Saturday 2/15/14 – Start 0725, Finish 1445, From Fort Pierce Fl. to Lake Worth FL.

Weather/Sea – South wind, sunny

Captain - John Kwak

Crew – Dan Martin, Paul Kirk

 

We left Harbortown Marina and entered the Indian River heading south. The wind appeared favorable for a close reach so we rolled out the jib and motor sailed until the Hobe Sound Bridge. Then we motored the rest of the way since the wind was right on the bow.

We had to ask 6 bascule bridges to open for us because our 56’ mast does not fit under them. All the new fixed bridges are built with 65’ clearance which allows us to sail right thru.

We went from statute mile 965 to our anchorage at STM 1014, or 59 miles in 7 hr. 20min. The ICW is marked out on sign boards and on the charts in statute miles.

The anchorage is the same one that was shown to me last year by my Cousin Hans Kwak. He and his wife Thea saw us from shore, as we passed them on the ICW. They chased us down in their dinghy and invited us to join them in their anchorage.  A chance in a million!! This is a secluded anchorage, a cove surrounded by private homes very quiet.  I would have never tried it on my own because the charts show 6’ depth and we draw 6.5’, actually we never saw less than 10’.

The last time I anchored here with a 35 pound CQR. I knew the bottom was black mud so I tried the 40 pound Danforth twice. Each time it dragged. Then we set the 44 pound Bulwagga which held fine. So under the black muck it must have a hard layer that the more aggressive Bulwagga Anchor could bite into better than the Danforth. Don’t try to find a Bulwagga Anchor the company is out of business, to bad since they were made in NYS and highly rated by Practical Sailor Magazine. As we raised anchor the black came up on the chain and was washed off. This required stopping at every 5’ of chain, a slow processes. We left the anchor hanging in the water as we motored out of the cove, which washed the black muck off nicely, then we stowed it.