A New Adventure! Off to the BVI

And so the next adventure begins. We are off tomorrow to the BVI with friends Tony, “K”, Don, Peg, Lynn & Marsha for several days of sailing and relaxing. Carole and I are excited about our friends being on the trip. None of them have sailed it the BVI before. We have been scrambling to get everything ready to go. Grass cut, garden hoed, garbage taken to the dumpster, finding all our “island stuff” and packing our bags. We are turning in early for a 3:00 am wake up. Our flight leaves the airport at 5:30 in the morning.

Epilog

According to the FYC book, we did about 1300 miles. I actually think it was closer to a 1000 miles. FYC has a strange method of calculating distances. We burned about 150 gal of diesel fuel. We have very few days of good sailing, most days we spent motoring. We hit the bottom almost everyday we were in south Florida. We never had to get towed off by TowBoat US.

The yacht clubs were definitely the highlight of the trip. They were unique, very nice, with great facilities and most had very good food; the rest just had good food. Of all of the clubs Tampa Yacht and Country Club is the one I would love to go back to some day. I hope my buddy Buck is still there.

The boat did great. At times during the sea crossing, we were tired and fatigued but we could trust the boat to get us there. Of course, the equipment on the boat makes all of this almost easy. I can’t imagine doing what we did without the on board electronics so you always know exactly where you are and where you are going. The Autohelm steers a straight course between points regardless of the sea state. It would be hard to picture standing at the wheel for hours at a time steering a straight course. The Sirius radio or the Ipod were on the whole time providing music. It isn’t required but it makes the trip better.

The ability to connect back to home thru cell phones and email is wonderful. Most of the clubs had WiFi so attachment to the internet was easy. My computer has a Sprint Card that gave me broadband access everywhere we stopped. With access to the internet and the onboard satellite weather system, we sometimes had too much weather information. With all of this information, we were able to make informed decision.

One of the things I have enjoyed is doing the Blog. It has been fun sharing adventures and thoughts each day with close friends.

The key to making a trip like this is to have compatible crew. After almost 41 years, Carole and I can still spend extended time together and enjoy each other’s company. Michael making the sea crossing with us was a big plus. We could have probably done it without him but it would have been much more tiring and not as much fun.

Will we do it again? Will the next trip be to the Keys? The Virgin Islands are nice this time of year. How about a trip to Maine? You will just have to check in every now and again to see.

Carole’s Comment

I agree with what Bob has said. I found it hard to be gone from family, especially on Easter. However, at the same time, I am finding it hard to imagine going back to real life. I know you out there have no sympathy for me, I don’t blame you. Final note. I went back to Starr Booty for one last trip. Get prepared, Pell city. I have my “Florida Do” and it is different!

I doesn't get any better than this

Thursday, April 23, 2009, Pensacola, Florida (Home Port)

Yesterday was a near perfect sailing day. Winds 110 to 90 degrees off the port blowing about 10 knots most of the day. Skies were cloudless, temperature in the mid 70’s, a gentle 4’ swell in the Gulf; it just doesn’t get any better than that. I guess if had been like that the whole time we had been gone we might still be gone. It was Paul’s first time for a long sea passage. Of course, by now Michael is an old salt.

It is about 85 miles sea buoy to sea buoy. We left the marina in Panama City about 7:00 and cleared the sea buoy about 7:45. The winds were light and out of the north and as the day progressed; they swung around behind us and moved forward. The majority of the day the conditions were about perfect. Late in the afternoon they winds moved to the southwest and built up to about 15 for about an hour, before shifting back south. We came in the pass at Pensacola just before sunset and arrived (in the dark again) at the marina about 8:30. We slid into the slip with all our dock lines in the correct place tied to the perfect length, all we have to do is loop them on and we are secure. After we attached the power cables, we head to the “Oar House” for the “Forklift” and cold beer. If you are ever this way it is highly recommended. We actually got there a few minutes after they closed the kitchen. We must have looked rough and hungry because they opened the kitchen back up to cook our supper. Thanks Oar House.

