exciting, the water in that part of the river is as murky as turkish coffee, and you can never see the bottom!

New Territory

South of Lake Worth was new to us, as last year this had been our departure point to the Bahamas. Here we finally managed to leave the dreaded ICW and head south on the "outside". Fort Lauderdale was our next stop. Here we caught up with Ann & Ed on "Windswept Dreams". We had met them at the Saint Marys Boat Yard, where Ed had announced to us that he was ready to call his boat "Windswept Disillusions". I suppose we all have our moments! They kindly had us to dinner that night after we dropped our anchor next to them in Lake Sylvia. A uniquely charming couple, they tried to convince us to be ready the next day to sail to the Bahamas with them. Well, we weren't even close to ready, and a front was due to come through that night! The next day we dingied over to their boat to wish them a bon voyage, and found that they were frantically doing their last minute prep, which included writing x-mas cards. "For next christmas?" we inquired politely. Ed said :"Don't ask" and Ann just gave us one of her big smiles and said "No, for last christmas!". It was the third week in January. The next thing we knew they were flying off with their dink to get her glasses fixed, and we don't even want to know what else. I was exhausted just watching them get ready, but true to their word, off they went, similarly to the day we watched them sail out of St. Marys in 35 knots of wind, with their provisions still stacked high everywhere! But they went, and they are enjoying themselves in the Bahamas, while we ... well, read on...

The Story of our Life...

Next stop - Miami! We sailed down the coast, came in through Government Cut and into the anchorage near Miami Beach. Here we caught up with Reg & Sharon on "Pea Soup". It was a fun reunion! City life! We got to go to a farmers market, coffee shops, restaurants, and even a movie theater! Lincoln street nearby had it all, and we enjoyed our friends and some tasty foods! To top it off, I looked up an old college friend, Dennis, who I remembered had moved here to practice acupuncture.

After a bit of homework, I finally located him, and it turned out he lives just up the street from where we were anchored at the time! We had a great time together - he showed us his world via bicycle, and we dingied him out to Anam Cara to show him ours. Dennis lives an extraordinary life in that he manages to do exactly what he wants and keep his life extraordinarily simple! During the winter he lives in Miami Beach and sees a few acupuncture clients. During the summer he leads bike tours in Nova Scotia or across the entire North American Continent. Most recently he spent almost a year teaching English in Thailand in the Peace Corps, and is now fluent in Thai. At sixty five he looks about half his age, and keeps as fit as a fiddle! He cooked us lovely Thai dishes, and was a true friend!

When I realized that I had thrown my back out in a big way, and could barely move, it also dawned on us that we were going to have to let a great weather window to sail to the Bahamas just pass us by. The agony at night was almost undescribable, and by early morning, Dave would find me whimpering or screaming, barely able to move. After the first excrutiating hours, my muscles would ease up a bit, and I could start to breathe! Lucky for me, Dennis was close at hand, and gave me two acupuncture treatments to loosen things up. To make matters even more delightful, I came down with a bladder infection, and was not a happy camper at all We spent an entire day in Dennis' condo waiting for torrential rains to abate so we could walk back to our dingy, which looked like a lonely bathub filled with water when we managed to get back! My parents were convinced that we should now give up cruising for all the bad omens that seemed to belay our path with obstacles. These days I remember as a blur of pain, which ended in me desperately seeking a chiropractor. A woman Dennis had recommended brought me to my knees literally, as she tried to pop my spine and rib back into place. How I missed Keith and Brian, the two wonderful chiropractors I worked with in California! Dave ordered me to stay on the boat after that, and with his loving massages slowly nursed me back to health! In the meantime we watched sadly as many of our friends left to head south or to the Bahamas.

Sometimes I do wonder why this cruising life has so many challenges, is so expensive, and so incredibly much work! Just to keep the boat going takes up most of our time. The countless books we thought we would read are still stowed away in the deep recesses of the boat. Every day something new arises that requires our attention! For example, our dingy engine has quit on us countless times now (one of big mistake purchases!), and Dave was getting dangerously close to the end of his tether! Then, as he was opening the valve for the holding tank to be pumped out just the other day, a puff of smoke suddenly came out of the lazarette. My first thought was that our shit was now flying through the air, until I remembered that shit has a color other that white. Dave, on the other hand, sat back in resignation and told me that the freeon of our refridgeration system had just escaped, and that now our fridge was kaput, and would need an expensive repair. In reaching for the valve, which is behind the fridge compressor, he told me, he must have disconnected a hose. So distraught was he that I had to resort to comforting him for a change, and prayed that this was not the last straw for him. A few minutes later he had a smile back on his face as he realized it wasn't freeon after all! He had accidentally triggered the fire extinguisher we keep in that area, and so for once the Gods had smiled down on us and saved us a lot of aggravation!!!

As I write this we are moored up at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, listening to the rain outside. Dave is nursing a miserable cold, and I am cooking chicken soup and ministering to his health, as he has done for me countless times. We have made new friends here, including James, the boat taxi captain who has gone out of his way to help us, and Gerry, an Irish "cousin" of Dave's (so he says!) who, not knowing us from Adam, has also been a terrific asset to us and extraordinarily helpful. We have two big fronts approaching, making a journey to the Bahamas close to impossible for now. But worry not, we have PLENTY of boat projects to keep us busy! Do we still want to go??? YES!!! The yearning to live out this dream is strong, and the boat feels like a part of us. When I cook or use the sewing machine, I think of the women who have lived and loved this boat before me - Susan and Aby, sweet as they were, I know they loved her too! Before that, Karin, whom we have never met. I know what they went through, their trials and triumphs, and that they miss their boat, and I know, that when we have to move back to land, I will miss her too!