Tuesday the 14th
This morning I woke up a little apprehensive, but also
excited to be leaving for home. This
trip will not be a 7 days up the ICW, it will be a, ‘I WANT TO GO HOME, LET’S
GET IT DONE! We have a good weather
window. The seas should not be more than
2 feet and the winds are in the right directions. We have planned to go straight from Nassau to Brunswick .
We will get into the Gulf Stream and let it
help us go north. We will probably pick
up two or three knots in the Gulf Stream so we
will stay in it as long as possible. If
we have fuel issues we can put up the sails and hopefully sail out of the Gulf
Stream and into somewhere in Florida . Our shifts are the same as when we sailed to Nassau from Marsh. Charlotte from 9-12,
George from 12-3, my turn is 3-6 and Greg is from 6-9. That is a.m. and p.m. Three hour watches will give us 9 hours to
get some rest. We will be traveling
about 72 hours straight. We decided to
get our last cup of Starbucks before we left. We left the docks about
10:00. Usually we would all feel a
little jubilant but with the fuel problems we were a little reserved. We left Nassau
with a feeling of relief. We always seem
to have trouble going into Nassau .
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| Had to go by this big boy when leaving Nassau |
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At 3:00 p.m. I took my turn at the helm. We were just passing Chub Cay. There were a lot of AIS vessels showing up on
my screen. They were at the docks at Chub Cay. George said he had heard it was a very nice
marina on Chub Cay. I thought maybe we should
have stared our long trip from there. I guess I should explain that if it had
just been the two of us we would have had to go to Lucaya and then to West End to go home.
With only two people on the boat a 72 hours trip would have been very
unwise. That would have been 4 hours on
the helm and 4 hours to rest. That is ok
for a 30 or maybe even a 48 hour trip but you get a little squirrelly after
that many hours. You really need to be
as rested as you can to make good decisions.
I also believe you need to eat well when traveling night and day. So after I got off at 6 p.m. and ate a good
meal of seafood trio, (yes we still had some), George and I went to bed to
rest. The seas were smooth but both Greg
and Charlotte had to deal with rain.
George got up at 12 and I was not really able to sleep after he got
up. The first day or two I do not sleep
as well as I do as the trip progresses.
When I got up for my turn at the helm, the night was as dark as it could
be, it was over cast, no moon and not a star was out. I had to really get use to the darkness. George always stays in the cock pit with me
for a few minutes until I get orientated.
That night he lay down in the cock pit.
I wanted to wake him and tell him to go down but he was sleeping so well
I hated to wake him. He also said we
were going though the banks and there are some rocks so stay to the starboard side
of the line. There was a beckon marking
the channel. I was seeing something on
my radar but I could not see a light when I looked for a boat. So I thought I will wake up George and ask
him to look and see what was on the radar.
Big mistake, when I woke up George from a deep sleep I caused more
commotion than I wanted. Any way after he
got up he went down to get some real rest, I figured out that the spot on the
radar was marking the rocks but it was not a lighted beacon just a marker on
the radar. At 3:00 in the morning it
gets really boring, not to complain but it can be difficult to keep yourself
entertained. I get off right before
sunrise.
Wednesday 15th I had fixed some coffee from the keurig before
we left the docks yesterday so I warmed it up for Greg and went to bed. The seas are so smooth I slept two hours in
the V berth. Because the V berth gets
most of the action (movement) of the boat, George and I had let the settee
berth out. It is in the middle of the
boat and feels much smoother than the V berth.
I got up about 8:30 and made some breakfast. Those of you who know me well know I like a
good breakfast. I made some cheese toast.
After I get off my watch I am responsible for sending the spot. You remember the spot sends a message that
says we are ok and gives our headings to about 8 different people. I can not remember to send it so I ask Greg
when I get off remind me to send to spot.
He turns to Charlotte
as tells her to remind him to remind me to send it. At 9:00 a.m. when Charlotte goes on watch I realized how long
the trip will be. We have only been
moving for 24 hours so we are only a third of the way home. By the time George is in the middle of his watch
we are in the Gulf Stream . That means if we have trouble we can sail
over to the Florida
Coast US which are
towing services. I felt a little better
knowing this. The rain was off and
on. We had been dodging thunder storm
all day. It seemed like when Charlotte
was on watch it would rain but as she said, “as long as the seas are smooth I’m
good”. At 3:00 p.m. I took my turn at
the helm. I looked at the radar and he
whole left side of the screen was red, meaning lots of rain was coming. The big red blob was moving in my
direction. It is funny what you pray for
when you are uneasy about things. My
biggest prayer was that the engine would not stop getting wet was not a
concern. So I got ready to get wet, I had my fowl weather suit on and was ready
for it. However as it moved east it also
moved north. I got 2 or 3 minutes of
really hard rain and that was all.
