[Rhodes22-list] Trip day 1 and 2

[Wally Buck]

We flew from Knoxville to Orlando Thursday evening with plans to set sail 
late Friday morning.

Day 1 - Friday

Hornblower is slipped right in front of Brian’s condo on the Indian River. 
We said good-bye to my Aunt Carol and their friends. We motored out of the 
slip unfurled the 135 genny and shut the motor down. We headed North on the 
Indian River and sailed under the 528 Bridge. As we neared the Carnival 
Barge Canal we furled genny and fired up the motor. We hailed the Route 3 
Draw Bridge and after waiting 30 minutes they opened up and allowed us to 
pass. About a mile East of the bridge the engine quit running. Wonderful! A 
quarter mile ahead was a barge and a quarter mile behind that barge was a 
second barge. We quickly decided to unfurl genny rather than toss anchor in 
the narrow barge canal. This part of the canal is only 230 feet across. We 
had winds from the West and managed a series of jibes out of the channel 
into the Banana River. We picked a spot just outside the channel and 
anchored. I quickly learned the joys of trying to chase down air in diesel 
fuel lines. We replaced filters, bled injectors and pumps but eventually we 
called Tow Boat US (he had tow insurance) and were towed back to the slip. 
Day 1 was over and we were still at the dock. We took my Uncle out for 
dinner and tried to cheer him up.

Day 2 - Saturday
The next morning the crew was in good spirits and we replaced all of the 
filters and bled injectors and so on. After 4 hours or so the motor came to 
life. About 4 PM we said good-bye to my Aunt Carol and friends for the 
second time and headed out.

The wind had shifted and was now from the East so we had to motor under the 
528 Bridge and back through the Carnival Barge Canal.  As we motored down 
the canal we spotted three manatees and a couple of dolphins. We had a short 
wait at the Route 3 draw bridge so we just idled around killing time. I 
spotted a racoon on the canal bank and he just reached right in and helped 
himself to a fish!  Ospreys called out to us from both sides of the canal; I 
was already having a great time.

The bridge opened and we headed out of the canal to the lock entrance on the 
East side of the Banana River. After a 5-minute wait we locked down and 
headed out of the inlet. We motored sailed under main following the channel 
out into the Atlantic. We could see lightning flashing ominously far out on 
the ocean. We had a light dinner of turkey sandwiches, apples, grapes, and 
blueberries.  There was almost no wind but the moonrise was beautiful and 
the lights on the shoreline were getting further behinds us. I had the 8 – 
12 watch and around 10 the wind picked up and was now from the SE. I 
unfurled genny and cut motor. We were moving 4 knots but we were sailing. I 
saw a couple of other navigation lights but no other boats came close. I 
crashed at midnight and fell right to sleep.

Somehow pics of the first 2 days were deleted ......

Wally