The rest of the trip..Charleston to Miami

Days 9-17

The evening after Alan left, Bobby, Art and I had dinner at “Poogans Porch” a “low country” restaurant featuring local food. Dinner was OK, but the end of dinner was somewhat of a surprise. Bobby announced that he was thinking of not going on. He said that he was surprised at the poor state of the boat and didn’t want to continue He didn’t elaborate on the “poor state”. In point of fact the boat had handled the heavy seas coming down the Chesapeake (somewhat better than the crew) without any hint of problem and excepting for complaining that there was no connection between the chart plotter and the autopilot (which would have let the autopilot follow a pre-determined route without any intervention – as opposed to occasional manual course corrections to minimize cross-track error) Bobby had never mentioned any concerns with the state of the boat. Actually, that is not entirely true. He spent much time cleaning the boat, even scrubbing the floor of the salon and galley. He also spent much time putting things away (hiding things as Art and I referred to it). But this is different than any lack in safety or functionality.

Nothing more was said that night and I expected we’d talk about it in the morning (Monday morning).

As it turns out, at 6:30am, before the sun came up, Bobby left, taking all his belongings (as well as the EPIRB and a GPS that Alan had left for our use). He abandoned us, without another word

His actions were, to say the least unconscionable, and some would say despicable. Without a hint of concern as to our welfare, he left us 600 mil.es from Baltimore and 500 miles from Miami. He didn’t offer to help us find someone else to get the boat to Miami, he didn’t voice concerns for what we might do, he just stole away like a thief in the night.

I have thought much about what his true reasons for leaving might be. Given the way the boat took care of us getting to Charleston (and given how well it handled the subsequent trip to Miami) it was not, as he said “the sorry state of the boat”. I assume it was related to Alan’s leaving that morning, and perhaps his concerns about Art and my abilities to handle the boat. But he didn’t articulate such a concern and I remain puzzled and much disappointed. While he is a talented sailor and great at maintaining and improving equipment on a sailboat, he has proven himself to be a despicable human being and not someone to be trusted with any responsibility.

Within a few hours of Bobby’s leaving I had found 3 delivery captains able and willing to help. Jim Stengel had responded to my calls first and would be able to get to Charleston the next day so we could continue the voyage on Wednesday He also was able to bring a co-captain, Al Jones to help. Both Jim and Al are licensed captains with many years of delivery experience. I had known Jim from thee Island Packet email list and had been impressed by his knowledge and his “curmudgeonly” view of the world (which I share). His willingness to drop everything and show up in a day amazed and gladdened me. As it turns out Bruce Gregory talked with me later in the day (I had called him as well) and he too would have been willing and able to help, but by that time Jim and Al were already in transit. Bruce is another Island Packet owner and the creator and maintainer of the email list and also a very experienced Delivery Captain. The list has many exceedingly good people who are more than willing to help a fellow sailor in need.

Learning that I would be getting two very experienced crew, Art and I agreed that he should go home. He stayed that evening (we had a very good steak dinner at Hall’s). As might be imagined we spent much time trying to understand what motivated Bobby, but failed utterly.

Art left at 7:30 on Tuesday morning.

We had noticed that the diesel fuel, which had been perfectly clean and clear when we left Baltimore, now looked black. Clearly our boisterous ride down the Chesapeak, and the short but equally boisterous arrival to Charleston had caused the sediment that is normally attached to the inner walls and bottom of the fuel tank to break free and float in the fuel. Not wanting to use up the 5 filters I had on board I arranged to have the fuel “polished”. This is a procedure in which the fuel is sucked out of the tank, passed through a set of filters and put back in the tank. This was repeate 3 times, with ever finer (ultimately down to 3 microns) filters, rendering the fuel once again clear and clean. We had no problems with fuel on the trip from Charleston to Miami

Jim and Al arrived at 6:30 Tuesday evening, having flown from Miami. We had a nice but not elegant dinner at the restaurant next to the marina and planned an early departure the next morning.. We went to bed early – they were tired from traveling all day, I was exhausted by the tumult of the last two days. They slept well. I didn’t

I had received a report from our weather service that Wednesday would be a good day. There was some concern about a front coming through on Thursday night, but it was felt it would be brief and we should be OK…we were advised to check Thursday morning to confirm.

