Waiting for the tide

 Greetings all!

I left my rented mooring in St. Augustine and went a mile or two north, where I anchored to wait for the tide change. Yesterday was spent doing an oil change and belt change on my engine. What was normally a 1 1/2 hour job, turned into a six hour ordeal, because I had reluctantly purchased aftermarket oil filters from West Marine. The outside diameter is a bit smaller than the originals, so my filter wrench no longer worked. No problem, I figured, I'll just walk 3 miles round trip to an auto parts store and get another wrench. That one didn't work either. So I decided to go to West Marine and see if they had a solution. They told me that the decision to stop carrying Yanmar products was made because they were getting too expensive. So, instead of paying 15 bucks for a filter I could buy one for 11. And spend 6 hours walking all over town in the blazing hot sun looking for the appropriate tool. Thank you West Marine! Happily, I did find a proper tool at another parts store. And I do realize that this sad little tale is a classic example of a first world problem!

After leaving Vero Beach I had a couple of days of very high winds on the Indian River and really incredible sailing. A bit scary at times. The wind was blowing at 25-35 and at times I felt like I was driving a Ferrari. There were very few boats out there but I did get satisfaction at passing 2 motoring sailboats. Alas, I then spent a day and a half motoring up to St. Augustine. A cold front went thru last night and I am actually wearing a coat at the moment. Breeze out of the north for the next couple of days precludes me from sailing so I think I will motor up to Fernandina over the next couple of days. Might be a good opportunity to go outside after Wednesday.

Cheers, Charlie