Ponce de Leon to Sarasota

11-11-2008

Diesels are wonderful engines; they develop more power per gallon of fuel than gas engines and they have no spark plugs and the associated electronics required to operate them. Another good thing about diesel is that it does not burn, quite unlike gasoline so it is much safer.
So if the engine was sputtering occasionally the only real problem it could be was the fuel. I had already changed the fuel filter and there was no improvement which meant it was either a faulty fuel pump or air in the line. So I did something that no man should ever do, I read the directions.
Turns out there is a bleed pump for air on the engine with a drain hose so I grabbed a jar and bled the system, quite a bit of air came out.
We pulled the anchor and motored out of Ponce de Leon bay and the motor ran flawlessly.
Our next destination was about 40 miles up the coast, a spot where we could anchor for the night called Dismal Key. A name like that conjures up visions of deep dark mangrove swamps and even more NoSeeums (the nasty little biting mites that drive you crazy). When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. The keys here were covered with a low jungle canopy with beautiful sandy beaches.
We anchored behind a key that would give us the most protection, donned our swim suits and hopped in the dinghy to go over to a beautiful beach on the next island. About 100 feet from the shore we ran aground so everyone got out, except for Ziggy and pulled the dinghy up to the beach.
We spent the better part of an hour (If most of an hour is called the “better part”, what is the worst part?) walking in the water along the beach which was knee deep 150 feet out. We were looking for shells, fish and watching Ziggy go crazy running in the shallows. He would run in water 6” deep and while trying to drink water that he splashed up, which is not a good thing since he tends to get sick when he drinks anything but tap water or wine.
The next morning I took Ziggy ashore just after dawn and started hearing strange noises in the “jungle” not terribly far away. It was kind of strange and made me think of the TV series “Lost”. A minute later about 100 small egret or heron looking birds flew out of the tree tops about 100 feet away and swooped out to the water directly over my head.
We weighed anchor and headed up towards Marco Island which was only a few ours north. We motored into the bay thru a twisty channel which appeared to go over land in a coupe of places. As we got near the marina we were going to stay we saw a large sailboat laid on it’s side, half submerged in the shallows, it was an eerie sight.














Half sunk boat Marco Island


We docked and John ran off to get a rental car so we could do some shopping, he was going to drive to Miami the next day to catch a flight back home.
Early the next morning John took off, it had been great having him with us again. His help on the boat and steering had been invaluable. After hugs and farewells he walked down the dock and Julie and I were alone.
The forecast was for strong winds and waves so we decided to wait a day for better weather and work on the boat some more. One of the 2nd tier projects that had been on the list had moved it’s way all the way to the top with John’s departure – fix the autopilot.
I had looked at the autopilot previously and all of the components were in place and connected to the controller but it would not power up. I traced the power wires and found that the positive wire had been connected to the engine battery but the crimp connector was broken.
This was one of those bad news good news things. The bad news was that the connector was broken the good news was that if it wasn’t I never would have found out that it was connected to the engine battery. Autopilots use a DC motor to steer the boat and in heavy weather can draw quite a bit of power.
On a boat with 2 sets of batteries the starter battery is supposed to be isolated from everything but the engine starter. This way you can run lights, stereos and anything else on the “house” batteries until it is stone dead and with the flip of a switch you can still start the engine to recharge the house battery.
By having the autopilot hooked to the engine battery we had a very real opportunity of being out on the ocean without lights or the ability to start the engine.
I found a spare breaker on the house power system, flipped the switch, adjusted the course on the autopilot and watched the rudder turn, success!
The next day we headed out of the bay and turned north to Sarasota.
We talked to someone at the marina we wanted to stay at and they suggested that we get into the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) at Venice Inlet since none of the entrances to Sarasota Bay were deep enough.
We got in the ICW and had to wait for 2 draw bridges and a swing bridge.














Swing bridge on ICW


We motored thru Sarasota harbor and arrived at the marina around 3:00 in the afternoon.
I ran some errands and when I got back Julie took the dinghy from the boat and met me at the Marina Jack bar. We waited about 45 minutes and Scott from Atlantic Sail Traders arrived with our new used headsail.
As our original sail was trashed in Charleston we had purchased a 3 year old sail and had it modified with a new bolt rope and roller furling cover all for under $1,000 where a new sail would cost at least $4,000. The sail had draft stripes and 2 telltale windows which are racing features and many serious racers replace their sales every few seasons. After a few seasons the material may have stretched a little and may not have the perfect shape. For cruising, a sail like this will last another 5 years.
We had dinner on the boat and went to bed, our plan for tomorrow was to head up the ICW and sneak out into the Gulf at the first opportunity.

A man's home is his castle really..........

Hitchhikers on the way