We cast off at 7am as the sun was rising and sailed (well actually motored) out of Charleston on a beautiful, cold, sunny morning. It was much better - weather wise - leaving Charleston that coming in. Passing Fort Sumter at the inlet to Charleston harbor we were soon out to sea and setting a course to Miami.

The day, and the following night, was beautiful. Winds were light, sea a little high (3 – 5 foot swells) and things were looking up. The hope was for landfall in Miami late Friday or early Saturday. That night (Wednesday night) we stood 3 hour watches. Leaving 6 hours off which worked well, especially considering the relatively good (as compared to coming down the Chesapeake or coming into Charleston) conditions.

Thursday morning I used the rented satellite phone to call our weather service and get the update. We were now told that the cold front coming from the south would interact with a high over Bermuda and conditions Thursday night would be very bad – gale force winds, high seas – and we were advised to seek shelter for the night.

Our options were limited. While we had made good time during the night, Port Canaveral was 100 miles (~16 hours) away and we wouldn’t make it before the storm hit. Fernandina beach or the St. Johns River were close but behind us and we weren’t anxious to give up the progress we had made going south. St Augustine is a poor inlet in bad weather, but the weather was good now and once the storm passed should be good again, so we turned due west and headed for St. Augustine, now 40 miles (~7 hours) away, which meant we should arrive before sundown.

Even with the good weather we were concerned about getting into St Augustine because it is known for shoaling, to such an extent that no channel markers were shown on the charts. The Coast Guard has not been able to keep up with the dredging necessary to maintain the channel so they just move to channel markers from time to time! We decided to take advantage of my membership in Towboat US (sort of a AAA for sailors) and ask them to guide us in. Turns out they don’t really offer this service, but rather can help if we had mechanical or other problems, so I told them we were having intermittent problems with overheating and were concerned with engine failure. This worked for them and us.

When we arrived at the light guarding the (approximate) inlet channel the towboat was waiting and asked how our engine was doing. We said (over the radio) that it was working at the moment but we were still concerned with failure and so could he stay nearby and lead us in? He laughed (obviously aware of our subterfuge) but did indeed lead us in.

Realizing that it was unlikely that we could be led out again the next day, I turned on a “tracking” feature in a navigation program (Navionics) that I had loaded onto my iPad. It made a perfect track of our twists and turns as we were led through the surf and over the bar that marks the St. Augustine channel.

TowBoat had recommended a marina (Commachee Cove) not far from the inlet and it proved to be a very nice, very large and very protected marina . We fueled up (which let us estimate that we were using about 0.8 gallons per hour) and were then guided into our slip. After a nice dinner at the restaurant in the marina (the marina was so large that we had to be driven by go cart from our slip to the restaurant)

After arriving at the slip and after some very welcome showers we planned the trip from St. Augustine to Miami. It would be entirely coastal, staying on the 3 mile limit (which is nicely marked on the charts and so served us as a route) and would just graze the gulf stream. Consulting the tides and currents (which takes but a click on the computer) it turned out that it would be best if we left at noon (we actually arrive quicker than if we left at dawn since we wouldn’t be fighting adverse currents earlier in the day) and so we slept in!

Friday morning was sunny and cool. The wind had howled during the night but started tapering off around 10 am (another reason why we waited till noon) We cast off at 12;05 and headed for the inlet, with the iPad showing the path we had taken in (sort of like following bread crumbs). As we came into the inlet we were greeted by a following current and pounding surf. Jim was at the wheel, Al and I looking for the markers and watching the course on the iPad. It was a tumultuous ½ hour ride out! The boat was making great speed (6 – 8 knots because of the current) but was being tossed about by the surf as we plowed into it. From time to time waves crashed over the boat, once crashing over the dodger but Jim held on to the wheel and the boat soldiered on. Once we were over the bar (why the heck don’t they just dredge it?) Things quieted down and we were able to assess damage. We were all OK (but Jim had been drenched by one of the boarding waves) but things were a mess down below. My laptop, which serves as a chartplotter had left its usual spot on the navigation table and was lying on the floor (and amazingly was till running, showing our position perfectly). Jim had bought club soda that morning which unfortunately had come in glass bottles. They weren’t stowed away as well as we thought and two had broken. Happily we were able to clean up the glass and everything else and soon turned south.

