It’s Friday midday and Pandora is making her way, SLOWLY, up the Intra Coastal Waterway, ICW, on our way to Ft Pierce FL where we hope to jump out to begin our big jump to CT and home.
My crew, Dave and Chris, arrived on Wednesday evening and dodged the raindrops to join me aboard Pandora. That day it rained hard, much of the day, as the cold front came through Florida, bringing much appreciated lower humidity and significantly cooler temperatures.
However, the winds that accompanied the front did make me nervous that Pandora might drag her anchor in the not-so-great holding of Middle River. Or, to put a fine point on it, because of the not-so-great “anchoring hygine” of a certain large ketch that also makes it’s home there. I have seen him move around the harbor, in big winds, more than once and with the passage of the front on Wednesday, he did not disappoint, having to re-anchor several times, as he dragged about menacingly. Amazingly, he was aboard when this happened. What a novelty.
I guess that problem, along with the rest of us, will go away after July 1st, when the harbor is closed, perhaps permanently, to anchoring. I wrote about this in my last post at length, so I won’t repeat myself except to say that the whole issue of anchoring restrictions in southern FL is very unfortunate. Well, enough of that for now.
Besides, that problem won’t have much of a near-term effect on Pandora for the next two years, at least, as we plan on being in the eastern Caribbean for two seasons.
For now my focus is on getting back to CT, the upcoming SSCA three day event, the SSCA Summer Solstice Gam, that I am planning for June. I’ll also be remodeling two bathrooms and a laundry room (Important that I get these done, for the continued health of my four decade marriage), perhaps a cruise to Maine and some projects on Pandora, etc., etc,… Did I mention that the lawn will need cutting too?
Well, you get the picture. Lot’s happening and so little time.
Anyway, I spoke to Chris Parker, the weather router, this morning and it looks like we can make a run for CT on Saturday as the north winds are falling out at some point around that time. However, behind the front is well, there’s not much wind, so we will be doing a lot of motoring. The good news is that Pandora carries 150 gallons of fuel in three tanks. However, I have not tested that to see exactly how much I can actually burn in each tank before the level of fuel gets too low to be brought up by the pickup tubes. However, with the additional 20 gallons that I carry in cans, I should be able to motor all the way without a fill-up. And, hopefully, we will be able to sail at least part of the way. Fingers crossed.
I expect to get an update from Chris in the morning again to determine if we should leave first thing or wait till later to make a “run for it”. He has also mentioned that another cold front, perhaps a weak one, that is expected to exit the coast around Wednesday. However, that’s a long way off and details could change. And, to complicate the picture, there will be very light winds behind the most recent front so we will likely find ourselves motoring for days on end as we make the run north. Keeping in the current of the Gulf Stream much of the way will be a big advantage as it will give us a 2-3 kt boost in speed until we exit the Stream north of Cape Hatteras.
It’s great to have someone to talk to about weather as keeping on touch of such an important topic that changes day to day, makes for much more pleasant passages.
Oh, before I sign off. I have mentioned in prior posts that I continue to be struck by a bit of “culture shock” now that I am back in the States after two months in Cuba where life is so different. Of course, I love living here in the “land of opportunity”.
I was again reminded of the stark contrast between our countries as we made our way past one of the largest megayacht yards on the East Coast, the Rybovich Yard near Palm Beach.
But before I show some of these amazing yachts, how about a reminder about what a private “yacht” looks like in Cuba.
Perhaps not the largest one in the yard but huge. 
Or, to put it another way. Huge, huger and hugest.
His and hers? So hard to choose. No wait, the one on the left must be “his” as it has a large, er… crane sticking upon the bow. Yes, of course.
It is Mother’s day in a few days. All wrapped up. “Honey, I got you something nice…” 
And, certainly the “belle of the ball”. Venus, designed by Phillip Stark the famous designer, for Steve Jobs. Two HUGE egos working with each other. That must have been interesting. Unfortunately, Jobs didn’t live to see it launched. His widow and family use it now days. It was reported to cost $100M to build. Want to learn more? Click here… 
That yard has perhaps one of the largest concentrations of “toys” belonging to the .001% gang just about anywhere. Something to aspire to. Not really, but something to dream about for sure.
And, if you want to get out on the water there’s always the Grand Celebration cruise ship moored nearby.
And, if you don’t have as much $$ as you want you can always eat your weight at the buffet table and become part of the “superweight set”. No wait, how about training to become the “heavy weight champion of the world”? “Stop it right now Bob, that’s not funny!! Well, not that funny.”
OK. And, speaking of the super wealthy, and I am very unfortunately not one of them, I do have to worry about what Pandora costs so I always want to be sure that I am able to stretch my “boating kitty” as far as possible. So, with that in mind, I shopped a bit for fuel today and was able to find it for $2.15 a gallon, a lot cheaper than it was down near Palm Beach and the “superyacht set” where it was around $3.00, a savings of nearly $100. Good deal and that’s nearly 1/10 of a “boat dollar”! Such a deal!
Palm Beach prices or not, fuel is a lot cheaper than in Cuba where it was the equivalent of about $5 a gallon and REALLY high in sulfur. The sulfur content was so high that the fuel has a brown tint and smelled strongly of sulfur. I understand that sulfur is actually good for the engine as it adds extra lubrication even though it smokes a bit more. In the U.S., fuel is very low in sulfur due to environmental concerns. Cuba doesn’t seem to be particularly focused on that and the air quality in the cities reflects that.
Soon we will be in Ft Pierce and will put the final touches on Pandora to get her ready to head offshore. And, depending on the evolving weather forecast, we will head offshore on Friday or Saturday to begin our run north. With a cold front due to arrive later next week, it’s at best a guess as to when we will round Montauk and enter Long Island Sound. I’d guess around a week or perhaps a bit less and we should be there.
So, don’t forget that you can follow along to keep track of our progress by clicking here or “where in the world is Pandora” on the home page. We post our position every four hours while we are underway.
Wish us luck. Details to come, as always.
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