Indian River Sailing, December 10, 18, 26, 31, 2018

It turns out that having your own sailboat close by in east central Florida is a pretty good gig.  Similar to living aboard with a different set of pros and cons.

Irish Rover's track sailing with Buly and Doris on December 10

The most important benefit is that we sail only in good weather!  When the forecast looks good, we go sailing!  When living aboard and especially when traveling the ICW southbound after hurricane season, a small boat cruiser will press southward in most weather, even when cold and rainy as long as the miles can be covered safely.  Even though chilly damp conditions are uncomfortable, they are endurable and cruisers push through in order to get south more quickly.

As a local Floridian, I'm now able to wait until the warmer, drier days with plenty of breeze and I don't care what direction it's blowing.  While our sail on December tenth met the criteria for a dry, steady wind, the temperature was definitely substandard for Florida.  Buly, his wife, Doris, and I clambered aboard Irish Rover with the barest sliver of sun peeking through the clouds and temperatures hovering in the low 60sF.

Irish Rover in her slip

With a 15 knot northeasterly, we raised our sails and killed the engine for close hauled trim heading due north.  The temperature was our nemesis, as it began to work a chill through our windbreakers.  The sailing was fun and even a mite blustery (adventurous!) but as fair weather sailors, we know there will be another day soon.  Of course, that's another benefit of living ashore near your boat  .  .  .  It's easy to go AND return home as conditions dictate.  After a couple miles we gybed and enjoyed a more comfortable broad reach before returning to the marina and warmth.
As we approached the marina I saw a small, blue-hulled sailboat southbound on the ICW.  It was similar in size and rig to my former cruising boat, Kelly IV, so I was ready to share that info with Buly and Doris.  Then as our two boats drew closer together, I realized that this southbound sailboat was indeed an Endeavour 32, same design as Kelly IV.  Just as I was ready to speak these details to my crew, I noticed the radar post which was located in the exact spot where I had installed my radar post on Kelly IV!  This boat was my old boat!  Her new (2016) owners were crossing wakes with me on my new-to-me Irish Rover!  I grabbed my VHF radio and called the Sandflea (her new owners have renamed her).  As they were planning to spend a couple nights in Titusville, we made plans to meet and swap sailing stories.  This young family who now owns Sandflea posts a video blog about their cruising on You Tube.  They even included a brief clip of CaptMurph (at 3:01 in their video) from our short visit together in Titusville.

"Sandflea" is the first boat (blue) beyond Murph's RV

December 18 looking for the launch that didn't

Although December 18th forecast another cold (50sF) morning, the weather was to be perfectly sunny and clear.  Once they announced a rocket launch for the morning, it was obvious we "needed" to be on the water.  Steve, Myron, Dorcas, Lynn and I all converged at the slip and departed with steaming coffee in our hands.  The sun and camaraderie kept things comfortable enough until we could position Irish Rover about 5 miles south of the marina for a great location to observe the launch.  Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed; something about a small sailboat anchored in the wrong spot  .  .  .  kidding!  We were more than 5 miles from the launch pad.

Dorcas, Steve, Lynn, Murph, Myron, Irish Rover behind us

Irish Rover never had this much sailing experience in her crew before!  Myron, Dorcas and Steve have many years of Hobie Cat and small sloop sail racing experience each while Lynn and Murph each have many years cruising their keelboats along the east coast from Canada to the Bahamas.

Myron and Murph scanning
for the launch (pic by Lynn)

Dorcas confirms the launch
 is scrubbed (pic by Lynn)

Steve and Myron ready to try sailing
 without much wind (pic by Lynn)

We decided to make the most of the day as the sun kept us warm and the slight breeze tickled our senses.  Even with full sail, we couldn't make more than a couple knots headway, but we did enjoy a most gorgeous day on the water.

Karen and I took to Irish Rover on the day after Christmas when we discovered easterly winds blowing a stiff 15 knots with bright sunshine and temps in the 70sF.  So we were off on a beam reach after we killed the motor south of the Max Brewer Bridge.  The breeze carried Irish Rover smartly through the small waves as we watched dolphin playing in the distance.  The sun was blazing and the breeze made for a wonderful day of sailing.  Thanks to the east wind, when we tacked for home, we had the same terrific ride, just on the starboard reach instead of port.

A perfect beam reach from start to finish!

