Lesson from Mother Nature

We left Pensacola Beach on a rising tide without incident. This time we were ready. Jacklines and harnesses deployed, both reefs (to reduce sail area) in the main ready, and all equipment tested and charged.



The forecast was great, 10-15 knots from the north and seas 2-3 feet. The only unsettling prediction was lows overnight in the 30's, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad, so we left for an overnight sail, our first, into open saltwater, another first for us.

We blasted along under sail through the sound, turned the corner out of Pensacola bay into the Gulf. Back to a beam reach with the north wind and watched the sun set behind us. Just to be on the safe side I took down the jib (front sail) and double reefed the main.

The offical government forecaster (NOAA) was half right about the wind speed and only fractionally correct about the wave hight. Temperature estimate was spot on. It was a long, long night. The autopilot took a seista at a bad moment, the reefing line chafed almost through before I caught it. Waves over the bow cleared the dodger and gave whoever was at the helm a salt-water rinse. The 5 year-old house batteries decided the proper moment had arrived to give up, so I had to run the portable generator most of the night. The dingy tried to jump ship, so I spent my free time adding and adjusting new lines to the davits and dingy throughout the night.

I thought many times of my favorite line from the movie Captain Ron - "if it's gonna break, it'll break out there".

On the plus side we have our first overnight done. We learrned a lot real quick. We both escaped unharmed, although the chart table will never be the same after De Anne body-slammed it when the boat fell off a wave.

A funny thing happened on the way to...... oops, I used that line before..... OK, we didn't make to to Panama City, but we are anchored in Old Pass Lagoon,in Destin. We are now the middle boat in a row of 5 cruisers. We may stay here awhile and make some repairs and adjustments based on Monday night's experience.

A final special note: Kudos to De Anne - she manned the helm most of the night, freeing me to take care of little problems before they became big. After the autopilot scare she hand steered for 5-6 hours with just a couple ten minute breaks until we got the autopilot working again.