Going to St. Augustine was a learning experience. The decision to go in someplace was a wise one. Choosing St. Augustine was not.

Things decidedly got better once we got on the 3 mile limit roadway. The seas were high and the ride was “lumpy bumpy” with constant rolling, but the weather was clear and even started to warm up (we were heading south after all). Given that we were relatively close to shore we would see more boat traffic and so decided to change the night watches to 2 hours on, 4 hours off, which worked well

For the next 40 hours we watched the coast of Florida pass by. I was on watch as we passed Cape Canaveral and saw what appeared to be 3 launch towers, never to be used again. Daytona beach was surprising built up, and by text message Josh assured me it was a great party town (a nice thing about being so close to land is that we had good phone and text service – no wifi though).

As night came we could see the loom over Fort Lauderdale- Miami and at one am were passing the inlet to Port Everglades, with enormous cruise ships and cargo ships coming in and out…we paid close attention as we passed, not wanting to bounce off a large ship so close to our goal.

At 3am we came to the channel going in to Miami (called Government cut) and at 4:30 we were tied up at the fuel dock of the Miami Beach Marina. A security guard on duty was pressed into helping us tie up.

We all took a brief nap, waiting for the office to open at 7am. After fueling up (37 gallons added to our 85 gallon tank) we moved over to our new slip (K-6).

We adjusted the lines, washed down the boat and headed off to the showers. Jim’s wife Michelle drove up from Homestead and helped empty the refrigerator as well as all food containers that had been opened along the way.

By noon they were gone.

I spent the day cleaning up…doing the wash, scrubbing the bathroom and galley floors and putting some stuff away.

Had a nice dinner at Smith and Wo;;ensky (just a 5 minute walk away…I’m going to like South Beach!) and so to bed…very early

Finished straightening up the next morning…the boat is reasonably ship shape and ready to sail again..

Met a Craig Olsen who, with his wife lives on an Island Packet 350 (much like mine, but a little smaller) just two slips away. Turns out he supports himself by working on boats in this and other marinas. He will fix the damage to the bow pulpit and add a few features to make being in Miami Beach even nicer

It was a long trip..much longer than I had anticipated and impressively tiring…it is hard – at least for me – to sleep when I’m off watch and so I felt sleep deprived for much of the journey, excepting for our long sojourn in Charleston. One thing wrong about the trip (besides the personnel issue) was the drive to get there, which interfered with the enjoyment of the voyage. We didn’t really get to explore Charleston for example, even though we were there for 4 days. About the only enjoyment off the boat was the occasional restaurant ( the prime rib at Coinjack was one of the best I’ve had..including those at Abe and Louis’ or at the Prime Rib)

The next trip, if there is one, will have to be more leisurely and will have to include time to enjoy the passage, not just seek the destination.

Days 6, 7, 8

Day 6 and 7

Great barbequed steak dinner at the Kerlin’s house the evening before. They are amazingly gracious hosts. Greg offered to drive us around in the morning to help us provision and refuel the boat.

By 9am we were up and re-provisioning the boat for what we hoped would be the next leg – offshore to Miami…but that was not to be. Weather reports indicated gale winds, large seas (up to 20 foot waves) beginning tomorrow (Thursday night) and continuing for several days. After discussions with our Weather service (Commander Weather) we decided to leave in the afternoon. bound for Charleston We spent the rest of the morning putting stuff away, tying stuff down, refueling and putting the provisions we had bought in the morning.

