At 5:30 AM, the alarm went off. We both headed up to check out the weather forecast. According to the weather faxes, we would have winds of no greater than 15 knots, consistently in the right direction, and waves no higher than 2 feet. We decided to go for it.
We then began the flurry of activity that always happens at the beginning of a cruise, no matter how prepared we try to be. Mike ran the jack lines while I placed tethers. (The jack lines allow us to move all over the boat using our harnesses and tethers.) At 1030 GMT (GMT time is 4 hours ahead of EDT), we weighed anchor and slowly made our way out the Lake Worth inlet.
While Mike piloted the boat, I grabbed some essentials and got them settled, including the log book, binoculars, and the "oh shit" bag. Once out of the inlet, we made a left turn and headed north, planning to miss the Bahamas.
At 1110 GMT, the S/V Timonee called us. Joanne and Bob are heading north to Annapolis after having wintered in Key West. We set up an impromptu contact schedule with them, we hailed each other every few hours. At the end of the conversation, we noted our first flying fish of the trip.
I went below, and fixed us each a bagel for breakfast, and wonder of wonders, I didn't get sick! Though, it is hard to get sick when the seas are pretty much flat! The winds were lighter than forecast, and what wind there was, was blowing out of the northwest, instead of the southwest!
After breakfast, I headed below since Mike took the first watch. Besides, it was nice being able to 'sleep in,' since I hadn't been able to do that in months! The rest of the day was punctuated by watch changes and eating. For some reason, we were both extremely hungry this trip.
At 2015 GMT, we were joined by a little bird. He landed on the aft seating area huffing and puffing. He sat there for a bit, then went up to our solar panels. We were 16 miles from land, he should have been huffing and puffing! Shortly after that, he took off again. A little while later, Joanne on Timonee called to tell us about the little bird that came to visit them! Mike doesn't think it was the same little bird, but my description did match 'her' bird. Mike plans to tape one of our cards to the next bird that lands on the boat. Mike realized at that point, that he had not yet done the ceremonial call of the dolphins. He promptly stood up and called, "Here Flipper, Flipper, Flipper!"
At 2207 GMT, we made the decision to review what is in our CD player. One of my relaxation CDs played -- "Ocean Surf". This was not what Mike needed. Little did I know that I would be getting a dose of this later on.
At the change of watch at 2230 GMT, we furled the stay sail and reduced the jib for the night, then I went below for some sleep.
At 2345 GMT, Mike spotted a dolphin! He obviously heard Mike's call from earlier. Mike also noticed the wind dropping further, and decided that he would need to put the jib away.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, more or less. I had been on watch for about an hour during the darkest part of the night (you know, right before dawn, literally) when I started hearing the horn of a buoy. Immediately alert, I checked the radars. There was nothing there. I scanned the waters to the horizon, nothing. I pulled out the night vision binoculars and scanned again, nothing! Then the horn changed into Trisha Yearwood. At that point, that damn relaxation CD was coming out! So much for relaxing me.
Just before I went off watch, I heard a Security call made by the Carrier JFK stating that they would be performing circles to port 10 miles off of the St. John's river sea buoy. I duly reported this to Mike, then went to bed.
At 12 miles from the carrier, Mike noticed that we were heading right towards it, and started altering course to avoid it.
At 1245 GMT, on the 12th, Mike was hailed by the carrier with a request that he stay 3000 yards off. Mike fumed for the next several hours about the fact that it was a naval craft and should have issued instructions in nautical miles, which he understands. After unsuccessfully trying to calculate 3000 yards, (1.5 nautical miles) he gave them about 1.25 nautical miles, and figured they could deal with it.
At 1332 GMT, Mike saw a huge sea turtle that he swears was 10 feet long.
At 1400 GMT, Mike saw a war ship 4 miles off our port beam.
At 1421 GMT, Mike saw a navy frigate of some type off our port beam 3.5 miles. We were definitely close to Jacksonville.
I came back on watch, and Mike proceeded to regale me about his experience with the carrier. That was when he learned that 3000 yards is 1.5 nautical miles. He 'harumphed' and reiterated his opinion that the navy should speak nautically, shiver me timbers.
At 1600 GMT, we saw a sub. We thought at first it was a freighter, then something alien, then finally, we knew it was a sub.
We touched base with Timonee who planned to head into St. Augustine. They would make the run to Fernandina Beach tomorrow, and would meet us then.
At 1800 GMT, we dropped anchor. We had made it from West Palm Beach to Fernandina Beach in 30 hours 30 minutes, and traveled 258 nautical miles under our keel from sea buoy to sea buoy. We never saw winds above 18 knots apparent (probably 10 knots true) and seas were never above 2 feet. It was a very good trip indeed.
Voyages