November 22 - 23, 2008
The most amazing thing happened today, we woke up before dawn and went back to sleep for another hour. The next thing we did was start the engine, which actually cranked over just fine relieving me greatly as I had dreamed that I had tried to start the engine and the engine battery was dead as a doornail, not that I actually know anything about the specifics of doornails and their afterlife.
This wouldn’t be so bad except that when we woke up before dawn the space heater we had been running when we went to bed was off. The reason it was off was not because someone had turned it off but because the house batteries had dropped to a low enough voltage that the inverter shut itself down.
Seems like the only time we really sleep well is when we are moored to a dock with our power cords plugged in along with cable TV and of course the ever popular wireless connection for the laptops.
When in doubt we always start the big engine first (the Yanmar) as it always starts immediately. With it running we crank up the Westerbeke which runs the big generator and then turn off the Yanmar.
The Westerbeke provides 8000 watts of power which is more than enough for the coffee pot and the microwave plus whatever. It also charges the batteries thru the inverter at 125 amps plus another 50 or so amps with it’s own alternator, which is enough to get them topped off in about ½ hour.
With this done I took Ziggy to shore to do his thing while Julie made coffee and stowed everything. Back on board we weighed anchor and motored out to leave the Tampa Bay area for the 4th or was it the 40th time. On the way thru the bay we rigged the staysail and our makeshift plastic tarp bimini top which in conjunction with the original plastic windows, that were not destroyed in a storm a month ago, provide decent enough protection from the winds and occasional waves.
Leaving the harbor we had to follow a channel west for about 6 miles to clear the shoals that lie to the north and west of the harbor mouth. The winds where on our beam (side of the boat) so we set the staysail and main to help us along. A little while later we set the new genoa and started to move along at over 8 knots, we cut the engine and settled in at 6 ½ knots which is a little over our target of 6 knots.
When we reached the last marker and hardened up ( sailed closer to the direction that the wind was coming from) we were on course. The winds were about 12 knots and we were close reaching at 7 to 7 ½ knots; fair sailing indeed.
The forecasted high for the day on shore was 70 degrees, offshore where we were the high was going to be in the low 60’s and with the wind it seemed much cooler. So we were bundled up in fleeces and foul weather jackets with hats and gloves.
We wanted to keep warm as this was going to be our longest leg by far on the trip. Our destination was up near the panhandle of Florida, a city called Port St. Joe which was 200 miles away. At our target speed of 6 knots we would be wailing, I mean sailing, for 33 hours and should get into the harbor before sunset tomorrow.
We had intended to stay near shore (no more than 20 miles out) but this was going to add several hours to the trip. But with more faith in the boat than our ability to dock at night we decided to cut straight across. This, as the crow flies, route would take us 70 miles off shore but we felt good about the boat and our abilities plus the forecast was for reaching (wind from the side) blowing 10-15 knots with 2-4 foot waves, perfect conditions for this boat. If all went to hell we have our emergency satellite transponder that sends our location out if activated. We also have our dinghy plus a 6 man inflatable life raft made by a company named Winslow which is supposed to be the very best. Buying the life raft and satellite transponder is kind of like buying insurance, you hate to spend the money but you wouldn’t be without it.
As we sailed north we were greeted by 5 dolphins that stayed with us for over ½ hour, which was by far the longest we have had a group stay with us. They would swim next to the boat alone and in groups then they all migrated towards the bow (front). They would swerve and weave from side to side moving at what appeared to be twice our speed of 7 knots.
Quite often one of them would swim about a foot below the water directly in front of the bow with it’s tail almost touching it as it moved up and down thru the waves. After a minute or so the dolphin would move off to the side to catch a breath with a telltale snort as they sucked air in thru their blowhole.
The curious thing is that one would move away from the bow to catch a breath, another would move right in to take it’s place, this must be the cool spot to hang out.
After the dolphins took off we decided to try to catch some fish for dinner. We had tried fishing in the past but at the speeds we travel all the lure seems to do is dance along the surface where no respectable fish would hang out. Julie suggested using the 5 lb lead weight that came with the boat as a sinker but I was afraid it would break the fishing line.
Just for grins I took about 30 feet of 1/8” nylon line and tied it to the weight along with another lure on a short fishing line. This rig sunk about 2 feet in the water but was so close to the boat I figured we had a better chance of clubbing a fish than catching it.
But this little trial provided the inspiration for something that ultimately would work. We took the lure off of the weight and the 1/8 line and tied a simple overhand knot around the fishing line near the weight. We lowered the 5 lb weight into the water which dragged the fishing line down with it. Looking back, the lure had disappeared and by our best guess was running about 5 feet deep. This had potential as our sonar/fish finder showed fish at about this depth.
