Calm and sunny this morning. Had no problem leaving the dock. I was on the deck, bringing in a line. Just as I turned back towards the cockpit, I saw what looked like a big swoosh of water, squirting out of the starboard side of the boat. My first thought was the bilge pump was pumping, but then I remembered the through-hull for the bilge pump is on the port side. Then I thought the water had squirted out the exhaust, but that couldn't be either, because the exhaust is in the stern. I couldn't imagine what might be squirting out the starboard side, so I asked Roy if he had done something. He said, "No, but I felt something." Then I realized what it was: the line that had been caught in the rudder had suddenly broken. I pulled what was left of it up on the deck and tied it, so it wouldn't dangle in the water and maybe get caught in the prop.
Well, now the radar and both GPS's are working, but the starboard depth gauge has quit, so I can't use my new technique for staying in the channel. The Loran doesn't work, either, and hasn't for a long time. We thought maybe the battery was burned out, but the radar repairman checked it and said the battery was ok, so now we think the problem's in the antenna. Roy will check it out when we get to Fort Lauderdale.
The trip down the ICW was pleasant. The day was mostly sunny. We saw a lot of lovely, expensive water-front homes with substantial private docks. A sudden squall hit just as we reached Daytona Beach. The sky was black, the wind howled, the rain came down in torrents. Five minutes later, it was gone, and the sun was shining again.
We had planned on spending the night at Daytona Beach, but the marina was too expensive (95 cents a foot), and we couldn't find a good place to anchor, so we continued on to Ponce de Leon Inlet and dropped anchor in eight feet of water.
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