February 19th - The key to success in sailing - Part Three

Well, as I was saying, sailing successfully to a key, anyway...

When we left you, we'd anchored off the north side of Rodriguez Key
and found a nice internet connection. That connection allowed us to
look at the weather in detail. We were very encouraged. However, as
is often the case, NOAA doesn't get it entirely correct...

The next day was a bit cloudy, so our pre-arranged plan of diving the
hull and sightseeing the harbor bottom was put on hold and naps and
general laying-about ensued. As the wind was scheduled to shift
around to the South (going East, first, making for the continued lumpy
water, but still a very secure anchorage until that time), we'd have a
sheltered location overnight.

We thought that it would be fun to dinghy in for dinner, and so
lowered the dinghy and installed the outboard motor. However, just as
we started into the boat, the rains came. We dashed inside and waited
out the squall, and soon, the clouds parted, the winds died, and we
set off for shore. Along the way we saw a catamaran which had just
anchored. He looked like a local, so we diverted to his side and
chatted him up about where we might put ashore.

He advised a location which we found with no difficulty, and nearly
immediately afterward, as we were still tying up, he zoomed in on his
dinghy, with his dog riding up front. We waved and set out walking
toward Snook's, a popular local restaurant, Steve having been familiar
with the area from having visited many times in his boat.

No sooner do we get to the main drag's corner, and turn onto the
walkway, but here comes that sailor in a pickup truck and offers us a
ride to the restaurant. As it was two miles away, that was a welcome
surprise. However, like nearly everywhere else we've been, we
continually are surrounded with the kindness of strangers. Likely,
we'll never see him again, but I'm sure there was no hesitation in his
mind that we should ride with him!

Following the very nicely done dinner (atmosphere, presentation,
quality), we walked it off, stopping along the way to enjoy an ice
cream craftsman who made his own product in his store. As it was late
at night (nearly 10), he'd just made most of what we ordered, and it
was very soft. That didn't impair the taste, however! In due course,
we arrived back where we'd left the dinghy, finding it 25 feet from
the water's edge, the tide having gone out in our absence.

Dragging it back in the water and getting the others loaded was not
particularly challenging, but the sea state was definitely
uncomfortable. The wind had built in the East during our 4-or-so
hours ashore, and the fetch had as well, making for a very wet - and
very long - ride back to the boat with the wind and waves on our
nose. I immediately fired up the generator and made hot water and one
after the other we all showered and got our salt off us and warmed
back up.

The next day dawned clear and with a light wind, from the south as
promised. Give that the island was in the way, we had calm water and
only light winds in the anchorage despite the forecasted 15-20 knots.
The apparent light winds would come back to haunt us, but for the task
at hand, it was ideal. Not wanting to do that the prior night, what
with the dark and stormies outside, I started by getting the dinghy up
after stowing the motor and fuel tank. We sailed off our anchorage,
but as we would be transiting a fiddly part of a reef, and I wanted to
make sure we had a backup I'd started the engine after stowing the
dinghy and motor and before lifting the anchor.

The wind was perfect - we had a broad or beam reach the entire way out
to and over the reef. We were making 6 knots in 10 apparent knots of
wind, and the direction was entirely controllable on a very broad
reach as we went Northeast up Hawk Channel. Eventually, we turned
East to thread our way through the many coral heads in Pennekamp State
Park, on the way through the Molasses and Mosquito Reefs on the way
out to the Gulf Stream.

We navigated closely, as there were numerous 1-6' sections on our
route, and aside from the legal ramifications of sea life protection,
contacting any of them would not improve our day, either! We crossed
a section of 7-9' water, and it was a real gut-clencher to see the
under-the-keel depth sounder go through double, and then single,
digits on the way to just over 1!! Of course, that lasted only a
couple of minutes, and soon the depths flew upward again.