About 2 hours later while I was typing this I heard the sound of the fishing reel run so I jumped up, set the drag and 5 minutes later landed what we thought was an 8 lb tuna
Sure wish I had watched a fish cleaning video on You-Tube, it’s been over 30 years since I’ve cleaned a fish and I didn’t do that many.
The good news is we have a book on cruising cooking and the author highly recommends cooking Tuna as a steak cut, I can do that. We figured it would be better to clean the fish in port. Sharp knives and big waves don’t make for fun times.
We had Dinty Moore stew for dinner (a favorite of our sailing buddy Lee) cooked in the microwave, add some crackers and it is a feast fit for a king. That and it warmed us up and filled our stomachs for the long night ahead which is important ‘cause there aren’t any White Castle’s or Denny’s where we can stop in to grab a bite.
The sun set around 6:00 with only a cloud or 2 to be seen which was a good sign. Around 6:30 we saw a boat in the distance ahead of us so we turned on the radar to see where it was heading. The radar has a function where you can draw a line on the map towards a target and you can watch which direction it is moving relative to your movement. After about 10 minutes we were able to figure out that it was moving to the left about 3 miles ahead of us and that it was probably as close as it would get.
The radar is great for night sailing especially if the visibility is poor. There is another function that allows you to create arcs or circles around the boat at distance that you can define. If anything shows up on the radar in these areas an alarm goes off notifying you that a boat or land is in this area.
Tonight the visibility is to the horizon so we will only turn the radar on every ½ hour or so since it draws so much power. Just did the Radar check and nothing to be seen out to 16 miles.
It is also important to do a visible check every 20 minutes or so to see if something is sneaking up on you like a freighter, which can travel 2 miles in about 10 minutes. it’s also a great opportunity to peak out from under the “bimini” and see the stars.
There are 2 brilliant stars or most likely planets setting to the west. The first one is about 10 degrees above the horizon, the second one is about 5 degrees above the horizon and a little to the right. On the horizon directly in line with these to planets is the freighter we saw earlier.
It is a strange thing to be sailing out here like this. I have sailed the Mackinac race 12 times and Julie has 2 under her belt. Lake Michigan at it’s widest point is about 100 miles wide so you can be 50 miles from shore in this race. At night with a little haze or fog it may seem like you are the only boat out there, all alone with your crew of 8 or so.
When the dawn breaks and the haze burns off you can always see a half dozen or so of your competitors and maybe even the Coast Guard cutter that herds it’s flock of sailboats up the lake.
As I am writing this we are 61 miles from the nearest land, about 80 miles from the nearest Coast Guard base which is in Tampa and probably 20 miles away from the freighter that passed in front of us 2 hours ago.
Not that we need any help but it is a little odd and maybe unnerving to be out this far so alone. I suspect as we grow more experienced and confident in the boat this uneasiness will subside but I don’t know if it will ever go away.
Fear is not always a bad thing. If we didn’t fear harm we would be far more likely to walk into traffic. If I didn’t have an underlying fear of what could go wrong I wouldn’t check the things that need to be checked on a regular basis. It is this checking that keeps us safe on our way by preventing the things we fear.
It is 8:48 pm, Julie is sleeping, the sky is full of stars and my favorite constellation Orion just showed up to the east. The wind is blowing about 13 knots directly off of our beam, the waves are 2-3 feet and we are close reaching with the Main, Full Genoa and Staysail at over 7 knots. This is has to be some of the best sailing I’ve done since we started this journey which according to the trip odometer on the Garmin has taken us 1228 nautical miles. I almost wrote knotical miles which would have been wrong which reminded me of the following true story.
While rebuilding the house in Las Cruces that we currently have for sale we built some cabinets and “built ins” out of a wood called Knotty Alder. Knotty Alder has a warmth similar to Hickory along with some knots that give it character so it is a popular wood these days, it is also cheap. The local lumber yard sells this by the board foot so there is no SKU or bar code for it. You just tell them what kind of wood it is and how many board feet you have and they look it up and charge you accordingly.
I went in to purchase a few boards to finish up a piece we were working on and brought them up to the check out where a new “girl” was working. She was in her mid 20’s and had only been there a week so I didn’t think she would identify the wood so I said I had 15 board foot of Knotty Alder. She looked at me with this confused look and said “Naughty Elder, is that an account name?” I managed to not say anything crude or laugh as I explained about the Knotty Alder and went on my way.
Back to the boat, it is just eating it’s way thru the waves with power rhythm and authority. It kind of reminded me of riding a thoroughbred at a gallop. We had the good fortune of strong steady winds all night with average speeds of over 7 knots. Late into the night the waves did pick up and the wind favored us with about two hours of speeds between 8 ½ -9 ½ knots. A little disconcerting when you can’t see a thing. We are taking turns sleeping. With only two of us, we both have to be on deck, in case something goes wrong. It is cold but thankfully our friend Rick left his sleeping bag.