At 3:30 we cast off (timed to catch the outgoing tide) and set off for Charleston. It was a beautiful evening, relatively calm and actually got calmer and warmer as we motor-sailed through the night. Thursday was the same..sunny, warm 10-15 knot winds on the beam and we continued to motor-sail, keeping the boat speed above 6.5 knots. Our goal was to get to Charleston after midnight and beat the expected storm.

For much of the day on Thursday we were accompanied by groups of Dolphins as much as 12 – 15 at time jumping in and out of our bow wake (see pictures on the Picasa web album). The first group (Pod) arrived around 11am, played for ~1/2 hour then left, to be replaced a few hours later by another pod for another ½ hour. Neat!

We took 2-hour shifts on watch, followed by 6 hours off watch during the night which changed to 3 hours on watch and 9 hours off during the day. We were well rested. We had soup and/or sandwiches for lunch and casseroles for dinner (beef stroganoff, Mexican chicken and rice, etc.) and so were well fed. All in all a good voyage.

At 11pm on Thursday we entered the channel to Charleston just as the wind picked up and a light rain started to fall. We arrived at the City dock around 1am and were tied up by 1:15. It was a group effort, with Bobby navigating, Alan steering and Art and I looking for the marks. The wind had picked up, the current was strong, the rains were intermittent (but became heavy later) but we were plugged in, the boat tied up and much relieved.

Day 8 –

Friday we slept in, took showers, then the shuttle bus downtown for sandwiches and such. Except for a little clean up we didn’t accomplish much else. Dinner was at Carolina’s, a nice restaurant that tolerated our “casual” dress. I had great short ribs.

Saturday we changed the oil (it appears we burned ~1 liter since we left Baltimore ~120 engine hours ago), oil filter and fuel filter. We also adjusted the stuffing box so that the leak was only one drop per minute (which is good). We did make a visit to West Marine (the marina runs a shuttle bus there) to get a better pump to change the oil than the one I had on board.

We talked with the Weather service who urged us not to leave Charleston till Tuesday morning!. Due to a stalled low it would take that long for the winds and seas to become tolerable (and safe). We had expected to be in Miami by Monday, but now we wouldn’t be leaving Charleston (~500 miles north) till Tuesday. We will check again on Monday to confirm that is still the case and not worse. If we do leave early Tuesday morning (say around 7:30am) we should arrive in Miami Friday morning.

Alan, with much regret, had to leave us. He is an officer in a national real estate management society and their annual meeting starts on Wednesday in Anaheim, where he has to officiate. So…Sunday morning, after one last group movie (wearing special “Priority” polo shirts – see the Picasa web album) he headed to the airport where he would pick up a rental car that he would drive to Punta Gorda, (his Florida home), pick up fresh clothes and head to the Fort Myers airport.

The three of us (Bobby, Art and me) plan to head off Tuesday morning for Miami but have alternate routes (one with a stop at Fernandino beach which is 24 hours away in northern florida, another with a stop at Port Canaveral, which is 40 hours away about half way down the coast of florida) in case the going is tough. But the long range forecast is for good weather on the route to Miami through Friday so we are hopeful. We will check with the weather service on-route (I have a satellite phone since we’ll be ~40 miles offshore for part of the route)

We will adopt 2 hours on, 4 hours off during the night and 3 hours on 6 hours off during the day. Should be more than tolerable, especially if the weather is reasonable.

Gonna try to find a bar that shows C-span so I can watch Ben being interviewed at noon today…not sure they have such bars in Charleston.

Day 5

Day 5

Last night we arrived At the Dowry creek marina at twilight about ½ hour after sunset…just enough light to tie up. The marina was nice (as much as we could tell in the dark), but they had electricity and so we had heat!

Dinner was a Mexican chicken and rice casserole, one of 8 different casseroles we ordered (along with about one dozen frozen soups) from Palate Pleasers in Annapolis. It was excellent, as were the several soups we’ve had for lunch as we’ve traveled down the ICW. Between the dinners out (and most especially the 32 oz Prime Ribs we had the night before) and the food we ordered from Palate Pleasers we’ve been eating very well

We cast off this morning at 6:54 and motor sailed down the Pungo river to the Bay River to the Pamlico River to the Neuse river to Beaufort. The Pamlico and Neuse rivers were connected via a narrow 15 mile long canal as was the Neuse and harbor of Beaufort. It was breezy (winds 15 to 20 knots), a little chilly (temps in the mid-50’s) but sunny. We made good time and arrived at Beaufort around 4:30.

