 |
| Manatee Pocket overlooking the mooring ball field. |
One of my favourite musicals, show, movie, CD is Les Miserable. I don’t know how many times I have seen the show, movie or played my CD, I just love the music. Well since last time I wrote, I have been singing the song from Les Miserable – ‘One Day More’.
One day more for the engine to be finished, one
day more for the wind vane to be completely finished, one day more for the
never ending boxes that were first stored in the aft cabin and then migrated up
into the cockpit, to be emptied and taken off the boat, one day more staying in
the Fort Pierce City Marina, one more day swinging on the mooring ball in
Manatee Pocket, Stuart watching and waiting for a good weather window to cross
over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.
 |
| Riverside Marina. |
City marina in amongst our new friends we had met while staying there. This time we were planning on only staying there for a week, so we were tied up on L247 in amongst the multi million dollars motorboats. WOW – full houses on water. Our aim for being back in Fort Pierce City marina was to have the engine serviced. The next day, Thursday, after arriving back at the marina, Pierce and Eli arrived to work on the engine. These two young guys were so polite and enthusiastic to be working on an engine. They were thorough and eager to let Mel know if there was anything out of the ordinary that needed to be addressed. By Thursday lunch time the engine was in a few pieces as Pierce and Eli took the heat exchanger and raw water pump away to attend to and said that they should be back to finish the work on Monday of the following week.
In the meantime, we hired a car to do another
huge shop and to buy the never-ending list of spare parts. We also filled up
our gas/propane tanks for the oven. Let’s just say that it wasn’t as easy as we
would have liked as there was a slight issue with our new gas tank which led to
us having to drive in circles, literally, getting a new gas tank from West
Marine, as the faulty one was still under warranty and the only West Marine
that had another gas tank was where we had been, literally an hour before.
Anyway, by that evening, we returned to the boat after 9.00pm with two full gas
tanks and enough canned/tinned food to last us for 4 - 6 months.
Mel continued to work on the windvane and the new
autopilot, while I continued to clean, sort out the food stuff and do the odd
bit of sewing. There is always another cover to be made.
On the sewing front, I have completed the main
sewing projects I intended completing before we leave the States. The new hatch
covers and mosquito nets, plus a cover for the windvane and adjustments to the
pedestal cover. For the next few sewing projects, there is no rush to complete
– rope bags, and new fender covers.
Monday arrived and Pierce phoned to say that he
would only be able to come back to our boat the following day. That was fine as
he knew we were only leaving either Wednesday or Thursday.
By Wednesday evening, 20 March – almost exactly 2
months since arriving back on the boat, we felt that Passages was ready to sail
into the sea. Yes, there are the odd things that still need to be addressed but
these were living issues. For example, the lighting in the main saloon/living
area and galley/kitchen has never been great. We bought some new lighting to be
put up. This can wait until we are somewhere else, we have lived with this
situation for over 10 years.
We said our “Good Bye’s” to the wonderful people
we had meet during our two months stay at the marina. It was rather sad.
However, it was time for us to get going, even if it was back south, down to
Manatee Pocket in Stuart where we had stayed for quite a while last year, 2023
and where Passages had spent two months (November/December 2023 and part of
January 2024) having her chain plates replaced.
So here we are, swinging on a mooring ball in Manatee Pocket waiting for a decent weather window. At
.jpg) |
| The full moon setting over Manatee Pocket. |
the time of writing this, the window for us to cross is Tuesday, however the weather forecast is changing rapidly, which might mean another few days more to wait. In the meantime, there is always something to do – reading, sewing, cleaning. Mel and I have found since we have been here on the mooring ball, we have felt quite tired. It is understandable as since March 2023, since leaving Guatemala, we have been working on Passages, preparing her to leave for the next big adventure. (I am apprehensive as it’s a HUGE step going out into the North Atlantic for so many days).
BTW – last year Manatee Pocket did not have
mooring balls but as I mentioned in two blog posts last year, many lovely
anchorages are now becoming mooring ball fields run by the local council for a
fee of course. This is, we think and have heard, to prevent live-aboards and
rust buckets from taking up the space. With the price of houses here in the
States, many people can only afford to live on a boat – see blog entries No 9
and No 10 from 2023.
We are enjoying our Starlink although with the
cloudy days we are experiencing, we are monitoring how much power we are using.
While we are here in Manatee Pocket, Mel is
arranging for a new mount to be made for the Starlink antenna.
So, I continue to sing ‘One day more.’. on the
mooring ball as we wait.
Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
👉One day more
