Best Laid Plans.....

Headed South

...and back North

Today just didn't go as planned.  I got up early with Jan and after she went to work, I packed all my stuff for a 5 day round-trip sail to Melbourne and back.  I was planning on hanging with Jim and Kathy Lee and still getting back home in time to go to work next week.

I got to the boat and prepared it for getting underway.  I topped off the  battery banks with distilled water, checked the oil, transmission fluid, etc.  I threw the dock lines off about 8:45 and backed out of my slip.  I stopped at the fuel dock and topped off with 24 gallons of diesel.

After leaving the fuel dock, I headed out the channel and into the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway).  Just 5 minutes into the southbound trip I heard a Security announcement on the VHF...   "Securitay, Securitay, Securitay, this is the US Coast Guard - Ponce Inlet. For an update on the George Munson Bridge,  switch to channel 2-2 alpha".   So, I switched to 22a.   "Securitay, Securitay, Securitay, this is the US Coast Guard - Ponce Inlet.  The George Munson Bridge will be closed today until 5pm for repairs.  All mariners with questions should  contact the U.S. Coast Guard.  This is the U.S. Coast Guard - Ponce Inlet: Out".

Well, my plan for  the day was to sail to Titusville and anchor outside the Titusville Marina for the night.  Jan works just 10 minutes from there, so she was going to drive over after work and we'd spend the night there and she'd get up in the morning and go back to work - and I'd continue south to the Melbourne area.  To get to Titusville in the ICW, you have to pass under 2 draw bridges.  One of them  is nearer to Titusville and is the Haulover Cut bridge.  The other one is the north causeway bridge (also known as the George Munson bridge) in New Smyrna Beach.  It's only 21 feet tall and my boat's mast is 54 feet above the water, so I wasn't going under it without it opening for me.  Going out into the ocean wasn't an option for me singlehanding - because it's 75 statute miles and I wouldn't be able to get to Port Canaveral (the next inlet south of Ponce Inlet) before dark.

Oh well, since I had the boat out, I took it south to Port  Orange - under  the 65 ft bridge and then did a 180  and headed back to the Marina.  I was out about 90 minutes or so.  When I got back to the slip and tied back up, I checked out the engine compartment and I had several oil leaks that I never had before.  I hadn't had the boat out since I had the oil pan gasket replaced by a marine mechanic.   I gave  him a call and he's going to come over and  work on it.   So, I guess it all works out in the end.  Since I'm leaving on Feb 19th for the Bahamas, I want to get the oil leak fixed before casting off.  I wouldn't have found the leaks if I hadn't taken the boat out for a spin this morning.

I'll probably take the 1 and 1/2 hour drive down to Melbourne tomorrow to hang with Jim.