We are in a private marina enabled by a friend of Bobby’s (Greg Kerlin, another Island Packet owner). The marina is surrounded by very nice houses , one of which is Gregs). We are having a barbeque at this house this evening

I took lot of picture as we traveled and will add them to the Picasa album after dinner

moving on

Day 2 continued

After the 3 hour wait for the water level to fall far enough for the lock to operate we pulled into Atlantic Yacht Basin just a few miles down. It was too late to make our planned destination of Coinjock. We took advantage of the facilities (showered, shaved and so on), rested a bit on the boat and went off to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner…and so to bed

Day 3

We pulled out of the marina around 8:30 and headed down the ICW to Coinjock. The canal was narrow but tree-lined, some changing colors and it was quite beautiful and very calm…but very cold.

We arrived at Coinjock around 1:30pm, again took advantage of the facilities, rested a bit and went off to the bar to watch some football

That evening we went to the famed Coinjock restaurant, which is in the marina and shared 3 32oz Prime Ribs.. They were among the very best any of us had ever eaten (including the ones at Abe & Louis)…and so to bed…we’ve been enjoying being able to plug in to electricity so the boat’s heater can keep us comfortable. I sleep in the forward cabin, Art and Allan have been alternating sleeping on the starboard settees or in the back cabin and Bobby has been sleeping on the port settee.

Day 4

Left the marina at 7:11. After a short passage through a winding channel we entered the Albemarle sound, a wide body of water with reasonable depths…Winds were 15 -18 knots and we could have had a nice sail but we motor-sailed since we wanted to make up some of the time we lost with the delay at the locks. It was a pleasant journey and we soon entered the Alligator river which was hard to distinguish from the sound. From there we entered the Albemarle-Pungo river canal…a 27 mile long ditch lined with trees. 4 hours later a short motor down the Pungo river brought us to Dowry creek and the eponymously named marina just after sunset. We were tied up and plugged in (so the heater worked) by the time it was too dark to see…we did cut it little close. We were tied up by 7..nearly 12 hours since we started the day in Coinjock.

Tomorrow we head off for Beaufort, NC

Day 2

Left the marina at 8:30. It was windy, gusty, rainy, but we were all in good spirits, probably due to the great coffee I made on my new Coleman stove top drip coffee maker

Passed an impressive line up of navy boats (carriers, battleships, etc.). I'll post pictures soon as I figure out how

We entered the canal about 1/2 hour later and the wind and waves were blocked. The rain soon stopped as well and we motored on to the first of many bridges which open on the hour or 1/2 hour. Our goal was Coinjock, a small town on the ICW with one marina and one restaurant famous for miles around for their 32 oz. Prime Rib! We made reservations and were looking forward to a nice dinner when we came to the only lock on our route. As we pulled up to wait for the opening we were told that it couldn't open cause the water was too high. Turns out we are having unusually high high tides (two to four feet above normal and now (high tide) there was just too much water outside the lock for the gates to open. We have to wait till lower (or low) tide till it can open.

So... We anchored in the middle of the ICW and had lunch (a great soup that we got from Palate Pleasers in Annapolis). By the time we finished there were 5 other boats anchored nearby.

Our plan now is to stay at a marina just beyond the locks and head off again to Coinjock in the morning (36 miles away). We couldn't make it before dark today and there is no place to stop for 47 miles beyond. So I cancelled tonight's dinner reservations and made new ones for tomorrow

The upshot is that we lose a day...once again we prove that one shouldn't make firm schedules when sailing..just enjoy the trip. Which we are

Travels: Sailing to Miami

Background: The goal is to move Priority, our Island Packet 380 sailboat to Miami for the winter (November to May). A sub-goal (one might even say the primary goal) is to fulfill a long term fantasy of sailing from the Northeast (either Philadelphia, Boston or Baltimore) to Miami – partly along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and partly off-shore in the Atlantic Ocean. This trip will fulfill both goals.

