Spring 2016 - Back Aboard

2/10/2016 to 2/14/2016 Tiger Point Marina, Fernandina Beach

A view of Mount Mansfield from Jericho in late January

Air travel is great when the weather cooperates and the airline is running on schedule.  We lucked out on both counts (and will will use Jet Blue in the future), arriving in Jacksonville on time, on a cool, breezy, sunny day.  The only problem with the flight was we flew well inland, possibly due to the storm swirling along the coast, and didn't get a view of our coastal cruising grounds once the clouds parted.  While we escaped Vermont before the cold snap, the temperature in Fernandina Beach dropped to the low 30's as the front swung through Thursday night.  Some of the first things we grabbed out of storage were the heater and fleece blankets.  Both  necessary, especially with a cold wind whipping around the boat.

A Victorian in Old Towne Fernandina overlooking the plaza

We arrived at Tiger Point to find Antares bright and shiny, but nameless.  The graphics guy wanted to check with us before finalizing the name and warmer weather to apply the vinyl name and hailing port.  Thankfully the temperature cooperated, rebounding into the 70's Friday allowing him to work, before dropping back into the 50's over the weekend.  

We planned to step the mast Friday during the morning calm, but decided to wait until Monday when the wind kicked up to a steady 15-20, gusting into the 30's when Bill and the crew were available after lunch. The bottom paint at the water line needed to be touched up where the bottom paint had been removed during painting the hull. It looked good when we'd been hauled in December, but now had places down to the bare hull, right where the grunge grows best.  Since we're retired and don't have a schedule, it doesn't make a lot of difference if we depart Tuesday or Wednesday, besides Tuesday's forecast is another cold front bringing possible thunder showers and wind - hardly ideal.   We have plenty to keep busy getting all the systems up and running. 

Bill, the  marina owner, threatened not to launch us unless our fenders had covers to protect the new paint job.  He'd been  promoting painting the hull for several years and is justifiably pleased (as are we) with how good she looks.  Now we'll  have fits when approaching docks and pilings until we get a few of the inevitable dings that happen to the best of us.  Bill suggested using sweat pant legs as an easy fix, but even  men's XL didn't fit our big fenders.  A check on line indicated a 3-4 week wait for custom covers from West Marine (at $70 x 4).  Our solution was a light weight sewing machine and fleece fabric from JoAnnes.  We're not sure how well they'll hold up, but they look nice, can be removed for washing and were considerably less expensive than anything we could have purchased.

Black skimmers flying along the beach - they scoop up fish with their lower mandible as they fly 

Black skimmers and gulls huddled on the beach in the wind

Friday afternoon, after deciding not to step the mast, we went for a walk on the beach and Egan's Creek Greenway, enjoying the sunny, breezy, afternoon.  The weather has been sunny, but the days have been busy getting chores done, with little time or energy left for fun things.  

One of many turtles basking in the sun on Egans Creek Greenway

Saturday was shopping day.  After deciding on a  solution for fender covers, we headed into Jacksonville to West Marine, Costco and Trader Joe's.  Given the crowds, (the population of the Duval County is far greater than all of Vermont, and everyone was out shopping) everything took longer than expected.  Dinner in town was a fitting end to a busy day.

Sunday we fabricated fender covers, ran a few errands and made another trip to pick up a load of gear from the storage locker.  Leonard replaced  fire extinguishers (not quite the same size as the old ones) and some of our LED lights. A number of years ago he fabricated mountings to replace the incandescent bulbs in our overhead fixtures since there wasn't an easy swap on the market without replacing the entire fixture.  They work great and save on battery usage.

The plan was to step the mast first thing Monday morning before the wind picked up, along with doing another coat of bottom paint along the waterline and touching up the keel. It was a bit past 0900 when Bill picked up the mast with the hoist and brought it alongside the boat.  We were glad we'd decided to wait.  It's exciting enough when it's calm and the mast is dangling by the boat and being spotted for dropping through the deck.  The thought of a strong wind gust at the wrong time would be worthy of a nightmare, with visions of the hull cracking open like an egg.  Bill said they'd scrapped plans Friday afternoon to move a 40' dock brow realizing it would have been difficult to control in a ill timed gust.

Bringing the mast alongside - the mast opening is between the hatch and the dinghy

Captain Bill maneuvering the mast for stepping

The mast was up and stayed by 1000, and we spent much of the day working through the list of remaining chores.  Our luck held and the wind stayed light, allowing us to get both sails up.  By mid afternoon the list was nearing the end, the decks would  wait until we were in the water to get washed.  We were warned to go light on boat soap until new vinyl decals were well set, a couple of weeks, but a thorough hosing would help remove much of the accumulated dirt on the deck.  It remains to be seen if we get the topsides polished before we leave.

Antares before launching, looks like a new boat

We'll keep the car for another day for clearing out our storage unit, laundry and a last provisioning run and any other last minute errands. We'll launch Tuesday morning (could be interesting since thundershowers are in the morning forecast) and head on our way Wednesday.  This, like most of our plans, is subject to change.  We'll keep you posted.