Today has been cleaning and getting ready go home. There was a lot of salt on the boat that had to get cleaned off or you get little rust spots on everything.

Tonight we had dinner at Sam’s. The Po-Boy would put the stuff in south Florida to shame. If they only knew how good we have it here. I guess home is always the best place.

Light and variable winds, gusting to 25 knots

Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Panama City Marina

We like Panama City Marina. It is operated by the city and they do a good job. Michael has observed however, the marina is not quite up to the standards of the Yacht Clubs. Itis clean, the people are friendly and we can understand them. They sound like us, not like some guy from New York. It is one of our favorite marinas to visit. Since I am cheap, one of the better features is it is actually less expensive than the yacht clubs. Since the yacht clubs are significantly cheaper than the other marinas in south Florida, it is quite a bargain.

The marina is right at the end of the street in downtown. It is an easy walk into downtown with lots of neat little shops and good restaurants. Michael and I did our best to keep Carole from spending her monthly allowance from the retirement system. We failed! Most people head to Panama City Beach and never see the downtown area. It is quite a shame. Then again, maybe it is a blessing that the beach crowd doesn’t make it to downtown.

Norma came for a visit and lunch. Norma and I worked together for 25 years or more. It is always great to see her and catch up on families and happenings. After she retired, she left Pell City and became a beach bum at Panama City Beach.

We are checking with NOAA to see what they are thinking about heading back. Yesterday they were saying 30 knot winds on Wednesday, this morning they are saying winds out of the east early and shifting to southwest later building to about 15. I guess we will just go out there and see what happens. To quote Cap’t Ron “If is going to happen, it is going to happen out there”. You have to remember; these are same people who gave the forecast last week of “light and variable winds, gusting to 25 knots”. I am still trying to figure out what that meant.

Paul is coming to join Michael and me for the trip to Pensacola. Carole will driving Paul’s car. She is planning to spend part of the day with Norma and the rest of the day at the Outlet Mall. There goes the rest of the retirement allowance. We should be out at daybreak tomorrow for a late night arrival. Either wish us luck or say a short prayer for southeast winds at 8 to 10 and 2 foot seas. I know that is a precise request. Well if you are going to say prayer, you might as well ask for exactly what you want.

Michael this cockpit isn’t big enough for the both of us

Monday, April 20, 2009, Panama City Marina

Sea buoy to sea buoy in 31 hours. I forget what I write so it is easier to repeat myself that to go back and look things up. It must be an age thing. We were not able to stay in Clearwater on Friday night because of a big fishing tournament, so we camped out at Treasure Island Yacht Club.

After a thorough checking of the weather early Saturday morning, we make the “go” decision. We are out of the yacht club around 7:30 and headed up the ditch to Clearwater. Five bascule bridges later, we pull thru the pass at Clearwater at 10:00 for a course of 309 degrees and 175 miles to Cape San Blas. The wind is right on our stern and we veer off about 10 degrees north to make the sails fill. Being off by that amount doesn’t concern us since the winds are supposed to clock to the south. As the day goes on, we will be able to correct back to our course. What was I thinking! I know better than to trust NOAA (National Weather)! The winds move around to the northeast and then north, dying the whole time. Actually, they are doing exactly what Sailflow.com said they would do. We roll in the jib and pull the main in tight to stop any roll. That was pretty much the tack until mid morning on Sunday. Because of the wind and the sea, we get a nice drone of the engine and a comfortable trip. Around mid morning, the winds shift back to the southeast and start to pick up force slowly. All of the models showed the winds out of the south by this point and blowing 10 to 15. Because of the direction, we still aren’t able to use the sails to help us any. We turn the corner at Cape San Blas around 12:00 for the next 45-mile leg. Then a miracle occurs as we turn to get a little more wind angle the wind shifts a little more south and we still have it on our stern. Oh yes, did I mention the waves. Five footers by this time. Because they are on our stern, it is sill a semi-comfortable ride. Looks like about the same waves we were pounding into going south. We say a little prayer of thanks for the semi-comfortable ride. We are watching the front develop to the west on the satellite weather system and we can be either go to Port St Joe or Panama City based on the weather system. I check again about the point we would have to make the turn to Port St Joe and based on what we are seeing looks like the storms won’t get to Panama City until we are snug in the harbor. Actually, we never had any of the storms here.

