CaptMurph: 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.