George had wanted to check the oil at about half way so about 5 it was
time to shut the engine off and check the oil.
Yes, here we were sitting in the middle of the Gulf
Stream checking oil. However
it was not bad we let the boat settle a little and measured the oil. Wayne the diesel mechanic at Brunswick had told George he should do this
because is was a little low the last time we brought her in. Turning off the engine made all of us a
little nervous but no one mentioned the possibility of it not starting again. It was a half quart low, so we decided not to
add any oil. Then he started her up
again. We were all smiles. After I got off at 6:00 p.m., I thought this
is not bad, We cook, eat and take showers just as if we were at the docks. Plus
I had just finished my third watch which meant I only had three more to go,
half way through. We had hot dogs and
fried potatoes that night for dinner.
After dinner I had a glass of wine, to help me sleep of course, we
showered and when to bed. I knew I was
going to sleep well because now I was accustomed to my schedule. I did sleep well. George got up at 12 midnight for his watch
and I went back to sleep. The alarm went
off and it woke me. Charlotte even thought it was my watch but it
was a weather alert alarm in the cock pit.
George could see some tornado activity in Florida to the South of us as he pulled up
the weather on the GPS. As I took over
from George I saw all the weather on the screen. George said,” I think it will be gone by the
time we get there”. Most of the time
George is a bit of a pessimist but when he is on the boat he turns into a big
optimist. This is for my sake of course.
I have learned to read between the lines. As I was watching the weather and the wind
get up I was wishing for my boring watch last night. The seas were still smooth and no other boats
in the way. The “no other boats” was a
little concerning. Were they not out because
they knew not to be out? As my watch
continued the weather got less red and more green, meaning just rain and the
wind calmed.
Thursday the 16th
Greg took over and we
had fried egg sandwiches for breakfast.
We were all starting to breathe a little easier. After breakfast I went
down for a little rest. In fact I was
even sleeping when I heard George call out to Greg. Greg was at the helm and the engine lost
power. George immediately started to
change the filter. He got the filter and
I grabbed the bag to put it in. By now
we have changed it so much I know what to do without him telling me. After that he pumped the fuel lines and Greg
started the engine again. We were all a
bit relieved. Greg and George started
problem solving and decided what to do if it is air in the system, clogged
filter or clogged fuel lines. Charlotte
and I were just spectators in the volleying of ideas. George says that we are always using out of the
port tank when it shuts down. The
problem is that we have enough fuel in the port tank to get to Brunswick but not in the starboard tank. Last year we transferred fuel form the port
tank to the starboard tank but we were on anchor. We had both fuel tank inspection plates open
and transferred fuel with a coffee cup and a bowl from one tank to the other. They decided to transfer the fuel after we
ate dinner. When I went on watch at 3:00
p.m. the engine was still sounding good.
This may be my last watch because we were to reach Brunswick at Friday morning at1:00 a.m. George told me not to count on it
because were still in the Gulf Stream and when we got out we would slow down. When Greg took over about 6:00 p.m. he ask,
“anything out there?” I told him I only
saw two boats and a bird. We had been very lucky to dodge all the severe weather. All our thoughts are now about the engine.
Will it continue to do well? I guess when
I am doing stuff I don’t have time to worry about the engine. The seas were
smooth so I cooked some pan fried chicken, peas and corn, mashed potatoes, and
green beans. I was secretly thinking
this may be our last night at sea but it may also be our hardest. The seas were
so smooth we could even eat in the cock pit using forks on real plates. After Charlotte and I finished the dished the
guys started the task of transferring fuel.
Again they used the good old UGA cup to transfer the fuel to the bowl. Same cup same bowl but this year the engine
was running so they had to transfer it into the gallon fuel jug and carry the
fuel up top and pour it into the tank. After 10 gallons, we all felt
comfortable we had enough fuel to make it back.
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| Greg dips the UGA cup to get the fuel from the port tank and then they pour it in the the fuel jug. |
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| George transfers the fuel into the starboard tank. |
I stayed up to see the sunset. It
was beautiful. I knew this would be my
last sunset of the trip so we took lots of pictures. We were at the bow taking
pictures because the sunset was in front of us. As George and I went back to
the cock pit and saw Charlotte and Greg we said wouldn’t that be a perfect
picture if the sunset was in the back of us.
