Making good use of time in Lake Worth

Wild Horses stayed until February 24th.  Roger and Adel helped us many times by including us in their shore excursion plans.  

The dinghy landing (Roger and Adel's dinghy) in North Lake Worth (North Palm Beach) near the PGA bridge just East of Federal (US 1). 

 We have become MVP members at Duffy's, a local sports grill.  We saw the AKC Westminster Dog Show Hound Group on one of their (30+?) televisions.  We saw Best in Show aboard Adel and Roger's boat.  On the day that we did our laundry, we bought all-day bus passes for $4 since it would have cost a minimum of $3 for just the bus ride get near the laundry and another $1 for a transfer to ride right to the laundry and back again.  We finished the laundry by 11:30 and hopped on the bus for an adventure for the rest of the day.  We traveled to West Palm Beach, got off downtown and found a place for lunch near the waterfront.  We walked a little after lunch and then boarded the free trolley to ride the full circuit to see the sights of West Palm Beach.

The fountain being beautified...

...and stopped up.

Adel and Roger

They'll let anyone in the park.... thank goodness.

On Wednesday the 23rd, I got a call from a long-time family friend, Bob Gardner and his wife Lauren from Smithtown and Boca Raton.  They had just arrived back in Boca Raton, got the message I had left on their answering machine and suggested we meet for lunch.  They wanted to see our boat and so we suggested we meet at Duffy's for lunch and then dinghy out for a visit.  Roger and Adel offered their dinghy and we insisted that they join us as well.

Jay, Bob, Barb and Lauren Gardner

It was a great, spontaneous visit and we were able to catch up on family news and swap tales.  They made a short stop to see Wild Horses and then came aboard Jupiter's Smile.  I think Lauren and Bob were very enthusiastic about the possibilities of cruising themselves.  We enjoy cruising because of visits like today's.

Lake Worth. FL Waiting for Godinghy

We left Vero Beach behind on Feb. 4th and anchored in Peck Lake just south of the St. Lucie Inlet.  Peck Lake is just a wide spot in the ICW, but has a decent dinghy landing on sand with a boardwalk across to the Atlantic where a virtually deserted beach awaits the beach comber.


The next day, we motored into a light wind through the ICW to Lake Worth, heading to the far north end of the lake to drop the hook.

We have planned to stay here, spending nothing to anchor and nothing to land the dinghy, waiting for word of when our replacement dinghy will arrive and be ready for us to make the exchange.

A few days ago, Barb and I went for a dinghy exploration and when we returned and approached our boat we see, just beyond us, is it?  No!  Could it be?  Dang, it is!  WILD HORSES!  

So we have spent the last three days playing with Adel and Roger in the same place where we first met FOUR years ago!  

They hope to head for the Bahamas next week, but when we called Ted Catlow in Washington last night, he said he was headed to S/V Helen Irene (in a yard in Ft. Pierce - not Cracker Boy's, though I'm not sure) on the 25th for a week, so maybe Wild Horses will hold off their departure and wait to see Ted.  We heard from Dorothy and she should be "trawling" through here tomorrow and/or Sunday as well.  Jeeze, it is a really small world. 


Dorothy and Bill made it in Saturday night and we had a lovely visit both then and Sunday night.  We had not seen Dorothy since the San Blas (Kuna Yala) Islands of Panama and before she completed her around-the-world circumnavigation.

Bill and Dorothy guests aboard Jupiter's Smile for fine dining.... 

..... from the trawler M/V Full Circle.

 I understand the Dryden's are intending to sail from Rio Dulce to Florida aboard S/V Kwiana by mid-March.  Maybe we will still be around to see them too!


Till next time - be well!

Winslow Life Raft Re-Certification

UPDATE, OCTOBER 2017: A CRUISER MAY NO LONGER WITNESS THEIR LIFE RAFT BEING SERVICED, BUT WINSLOW DOES A GREAT JOB FOR YOU.

I tried to have one of Winslow's authorized service centers re-certify our life raft on a call and walk-in basis, but to no avail.   They said it would take about two weeks from the time we delivered the life raft.  So I called Winslow's toll-free number and got Andy.

Andy said we could "come by next week any day but Monday" and we could watch the process and could have the life raft back the same day.  Great!  How about Wednesday?  "Try to arrive before nine AM."

Barb and I took a mooring in Vero Beach City Marina and rented a car (Enterprise: they pick you up) to bring our life raft to Winslow in Lake Suzy, arriving at 8:30.

 Here's Andy....