As quickly as we left that area, we turned off the idling Iron Jenny
backup, and enjoyed the solitude and silence. It was a great sail for
a couple of hours, heading for the Gulf Stream and its northward
lift. Unfortunately, the forecasted 15-20 South wind was more like
5-10, and as soon as we reached the Gulf Stream and headed North, our
apparent wind dwindled to nothing. We'd expected to jibe our way
North, keeping the wind to our aft quarter(s). However, there wasn't
enough to create any significant movement. Worse, the sea state was
large swells from the prior few night's strong north and east winds,
and we were rolling and the sails were crashing around as they filled
and emptied with the motion.

So, I put up the staysail, rolled up the genny to a handkerchief
meeting the inner stay, pulled all sails blade tight to help dampen
the roll, and turned on Perky. As much as I hate to run the engine,
we'd have been better off going to the Bahamas than to try to get to
Miami then, as what little wind there was would have been fine if we'd
been going East or West, but zero-zip-nada going north.

Fortunately, with Perky muscling along, and the Stream helping, along
with the reduced roll due to the change in direction relative to the
waves, things calmed down, and eventually we were doing more than 10
knots over the ground with our engine only at cruising revs. We
tossed out the lines again, but caught nothing but a Bonita, which we
cut up for bait, and even that (the lures, with fresh bait added)
produced not so much as a nibble. So, our box score for the Gulf
Stream, reputed to be among the very best fishing in the Atlantic,
remains Eating Fish Two (the first being our trip on the way north
last year), Flying Pig Zero.

We arrived off Miami's entrance in good time, but continued on the
Gulf Stream's push beyond the entrance before we turned in. The wind,
which had finally built to the forecasted amount, helped by the
shoreline channeling it, then showed its real mettle, with 18 knots on
the beam. I loosened the staysail and main, rolled out the genoa and
set all three, and soon we were blasting along toward the channel.

Once again, we enjoyed perfect conditions for about an hour's sailing,
enhanced by our intentional overshoot of the Government Cut entrance.
When we turned into the channel, the wind wouldn't be to our
advantage, so we got some more sailing for our time out, and, as well,
we helped our timing by arriving somewhat later, meeting the
requirements for safety with the cruise ships.

As there were cruise ships coming out, we hailed one of them to see if
we'd be able to go up Government Cut this time. Fortunately, indeed,
there were only two behind the first one, and despite the freighter
traffic, we knew we were going to be OK. As the next one was already
on the way out by the time we headed up the channel, we felt
comfortable in going ahead without running afoul of the safety
patrols.

Our timing couldn't have been more perfect. We were at the crest of a
flood tide, carrying us in, and assuring we'd not go aground when we
turned the corner. The next cruise ship passed us before we got to
the commercial section and, indeed, didn't even have a patrol boat to
keep the curious at bay. (The norm for the cruise ships is to have a
patrol boat which demands that pleasure craft maintain a 300-foot
separation from them.) The last boat had reversed and had already
left the turning basin before we got there, and there were no
incidents as we made the bridge and the corner. Sure enough, the
water was thick enough that we didn't bump as we did on the way out
several days earlier!

Picking up the mooring was pretty much a non-event, too, and we
settled in for showers, soon lowering the dinghy for a trip ashore.
Our guests took us to a fantastic Cuban dinner in an authentic Cuban
diner, our first ever such experience. We waddled away from the
enormous bounty presented, and hit the hay after a calm dinghy ride
back to Flying Pig, our home.

Today, I took our guests to Sailorman, the famous salvage and
consignment store in Ft. Lauderdale, on the way to the airport.
Nothing exciting to report, other than to be reminded that there is
every sort of marine service you could possibly imagine in a one-mile
radius, probably, of that location. We are so blessed to be provided
with a mooring and transportation, and be in the marine capital of the
US.

Tomorrow and the next several days will be devoted to our preparations
for taking our next cruise. That will be a straight shot for about
300 miles, most of which will take advantage of the Gulf Stream's
lift, again. That passage will end with our putting Flying Pig on the
ground for several months while we attend to shoreside chores and
pleasures. But that story will have to wait for another time.

Stay tuned...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
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You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)