We left Carabelle Wednesday morning in a most unceremonious way - backwards. As we pulled out of the slip the river current caught the back end of the boat and yanked it downstream. We went with the flow literally and figuratively. About a half mile downstream where the river widened and the current was weaker we turned the boat around and kept the pointy end forward for the next 140 miles.
There was no wind the first 10 miles of the trip or the last 10 miles, but plenty in between. Sailor friends will appreciate that we topped out at 7.5 knots around 2:00 am with no headsail and only a double-reefed main. De Anne claims to have hit 8 knots but that was while I was asleep at 8:00 pm and she still had the jib up. To add to the festivities the seas were just a few points off the beam. (waves hitting the boat sideways) so keeping a compass bearing of 135 meant trying to stay somewhere between 150 and 120. Our wake was a big, lazy "S".
On the good side we made better time than I dreamed possible and had a full moon providing light all night. Sleep time was on the floor with a pillow. It was too rough for sleeping on the settee, even though we have a lee cloth (sling) setup for it. At my 3:00 am nap I was sleeping without even bothering to remove my inflatable PFD and harness. On a more delicate note: from now on I will remember mal-de-mare requires using the downwind side of the boat. There are some things best not done into the wind. Sorry, but I must offer my readers the good, the bad, and the ulgy.
Written Friday 3:10pm on anchor
We were buddy-boating with Jim and Abby on Escape - a Morgan 33. Because we motor at 3 knots under power we left first. We had set up for VHF checks every even hour. After trying to raise them at 10:00, noon, and 2:00 we figured they must have had a problem and not left the marina. We since found out that they did leave, took down sails when the weather picked up, and motored. Unfortuately they had engine problems at midnight, couldn't get the sails up because of snarled halyards, and had to call for a tow into Crystal River which is about 50 miles north of us. They lay ahull (adrift in the water) for 2 hours before the tow arrived.
I had to dive on our prop today. On the last leg in Thursday our speed kept dropping. I finally guessed we were picking up some of the floating weed . It was a good guess. I had to dive 6 or 7 times to clear it all. Lucky for me I had a great dive knife that Lee Bridges had given me just before we left Indianapolis.
Our rudder was making odd sounds after our robust Wednesday night sail. I got behind the aft cabin and figured it was the packing that was wearing a bit faster at sea than it would have on Lake Monroe. I tightened down the collar, compacting the packing and the rudder is tight again. I will replace it on my next trip to West Marine.
We will leave our anchorage behind Ancote Key Saturday morning and sail south. How far we don't yet know.
Saturday 9:00pm Docked at Clearwater Fl.
After waiting until 10:30am for the fog to clear we sailed from Ancote key to Clearwater. De Anne loved the sail since it was tacking upwind the entire time. Of course that made a 16 mile trip actually 25 miles. NOAA lied to us again, claiming west winds when they were acutally south. An hour after we docked the wind changed to the west. We just got back from the beach where we ran into a few thousand people.
Ancote Key -
A tacky floating tourist trap -
1 comment:
What a bummer you've sworn off crab! You were always searching for the greatest crab cakes and we found them! Jodi told us about Raph's Great Divide, a little hole in the wall here in your forsaken Indianapolis. They have the greatest crab cakes in the world! Take care, good sailing, and we miss you!
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