Perspective

Simply put, there is nothing more important than one's mate being healthy. Tonight, for the first time in weeks, Bear had that sparkle in her eyes, not that one you might be thinking of but the one that says "I feel good". We are a team, a single life force and when one of us is not good, neither is good. That's the way it is.

We spent the day hustlening parts for the boat. Most of it was afoot. I can relate to my grunt days . My butt is dragging. We re-attached the Autprop I fired in Bahia Hoda Key and we are now mobile again. In between lightening this afternoon, I went under the boat and put that sucker back in service.

Like most of the past few harbors, we enjoyed the people watching. There are pet Tarpons in this harbor and they are one of the crowd. How cool is that? Tomorrow, we move out. We need to be in a place before noon on Friday before the crazies get afloat.

More on the AWOL Prop

Ok, it is now raining catz and dawgs and I am ready to put the Autoprop back on. Bear thinks I might be well advised to stay out of the water while it is lightening, so I will cool my jets until the thing goes away. The day started with a two mile walk to the West Marine to get some shaft keys to install the prop. Guess what? They quit carrying those important pieces of metal. Guess another rack of tacky shorts is way more profitable. They did have an expansion tank for our on board fresh water system. The original one leaks. The designer of deck shoes should try to hoof it two miles on a ninety degree day and see how far he can go without blisters. Laziness on my part kept the bicycles in the bag below.

Just as I was leaving WM, the sky opened up. I was heading, again on foot, to a propeller company to get some shaft keys. I got about half way there, another two mile walk and decided to call a taxi. We got to the propeller company and they couldn't find the keys they told me they had when I called. They did machine some for me and that was a good thing. Fort Lauderdale has more boat related companies than any place we have been.

Back at the boat, I was working on the prop when a fellow walked past WK and looked at her stern for the hailing port. He then introduced himself as the fellow that sold WK new to her former owner. What a small world. He knows Safari's crew.

Providence

There are times when one gets a little tap on the back of the mind that what one has just accomplished might not be complete; that it is not finished. We left Dinner Key Marina on Biscayne Bay yesterday and decided to make of Fort Lauderdale. So, we sailed almost due south, away from Ft. Lauderdale, in order to get out of the bay without having to deal with the commercial traffic of Government Cut in Miami. It was a very nice day to be at sea. For the first time, we were actually in the North Atlantic since there is no protective reef that far north. Winds were less than 10 knots so it was another day to motor.

The four feet swell was quartering so we put up the headsail just to minimize the roll and settled in for a five hour passage to Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), a commercial port. Bear snuggled into the cockpit seat and tried, in vain, to get some serious knappage. The absence of wind made it hot but the thunderstorms to our south were heading our direction and promised some shade soon. We passed South Beach and Hollywood at a distance of about two miles offshore. The contrast of this place versus the swamps of Louisiana is remarkable. Not one foot of the land we passed yesterday is without some sign of development. Life guard stations are about one hundred yards apart for the whole way. We had the deep blue sea of the North Atlantic to the starboard and the sugar white beaches to port.

One thing that continuously amazes me is that we do not need music whilst at sea. Unlike our day sailing out of Port A, where we had Jimmy Buffet or some other music on all the time, we have yet to start that on this cruise. Sure, we listen to music, but don't really do it underway. The sound of the sea and the boat are music enough.

Thunderstorms were building to the south of us and at around 1300 they started to chase us. Some were lively as the lightening, something we don't want around our 58 feet lightening rod, was nailing mother earth everywhere just inshore of our course. The bogeys were everywhere and we watched them all day. The traffic was almost non-existent and we were treated once again to Mother Ocean's delights. Our destination was Lauderdale Marina, just inside the ship channel/ ICW intersection. One bridge seaparated us from the marina. Said bridge is restricted and only opens every thirty minutes. Naturally, we missed an opening by about three minutes, so we had to meander around and wait for the next. In this case there was much to see. Being a commercial port, ships were everywhere. We just did long circles for about thirty minutes until the bridge opening. A friend, Paul called and said he was on a webcam for the area and was looking at the area we occupied. Not sure if he ever saw us or not but the real time camera allowed viewers to pan around. He was looking at the same stuff we were seeing.