Sometime about 3 in the morning I noticed some strange waves next to the boat and spotted a large flash of silver just below the water. At first I thought it was the Loch Ness monster then I remembered I wasn’t in Scotland.
As I watched I realized it was a group of dolphins and my initial reaction was that they were a bunch of teenage hoodlum dolphins that were trying to steal our hubcaps. I wasn’t worried because unbeknownst to these young punks the wheels had come off this baby a long time ago.
The sun came up and we had already put over 120 miles behind us but still had another 80 miles to go. The wind slowed and came in from the south warming things up so we showered and relaxed in the cockpit in shorts and T-shirts while the autopilot dutifully guided us along.
The day has been fun but it really started to cool down around 1:00 as the wind filled in from the north, the good news is there are no waves and we have a full suit of sails up along with a little engine assist doing ~ 8 knots to get to the dock in Port St Joseph, FL before sunset.
After 33 hours on the water with only a few hours of sleep we’re getting a little goofy, singing along with the XM - Summer Love from the musical Grease and dancing with the dog.
Sorry if this went on so long but this is the first real-time blog that I’ve had a chance to write. All the rest have been recollections, some as old as 2 weeks but this was pretty much written while it happened.
By the way I want everyone to know that I write this but Julie embellishes, edits, corrects and punctuates.
The sun set around 6:00 with only a cloud or 2 to be seen which was a good sign. Around 6:30 we saw a boat in the distance ahead of us so we turned on the radar to see where it was heading. The radar has a function where you can draw a line on the map towards a target and you can watch which direction it is moving relative to your movement. After about 10 minutes we were able to figure out that it was moving to the left about 3 miles ahead of us and that it was probably as close as it would get.
The radar is great for night sailing especially if the visibility is poor. There is another function that allows you to create arcs or circles around the boat at distance that you can define. If anything shows up on the radar in these areas an alarm goes off notifying you that a boat or land is in this area.
Tonight the visibility is to the horizon so we will only turn the radar on every ½ hour or so since it draws so much power. Just did the Radar check and nothing to be seen out to 16 miles.
It is also important to do a visible check every 20 minutes or so to see if something is sneaking up on you like a freighter, which can travel 2 miles in about 10 minutes. it’s also a great opportunity to peak out from under the “bimini” and see the stars.
There are 2 brilliant stars or most likely planets setting to the west. The first one is about 10 degrees above the horizon, the second one is about 5 degrees above the horizon and a little to the right. On the horizon directly in line with these to planets is the freighter we saw earlier.
It is a strange thing to be sailing out here like this. I have sailed the Mackinac race 12 times and Julie has 2 under her belt. Lake Michigan at it’s widest point is about 100 miles wide so you can be 50 miles from shore in this race. At night with a little haze or fog it may seem like you are the only boat out there, all alone with your crew of 8 or so.
When the dawn breaks and the haze burns off you can always see a half dozen or so of your competitors and maybe even the Coast Guard cutter that herds it’s flock of sailboats up the lake.
As I am writing this we are 61 miles from the nearest land, about 80 miles from the nearest Coast Guard base which is in Tampa and probably 20 miles away from the freighter that passed in front of us 2 hours ago.
Not that we need any help but it is a little odd and maybe unnerving to be out this far so alone. I suspect as we grow more experienced and confident in the boat this uneasiness will subside but I don’t know if it will ever go away.
Fear is not always a bad thing. If we didn’t fear harm we would be far more likely to walk into traffic. If I didn’t have an underlying fear of what could go wrong I wouldn’t check the things that need to be checked on a regular basis. It is this checking that keeps us safe on our way by preventing the things we fear.
It is 8:48 pm, Julie is sleeping, the sky is full of stars and my favorite constellation Orion just showed up to the east. The wind is blowing about 13 knots directly off of our beam, the waves are 2-3 feet and we are close reaching with the Main, Full Genoa and Staysail at over 7 knots. This is has to be some of the best sailing I’ve done since we started this journey which according to the trip odometer on the Garmin has taken us 1228 nautical miles. I almost wrote knotical miles which would have been wrong which reminded me of the following true story.
While rebuilding the house in Las Cruces that we currently have for sale we built some cabinets and “built ins” out of a wood called Knotty Alder. Knotty Alder has a warmth similar to Hickory along with some knots that give it character so it is a popular wood these days, it is also cheap. The local lumber yard sells this by the board foot so there is no SKU or bar code for it. You just tell them what kind of wood it is and how many board feet you have and they look it up and charge you accordingly.
I went in to purchase a few boards to finish up a piece we were working on and brought them up to the check out where a new “girl” was working. She was in her mid 20’s and had only been there a week so I didn’t think she would identify the wood so I said I had 15 board foot of Knotty Alder. She looked at me with this confused look and said “Naughty Elder, is that an account name?” I managed to not say anything crude or laugh as I explained about the Knotty Alder and went on my way.
