What? WHAT?! Why? | Heading Back To Indiantown Marina

When I sent a Facebook message to one of my friends back at Indiantown Marina that we were heading back that way, she replied:

"What? WHAT?! Why?"

That pretty much says it all. When you tell people that you're heading off to the Bahamas the last thing they expect is to see you back at Indiantown a couple of weeks later.

Fortunately (or is it unfortunately?), we're not alone in this. It seems like a lot of boats who head out of Indiantown on grand adventures end up back there before their adventure even starts. At least, we had two weeks of fun cruising in Florida before the gigantic, invisible rubber band attached to our boat snapped us back to the marina.

I remember when we were paying up before we left one of the guys who works at the marina joked, "You won't make it to the Bahamas. Something will go wrong and you'll end up back here. Happens to everyone."

Turns out it wasn't as much of a joke as his uncanny ability to see into the future. Or maybe he's the one that controls the gigantic, invisible rubber band and when he thinks you've had way too much fun, he snaps you back.

So why did we head back to Indiantown Marina? If you read one of our earlier posts, you'll know that we had some concerns about our bottom paint. Was it okay to continue onto the Bahamas or did we need to address it before then?

To assess this we needed to haul the boat out and have a look. We did look for other places in south Florida to haul out, but in the end it was cheaper and easier to head back to Indiantown. Not only are their rates more reasonable, but if we did have to go into the work yard for an extended period of time, we had our vehicle there which would make things a lot easier.

But we also had two other issues to deal with - our solar controller and our stove.

We've had an ongoing saga with our solar array and been through a few controllers over the past month. The folks at Blue Sky Energy had sent us a refurbished one to try out. We had thought we could get by with it, but it stopped doing it's controlling thing. That meant we had to keep connecting and disconnecting our solar panel so we wouldn't fry our batteries.

After talking to Blue Sky (and by the way their customer service is awesome, more on them and our whole solar saga at some future point), they sent us a new controller which we needed to pick up back at Indiantown.

Having our stove crap out on us was also an issue. We ended up having to heat water for our coffee on our grill and I got really good at making casseroles in the oven, but not having a working burner was really putting a crimp in our cooking routine. So we picked up our camping stove back at Indiantown, bought a whole bunch of butane cartridges and called it good. It's just a temporary solution. We'll have to do something about the whole cooker unit when we get back from the Bahamas.

The good news is that the new solar controller works like a charm and we can now boil water indoors.

Even better news is that while our bottom paint isn't ideal, it's good enough to last for a few months in the Bahamas. The bottom was pristine as well - nothing really to clean off. Such a relief to haul her out, have a quick look and then splash her back in the water right away.

But the best part of all was getting to catch up with our friends, even if it was only for a couple of days.

Making pizza on our Magma grill in Pendarvis Cove. Of course, I worried that the pizza would end up landing in the water and not on our plate. We use The Boat Galley's recipe - basil and garlic in the crust. So delicious!

One of the casseroles I started making - quesadilla pie. Also from The Boat Galley cookbook.

I don't spend all of my time in the galley. Editing my cozy mystery about a reluctant sailor in our cockpit. Seems appropriate.

 

Tickety Boo ready to be hauled out.

Turns out she needed to go stern first into the Travelift. Here's the awesome Travelift crew turning her around with boat hooks. These guys really know what they're doing.

It always kind of freaks me out that straps like these are what holds your boat up. They seem like they could easily break. But they don't.

Tickety Boo about to be lifted.

****

Cruising Log | Tuesday, 21 March 2017 - Friday, 24 March 2017

21 MARCH
Anchor up 11:45 AM. Anchor down 2:10 PM at Pendarvis Cove (across from Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart). Grounded at turn into St Lucie Rive. Wake from passing boats bounced us off. Made pizza on the grill for the first time. Super delicious. Nautical Miles = 10.7. Engine Hours = 2 hrs 25 mins. Spending = Nil

22 MARCH
Anchor up 9:45 AM. Anchor down 11:45 AM west side of St Lucie Lock. Grounded for the third time on our cruise. Powered off. Three times lucky? Festive atmosphere going through lock. Boaties know how to have fun. Made more pizza for lunch and dinner. We may eat this every day from now on. Nautical Miles = 6.1. Engine Hours = 2. Spending = Nil

23 MARCH
Anchor up 10:45 AM. Arrived at Indiantown Marina at 1:00 PM. New solar controller waiting for us. Finally, a controller that works! Were due to be lifted, but called off due to weather. Free night on the dock as a result. Nautical Miles = 13. Engine Hours = 2 hrs 15 mins. Spending = Nil.

24 MARCH
Lifted Tickety Boo at 8:15 AM. Splashed her again right away. Took a slip for the night and headed into Stuart for provisions and errands. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending = Way too much to contemplate.

Have you ever had to come home unexpectedly from a trip? If so, why?

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