Five weeks ago today David and I arrived in Pompano Beach, FL to put Avignon in salt water and prepare her (and ourselves) for an extended tropical voyage set to commence in March. It now looks like it’ll be April before everything is ready – boat projects have a tendency to multiply!
Moving a sailboat by truck is an involved affair: the mast comes down, as do the sails and all the rigging (i.e. the wires and ropes that hold it all up). Anything and everything that could fall off, hit an overpass etc. must be removed and stored in the cabin. The mast and wires and furling gear are laid horizontally and protected with bubble/shrink wrap and duct tape. She is lifted out of the water and set onto a special trailer that is set low to the ground and has adjustable supports for the sides of the hull. The whole procedure is reversed on the other end, where every wire and rope and shackle must be reassembled in the exact same way.
It was a lot of work. So too was packing and unpacking nearly all our continuing worldly possessions in the boat along with many hundreds of pounds of spare gear, backup sails, rusted anchors, a defunct wind generator, folding bicycle, windvane rudders, Sunbrella hatch covers, an inflatable offshore life raft, flagpole, radar mount, oars, mainsail battens, a thousand feet of spare nylon rope, and it goes on. There was crap everywhere, and we planned to live aboard from the start (with dog and cat, no less).
Fortunately, we rented a 100ft dock behind a private residence, so there was plenty of room to “let it all hang out” and get organized. More fortunate still was the fact that our landlord is Marcio, a truly awesome and solid dude, who it turns out is really into boats and boat systems. Geek match made in heaven, or wherever Neptune resides. He even dredged the dock after a spring low tide almost careened us… above and beyond! If you’re in the market for a Mega Yacht, Marcio’s your man.
After taking a week off to rest from the move, we slowly started putting things back together and making Avignon into a home, while continuing to collect tools and gear we’ll need for the voyage. We’ve also been designing an upgraded electrical system. I will save the gory details for another time, but suffice to say it has been a crash course in electrical engineering and battery technology. The plan is to put up 680 Watts of solar panels on the top and sides of the cockpit shade cover (called a “Bimini” for whatever reason), install a state-of-the art wind generator, 2000w inverter/charger, and 450 amp-hours of 12V Absorbed Glass Mat batteries.
The dinghy’s outboard motor arrived yesterday, and we all loaded up (minus the kitty) and puttered out into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) for a late-afternoon adventure. We motored south to the Hillsboro Inlet and, on confirming that it was a flood tide went under the bridge and did a loop past a little beach and some anchored yachts and headed back into the ICW for home. The waves / wake really kicked up when we had first come under the bridge, and our own Bridge had gotten soaked as we crashed over a breaker at a maniacal 3+ knots. The late afternoon sun dried us off as we made our way back north, and just as I made the turn off the ICW and was admiring the view, the engine quit. Shit. We had no idea how long the tank would last, and had, of course, neglected to bring the gas can… Caught in the current in the ICW, drifting toward some nasty-looking pilings, what to do? Row of course, row like hell! In 85 degree humid conditions with the sun in your eyes and a panting dog leaned WAAAY into you… It was only a half mile, but I think we deserve a medal for muscling our way out of that jam (not for forgetting the gas, haha).
The dinghy, by the way, is a Portland Pudgy – a bright yellow, 8 ft rotomolded polyethylene 4-seat “hard” dinghy that can be rowed, motored OR sailed with a square or gaff-rig. We also purchased the self-inflating exposure canopy, which will mean we can use it as a life raft should the need arise. It is stable and almost unsinkable, yet light enough to winch it on and off the mothership or even carry it by hand. Dinghy theft is a real problem in some of these island places, so we wanted one that could be rowed or sailed to shore without having to use the outboard (which is what the thieves are after, usually). Plus, it’s bright banana yellow… not exactly inconspicuous. She won’t win any speed contests, and I am a bit concerned about her ability to motor into swell or headwinds with only 3.5hp, but we will give it an honest go!
South Florida is an interesting place, culturally. There is the Cuban / Hispanic element, naturally, but also the incredible number of elderly people who choose to retire here. It is a cliche and it’s 100% true – the median voter here is probably 71, female and from somewhere up North where they talk funny. Our general observation (unscientific, admittedly) is that most of the old people here are quite rude and aggressive – cutting queues, berating restaurant staff, stealing parking spaces, and just generally being assholes. I do not know why this is. It’s not because they’re old… most of the old people I know are quite pleasant, even more so now that they are old. Most people would say the same thing, I think. And it’s not because they’re Yankees, either. The average Queens resident would be appalled by some of this stuff. There are exceptions to every rule, and we have met one, maybe two, friendly pensioners in our time here… but by and large it’s Mad Max in 40ft Lincoln Towncars, and near-deaf 85 year-old men in bicycle shorts who blast podcasts about the “bullshit leftist agenda” at full volume for all the diner’s other customers to hear. Let the seas swallow me up before I ever behave so poorly. I have held my tongue several times, and wanted to ask whether their mothers hadn’t taught them better than that… 70+ years ago. OK, rant over. Whew!
OK, so that’s the state of play here, a little over a month into the move. Big boat projects upcoming, as well as the formal launch of our YouTube channel (link below). Stay tuned!!!