The Cruise North Starts - Stuart to Vero Beach

Reader Note: The new blog photo above marks the beginning of our cruise north.  The photo was taken by Billy Black, the famous yacht photographer for Outer Reef.

New "Official" Blog Photo

Finally, after 52 days of commission and outfitting we began to cruise.  Our active punch list was down to zero, our fuel tanks were full (after taking on 170 gallons at $3.99 per gallon - Thank you Sunset Bay Marina), we were reasonably provisioned and our holding tank was empty. We were ready.

We say goodbye to Stuart

Guided Discovery departed Sunset Bay Marina along with Darrel and Sue on Present Moment at 9:06 AM and headed east along the Saint Lucie River.

Guided Discovery exiting slip B25
(That's me on the flybridge operating the boat with the remote control)

Underway at idle

Present Moment taking the lead as we cruise east on the Saint Lucie River

Background: We met Darrell Peters and Sue Lister in November 2010 on a side trip up the Tennessee River to Florence Alabama.  Sue had left her handbag in the courtesy car that we had scheduled after them.  We returned her bag and have been friends ever since.  We cruised together at various points on our Great Loop adventure including the Florence to Columbus MS on the Tenn Tom Waterway, Demopolis to Mobile AL, Marathon FL and Mystic CT to Newport RI.  Darrell accompanied me to Seattle to survey the Outer Reef 63 CPMY that I almost bought.  We have kept in touch and connected may times over the past 3 1/2 years including most recently in Sarasota where we decided to cruise north together.  Darrell and Sue joined us for the Christening of Guided Discovery at the Miami Boat Show.  They recently cruised from Sarasota to Stuart to meet up with us.

Present Moment is a 50 foot Ocean Alexander full displacement single engine trawler.

Darrell & Sue 2010 at a restaurant in Mississippi (Huck's Place) 

Lester & Diana at Huck's Place, Columbus Mississippi

Present Moment in a lock on the Tennessee River

The old 48 in New Site Mississippi Nov 2010

The weather was PERFECT, temperature in the low 70s with clear skies and light winds from the southeast. We intersected with the ICW an hour later, turn left and headed north toward Vero Beach.

Taken just after the turn north.  Those are our breadcrumbs as we went down the Saint Lucie River
Note: Our speed is 8.1 Knots and we are in 8.4 feet of water.

Diana and I made the entire trip from the flybridge, where you can only hear the the sound of the wind (as I've mentioned in previous articles).

I relax as we cruise along

Kodi totally zoned out as we cruised along

Of particular note was Diana's involvement in operating the boat.  This was her first cruise on the new boat (if you do not count the 200 yard move from D-dock to B-dock on the 24th) and for the first time in our cruising career she actually took a strong interest in what was going on.  In fact she helmed for at least one hour and made her own decisions on how to negotiate the navigation aids.  She handled the boat extremely well, which is critical as the channels are narrow.  One mistake can easily put you aground.

This is a good thing.  The 63 is a big boat, weighing in at 94,000 pounds fully loaded.  I'm going to need her help as I would be challenged to run the boat entirely on my own.  Diana will play a particular critical role as it relates to docking maneuvers.  She has three roles to play.  First, she will have to hold course and follow navigation aids as we track into harbor while I set up lines and fenders.  The lines and fender are heavy and would best positioned by me.  Second, she has to "hold station" in some situations while I set up or perform other tasks.  Holding station means using the engines and thrusters to hold a position in a channel, harbor or marina while dealing with wind and current.  Third, she will act as my eyes and provide feedback on the boat's distance from objects (the dock, other boats, pilings, etc.) as I maneuver into slips.  With regard to the latter we are using hands free simultaneous talk two way radios to communicate.   Today's communication was flawless.

Diana takes the helm

We arrived there around 2:15 PM and docked with Present Moment at the Vero Beach Municipal Marina on their 120 foot T-dock.  The trip took 5:40 minutes.  We ran it at 1,400 RPM and made a solid 8 knots most of the time.  29 gallons of fuel were burned during this 39 nautical mile leg.

Present Moment negotiating the only bridge that had to open

Dinner was at the Vero Beach Yacht Club, which was conveniently located next to the marina.  They even had entertainment.  It was a fitting end to a spectacular day.

Sue, Sue's friend CC, Diana, Les and Darrell

Tomorrow we make a 55 mile run to Cocoa Beach.

Our next major goal is Charleston, which we expect to make in the next 8 days. Norfolk follows that and our goal is to be there by May 1.  Then comes the big offshore cruise from Norfolk to Hingham Mass in early May.

Written by Les.