Up the ICW...

We left home yesterday morning, on a very low tide. Wild Blue was ready for cruising - seems that it takes as much stuff onboard for a couple nights out as it does for a month. With the skinny water in our canals, I was concerned we might drag on the way out, but we slid on out without a bump.

After passing through the swing bridge, we met up with our friends, Herb and Wilma, on Willie's Tug; they have they dinghy on the back, so we know Jake the wonder dog is onboard, too. Our first time running together, so we worked out a compatible economical cruise speed... around 5 hours for the 35 nm trip to Port Mansfield.

Some odd, swirly water and an adverse current slowed us for the first 10 miles or so. We passed a dredge operation...


The depths were inconsistent on either side of the dredge. It's been over a year since we came up this way, and we saw depths as low as 6 feet in the main part of the channel... that has to make for some problems for the tow boats pushing barges.

Yep, a few miles further on, we came across two tows - the first one was aground, the second was waiting for him to clear.


We saw one other boat in the ICW (and a few smaller fishing boats in and out of the channel), a sport fisher kicking a big wake. Joan was working at the galley, so I gave her a heads up: "Hold on to your stuff!" No problem there, but the iPad on its stand went tumbling. It's OK, but a reminder that I need to lock that down.

Not long after that, the autopilot had some sort of nervous breakdown - 10º to the right, then the left, then 20º... I was eating hot soup at the helm. Fun. Joan took my soup, I disengaged the autopilot, checked that everything was OK with the steering, then went back to lunch. Later, checking the autopilot again, same situation... I'll look into it further when we get down; in the meantime, I'll be hand steering... this stretch of the ICW is straight, a good time for an autopilot.

We passed the Arroyo Colorado, then on up to the channel leading into Port Mansfield. No transient slips at the marina here, but I called ahead and got slips at El Jefe's, a small bar with fuel and 4 or 5 slips. We tied off, then grabbed lines for Willie's Tug; then settled in for the evening. Adult beverages on both boats, a couple photos, then supper at El Jefe's. And in between all that, I figured out what was going on with the autopilot and the steering: a broken bracket on the hydraulic steering. No place to get that welded, but I have it kinda bolted together... tomorrow, we'll see if that works.


It's been months since we've overnighted on Wild Blue... after stretching out in the 5th wheel, I kinda forgot the difference. Like: the v-berth vs the Select Comfort. And climbing in and out of the v-berth vs an island bed. And the roar of the electric heater... we decided to get s slip because we knew it was going to be chilly last night, and I wanted electricity. Oh, and the fridge makes a growly noise as it cycles on and off. And little Izzy...


Sweet Izzy was a bit out of sorts about the change. She spent most of the trip up hiding in the blankets. Didn't eat. Didn't want to come out. But, that all changed when night fell - party time! She jumped from seat to seat, played with her toys, crunched plenty of hard food, and jumped in and out of the v-berth... occasionally walking on me and looking into my face: "Hey, I remember this! Are you sleeping? Not me, I'm wide awake! Look - I can jump from here almost all the way across the cabin!!!"

I may need a nap.