Sailvayu blog 4-28-24
We spent Saturday the 20th getting organized and checking resources for the repairs. We decided it would be best to go to a marina to do most of the work. This would be safer as the engine would be out of commission for a while and being at anchor without a working motor did not seem a good idea in case something went wrong, like the anchor dragging.
On Sunday Teresa connected with her sister for some pampering in the way of a pedicure and a girls lunch. While they did this I borrowed her sister’s car and drove around getting most of what I would need for a proper repair.
On Monday we moved the boat to Melbourne marina to start the repairs. As if things were not bad enough the alternator decided to short out in a puff of smoke on the way to the marina. It was bad enough the bracket broke now the alternator itself was fried. I could try to have it repaired locally but that would keep us in the marina longer adding to expenses. I did have a spare smaller alternator aboard so decided to use that while I ordered a replacement that could be shipped to Allison, Teresa’s daughter in Jacksonville. We were going to meet Allison in Fernandina, so she could bring it to us then. In the mean time the smaller spare would work. I would take the existing unit to a repair shop once we got to our home slip in NC as we would be there for a while.
While we were at the marina, it seemed a good time to do some laundry and wash some of the salt and dirt from the decks in-between fixing the engine. I had planned to try and make a new alternator bracket from some metal bar I picked up on Sunday. This proved not as easy as I hoped with the limited tools aboard so I changed course and decided to repair the old bracket by brazing it back together and adding some extra bracing. This was not as good as welding but I could do it aboard and get us going sooner.
By Weds the 24th we had the engine repairs complete and headed back to Dragon point for some final shopping before continuing on north. With restocking the groceries complete on Friday we left for Cocoa Village. Cocoa was only 15 miles up the coast so it was a quick trip. We anchored in the little harbor and spent the afternoon exploring the little village area. Cocoa has a really nice park and downtown filled with neat little shops along with many restaurants and bars. It was fun to walk around and explore, but we were trying to keep our wallet intact at the same time so mostly just looked. We did stop for some ice cream which was a treat.
As the weather was once again getting windy we decided to leave Saturday morning and head a short distance to Titusville where we could pick up a mooring and feel safer in the strong winds. It was just as well as Teresa was not feeling good and we likely would not have made it back into the village anyway.
We left Cocoa Saturday morning with a strong east wind Headed to Titusville 15 miles to the north. We were able to do a bit of sailing with the motor off for the first time in a while which was nice. Teresa was feeling off with a headache so it was just was well we had a short easy trip. We arrived and picked up a mooring just before lunch. It was a bit lumpy with the strong winds and waves but we felt safe on the mooring. The wind let up mid-afternoon just long enough for me to dinghy in to the marina office to pay for the mooring for the night.
Later in the afternoon while I was sitting in the cockpit I noticed a dinghy drifting through the mooring field. I recognized it as belonging to a power cat that had anchored a bit earlier near the mooring field. We had chatted with the owners at the dock in Cocoa the day before as their hail port was New Bern NC. I lowered our dinghy and headed over to rescue the errant dinghy and tow it back to the owners. As I got to their boat it was clear they had not even noticed the dinghy had come adrift. That added a bit of excitement to the afternoon. Later that evening just after dark we got a nice view of a Space X launch from Kennedy launch pad. We have seen many launches since being in the area but they are still fun to watch and each one is a bit different.
On Sunday we headed up the ICW to Daytona for the night. This turned out to be a long slow trip as it seemed both the wind and the currents were working against us. We did finally make Daytona later in the day and anchored in a small deep spot off the waterway. The next morning we would leave for St. Augustine.