Back to the boat, it is just eating it’s way thru the waves with power rhythm and authority. It kind of reminded me of riding a thoroughbred at a gallop. We had the good fortune of strong steady winds all night with average speeds of over 7 knots. Late into the night the waves did pick up and the wind favored us with about two hours of speeds between 8 ½ -9 ½ knots. A little disconcerting when you can’t see a thing. We are taking turns sleeping. With only two of us, we both have to be on deck, in case something goes wrong. It is cold but thankfully our friend Rick left his sleeping bag.
Sometime about 3 in the morning I noticed some strange waves next to the boat and spotted a large flash of silver just below the water. At first I thought it was the Loch Ness monster then I remembered I wasn’t in Scotland.
As I watched I realized it was a group of dolphins and my initial reaction was that they were a bunch of teenage hoodlum dolphins that were trying to steal our hubcaps. I wasn’t worried because unbeknownst to these young punks the wheels had come off this baby a long time ago.
The sun came up and we had already put over 120 miles behind us but still had another 80 miles to go. The wind slowed and came in from the south warming things up so we showered and relaxed in the cockpit in shorts and T-shirts while the autopilot dutifully guided us along.
The day has been fun but it really started to cool down around 1:00 as the wind filled in from the north, the good news is there are no waves and we have a full suit of sails up along with a little engine assist doing ~ 8 knots to get to the dock in Port St Joseph, FL before sunset.
After 33 hours on the water with only a few hours of sleep we’re getting a little goofy, singing along with the XM - Summer Love from the musical Grease and dancing with the dog.
Sorry if this went on so long but this is the first real-time blog that I’ve had a chance to write. All the rest have been recollections, some as old as 2 weeks but this was pretty much written while it happened.
By the way I want everyone to know that I write this but Julie embellishes, edits, corrects and punctuates.
And as I (Julie) am currently embellishing, I have to say that his Johnson isn’t as big and impressive as it looks. The camera does add ten pounds you know. And occasionally, no matter how many times you pull it, it just won’t start!
8 comments:
tuna steak is excelent man! curry butter & garlic with rice!
A dead doornail, HMMmm?
As I understand it those dead doornails were the heavy studded nails on midevil doors. Particularly the big nails where the knockers rested. A doornail, because of its size and probable antiquity, would seem dead enough for any proverb; the one on which the knocker sat might be thought particularly dead because of the number of times it had been knocked on the head.
KNOCKERS?....STUDS?....Butter?.....Garlic?....
All sounds good to me!
Ps....
My favorite part of this blog is the "teenage hoodlum dolphins"
Hello to all the fishies swimming in the deep blue sea.
Stay safe.
as a kid my brother and i discovered a simple piece of wood with a nice bow towed behind the boat made a fun toy while cruising.
we also found out that when it would flip over it would plunge down deep underwater and become a submarine.
so perhaps you sould snag a piece of wood and use it to plunge fishing lures lower into the water.
I talked with Braxton about how we fished on our way to Hawaii.
This is what he had to say:
I believe the techniques may be a little different between the Gulf and the Pacific due to the water temps and fish species. I think they catch mostly kingfish out there. The rigs (3 at a time) we used were typical “tuna” rigs which drag the top of the water, breaking the surface every few seconds. This creates a stream of air bubbles and vibrations which are highly attractive to the fish. I have never been on a trip where the boat tried to troll deep, unless it was a slow 1-2 kt. Speed.
I would suggest they try to use something that stays on top creating surface action.
I have also found that the fishing seems to suck near land, and you really need to be 30-100+ miles offshore to get the good stuff.
Probably what's different is that different species congregate near shore vs. offshore (such as the King Mackerel), and different tackle and techniques are needed. I grew up on the Texas Gulf coast but was mostly familiar with shallow-water near-land species such as speckled sea trout, whiting, red fish, drum, hardhead and gafftop catfish, flounder, sheepshead, etc. There are also deep-water reef fish such as red snapper and grouper, but those are caught by boats that hover stationary over a reef.
Question... How hard would it have been for a marine surveyor or rigger to detect the severe corrosion on the inside of the bottom of the mast? Or would the mast really have to have been pulled for anything amiss to have been noticed?
if you didn't already get sky maps, get some online of from cheap astronomy software. those "two bright stars" you saw were venus and jupiter.
http://space.about.com/library/weekly/blskymaps.htm
http://www.skymaps.com/
http://www.astroviewer.com/
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/
We found a little attachment that pulls the lure down several feet at 6 knots but haven't been fishing much.
The surveyor that did the insurance inspection looked at the mast step but didn't see a problem. The outside of the mast looked perfect, the inside was the only place you could see the corrosion.
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