On the last day of the year TGO friends, Roger and Gail, from the Pittsburgh area joined Karen and I for a perfect day of sailing.  A bit lighter than on the 26th with 10-12 knot air, the sun was burning bright and clean with thousands and thousands of birds flocking on all sides of Irish Rover.

We got a bit silly singing about the famous Minnow of "Gilligan's Island" fame.  And the sailing was grand.  We tacked upwind through the pool of deeper water just west of the Vehicle Assembly Building on Cape Canaveral.  This is the same water where we hope to see many future rocket launches.

When it was time to head home we just let Irish Rover follow her nose on a broad reach back to the marina.

Gail and Karen enjoying the sail

Roger having fun at the helm

Gail captures the massive
 flock on camera

Karen relishes the breeze with friends

St. Augustine, December 28-29, 2018

Karen and I decided to take in the sights and lights of the season as presented in St. Augustine, Florida.  The actual traveling was mundane as we motored by car and stayed in a motel, but the sights brought back great memories of my stay there in the month of December 2014 when I was still cruising full time aboard Kelly IV.

I loved this view from my boat as
the lights were doubled, reflecting off the water.
From December 2014, St. Augustine Nights of Lights

We arrived Friday late afternoon and walked the streets of old St. Augustine enjoying the many sounds, sights and sensations including numerous temptations for delicious-smelling ice cream, fudge, pastries and drinks.

With many of the buildings dating to the early 1700s, the architecture is highly varied, often beautiful, and always interesting.  Although it is highly commercialized, there is plenty of real history to make the city a grand place to visit.  As dusk fell we drifted into a second story pub to listen to live music from a talented guitarist and sip a local brew.  By the time we grew hungry for dinner the sky was dark and the Nights of Lights were on full display.

A panorama shot with my mobile

We enjoyed a dinner at my favorite spot in St. Augustine, Meehan's Irish Pub.  Yep, I swilled draught Smithwick's while Karen and I enjoyed our first Irish fare in some time.  The video may do a better job of presenting the lights as we saw them.

The next day we drove through the rain for a brief visit to Anastasia State Park to consider camping there in the future.  It struck us a very nice campground with reasonably private sites, a great spot for Kayaking (on Salt Run) and paved roads for comfortable bicycle rides.

We took our lunch at a fun little bistro called the Gypsy Cab Company Restaurant.  It was gaily decorated and the food was excellent.

Sand Key with Family, December 16, 2018

My son, Paul, brought his family to Clearwater, Florida to celebrate his sister-in-law's wedding.  Fortunately, they were able to stay an extra day so Karen and I could visit with them on the beach at Sand Key Park.  We brought picnic fixins' and enjoyed a beautiful, if cool, day in the sun.

Kelsey, Avery and Paul

Jesse and Kelsey

Kelsey and Avery

Paul, Dustin (Kelsey's brother), Avery, Jesse, Kelsey, Mark (Kelsey's Dad), Karen

The reason for their trip to Florida . . .
. . . Kelsey, Avery, bride Hayley, groom Nick, Jesse, Paul

Kelsey, Avery, Paul, Jesse

A most beautiful Flower Girl!

Sisters!

Avery enjoyed herself!

Of course I was there

Paul and Avery enjoying a cool dip

Paul's family at the beach

Rainbow Springs State Park, December 1-5, 2018

Saturday morning we hitched the kayak trailer to the RV and made miles northwest to Rainbow Springs State Park outside of Dunellon, Florida just southwest of Ocala.

Click to access Google Maps

We pitched camp by setting up our dining fly, unpacking the small propane grill and locating it and a propane tank at the picnic table.

We'd read and seen pictures extolling the awesome clarity of the Rainbow River water and the ranger in the camp office shocked us claiming one could see up to 240 feet through the crystal waters.

Our experience merely cemented the claims.  These waters are the most transparent I've ever seen and that includes my experience snorkeling at Molasses Reef, Buck Island, and the Great Barrier Reef among others.

We first took a walk around the park campground and down to the kayak launch ramp.  Our walk included a trek through the brush where we found signs alerting us that we were no longer at the top of the food chain in Florida's outback.

 
It was only a few hundred yards from our campsite to the launch so we engaged the new dollies gifted to Karen by her daughter Allison.  The dollies made the trek carrying the kayaks to the water a simple stroll as the entire pathway was paved and smooth with no obstructions.

