December 27th (Day 81) - Lake Worth to Indian Key
72 degrees. Water temp 74. Winds 5-8 from the west. Sunny, beautiful day on the ocean.
130 Nautical miles today (1,564.5 total trip miles)
Last evening I completed all the off-shore preparation out on the decks and we were ready to go. I had set the alarm for 6am so we could have a chance of making Biscayne Bay before dark. No problems pulling the anchor at 6:30am in the dark and we soon motored the 1/2 mile back to the inlet.
But first... just before the inlet - in the big ship turning basin - I turned up into the wind and we rolled out the full mainsail. The winds were only 5-6 knots but they were supposed to be higher later in the morning. After the sail was out, we turned back to the inlet and motored against the incoming tidal current for the short 1 mile into the North Atlantic.
As we were nearing our turn south from the inlet, we could see a huge cruiseship a couple miles away making their approach. I was very happy we were not 15-20 minutes later or we would have had to wait for them to enter.
Once away from shore, we could turn south with our destination finally the Florida Keys! It was a beautiful morning with a pretty sunrise as the Sun lit up the low clouds from underneath.
As the morning progressed, we rolled out the jib and raised the mizzen to help with boat speed. Unfortunately, the winds never filled in for us to sail fast enough to make it passed the Miami ship channel (Government Cut) before dark so we kept the engine running all day.
Later in the morning Laura decided to put a hand-line out and troll a lure for fresh fish. After about 30 minutes, she pulled it in and changed the lure. Not 2 minutes after putting the line back out she had a hard bite that pulled the line tight. I pulled the throttle back and turned the boat into the wind to slow down. Just a few minutes later we had a nice size tuna on the deck.
This is called a "Little Tuna" and not as good eating as a bluefin or yellowfin. But Laura decided to filet it anyway and a short time later we had 4 nice tuna filets in the refrigerator. Note that we grilled it for dinner a couple nights later and it was very nice.
After the fishing excitement, it was time to relax in the warm Sun.
It was a nice day on the very busy south Florida coast. Passing each inlet, pleasure boats were everywhere. We averaged 7 knots for the 40 miles to Ft. Lauderdale and another 20 miles to Miami.
Now we had a decision to make. The weather forecast had changed for the worse with a front coming through tomorrow afternoon with thunderstorms and winds in the 30s with gusts to 40. All three of the weather apps I use agreed that the high winds and rain would be after 1pm. We had a few options...
1. At this speed, we could be anchored in Hurricane Harbor, Key Biscayne before dark. It is a tricky entrance (VERY narrow channel) but we've been in there before and have tracks on our GPS that we could follow. This harbor has 360 degree protection with excellent holding and would be one of the better spots to ride out the storm tomorrow. The only problem is this would set us back 2 days in getting to Marathon. Tomorrow we would sit out the storm then it would take another 2 days down The Keys. We had made plans for the next few days and wanted to be there sooner than that.
2. We could enter Biscayne Bay just south of Key Biscayne and motor-sail down the bay to Key Largo. We could be anchored behind Pumpkin Key around 10-11pm where we would sit out the storm tomorrow. This is not as protected as Hurricane Harbor but we could probably make Marathon in one day from there.
3. Keep going tonight and anchor along the north shore before the Channel 5 bridge. Current ETA was 3am. From there, we could grab a couple hours sleep and leave early to make Marathon in only 4-5 hours before the storm.
4. Keep going down the Hawk Channel tonight all the way to Marathon. We would be in Marathon around sunup tomorrow. The major problem with this is all the crap trap floats past Channel 5. We'd be taking a bigger chance of running over one and pulling it into the propeller. I've advised folks in the past to not run between Key Largo and Marathon in the dark because of the numerous floating trap markers.
Laura and I discussed the options and, after over 2 months of travel to get here, decided on #3. In hindsight, we ignored the advise I give other boaters, "Don't let momentum make travel decisions for you." We both wanted to be in Marathon tomorrow so decided to keep going.
The problem with this scenario is I would also be going against my normal planning strategy to always leave yourself a way out if things go bad. There would not be any good places to bail-out into a protected anchorage if the weather came in earlier. But, I figured with the forecast north winds off the land, it wouldn't be too bad. Hmmm......
Around 5pm we had negotiated our way through the busy Miami ship channel and kept going. A short time later we passed the Key Biscayne lighthouse where we could have turned for the Hurricane Harbor and Key Largo anchorages. Onward!
We had another pretty sunset over Biscayne Bay at 5:30pm.
The almost full moon came out shortly after sunset and lit up our night travels down The Keys. There were a few other boats we passed in both directions but no problems. Laura and I were both able to get naps so I wasn't too tired. Winds had died so we pulled in all the sails and just motored on calm waters.
Once again, the forecast kept saying the storms and winds were not until the afternoon tomorrow. I didn't want to keep going all the way to Marathon tonight because of the numerous crab trap floats. I knew from multiple past passages through here that they were very thick once we got to Channel 5. I didn't want to take the (small) chance that we would catch one with our propeller and disable the boat in the dark.
We caught a little helping current and were able to easily anchor off Indian Key at 2:30am. Now we had only 25 miles to Marathon that we planned to make easily tomorrow morning. We both hit the sack just a few minutes after anchoring with the alarm set for 3 1/2 hours later.
December 28th (Day 82) - Marathon!
75 degrees, water temp 74. Crazy weather......