Barb is standing on the floor of the large area where the life rafts are received, inspected, tested, re-certified and repacked.  About 90% of Winslow's business comes from the aviation industry.  If you were to look in the right overhead compartment, you might spot a Winslow life raft next time you fly. To Barb's right were two of the large inflatable slides that airliners deploy in a water landing being serviced.  That kind of business!  For being just a small part of their business, everyone, including the president, Gerard Pickhardt, treated us like we were their best client.

 

This life raft belongs to S/V Jupiter's Smile.  Note the "MAX PACK DIMS"

This is the vacuum packed raft out of its "valise." In an emergency, you'd never see this.

You'd clip the rip cord/tether to a cleat on the distressed vessel, toss the valise over the side and...

the silver bottle inflates everything automatically...

...except the insulted floor.  There is a hand pump for that.  Notice several handy features (boarding ladder, flashlight, heaving line) inside a Winslow...

...and outside too.  If the raft inflates upside down, the "Right Line" is used to flip it over.

The life rafts almost always inflate right side up, but just in case that Right Line strap is shown running horizontally with three orange grip loops attached and a cord in the center.  Climb on top, grab the cord, lean back and over she goes.  The five bags fill with water, adding ballast to keep the life raft stable.  One of the orange, water-activated chemical batteries is shown hanging just to the left of center.

These battery cells, once immersed, produce electricity for the light on top of the raft and the light inside the raft under the arch.  Our raft was due for service over two years ago.  We were in Panama and wanted service done right - not almost right - so we waited.  The life raft would have functioned, as we saw today, but these batteries probably wouldn't have...

But there are two other flashlights packed aboard and one still worked perfectly.  Duane is checking and replacing flares, medications, batteries and foodstuffs in the survival kit; things that were also outdated.

The pressure relief valves are being tested here.  The sea anchor drogue is next to the soapy-water spray bottle.  No leaks were found and the pressure test confirmed it.

The raft is repacked and ready to be vacuum sealed, but...

...not until it is the final check list is checked and the raft is photographed.

The vacuum pack is first checked to show that it doesn't leak, it is then put under a vacuum and pressed and shaped to the specified dimensions.  I didn't pick an "off the shelf" package although they have that available.  I had measured and specified the dimensions so I could perfectly fit the life raft valise in our cockpit lazarette.  

Certified until February, 2014.  

The process took about six hours and much of that was waiting for the pressure tests.  Duane explained everything about the life raft and answered questions and we had a tour of the plant as well.  No photos of that - industry secrets preserved.  Had we thought to bring other personal items - copies of passports, cash, glasses, a credit card, anything really - it could have been put into the survival kit and sealed.  It will wait until next time.  It was a very rewarding day.  My confidence in our life raft is complete and my satisfaction with the Winslow company is as well.    I HOPE WE NEVER USE THE RAFT!

The official factory tour may be viewed at http://www.winslowliferaft.com/factory_tour.asp

Vero Beach and Ft Pierce and Vero Beach

Jupiter's Smile left from Satellite Beach to Vero Beach early Friday morning in very light winds so we motored.  When we checked into the Vero Beach mooring field we saw that S/V Chrysalis was there!  We had met Skip and Mary in 2007 and traveled to the Bahamas with them.

We didn't hook up with Skip right away because he was not around - working at WestMarine in Ft. Pierce.  I left our boat card in his dinghy and he couldn't believe it when he found it.  Time warp!  

Vero Beach City Marina fuel dock and office.  A local, free (donations encouraged) shuttle bus transports one all over the county every hour, dawn to dusk, except on Sundays.  The laundry is excellent as are the shower/restrooms.

The view back towards the marina along a street that takes us to the beach.

The homes are modest with beautiful trees...

...several with epiphytes hanging from them.

We spent the night in Vero Beach and then went on to Ft. Pierce to visit the Farmer's Market.

At the Saturday morning (8AM-12 noon) market in Ft. Pierce, one can get fruit and vegetables....

...decorative plants....

...these are orchids...

...prepared food...

....healthy smoothies....

.... or just walk your dog, sit on the sea wall and/or people watch or shop for original art,  carvings and jewelry (no photos of art, etc - that is forbidden) or speak to local authors hawking their books.

While we were in Ft. Pierce, we got a phone call from Skip so we returned to Vero Beach for the opportunity to visit with him and plan our life raft re-certification adventure from there.  We had a couple of dinners and drinks and caught up on old times over several days.  Skip is doing well.  He has a great cat, Breezy.  It was a good visit.