Greg or George said it could happen.
Greg proceeded to turn the boat around.
Holy Cow!, we were really doing this!
It was a little comic relief for all of us. After the Kodak moment was over, George and I
went to bed.
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| Just another beautiful sunset ! |
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| When we turned the boat around to catch the sunset when setting in the cock pit |
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| It is our turn for the photo op |
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| The sea was so smooth it was a little eerie! |
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| Last of the sunset |
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| I just could not get over how smooth the seas were all the way home! |
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| T.ried to catch a picture of the dolphins but instead I got another picture of the beautiful sea. |
I had asked George didn’t
he want me to take his turn that way he could bring the boat in when we got
closer to the channel near Brunswick, and he could get more sleep. The ETA was
about 5:00 a.m. He said no we are staying on our same shift. He also said I
want you to help me watch for markers so I will be getting you up early. He got me up at 1:30 to help him watch for
markers. However, soon after he noticed
the oil pressure gauge! We were losing oil pressure. At first he added a half
of quart of oil with the engine running.
The oil pressure came up but not enough, so he shut the engine down,
measured the oil and added another quart.
The engine cranked and the oil pressure went back to normal. It was my time at the helm but we were in the
channel and having to watch for markers.
George did not ask me to take the helm and I was not going to ask for
it. At about 4 AM the engine shut off
again and Greg was up in a flash. Greg took the helm and George switched from
the Racor 500 filter to the Racor 200 filter and bled the air out of the
system. The engine cranked and seemed to purr. The Racor 200 is a short term
fix so we started discussing what to do if the engine goes out as we come into
the channel near the rocks. We had a head wind, so the plan was to turn the
boat around and let out the jib, sail back into the ocean and stay away from
the rocks. There would be no more sleep
for any of us. All eyes were on the watch for markers, red and green
lights. At night distances are very
difficult to judge. You can see a green
light and it can be several hundred feet or a quart of a mile. George said, ‘you see that boat over there he
is a pilot boat”. About that time the pilot boat started putting his search light
on us. George asked, ”why doesn’t he
just call us on channel 16?” I looked at
the radio, it was not on 16. George called on 16 and the pilot boat asked us to
get out of the channel. He was trying to
get a big ship through the channel. If
that was not bad enough the pilot told us we should not go in because there was
zero visibility because of fog. I had
not really been overly concerned about our situation however at this particular
moment I was concerned! We were in the
way of a big ship, had engine problem, trying to find the channel markers, and
was faced with zero visibility. At this
point I told Greg, who is in charge of the picture diary of all our adventures,
“ Greg there is one more picture you have to take when we get to the dock…….it
will be of me KISSING the dock! It was
another comic relief moment. When George
called the pilot boat he asked “ Is this Drew?’ ”No sir” was the reply. Our slip mate at the Marina is Drew who is also a captain on a
pilot boat. We explained to the pilot boat
that we had some fuel issues and we would immediately get out of the
channel. He said if we had a good radar
we could go in but he would not advise it.
We asked if we could follow the boat in, he thought that would be a good
idea. The big ship was very slow but he
was stopping to pick up the harbor pilot, after the harbor pilot was on the
ship it took off at about 12 knots. It
left us behind. The pilot boat radioed
back and said he would be anchored in the Sound if we needed any help to let
him know. As we went through the channel
the pilot boat reported back to us that the fog was still bad but was lifting a
bit. We proceeded on. By the time we went under the bridge it was
day light but we could not see the top of the bridge.
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| Just awesome |
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| Look close the Sidney Lanier Bridge you can barely be seen |
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| This is how much of the bridge we could see as we go under it. |
We called Sherry, the dock master at
Brunswick Landing Marina and asked which slip we needed to go. We had planned to stop at the fuel docks if
it had been dark. She told us to go to
your old slip. No one was up to catch
our lines. I told George to call John
and Carolyn on Indulgence, “I know they are up at 7:00a.m,” He did not want to
bother them. So we dock the boat
ourselves. Very smooth docking!! And Yes Greg took my picture of me KISSING
the dock. But with that being said …..I
am ready to go back next year! We had a
great time, made a lot of new friends, enjoyed the time with family and friends,
and made a lot of memories. We are so blessed!
Until Next Year
Freida and George
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