My daughter, Amanda, came to see me and spend a week with me in South Miami. She arrived very late on February 25th. We got in a sail on George's new boat, a 37 foot Tayana cutter. And we spent a day utilizing the Metro System to get to South Beach and then back to the boat. There were several nights out at local restaurants and still time to just sit around on the boat and enjoy each others company. But heavy winds ruled out additional sailing. In fact, the winds created a few uncomfortable nights at anchor on the edge of Biscayne Bay near Dinner Key Marina. Several boats broke free and drifted around freely until finally grounding themselves on the near by island. Amanda left for home on March 4th.
George, in his boat, and I, in my boat left the anchorage the following day to start our trip back north. But, it just wasn't to be. George's boat stirred up sediment in the fuel tank shutting down his engine about a mile out in the Atlantic. Several attempts to get it running again failed as the boat continued to drift toward shallow water forcing George to deploy his anchor. He called Towboat, a truly wonderful service, to tow his boat in for repairs. I continued to circle around him until Towboat arrived. But he couldn't retrieve his anchor and he had to fender it off. Once Towboat got him safely in a port for repairs, he hired them to go back out and retrieve his anchor, 300 feet of anchor chain and 150 feet of nylon anchor line (GPS coordinates are a wonderful thing). Towboat got everything back for him but the anchor was bent to badly to ever be used again. Mean time, I returned to my previous anchor location until George called and said to start back without him and he would try to catch up later.
I headed back the following morning leaving at about 3:20 am for the Atlantic. The winds were stiff but fair and I had a wonderful sail. I had hoped to make it to Hillsboro Inlet, Florida but my speed was such that I sailed by Hillsboro at about 1:00 pm and continued all the way to Lake Worth Inlet, Florida before re-entering the ICW. I anchored in Lake Worth for the night.
Lake Worth is a small body of water but a strong weather front moving through whipped up waves and tossed my boat around all night. In the morning, I pulled anchor and headed up the ICW as an outside sail was out of the question. I heard on the VHF radio that water spouts had been seen on Lake Worth the previous evening. I made it up to Hobe Sound, Florida and went back into Loblolly Marina. And, I'm glad I did! Wind gusts topped 60 miles an hour for the next two days with substained winds in the forties.
The time at Loblolly gave George a chance to get his repairs completed and so I waited for him at Peck Lake the following day. We continued on the inside up the ICW until we arrived at Vero Beach Mooring Field for a night and on to Waterline Marina in Melbourne, Florida on March 13th. Chuck drove down from New York State to join me for 2 weeks.
On March 14th, we motor sailed to New Smyrna, Florida with George close behind, and found an anchorage for the night. It was a good day on the water but news of Deb's father's death came as a shock and I wasn't anywhere that she could pick me up on the way to his house in Palm Bay. She suggested that I stay with the boat and continue the trip home.
The following day, Chuck and I motored slowly up the ICW waiting for George to catch up. He was well behind us as he had run aground while following another boat through a bridge opening and locating a submerged sand bar on the other side. We dropped the hook in Jacksonville, Florida for the night and George caught up with us there.
The next morning, both boats were pointed toward the Atlantic again and then north. George turned in to Brunswick that evening. Chuck and I continued through the night reaching Savannah Harbor entrance just before daybreak. With the Garmin GPS and lots of Coast Guard placed aids to navigation, we steered into Savannah and back into the ICW. Chuck and I had alternated watches through the night and had each gotten some rest. So, we continued until reaching a spot to anchor about 10 miles from Charleston Bay, South Carolina. George opted to put his boat in a marina in Brunswick and return to New York for a couple of weeks.
After a good nights rest, Chuck and I continued up the ICW. Two hours later, we entered Charleston harbor against very strong winds and waves that all but stopped our forward progress at times. We passed by historic Fort Sumter and turned back into the ICW to find that the Ben Sawyer Bridge was closed due to high winds. We dropped anchor about a 1/2 miles from the bridge and waited until 4:00 pm for the bridge to reopen and allow us through. Continuing on up the ICW, we dropped the hook about 10 miles from Georgetown Harbor. We spent the night there.
We left early the next morning attempting to put as much water under the keel as we could. But shortly into our travels, the headstay on the boat failed and the headsail and roller furling collapsed along the port side of the boat. Chuck was quick to secure the sail and furler, lashing it to the port side rail. Calling ahead, we found that we could put the boat in at Georgetown Landing Marina and get assistance from a local rigger named Kurt Russel. All we had to do was to get across Georgetown Bay. It was very choppy and slow going but we made it across.
Well, We're sitting here in Georgetown, South Carolina as I write this. We're waiting for parts, very expensive parts, to be shipped in and rigged in place. We're told that it may be about a week for everything. Chuck and I had some very nice, fast but nice, sailing on the Atlantic and also on the ICW. But he came down here to sail for 2 weeks. After just 1 week, the rigging failed and he is content to help me get things done while we wait.
So many things worked out better than they might have. The rigging failed while on inland waters and not out on the Atlantic Ocean. The rigging failed while I had Chuck on board with me and not while I single handed the boat. It happened when Chuck was along to quickly secure everything before sails and hardware could get caught in the prop. And it happened in a location where a repair rigger was available and not someplace where we were put on a waiting list before getting help.
And so the adventure continues! Hopefully, I be getting back on my way home early to mid next week! I can't wait to see everyone at home once again. I miss my wife! I miss my kids and my grandchildren! I miss my dogs and horses! And, I miss my friends!
