Sunday January 16, 2011

Attended 7:30 Mass at St Andrew Church in Stuart, FL. At 5AM I used the iPod Touch to locate the closest church. I googled the directions. At 6AM I started walking. I got about half the way and started to tire. I then ended up bribing a golfer getting gas to take me the rest of the way. The bribe was $10.After Mass I hitched a ride with a guy who attended the same mass back to the boat. Dave was up when I arrived back at the boat. It is a beautiful day. Dave was talking to the owner of the Marina. He told us that this is a perfect day to make the crossing. Light winds under 10 knots. This is the weather window we have been waiting for to make the crossing to the Bahamas. To take advantage of this weather window, we would need to leave the protected ICW and the Manatee Pocket and head out into the Atlantic Ocean from the Port Lucie Inlet. Our original plan was to motor down the ICE to Palm Beach and make the crossing from Palm Beach. The Palm Beach crossing is 55 miles. The crossing from the St Lucie Inlet is about 75 miles. At 11AM we tossed off the dock lines and headed to the gas dock at Pirates Cove. We took on 4 gal of fuel. This means that we should have enough fuel to motor all the way to Green Turtle Key if necessary

Tried to call Sandy and let her know that our departure day had moved up by one day. Left her a voice mail message saying that if I did not check in with her by 9AM tomorrow to call the Coast Guard. Dave Luther was able to speak to his wife Patrice, she is aware of our plans.

When we were about 20 miles off the coast of Florida, my friend Chilly called to wish me luck. I told him that he was a backup to Sandy and Patrice. If I did not call by noon on Monday he should call the Coast Guard.

Just after talking with Chilly, I caught my first fish some 20 miles off the coast in about 200 feet of water. One of the boaters that I met from Canada rigged a 100 pound test line on a circular plastic ring that I purchased at a local bait shop. Fishing with this device is called banjo fishing. I worked. Dave took photos of the Yellow Fin Tuna. I would guess that it was between four and five pounds. I then filleted it and we plan on having fresh tuna for dinner. I know that the key cleaning fish is a sharp knife. I sharpened the filet knife for ten minutes before cleaning.

Our speed has slowed to about 5 knots. We were making 6.5 knots. We now must be in the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a river that runs up the east coast of the USA. This river in the ocean runs at about 2.5 to 3 knots. It is pushing us north. To compensate for this effect, we steered a course to the south of our rhumb line after leaving he St Lucie Inlet. Hopefully our navigation skills are spot on.

At 4PM we refueled. The wind is on our nose. So we are motor sailing. Dave spends most of his time at the helm. Although we hooked up nohablo at about 2PM nohable is steering the boat. Nohablo is the name of the electronic auto pilot. Nohable makes a sound every so often as he adjusts course. He works all the time and does not require food or drink. He does consume electricity.

Just before dark, I decided to cook the tuna filets. I sautéed onions in the new frying pan and fried the tuna in butter with some spices.. We ate the tuna on wheat bread. What a wonderful meal. Fresh tuna from the Atlantic Ocean served on the Atlantic Ocean in 2600 feet of water..

As it got dark, Dave and I put on our safety harnesses. This way when you are in the cockpit at night, you are tied to the boat. If one of us is below and the other topside, and a wave blind sides us, we are still part of the boat. Making a man over board situation almost impossible.

Dave has been on watch for the past two hours. I went below to take a nap. I was up this morning very early. The moon was so bright that is was difficult to sleep. Now the clouds have muted the bright moonlight. This makes it easier to see the stars. Now the clouds are partly blocking out the starlight. As you look around there is very little in the way of human life to observe. We are out here all alone. God only knows what is underneath us. Waves are small and gentle tonight even in the Gulf Stream. About two hours ago we passed within several miles of a cruise ship. Dave said that the back end was easy to see. It had purple lights visible for miles. I’m guessing that was the party deck. Although this is the Bermuda Triangle we are in.

The lights and the electrical system on this boat are beginning to make me crazy. Tonight the cabin lights work properly. The port running light is working. The stern running light is working properly. The starboard running light is not working at all. When I checked all of the lights before putting the boat into the water every light worked fine. I just installed a new electrical panel. My hope was that this new panel would fix all of the problems. So far it has not. It is almost my turn to go on watch here in the Bermuda Triangle.

Dave went below to rest. I headed out to the cockpit. The first order of business when we change watches is to click the safety harness to the life lines. Dave uses the cleats.

I saw three cruise ships on my watch. Wow! They are monsters when viewed from outr little boat. About midnight, I decided To steer the boat by hand. This is a very difficult task in the middle of the night. The boat kept sailing all over the place. Too far north, then I would make a correction and be too far south. I was constantly off course. I reconnected nohablo. We dropped bout 20 degrees south on purpose. We thought that the Gulf Stream would push us north. This did not seem to be the case. The Gulf Stream slowed our progress from 6 knots to 4.

At 4AM we had the flashing lights that mark the entrance to the Old Bahama Bay Marina in sight. We were six miles from out destination. I started the Honda outboard. It ran for 5 minutes and then stopped. I guess was that it either got wet from the swells, or over headed because the propeller would come out of the water when we were plowing through big wave. In any case the motor would not work. I told Dave that we would have to make port the old fashioned way and sail in. Dave said that it was a good plan except the wind was coming from the direction that we wanted to go. We had to tack. We tacked from 4AM until about 8:00AM. Four hours to make 6 miles! At 8AM I got the Honda running. It ran for 5 minutes and then a huge sport fisherman driving a 40 foot Viking came past us at full speed. That son-of-a-bitch left an 8 foot wake. He swamped the boat. The Honda went underwater and gurgled to a stop. We had to wait and dry it out. In the mean time Dave was at the helm and he kept tacking and tacking and tacking. Finally when he gave up I pulled the cord and the Honda sprang to life. We motored into West End at 9AM.