31 Nautical Miles today (1,595.5 total trip miles)
The alarm went off at 6am and we had both slept well - but not nearly long enough. After only a couple minutes being awake, I knew that something wasn't right. The forecast had called for light winds all morning until the storms in early afternoon. I could hear and feel the winds before even getting out of bed. Oh oh.
We both quickly got the boat ready to cruise and by 6:30am we had pulled the anchor and started motoring toward Marathon. Winds were 15-20 from the NE which brought 2-3 foot waves off the starboard stern - rolling the boat a bit but not too bad.
Dawn broke just before we crossed Channel 5 and it was nice to be able to see the numerous crab trap floats. We were able to safely pass through them all with occasional detours to one side or the other so we'd miss one right in our path.
I took this picture at 8am. The storm was coming early. Maybe it would miss us to the south?
Nope. We could see a large line of thunderstorms and rain heading our way on the phone weather app. Lots of yellow and red shit. 20 minutes later, the storm hit. Check out this short video I took.
Did you notice in the video above how the boat was leaning over a lot? This wasn't the wind pushing our sails - we didn't have any sails out. It was just the wind pushing on our (2) masts.
Once we were behind Duck Key we were not getting blown over so bad with the 30+ knot wind gusts. The only problem now was staying here until the front passed (maybe an hour?). I ended up finding a way to "heave to" so the boat didn't move around too much. We had no sail out (I thought it would make the wind effect worse) but I was able to point the bow into the wind then let it fall off the wind just 10 degrees. Now the wind wanted to move the bow to the side. I turned the helm all the way over to push the bow back into the wind and lowered the throttle on the engine. This worked pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. The boat was balanced with the wind trying to push us away and the rudder / engine trying to push us back. We just drifted sideways at about 0.5 knots. Perfect!
The green squiggle line was our track for the next hour staying behind the island for some wave and wind protection. It wasn't fun. The wind was blowing mid-30s to 40 most of the time with heavy (sideways) rain.
An hour later we could see on the radar that the major storms had passed. The wind was still holding mid-20s but that wasn't so bad so we again turned west and headed to Marathon.
The next few hours were not too bad because the wind was mostly off the land and we were not getting big waves. The wind sometimes dropped into the teens but most of the time it was 25+.
As we made the turn around Boot Key toward the 7-mile bridge, we were motoring directly into the wind and making only 2-3 knots. I was wondering if we should even go into the harbor because the high winds could blow us out of the channel on our way in.
To make matters worse, the marina was not answering the phone. We've seen times in the past when they close the marina office and go home if the weather is so bad they will not get any business. Guess that happened today.
Instead, I was able to get a hold of our friend Sal who has a boat right next to us at the marina. He was there and could help us dock. I didn't think we could get into our slip because the winds would blow us sideways away from the dock. So, my plan was to tie up to the wall behind the marina where we would be pointing north into the wind. Only problem is the cleats back there are not great.
We came into the Boot Key Harbor channel and I was able to stay over to the north side (deeper water) while carefully watching that the wind didn't blow us into the shallow water. Just because your boat is pointing in a direction doesn't mean it's actually going that way. Boats move sideways almost as easy as moving forward.
Laura did her normal excellent job of preparing our dock lines on the way into the harbor. At the last minute, I noticed that the wind had died just a little so decided to change plans and pull right over to the fuel dock next to Sal's boat. It worked great and we had the boat secured just a few minutes later. I was one happy man. When the winds die tomorrow, I'll gladly move to our normal slip #2.
I think today was our most intense travel day in 17 years and over 150,000 miles of our time on Second Wind. We've been in 30+ knot winds before and even sailed through 25-30 knot winds in the Caribbean. But today seemed worse because of the narrow channel and major rain event. Luckily(?), there were not any thunderstorms that could have made it much worse. I'll definitely remember this the next time we have these decisions to make. What's another 2 days?
Russ and Pam had been in Marathon for a week or so and walked over to our marina for dinner together at the restaurant. We had a great reunion and wonderful dinner watching our first Keys sunset. It didn't disappoint!
Here we are tied on the fuel dock.
This picture was from the restaurant a little while later.
We will be spending the Winter in Marathon and enjoying time with old and new friends. This was the longest trip up or down the coast for us in 17 years because of a few lengthy stops we made for personal business. But, we've arrived at Burdines 3 weeks earlier than last year when we were delayed by Laura's ankle surgery. We are very happy to be at the dock and settled in.
Onward.....
Sal and Ina (our dock neighbors and music friends) have a car here that they've offered for us to use so we won't feel so "stranded".
I'm looking forward to getting back to daily walks to build up my strength and stamina again. The past few weeks (since Myrtle Beach) we haven't had the opportunity to walk very much and I feel a little stagnated (is that even a word?).
On Saturday evening, Russ and Pam invited us to their boat for dinner and sunset. They are on the "Sunset" docks at Marathon Marina and have a beautiful view. Here are a couple pictures from a fun evening with them.
I will blog again if something interesting happens that is "blog worthy." Otherwise, the next blog will be in April when we leave for another summer in Catskill.
We have a fun New Year's Eve party planned at the tiki-hut in front of our boat. Sal, Ina, Russ, Pam plus Jon and Marguerite (another couple from Summer in Catskill) will be here for some music, great food and excellent company.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS! Hope it's a good one for you!
Trip Stats
Anchored 26 nightsMoorings 6 nights
Paid dockage 40 nights
Free docks 9 nights
Major Trip Expenses (for 2 1/2 months)
Diesel $1,281
Dockage $1,960
Repairs $2,658 (includes new A/C unit)
Dining $1,021
Groceries $2,161
No comments:
Post a Comment