Lake Peck to Vero Beach,Fl

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     Tom warned me. I forgot! The dingy motor wouldn't start. The dog Spencer glared up at me and I knew what was going on in his tiny head by the look in his eye. Come on Daddy I want to go to the beach....I have to Peee! The Admiral glared up at me and I knew what was going on in her (I won't say tiny) head by the look in her eyes.  Come on, I want to see the sunrise and get some exercise on the beach, but I forgot what Tom had warned me about and it should be a warning to any of you reading this blog that have outboards, 4 wheelers, motorcycles, lawn mowers or anything that runs on the bullshit crap they are claiming is saving us money. I am talking about the ethanol they are putting in gas!   Tom worked on the dingy motor before we left Texas to clean out the carburetor, filter and fuel lines and told me to make sure before I shut the motor off to disconnect the fuel line and let the motor run dry of  what I am now terming "FRAP" (fuel crap!).  In anywhere from 20 days to 6 weeks this frap will separate the fuel into water and a congealed substance and will actually varnish the inside of the carburetor, jets, fuel pump and can cause the gaskets and the fuel line itself to disintegrate! This will immediately lead to your family and pets getting "that glare" in their eye! You shouldn't even leave this frap in your car or big boat for more than a month.  I suggest if you don't want water in your fuel that you only put as much frap in your tank as you can use up in a month....or better yet fill up with fuel that has NO ETHANOL...you can find it at some marinas and yes they charge more for it!  Just think the idiots running the EPA have just ok'd going to 15% ethanol.... I call it the.Mechanic's security program!!
     We pulled and washed down the anchor and chain and idled out of Peck Lake.  As we turned our nose north we couldn't help but admire the beauty of the area.  Lush green mangroves were sharply contrasted by the light sand beach and the Caribbean blue water of the Atlantic now lighting up with the rising sun.  Forcing myself to concentrate on the markers I increased the motors to our cruising speed of 1200 rpms and with the incoming tide we cruised at 10 knots.  No automatic pilot today.  There were strong currents conspiring to push Doc's Holiday out of the channel on to the notorious shifting shoals of the St. Lucie inlet and I was determined not to do any more damage to the props.
     It was a good day to navigate from the fly bridge.  We could see many boats anchored out fishing in the side channels with some nestled in behind the many small islands just off the ICW.  It would have been a nice day to go slow but I had checked the XM weather and NOAA and knew there was a chance that thunderstorms might hit in the afternoon. 
     The sky darkened. The sun began to fade as it was shrouded by the angry looking grey- black clouds that approached from the north.

                                                                               

 We quickly went to the fly bridge, folded up and tied down the bimini top, closed all the windows, secured all the doors and held Spencer.  With the first low rumble of thunder he began to shake slightly.  The wind picked up and quickly reached 60 miles per hour as the rain started.  At first it was just a sprinkle but quickly became a deluge so hard that we couldn't see the other boats around us.

                                                                                
  Fingers of lightning cracked through the sky lighting up the entire inside of the boat and Spencers slight shaking jumped to the level of vibration!  The boat rocked and rolled and the rain struck harder and noisier as it had turned to marble size hail.  We laughed.  We weren't scared!  Why? .... We had made it to the Vero Beach marina and were securely tied up in a slip.  Maybe we were learning, but most likely we have been gaining enough experience to realize that we are better to secure the boat and crew if there is a hint of unsettled weather. 
     We easily rode out the storm at the marina but as it was calling for high winds we elected to stay at the marina for a couple of days and explore Vero Beach.