Daily Archives: May 30, 2012

Jack stayed up listening to the radio. Dozing. I heard the radio click off and he came downstairs.

“One minute we were discussing Jeffersonian economics,” he said, “and the next minute there was funk music playing. Where am I?”

Why, Daytona Beach, of course!

It came out of a bruised yellow sky. I’d noticed the color and said that can’t be good. And then the roar, it was deafening, honestly, because at the time we didn’t have much wind. One minute you’re peacefully bobbing at anchor off Daytona Beach wondering if maybe this Beryl business has been over sold, and the next you’re running both Volvos into 37kts of angry wind, hoping to take the enough strain off the anchor just so you don’t drag into underwater cables, seemingly placed near every anchorage in Florida.

It’s 7:15pm and as still as a church on Mardi Gras. Our 43 mile run today put us in contention for an overnight at Ft Matanzas which we’ve been told is worth the diesel. That will leave a short run into St Augustine for our rudder repairs and a week on the hard in one of our favorite towns.

So barring another pop-up squall we will have accomplished our first trip in Escape Velocity and the very beginning of our adventure.

Ok Escapees, sorry for the nautical jargon, but we have really tried to keep it to a minimum.

We’ve been asked to explain a mooring ball. A mooring is a permanent anchor with a float, or ball, on top. They are put in place by a marina or town, and together they’re called a mooring field. A boat can tie up to a mooring instead of dropping its own anchor.

This is our current set-up for mooring. The ball, or float is in the upper left, which is securely anchored to the bottom. Attached to the ball is a pendant, attached to the pendant ring is our bridle, each line is led to different hulls in a catamaran to settle the motion.

This allows the town or marina to pack in more boats and of course, charge money.

Today we press on.
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