If there is such a thing as a pretty bridge, the 17th Street Causeway bridge in Fort Lauderdale is one. It actually has some style and is, as all Florida bridges we have encountered thus far, professionally operated.

As we have come to realize, every voyage presents some type of challenge, be it navigation, weather, or mechanical. Yesterday was no different. As we were approaching our dock space, we slowed to a very slow bell to toss lines to the dock hands. Since Bear's mobility is just now returning, I requested assistance from the dock. They sent two guys to grab our lines. While we really do not need much assistance, if any, in docking, yesterday was one of those times when it was invaluable. We were approaching a dead end dock downwind. The ability to stop is sort of important since at the end of the dock was a very impressive and brand new Boston Whaler. Methinks our anchor and bow might well have rendered a few cracks in that beauty had we not been able to stop. We set up the approach nicely, at least by our standards, and had dock lines ready. Just as it was time to toss lines to the dock guys, I put the boat into reverse to ease the motion. Bang, then nothing. No forward. No reverse. I asked the dock guy to secure the line and stop us. He did it and we slid, almost professionally up against the dock. This was important since there was a boat on the other side of the pier with crew watching the whole event. One simply does not want to crash into something with witnesses, especially from Annapolis. The "emergency" docking looked as though it was planned.

We tied off and I went below to see if the prop shaft was still in place. There have been cases where the shaft came loose from the transmission and when put in reverse, it backs out of the boat. That is not good since it leaves a rather large hole well below the water line. In our case, the shaft was still there. Good, thinks I. Bear cycled the shift lever and it operated properly in forward and reverse. Good thinks I. So, the only other thing is that the prop chose to jump ship. Fine, just fine, thinks I. Being late in the day, we decided to deal with it tomorrow and went to a dock side grub joint for some fried gator and linquini. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

Tomorrow is now today and I have to investigate the run away prop situation. I mentioned that I fired the Autoprop back in Bahia Honda Key a few weeks ago. I installed the OEM prop underwater and am certain I might not have gotten the prop nut tight enough. Now, my mission today is to find a shaft key and re-install the Autoprop if the shaft is not damage. If it is, Why Knot gets to come out of the water somewhere. Until I get wet and look at it, we won't know whether or not our stay in Fort Lauderdale is two days or two weeks. Wish us luck. Once again, Mother Ocean has favored us by letting such problems happen in a slip or at a location where we can deal with it more conveniently. Fort Lauderdale, with all the boating supporting facilities, including the largets West Marine we have ever seen, is not the worst place for this to happen. I can't imagine a prop loss in some back water island in the Bahamas.

Dinner Key, Coconut Grove

Ok, Boys and Girls, another Bligh insignificant history segment. The first thing one notices on approach to this marina is a substantial building with hangars that is now the Miami City Hall and the hangar is a boat storage facility. It is not usual for marinas we have visited. When checking in at the office, there is a display of Pan Am Flying Boat models and write ups about the history of this place. Seems that it was the second largest Naval Air Station in the nation in 1917 being separated from the mainland by a small channel, hence the name Dinner Key. After WWI, Pan American Airways established this place as a headquarters, if not the main headquarters and started flying boat service between his place and South America. At the time, it was considerted one of the largest American airports. After WWII when technicological advancements made the flying boat obsolete, Pan Am moved operations to Miami International Airport and abandon flying boats. The facilities reverted to the city of Miami where the old Pan Headquarters became the Miami City Hall. Surprise, the city hall is not in the high rise area to the north which might seem to be the city center. As a side note, the old hangar still remaining was the place where Jim Morrison of Doors fame was arrested in 1969 for exposing himself to the audience (really not worthy of note). Now Dinner Key is the site of one of the largest marinas in Southern Florida. What history this place holds. One can almost hear those old Wasp 820 hp engines moaning on the Clippers.

We took some time today to visit West Marine again for charts and spare parts. Said WM is in Fort Lauderdale some 30 miles away. Getting tired here of visiting WMs.

ack at the boat, we saw a fellow rowing a boat towing a boat. Now that is purists. Above is a shot of the fellow. Also shots of this historic place.

One more day here then up north we go. Bear is doing some exercises that are to release the spasm. Thanks to an old friend on the west coast, we learned that said spasms result from sitting in certain positions for extended times such as being on a boat for months. Hopefully, we will see improvement on her back. There is little joy if the Admiral is not happy.