A Change of Plans

Our alarm went off at 1AM New Years Day, we were underway by about 1:30, and we headed down the ICW towards Port Everglades, Bar Cut, and the Atlantic Ocean. We had come from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale a few days prior, having decided to attempt the crossing to the Bahamas from a point further South so as to get a better lift from the Gulf Stream. The forecast was for SE winds 10-15kts, shifting S during the day, seas 2-3 feet subsiding over the course of the afternoon.  We passed the last few New Years Eve party boats as we turned the corner off the ICW into the inlet channel of Bar Cut. As we made our way out the inlet, the flat calm of the ICW gave way to the somewhat less placid surface of the ocean. A Port Everglades pilot boat pulled alongside and requested that we turn south in order to allow the container ship he was escorting to make his turn. With the ship past, we hauled up the main and working jib, and the press of the sails steadied the boat’s motion somewhat, although we were still moving around quite a bit. With the SEish wind, we were just able to steer our course, 90° E, close hauled. Our plan was to motor sail the entire way, with the engine running at about ¼ throttle and both sails pulling, we were doing about 5 kts, which would put us into West End at around 2 PM. The motion of the boat was considerable, despite our previous experience in “boisterous” conditions on the Chesapeake, the motion of the ocean as it were was something completely different. At this point I felt that we were managing the conditions. Ryan may disagree. Our friends Annick and Giles on “Calista” left a few hours behind us and were giving us encouragement over the radio. After about 2 hours and 10 miles progress, our motor cut out. I fiddled with it a bit while Ryan steered, I thought that maybe the tilt lock had come undone. Got the motor started up again, ran for a few minutes, cut out. We gave it one more chance, the motor started, ran for a few minutes, cut out. We made the decision to turn around, I didn’t relish the idea of coming into West End under sail alone, and our crossing strategy relied upon the motor helping us make good speed. We turned the boat around on a reciprocal heading, and shortly passed by “Calista.” We tried taking pictures, but it was too dark, but Calista made quite a sight slicing to windward under genoa, main, and a bright moon. We checked our speed and realized that we were making between 0 and .3 kts over the ground, having just encountered the edge of the Gulf Stream prior to turning back. We altered course to the West, and as soon as our course over ground indicated that we were no longer being set N by the Gulf Stream, altered course for the sea buoy marking the entrance to Bar Cut. Which of course was just about close hauled. We sailed in the inlet, having just a few moments of worry sorting out the lights of the buoys from the lights on shore. Bar Cut is wide and strait though, so navigating back was fairly straightforward. Upon making the turn onto the ICW, we got the motor started, it cut out again. We sailed a little further towards the 17^th St bridge, the seas quieted, the motor started, and stayed lit until we dropped anchor right where we had left 7 hours prior. Occasionally in the course of this blog I have, if not censured, then understated the occasional stressful moment so as not to worry our worried mothers too much. J The final detail of this particular yarn is something that I was tempted not to mention, but it plays into our subsequent decisions. Upon getting the boat squared away and cleaned up, we discovered the bilges were full of water, right up to the floor boards. “Firefly” is a nice full keeled boat, with deep bilges, that’s quite a lot of water. It took 10-15 minutes to pump all the water out, manually of course. I set to trying to figure out where the hell it came from. Turns out the hole I drilled in the lazarette bulkhead to run the wires for the solar panels was the culprit. When there is any wave action at all, the lazarette fills with water from the motor well…this is normal, we fill it up just about every day on the ICW when going through wakes etc. However, with the exaggerated motion of the ocean, as well as heeling the boat hard over close hauled, there was enough water in the lazarette to just about submerge the hole for the wires, funneling it below and into the bilge. Needless to say this scared the shit out of us. So we have decided to forgo sailing to the Bahamas and are instead heading to the Florida Keys. Ryan did not have any fun sailing in the ocean, I don’t blame her. I fixed the hole, but am somewhat concerned that some other nasty surprise lies in wait should we test the boat offshore again. Fortunately, we should have ample opportunity to sail the boat in the Keys, and give everything a good thorough testing. In some ways the experience has also made me more confident, despite the various challenges, we were able to safely navigate the boat back through an inlet at night, having never gone offshore previously.

Although we’re both pretty bummed about missing the Bahamas, we’re excited to hit the Keys and catch up with some folks we know headed down that way. (WE R COMING 4 U CHICKADEE) I also still have every intention of shooting fish in the face with a spear. Now, to end on a more positive note, while waiting in Ft Lauderdale for our (somewhat dubious in hindsight) weather window to cross, we had a rager of a time celebrating Ryan’s 30^th birthday. We started out at the Southport Raw Bar with Annick and Giles of “Calista,” which is the de facto sailors hang out due to their dinghy dock.

There we met Dave and Rose of “Cloud 9.” Giles drove us back to the anchorage aboard their dinghy, skillfully dodging mega yachts and the Ft Lauderdale Fun Killers (aka water police) all the way. Giles and I then drove around the anchorage and invited all takers over to “Firefly.” The French crew of a large sailboat joined us, so we had 10 people, 2 languages, and 1 dog aboard. We were somewhat down by the stern. We had a blast, a right good party for my lovely wife.

She’s pretty awesome eh? Some pics between Lake Worth and here.

We thought this place was pretty big until we saw how they do it in Lauderdale.

Then there was the time a palm tree fell in love with the prop

Quick, suck in that beer belly!