Stiltsville

Biscayne Bay
25 40.36 N 080 09.83 N

Ah what a pleasure that sail was.  When winds blow from the West here that makes an offshore breeze.  The winds can do what they will but the waves never build up.  In addition, we hug the beach coming south in this area to avoid north flowing currents.  They say if you get close enough to the beach so that the depth is 30 feet, you avoid most of the current.  Sometimes that's so close that it feels like one could step off the boat into the surf.

Anyhow, the wind direction and velocity were ideal.  We glided southward at 6-7 knots, with no rocking of the boat for many hours.   Around 3 AM the wind stopped and we had to motor.  Still, it was a fine passage.  26 hours from Vero Beach Marina to anchor down here in Biscayne Bay.

We had planned to go to Dinner Key, but as we got close our enthusiasm waned.  We woulld like peace, quiet and an nap.  Out here, near the famous Stiltsville, we will have a fine view of the sunset, a fine view of the Miami skyline at night, and lots of peace and quiet.   We could have gone in to No Name Harbor nearby, but then we would miss the views.  Winds will be <10 tonight, we do not need shelter.

You have probably seen pictures of Stiltsville many times.  It's pretty famous.  Perhaps you've seen it on CSI Miami's film clips.

Tomorrow's plan; who knows?

Stiltsville: "Crawfish" Eddie Walker built a shack on stilts above the water in 1933, toward the end of the prohibition era, allegedly to facilitate gambling, which was legal at one mile offshore. Crawfish Eddie sold bait and beer from his shack and was known for a dish he called chilau, a crawfish chowder made with crawfish he caught under his shack. Thomas Grady and Leo Edward, two of Eddie's fishing buddies, built their own shack in 1937. Shipwrecking and channel dredging brought many people to the area and more shacks were constructed, some by boating and fishing clubs. Local newspapers called the area "the shacks" and "shack colony".

Escaped From Vero

ICW

I bet you thought we would get stuck in "velcro" beach for a few more months.  Well it is never easy to leave, but we did it.   We're motoring toward Fort Pierce right now.  After a final weather check, if everything goes right we'll go out to sea from Fort Pierce and head south.

Today looks like the beginning of a wonderful 5 day long window to sail South.  Not East to the Bahamas but rather South to the Keys.    We could probably be in Marathon in 36 hours, but we're in no hurry.  We would like to explore Conconut Grove and Biscayne Bay south of Miami.  Other cruisers speak well of the Dinner Key area.

I would also like to consider going to Marathon on the Bay side.   There's a lot more to see and more stops to make on the bay side of the keys.   In the past we've heard that it was too shallow and we were afraid of running aground.  The feedback from others is mixed.  Some day we can do it drawing 5 to 5.5 feet, others say no.   I'd appreciate some email and advice from others who have done it.

I shoudn't be blogging this but ...

Vero Beach
27.39.56 N 080 22.27 W

This post is very technical. It isn't about sailboat cruising, but it might be revealing about me. If that doesn't suit you, stop reading now.

For as long as I remember, I think about certain things while trying to go to sleep. It is analogous to counting sheep, except that my tastes lead me to think about scientific puzzles. For the past two decades, one of my favorites has been trying to visualize what happens on a molecular scale when a giant star collapses in a type II supernova. Go ahead an laugh; it's true.

Anyhow, recently I greatly surprised myself by actually figuring out something about the physics. I discovered something. Let me be clear. I'm sure that my discovery is nothing new or remarkable to the the scientists who study such things. It might even be written in their elementary textbooks. However, it was not written in anything I ever read. The discovery was new to me.

What is it? I'll try to explain as briefly as possible.

Dust clouds collapse on themselves because of gravity. The cores are compresses. Compressing increases the pressure and temperature (P & T). At some point, P*T reaches the critical point for nuclear fusion. Hydrogen nuclei fuse to make Helium and energy is released. The process is exothermic, i.e. it releases energy. The energy released opposes further collapse and a semi-stable equilibrium is reaches. In other words, a star is born.

When all the H is consumed, collapse restarts. P*T increases until Helium fusion begins in the innermost core. This happens again and again, until the star looks like an onion, with layers of heavier elements at the center. See the picture.



When fusion of Si into Fe ceases, the cycle ends (because Fe fusion does not release more energy). What happen then is that the center of the star collapses. The product is a remnant neutron star (or a black hole) in the center plus a massive supernova explosion casting off all the outer layers. The mysterious part, and the subject my my nocturnal musings for decades is that the collapse and explosion happens so fast. Indeed it happens in 0.2 seconds. That sounds far too fast to be believable. How can that be?

Here is what I abruptly realized after two drowsy decades. During collapse, P*T becomes so extremely high, that the heavy nuclei get smashed and split up. Instead of nuclear fusion, we have nuclear fission. For those nuclei, all the energy released by the many cycles of fusion must be put back!!! Instead of exothermic, the process is endothermic i.e. it absorbs energy! Instead of resisting further collapse, it accelerates it. Ah so.

That's not all. P*T is still so high that free electrons begin fusing with protons. The product is a neutron and some neutrinos. Neutrinos are reluctant to interact with matter so they fly away out of the core at the speed of light. It takes only microseconds for the neutrinos to exit the core, carrying energy away with them. In terms of the remaining  core material, that process is also endothermic. It causes the speed of core collapse to redouble!  Ah so.

There you have it. Instead of core collapse being mitigated and slowed by negative feedback, it is exacerbated and accelerated by positive feedback. That is why it happens so unbelievably fast.  Ah so. That was my "discovery".  It startled me and made me sit up in bed.,

Thank you for your interest. I hope my explanation was entertaining and understandable. 

Wow!

Vero Beach
27.39.56 N 080 22.27 W

Thanksgiving in Vero

Vero Beach
27.39.56 N 080 22.27 W

Thanksgiving is perhaps the USA's best holiday. It is the best day of the year to be with family. It is the one day of the year that we most regret being on the boat instead of with our family. Oh well, that doesn't mean we must be depressed and not have fun.

The weather here in Vero was splendid today. Perfect temperatures, blue sky and lots of sun. In the morning I went to the beach and waded barefoot in the surf for a while. It felt great.

This afternoon was the time for the annual cruiser's Thanksgiving pot luck dinner. Libby worked through the morning to help set it up, then she returned to the boat and cooked a turkey in the pressure cooker. I think it was our first attempt at that. It worked well. The turkey came out moist and flavorful.

A few years ago the pot luck dinner was a near disaster. That was because the food ran out before the line of hungry people had been fed their first serving. I think everybody remembers that, and they won't let that happen again. Today there was lots of food. Those who wished were able to get second plate fulls. It was a great success. Many thans to Deb and Bob who organized it.

I took some pictures. The slideshow is here.