|
|
|
|
|
|
The weather report sounds good with 20 Kt SE winds here and 10-15 Kt SE winds further N and no mention of the second tropical wave. The winds in the anchorage are a little less and it looks like a good day to get home. The Canadian boat Gabria leaves around 9, we talk to them and they are headed to Florida also but further N. I try the main halyard again to see if it is still hanging up and this time it hangs up permanently. I monkey with it for 10 minutes but it only moves a few feet and will not go all the way up or come down again so we will not be using the main sail.
We dingy in to the headquarters building and use the phone to tell my folks that we have not left yet but are about to. We say goodbye to the people we meet at the park and head back to the boat. We drop the mooring at 9:45 and are off on the last leg. With the good wind we are doing 4.5 - 5 Kt on a broad reach with just the jib and sail W all day until we reach the deep water of Tongue of the Ocean at 5 PM and then turn NW. Jill trails the fishing line and after a few hits we hook a big one which turns out to be a barracuda. The line breaks while we try to figure out how to set it loose. An hour later we hook another one. The moon is up for a few hours after dark and the sky is clear but there is lots of haze on the horizon. We can see the loom of lights on Andros to the W and New Providence to the NE. The wind drops a little and we slow down but continue under jib all night. During her watch, Jill seas a very bright meteor.
We are up at 0800. Saying goodbyes to "Gabra" with Suzanne and Tony and her sister Nicki - live aboards from Canada - real nice people. The barracuda is under our boat.
0900 Off toward the iguana's island but now our time is too short to stop - next time :}. Its breezy, but as we sailed north the wind went down. Our main halyard is twisted inside the mast I think. We sailed all day and at night did 3 hour watches. It was pretty nice , cool and only a beam sea made us roll a bit. Once I thought that the flash light fell overboard because we could not find it - then I kept searching on my watch and found it on the floor under Rich's bed :). We don't have much of an appetite for the foods that we have left - but it's still what we thought was so good not long ago. :)
The weather report is calling for the same weather today as yesterday. The
wind had decreased as expected and we roll up the jib and raise the cruising
spinnaker. This pulls strongly and gets us moving at 4 - 5 Kt again. We arrive
at the NW passage mark at 10 and enter the banks and start heading W. The wind
is about 10 Kt and the waves are only 1-2’ on the banks. I decide to continue W
and anchor tonight on the banks instead of heading NW and going around Great
Isaac. This route would require us to continue sailing all the way to Ft.
Lauderdale and we would have to fight the current across the Gulf stream. After
lunch the wind falls light and then fills in from the NE. This is not expected
but after fooling with the spinnaker for a while we are off again. At dusk we
drop the spinnaker and roll out the jib again and sail on until we are about 10
miles from Cat Cay and then anchor for the night at 11 PM. The wind increases
after dark and it is not as quiet a night as I had thought it would be. The wind
is 15 Kt from the E and the waves are 2-3’ but we are both tired and do not have
much problem getting to sleep.
Sailed all night - Rich decided we'd go along Tongue of the Ocean and anchor late tonight near the Banks of Cat Cay and then "go across"... The jib furling is twisted - so we put up the sailing spinnaker - It is really beautiful.
I had set the alarm for 6 but we did not get up till 7. The wind was still 15
Kt but had switched back to the SE. We had to start the engine to help get the
anchor out and then headed W and rolled out the jib. The jib would not roll all
the way out and then it would not roll up again. After looking for the problem
for a while I discovered that I had not retied the jib halyard after taking it
off to use the cleat for the spinnaker and the halyard was wrapped around the
furling gear, jamming it. In trying to tighten the halyard the plastic winch
handle broke with a loud crack. There was no way to fix the furling here so I
pulled the jib around and around the forestay wrapping it up the hard way. We
continued motoring to Cat Cay and out the pass between it and Gun Cay and into
the Gulf Stream. The wind outside was less than what we had just a few minutes
earlier on the banks but still enough for sailing. I raised our last sail, the
spinnaker and we were off at about 4 Kt. Around noon the wind decreased and when
we had slowed to less than 2 Kt I started the engine and pulled down the
spinnaker. Later the wind died altogether and we motored the rest of the way.
Just off Gun Cay we saw a Coast Guard boat which seemed to be zipping around in
random directions. On the VHF on channel 16 we heard a lot of Coast Guard
chatter about a mission they were on tracking 2 go-fast boats apparently
suspected of drug trafficking. They had planes and small boats and were tracking
the 2 suspect boats but apparently did not find them until after the drug deal
had gone down.
The wind picked up as we neared the Florida coast, a sea breeze. There was
lots of activity around the port, a sailboat race with several J 24 boats was
going on just S of the port, several wave runners were zooming in and out of the
inlet and a number of dive boats were looking for lobsters near the inlet, this
was the lobster mini-season. A number of power boats were going in and out, one
was Crazy Greg. As we turned the corner we saw the new temporary 17th
Street bridge and it was just opening. We radioed and the bridge tender said she
would hold the bridge for us. The traffic thinned out as we passed the bridge.
At the turn to the New River a sailboat coming out had missed the turn and run
aground on the shallows that used to be an island where the river meet the
intercostal. It was almost low tide so he should float off in an hour or so.
Just before the 3d Ave. bridge we passed 2 motorboats headed down river but when
we got to the bridge it opened without delay.
At Andrews the bridge tender said
they were repairing the bridge and could not open now but possibly in 15
minutes. Just 2 minutes later they opened for us and we continued. Just passed
the railroad bridge we heard a siren and a call about a fire boat. As we turned
the corner and called 7th Ave. bridge to open, another power boat was
just behind us. Around the corner behind us came the fire boat at full throttle,
zipping past us, under the bridge and up the river. I had never seen anything
like it on the river, he was really hauling and I think he was suppressed to see
us in the middle of the river as he came around the corner. He set up quite a
wake and all the boats at the marina and docks bounced around. Several comments
were heard from the boaters on the VHF. The bridge opened and as we went thru we
could see the fire boat headed back at a more leisurely pace. What else can
happen!
We made the rest of the voyage without incident. We said hello the Sharon Bogard as we passed her dock and then finally got to our own dock at 7:30. After jumping into the pool and having a happy hour on the boat, Jim came home around 8:30 and we ordered pizza to celebrate our homecoming.
We anchored about 11 PM last night. I had taken a long nap in the morning - Rich died to sleep! After the anchor was set and he had navigated some more. I have been so amazed how my Capt. knows where we are at all times - Lost me! Lovely moon light...
We passed by an old lighthouse and out into the ocean. By mid-day we were motoring because there wasn't even spinnaker breeze! We saw the Coast Guard several times but they didn't seem interested in us. As we neared Fla, we could hear a 'boat chase' going on. They were talking back and forth on channel 16 about their surveillance. Seemed odd. As we neared the coast, tall buildings were coming into view through a heavy haze... Many cargo boats were anchored outside the port (6 or so). Ski-doos and motor boats were coming and going - everything looked so ACTIVE ha. Grasses and trees seemed very dark and bright green - 17th Street Bridge opened right up (for us!) :) and so did all the others. For a few minutes we thought 7th was giving us a 15+ minute delay but right away they changed their mind (it was a quick fix) and opened. :)
As we came up the river, we saw Sharon and the Belmonts on their dock. Hellos all around...
The Phoenix has landed.
|
|
|
|
|
|