You remember my docking experience in Florida where I did the perfect maneuvers and impressed everyone. You should never brag, it will come back and haunt you later. The docking maneuver here took 3 of us on the boat and 4 people on the dock plus hanging the anchor on about 3 different piles with a lot of screaming, yelling. I was damn glad for those 4 people on the dock.

Michael was a tremendous help with the trip. We alternated 3 hour watches. He would be in control of the boat for 3 hours while I napped and then we would swap. During the night, both of us were on deck sleeping (if you can call it that) in the cockpit. Carole was chief cook and alternate watch stander so at least two people were on deck all of the time. When Carole was available, Michael or I would go below to get our nap. It looked like Michael and I weren’t on speaking terms, since as soon as one of us would come on deck the other one would get up and leave. It was like the old western movies “Michael this cockpit isn’t big enough for the both of us”.

Good hot showers and cold beer (not in that order) made us a feel better. I got a good 10 hours of sleep in lieu of my normal 7 and now we have to start looking for the weather window for the next leg. It ain’t going to be today.

Carole’s Comments

Compared to the trip down back at the first of March, this one was much easier. But I can’t say it is the most fun of anything to do. It is very much like any long car trip on the interstate. The monotony of this trip comes from the lack of a change of scenery. I get very interested when a plastic jug floats by and we have conversation of what it could be, trash? A fish jug gone missing? Of course, the occasional dolphins visit is truly fun. The real highlight of the first day was the little bird that joined us. It was a little brown finch in need of a tree. The winds had been howling back in Clearwater from the east so we figured it had been blown off shore. It was so happy to have something to land on that it was quite friendly. I should have gotten a picture of it hopping around on Bob. It settled down tucked in beside me. Bob said it knew who the mom was. Bob told us by the next day it would be gone or dead and unfortunately, it was the latter. At least it had some rest. When night came that is when it really gets different. It was dark, no moon but the stars were out and fun to see. All you could see in front of you was the anchor. I told Michael the night is disconcerting to me because I couldn’t see anything. He made the astute observation that well there wasn’t anything to see after all but it is comforting to see it. Imagine driving down the interstate at night and you can’t see. Of course, we have radar and we know if anything is out there for 24 miles. We did encounter a boat in the middle of nothing that necessitated we actually had to change course. I will let Michael tell that story. Well, we made it just fine but I will say that passages are not my favorite part of sailing. It just has to be done to go anywhere. We are heading home. We have been gone a while, we have seen many sights and had some good times. Bob and I are still talking to each other but it sure is good to have Michael here to give us somebody else!

Log Supplemental, Crewman Michael:

Apparently, I have a bizarre propensity to find the one other boat in the middle of Gulf of Mexico and run directly for her. On my last western passage of the gulf aboard the Sea Cloud in the middle of the night the captain, Tony, and I spotted a distant light on the horizon. As we approached the light, we had no radar contact and assumed it a weather buoy. The closer we got we questioned our assumption and once within visual range we were able to see that we were about to pass within 50 ft of a commercial fishing vessel. At that point, the radar finally made contact in time to sound collision. A quick change of course averted disaster. While on this crossing, we avoided a collision alarm but shadiness abounded.