Plan: The trip is in two parts. The first part takes place on the ICW. The first phase is to sail from Baltimore to Norfolk via the Chesapeake. This should take ~25 hours (in fact it took 23 hours) The second part (which should take 4 days) is to travel from Norfolk to Beaufort, NC. It is a trip of ~200 miles but the ICW can only be transited in daylight and at best a sailboat can travel 6 miles/hour, but there must be time to wait for bridges to open and such so we estimate 50 miles/day, so…4 days.

At Beaufort, weather permitting, we head offshore for the ~600 mile trip to Miami. Again, assuming 6 miles/hour it will take 100 hours, but we travel 24 hours/day so it should take ~4 days.

A major issue is “weather permitting”. I have hired a private marine weather service who will advise us once we get to Beaufort if it is safe to leave (or whether we should wait a few days) and will give us daily updates as we travel. There are numerous inlets along the east coast of the US into which we can (and will) turn in case the weather turns bad. The point is…we can’t be sure when we will arrive in Miami, but this is the nature of sailing….you shouldn’t make hard schedules.

The crew:

Bobby Ward, a friend since we first purchased Priority in 2000. He had his boat, an Island Packet 350 (same boat, 3 feet shorter) in the slip next to ours in Rock Hall. He sailed with me on one of our trips to Boston. He retired from the Pentagon several years ago and he and his wife Lesley spend the winters sailing the Caribbean and the summer at their house in Punta Gorda.

Alan Huffman is also an Island Packet owner (his is a 420, same boat as mine but 4 feet longer). His boat is in Punta Gorda but he currently lives in Wichita Kansas. He is in the process of retiring to Punta Gorda. He has extensive sailing ability, including participation in the Chicago-Makinaw island race!

Art Firester is a friend (with his wife Lynn) for over 40 years, when our sons , both named Jon, went to nursery school together in Rock Hall. We have sailed together in the Caribbean many times over the years.

The first day:

We cast off at 11am on Thursday, Oct 27. Our first stop was a fuel dock 1 mile away to top off. 16 gallons and ½ hour later we were off.

The winds were calm so we motored and didn’t raise a sail till south of the Bay Bridge. We were travelling south and the wind, such as it was from the south. We were making good time (~6knots) till ~7pm when suddenly the wind shifted to the north (i.e. now it was behind us) and increased in intensity to 35 knots. We were suddenly traveling nearly 8 knots. I lowered the motor speed and on the staysail and a little bit of engine we travelled the rest of the night at 6 – 7 knots.

The wind change brought a sudden drop in temperature and an impressive change in wave height. Mountains of water would rise up behind the boat and cause the boat to slew left or right and roll side to side as they passed under. Happily the autopilot maintained our heading and no one touched the wheel as we sailed through the night…People on watch just watched. Between being very cold (I put on my long underwear, two polartecs, foul weather gear, a polartec hat and thick mittens) and being bounced around it was a boisterous night. We decided to have two people stand watch together, in two hour shifts and did this from 7pm to 9am.

We pulled into the Old Point Comfort Marina in Fort Monroe (Bobby used to work for the DoD and so has priveleges) and immediately plugged in and started the heater.

There was not much to see on the trip down. We saw the “Pride of Baltimore” with full sails just south of the Annapolis Bay Bridge – beautiful. We passed a few tugs late at night, some of whom talked with us on the VHF radio to confirm we were staying out of their way. Remarkably few boats of any kind out on the water…probably a testament to their intelligence (and our lack of any)!

The next few days should be much better (albeit it will be cold for the next two day). We will be well inland and well protected from waves and such. We will spend most nights at marinas, especially if it is cold, so we can plug in and run the heater.

More to follow

testing my blog site

This is my very first post, which I intend to scrap once I get going, to this Blog. I intend to make frequent (hopefully daily) posts as we travel to Miami, beginning Oct 27.
Stay tuned