Karen demonstrates the superb results of her daily exercise classes.

This was also our opportunity to test two new-to-us kayaks that I bought at a recent yard sale.  Both were inflatable kayaks and our plans include enabling up to three guests to kayak with us and avoid having to rent additional kayaks.  I should point out that the larger kayak can be paddled by one or two adults, so with the smaller kayak and the two hard-sided kayaks we already owned, a total of 5 of us can paddle the local waters together.  And given that these are inflatable kayaks, they pack into much smaller bundles for storage and shlepping in our vehicles.

As we began paddling the two inflatables, we met a young man diving in the crystalline waters from his jet ski.  We were pleased that he used his small vessel for slow transportation and a diving platform instead of a high-speed, wake-throwing monster as many other folks use them.  In the small river with very limited room, the jet ski wakes would easily swamp our little kayaks.  The gentleman even alerted us to a tiny side creek that he assured us was a great spot to paddle through.  And he was absolutely correct!

The trees and boughs hanging over the creek made a natural cathedral

That's the white sandy creek bed two feet under Karen's kayak! 
Without ripples proving the water was there, we'd think we
were floating in the air above the sandy bottom!

Our test paddle of the inflatable kayaks alerted us to how they were different from the hard molded plastic kayaks we were familiar with.  Karen discovered that sitting on top of the inflatable kept her arms from rubbing the sides of the kayak as it happens sitting inside the rigid kayak.  We've since added a seat pad for Karen to raise her higher in her old kayak so it should be more comfortable for her to paddle it.

We found that without the hard chines and molded keel the inflatables were impacted by the breeze to a more dramatic degree than our hard-sided kayaks.  Although we can't see any problem with the inflatables abrading and leaking, it is a concern of mine.  And we did discover a small leak at the valve in the green kayak which became significant within an hour or so.

The next morning was chilly for Florida (yes our blood seems to be thinning) so we began the next day with a walk to get warmed up and avoid any cold splashes had we gone kayaking.  Our walk took us a couple miles down the tramway path to the park tubing venue.  Apparently in warmer weather the park and river are a popular site for cooling and splashing.  Folks leave their cars at the park's tubing entrance, collect a tube and ride the tram to the launch area near the campgrounds, then float downstream to the take-out point near their parking spot.  The walkway from the take-out to the lot is a raised wooden boardwalk that enables a wonderful perspective of the flora and fauna of the marshy wetlands adjacent to the river.

The sun was overhead and warming making the afternoon perfect for a kayak trip upstream to the Rainbow Springs headwaters and source of the Rainbow River.  The west side of the river included KP Hole County Park and many private homes until we neared the source where both banks of the river are protected parkland.  The park is composed of land and water features that were integral to its success as a Florida destination and attraction in the mid-1900s until it closed in 1973.  Three man-made waterfalls, an active swimming hole and an abandoned zoo are remnants of the park's commercial history.

Karen enjoying the Rainbow River scenery

Our kayaking was made thrilling by the constant view of fish flashing in the cellophane liquid below us and the diving anhingas chasing those fish.  Buzzards hung on the limbs overhead waiting for scraps or abandoned fish.  Karen likened the swimming anhingas to the penguins she saw underwater while snorkeling in the Galapagos during her recent trip there.

Turtles sunning themselves were a common sight

We hiked around the park's headsprings area taking in the waterfalls, enjoying the up and down walkways, an uncommon feature in otherwise flat Florida, and mesmerized by the see-through aqua.

The buoys define the park swimming area.  The bottom is
perfectly visible in depths well over ten feet.

Originally we had planned to snorkel at Devil's Den, a privately owned spring that is almost entirely underground.  Since we forgot our swimsuits and snorkel gear, we decided to merely reconnoitre the venue for a future visit.  We found the staff to be friendly and accommodating.  They were prepared for sightseers like us as they had a $5 "walkaround" fee, discounted for locals.  We explored the paths around the large fish and duck pond, checked the small swimming pool and stared through the open "roof" into the cave below ground where we could see a swim platform used by snorkelers and divers to swim the transparent spring waters.  The water is said to be a constant 72F year round, so we may return later this winter.  We returned to our campsite, struck camp and returned to Titusville, having enjoyed a few wonderful days of hiking, kayaking and sightseeing.