Shortly before sunset, we spotted the boat on the horizon directly ahead. Dad went below as the sun lowered into the western horizon leaving me at the helm with Mom as my most excellent deck companion. Radar made contact and I began tracking the boat. It appeared to be a commercial shrimp boat circling in a very small area at about 2.0 knots. As we approached, the boat stopped and I decided to pass in front of her to avoid her nets. The captain of the Padre hailed us to say hello as we crossed about 50 ft of her bow. A friendly sort of fellow wishing us a good evening, he was quickly called away by the hail of the Carole Anne. It was the later events that got shady. I pointed out to Mom that it was odd that the Padre would be that far out at sundown without her nets out just circling around. Mom pointed out that the captain appeared to be alone on the vessel. Then it all clicked for me and I decided that it had to be a drug runner waiting for a delivery from the mysterious Carole Anne that was apparently far more important than we were as we passed the Padre. About thirty minutes later, we heard the hail from the US Coast Guard. “Fishing vessel at 28d 11m, this is the US Coast Guard Cutter one mile off your port.” There was no reply. The hail was repeated and again no reply. Apparently, the Coast Guard thought it was a little suspicious as well and was probably out there anticipating something was going to happen.

So even in the wide expanse of the Gulf, excitement happens and you can always run directly across another boat.

Making plans for home

Thursday, April 16, 2009, Pass-A-Grille

From Bird Key it is an easy trip across the bay and up the ditch to Pass-A-Grille. We are looking for a place to fuel up and starting to make our plans to cross the Gulf. Michael will be joining us tomorrow. He is getting good at renting cars and driving all day back and forth to Tampa. If all goes according to plan, we will pull out at daylight on Saturday morning and hope to be in Panama City by dark on Sunday. The national weather service is showing good winds from the Southeast and two to four foot seas. Let’s hope they are accurate.

Mother that isn't me in the photo

Tax Day, April 15, 2009, Bird Key Yacht Club

Happy Tax Day everyone. I got caught in the middle of a TEA protest but more on that later. Last night had to be one of the worst nights we have ever spent on the boat. We were docked in a terrible place for what we were having to deal with weather wise. The marina is just inside the pass at Venice. When the thunderstorms started, the waves increased and they started rolling around the breakwater up the channel. We were dealing with a swell, high winds, rain and a changing tide with strong currents. The boat was rolling and pitching. We had fenders between the piling and us but because of the changing conditions, they would work their way off the piles. When they did, the boat would give bone-jarring hits to the piles. I had to get up every couple of hours and readjust dock lines and fenders. As soon as we could we untie we were out of there.

It was a short trip from there up to Bird Key. Sonya had been nice enough to get all my tax stuff overnighted to the Club, including making out the checks, furnishing envelopes and stamps. All that was required on my part was a signature and putting it in the mailbox. The signature was easy but I missed the mail person at the club and had to make a trip to the post office downtown. That is where the adventure began. It is a couple of miles into town on the bicycle over the Ringling Bridge. Grabbing the lowest gear on the bicycle and pedaling hard I get to the top. Of course going down is a real fast trip. Reminds me of going down the hill at Grandma’s house in Sycamore. When I think of some of the things, I did when I was a kid it is a miracle I am alive today. At the bottom of the bridge, there is a major intersection. There are TEA protesters everywhere, waving signs and in general creating a very good disruption of traffic. They are all friendly and I work my way thru going to and from the post office. I think I probably got there about as quick on the bicycle as you could have in a car. There was a news photographer taking photos and I wound up in one of the photo. So mother I want you to know I was not taking part in a protest march. I was an innocent bystander just like the time at the University when they were having the antiwar protest march.

Carole says I am beginning to sound like the food critic in the paper so I have to tell you about dinner last night. It started with cold refreshing Budweiser (my favorite) chilled to the perfect temperature. That was followed by a garden salad with wonderfully fresh tomatoes, garnished with a few picked beets. The main course was a scrumptious clam linguini, perfectly cooked and seasoned. The desert was a chocolate and caramel brownie. It may have been the best meal all trip. It was cooked by Carole and we ate on the boat. That is my story and I am sticking to it, forever.