Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#11
posted to rec.boats.cruising,rec.boats.building
|
|||
|
|||
July 16th - Hey!! Wasn't that Daytona Beach?? And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 16th - Hey!! Wasn't that Daytona Beach??
After an extraordinarily short sail last night in very light wind, we again gave up and fired up the Iron Genny. We continued to get a great lift from the Gulf Stream,. 4 knots of lift, in fact, most of the time. In the times we've had a decent wind, we're making 10 knots over ground. Lydia and Phillip had the dawn patrol, and it was a very good one at that. Lydia's been rather gun-shy of night watches after the wreck, but this one was very productive. Thunderstorms and squalls were skirted after spotting on the radar, her understanding of the operation of the chartplotter and GPS was enhanced, and in general she felt much better about night operations. As it was my turn off-watch, I had another good night's sleep, other than that Erkki and I elected to allow the relief watch to sleep until 1:30, so I got a late start. When I arose, I found that the crew had mutinied and demanded to go to Savannah. We'd been making such great time, and the route looked feasible, that - I think - they didn't want it to end quite so soon, and so wanted to press on. That sounded good to me, other than that I was concerned for our fuel and water. Fortunately, upon investigation, we found that our smaller water tank was the one which we had exhausted, and so the larger, nearly half again the size of the original, was the one we were working from now. In addition, we'd already resolved to do salt water showers or swims, again, using the fresh water shower at the stern, or the regular cabin showers, for (just) rinsing. As it turns out, that won't be necessary, but it's good practice, anyway, as Lydia and I expect to be enroute to New York in a few days, and not come off the water except for emergency or disastrous weather. However, there were several complications to the plan to go to Savannah, having to do with transportation, scheduling, and others. In the end, the problem which cinched my desire to go to Jacksonville (even though we'll have to go to Savannah, anyway, in order to mail off our proof-of- export to the tax people in FL) was that after detailed calculations, Erkki and I (who very much wanted to go to Savannah) determined that we would be out of fuel well before our arrival. On the other hand, we could comfortably make Jacksonville, in the early morning hours, at the rate we expected to go. In my absence (while I was asleep), the fuel tank had been sounded with a stick they'd found. I had a chart of the tanks aboard as well as an indicator of the depth as related to percentages of volume. The dipstick which came with the boat had ¼ tank markings on it, and we had slightly more than ¼ tank available. That was informative in that we could now extrapolate our fuel usage, and how much more we had available. In their enthusiasm for all the lift we'd obtained from the Gulf Stream, and neglect of the impact of the fuel we'd have to burn while coming ashore from the great distance we were out, the fact that we'd nearly certainly run out of fuel before our arrival had escaped them. So, Erkki and I did a more detailed analysis, and determined that we could safely - but with only a small reserve - make Jacksonville. So, that's where we headed. As usual, there's no wind today, so at about 5 we got ready to take our swim. Oops. There's no wind because we're motoring in the direction of the wind, at the same speed as the wind. Stop the boat, and there's a small breeze. Boats tend to blow around when there's a breeze, and this was no exception. Flying Pig is such a sailor that she doesn't want to stop. No luck whatsoever in putting her in irons - heaving to - which makes her sidle sideways with small jogs. So, we dumped all the sails, lay a-hull (sideways to the waves and wind), and jumped in. Because we headed in toward Jacksonville, we were now out of the Gulf Stream, and the water was a few degrees colder. More, it was a very different color - not nearly as pretty as in the Gulf Stream. However, it was refreshing, and that was really the point. Notably, though, the wind continued, and it was sufficient to allow us to put up the sails again. This time, as it was nearly dead astern, we put out the spinnaker and set the main sail in a wing-and-wing configuration. As I write this, we're making more than 6 knots through the water, in dead silence - other than the splashing of the waves from the bow. When the boat stands up, as it does under spinnaker sailing (vs heeled over under standard sails), the water flies off the bow, very impressively and entertainingly for those sitting in the bow seat over the anchors. Depending on our winds, we expect to be at the Jacksonville inlet shortly before dawn. We'll make our way up the St. John's River and make arrangements for our crew's car to go home, try to get connected to the internet, post all the log notes and collect our email, and even more importantly, attend to some of the repairs we need doing. It's been a great run. We'll have done over 700 miles in about 5 days, and everyone's still talking to each other! My attempts to check in on the Maritime Net tonight were again frustrated. As was the case a couple of days before, I learned that the difficulty was some inconsiderate HAM using a digital form of communication. With thousands of frequencies available, and this being a very long-standing net, an experienced hobbyist (one who would use this type of communication would be very experienced) should surely know that this frequency had a significant purpose, and should have avoided it. On the whole, however, if that's the only thing I can find to complain about, I guess it's doing pretty well. I'll take another nap in a while and then take the dawn shift with Erkki. We'll bring her home. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in |