The Potty Police

Daytona Beach, FL

29 20.77 N 080

We had a beautiful sail through the Mosquito Lagoon. Close hauled as tight to the wind as we could get. Heeled over 10-15 degrees. Speet about 6.2 knots. It doesn't get any better than that.

After that, the wind and currents turned against us. We had 25 knots of wind and 1-2 knots of current against us. Speed over the ground slowed to 3 knots. Yawn.

Near the Ponce Inlet we came across 5 sheriff's boats. They were doing hight speed figure 8s in the ICW. Besides burning fuel, it wasn't clear if they had a purpose. Anyhow, as we came aside, one of them couldn't resist boarding us for a potty inspection. I wasn't surprised. We've been hearing about the potty police up here all winter.

The deputy who boarded brought a lieutenant with him. It was the first boat boarding for the lieutenant. Uh no. No mercy for me if I did anything wrong. I showed them the Y valve. It is locked in holding tank position with a cable and a padlock. The deputy smiled. "That's just what I like to see," he said. That was the end of that.

We also fueled in Daytona. The fuel pump was broken. It pumped fuel but didn't register anything. I estimated 25 gallons and paid that much. However, I'll be restless for the next few days wondering if I short changed myself.

Tomorrow we have to be under way at 0400. We must reach the Matanzas Inlet by 1000 which is high tide. The reason is severe shoaling. It is only 3 feet deep at low tide, but we should have 7 feet at high tide.