Looping with the Chequamegon Ark

 We ran in the AICW for 18 miles and then broke free into the Atlantic. Running smooth for about 6 miles when the gennygator shut down. Checked on that and there was water everywhere on the starboard side. I hadn't changed the Genny Racor since before the fuel filter and polish so we got that done rocking and rolling in a hot engine room. Didn't fix the problem so we decided to run fast and get to the marina - went down to check and found a high pressure water spray drenching the starboard side and coming from the exhaust water jacket. Shut it down, dried it out, cleaned it off and patched with epoxy and tape. An hour later after bubbling along on the port engine we fired up the starboard and she ran dry and smooth. Kept the speed down and walked into a marina to let things cool down and dry out. We'll pray and cogitate overnight before coming up with a plan. Enjoy every day!  Part of the overtaping part of my patch. 68 mile run today. Lots of Navy presence in Jacksonville ...

New Smyrna apparently has a lot of history that I was not aware of. We had to travel inside today due to the fact that there are no inlet/outlet options for over 70 miles. Not much boat traffic today but slow cruising most of the way due to housing and docks lining the AICW here. Marina was nice and quiet with floating dock which is really nice for Storm with 3-4 foot tides. Looking like 8-9 foot tides when we get to Georgia. Shooting for Jacksonville tomorrow night. Dose of history from the dog walks. Very early British colony in New Smyrna. The mako ate Nemo. Nicely painted along the marina waterfront. Calm and quiet today. Several bridges at Daytona. Many homes are built right up to the seawall along the waterway. we had to have them lift one bridge for us today. Lots of canals for developing waterfront real-estate. Nice touch with murals on the bridge piers. Big homes line the canals. Nice homes with docks and boat lifts but no access to the ocean for miles and miles. Some canals w...

We had smooth running engines into Port Canaveral and a nice quiet marina but fixed docks are tough with 3-4 foot tides and a dog to get on and off the boat. Busy canal with constant turn over of giant cruise boats. Ditto. Our home for 3 nights. Ft Pierce to Port Canaveral Nebo log. Falcon 9 rocket launch from the aft sundae about midnight. Lit up the sky and the roar came about 15 seconds after the visual. Has to be the fastest water slide I have ever  seen. Canaveral lock controls the tidal current through the canal. Huge marina tucked off the barge canal West of Port Canaveral and East of the AICW. Entrance to that marina - didn't see it until you were right on top of it. Lots of derelict vessels lining the canal and AICW today. I looked down and we were heading due North. We had to stay in the channel but the AICW was quite wide most of the day. Lots of crab traps showing up again. Safe as long as you stay in the channel. 10-15 mph winds but smooth ride today. First day we have...

Fort Lauderdale Harbourtowne had every option for mechanical help - would have had them check a few more things but didn't want to wait in line for what seem to be less or nonessential issues. 2 nights here were good. Racor accumulated this much algae in a 31 mile run from Miami to Lauderdale. Heavy sea grass made for extra work trolling. Stark difference in water color outside the jetty. Coming in hot. Nebo Gilled pork loin and egg plant - our little Cabelas grill has been an asset - keeps the heat outside and does a nice job grilling. Busy canal. Beautiful homes along the AICW near Palm Beach. Idle in the gulf stream  Idle speed for trolling for mahi. Another days Nebo Tiny finger dock in Fort Pierce. Safe Harbor Ft Pierce - 500+ slip marina. Very shallow - showing 4'4" under our sensor near high tide - didn't spin any silt coming out. Heavy current in the channel 4 mph current slowed us to 2.4 mph heading out to the ocean against the incoming tide. Lots of current a...