It’s finally May and we have made it as far north as Coco Village, FL. After leaving North Palm Beach, we spent a lovely long weekend at Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach Florida. Lo and behold there were two other loopers docked there. We chatted with them about where they had been and where they were going. We commiserated over the fact that we’ve all been unable to really get out into these port cities and towns to take in all the wonderfulness they have to offer.

The ladies and I also compared our noseeum bites—those little bastards. I counted 13 on just one arm—and those are the ones I can see. They have me living on Benadryl and using Afterbite several times a day. “Hate” is not a strong enough word for the way I feel about them. 

The photos below show a bit of our trip up to Vero Beach and sights around the marina. What a lovely place!

Anyhoo, we have decided to find a place to dock the boat and return home for a bit. A marina in St. Augustine has agreed to take us and that should be a nice starting point when we resume the voyage in mid June.

We have a couple of cruising days left to reach St. Augustine which is 120ish miles from our current location. Then we will drive to Orlando and hop a plane back home.

Cruising up the ICW or Intracoastal Waterway is a relaxing way to head up the coast without the risks that the ocean offers. We heard one man overboard call on Friday. A man was lost off a fishing boat and later recovered—dead or alive—we never found out. 

Two additional  calls went out on our way to Coco Village just in the 5 and a half hours it took to get here.  One was a pleasure boat that was taking on water. The other was a fishing vessel in some sort of distress. In all instances, the handy dandy Coast Guard was at work sending rescue teams in boats and choppers. You remember the Coast Guard. Just check back to Session 9 for a refresher. 

Today’s lesson:  Distress calls:  There are three.

“May Day”- (pronounced like it’s spelled)—one would make a May Day call if your life or your vessel are in imminent danger. This may include fire on the boat, a sinking boat or anything that might permanently damage your boat or cause it to sink. This also includes serious medical emergencies—heart attacks, stroke—you get it. Any life endangering situation.

“Pan-Pan” (pronounced pon-pon)—is used when your boat is disabled, but not in danger of sinking or catching fire. In other words, an engine goes out, steering is disabled, you run out of fuel, etc. In this instance, the boat is not in immediate danger and probably needs a tow. Someone may need medical attention (think deep cut, concussion) but is not in immediate danger of death.

“Securite”(pronounced sea-cur-i-tay)—This call is saved for information that boaters might need to know to safely navigate. For instance, there may be a  huge log in the shipping channel. This would also cover approaching bad weather or if a large commercial boat is approaching a narrow bend in the river and wants to give the heads up to boats approaching from the other direction. An “FYI” if you will.

In closing, the fact that we’re moving is better than sitting still. A huge part of this adventure is being able to meet people and explore the coasts. Going home for a bit will give the country some time to find its new sense of normal and give us some time to adjust our looping plans. 

I don’t anticipate posting again until we’re home and that’s only if we find something interesting to post. So adios for now. See, I’m multilingual.