DAY 5 - Stuart to Pine Island

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 5 - April 5, 2017

We have settled into a pretty normal routine, I get up and make the coffee and take Baxter to shore, and then we have toast and coffee when I get back. I thought I would try tethering the kayak alongside the boat rather than putting it back on the roof today.  It has turned out to be harder for me to handle than the Alaska Series was. Even though it is lighter, at 12 feet long, it is very awkward, and in the slightest breeze it behaves just like a big sail.  After a bit, we stopped and I struggled to put it on the roof, since it now had a good bit of water in it that made it quite a bit heavier. I have some work to do to figure this out...

Getting out of Stuart turned out to be less than straightforward.  I was at the helm, and after a bit, Patty got concerned about exactly where we were going. On looking closely at the electronic charts, it seems I was headed out to the ocean instead of to the ICW.  Patty took over, and we soon made the turn onto the ICW northbound.

I had tried to identify where we might want to anchor tonight, and it sure looked like South Vero Beach was a prime contender on Active Captain.  We followed the Active Captain directions precisely, turned in at the right marker and headed for the right hand pipeline area sign.  All the reviews had the depths at 6 - 10 feet, but as soon as we made the turn, we saw the depth dropping...5, 4, 3...So we were in need of another spot!

We headed for Pine Island, which is in both Active Captain and Skipper Bob's Anchorages book.  Again, the location indicated in both resources was simply unreachable due to shoaling. I like protection from the wind for anchorages, Patty likes depth under the hull.  Patty prevailed. We are anchored off Pine Island but a bit more exposed than I like, although we do not seem to be affected by the wind here.

We made about 50 miles today, not out of choice but necessity.  Like they say, all the water in Florida is an optical illusion! If our Navman fuel flow meter is to be believed, we are doing extremely well on fuel economy at our 6-7 statute miles per hour.  

A couple of comments on how our planned navigation systems are working. We get depth from the Raymarine C-80, as well as the trip mileage.  Otherwise, it displays a base map which is not really too helpful! The Coastal Explorer computer offers far and away the most information, but the USB monitor is a bit dim. I probably should have sprung for a dedicated marine monitor, which would be smaller and brighter. The big problem, though, is that mouse cursor frequently seems to just disappear, which makes using it while at the helm a bit difficult, especially when my attention should be on things other than trying to find a mouse cursor. Fortunately, there are keyboard shortcuts for most Coastal Explorer commands, and my wireless keyboard has really been great.  Most of the time, the Coastal Explorer system does what I need it to do. But the shining star has really been the iPad running Navionics.  This balances neatly on the steering column, except when we get waked by a large yacht running fast or a center console with three 200 horse outboards. Its screen is bright and easy to see, and it is easy to control with the familiar iPad gestures. I think we really could have done this trip with just the Raymarine (depth is ESSENTIAL here) and the iPad.

Patty continues to be oppressed by the heat, flies, and probable dehydration. These do not help her outlook about the Great Adventure. I am doing fine, I find my attire of choice is just a swim suit with no shirt!

There was a wonderful sunset here at Pine Island tonight. Enjoy!