One last blog entry to cap off the Aquila South Bound trip for 2011. After leaving the boat in Charleston, for a week so we could get back to work, Rob and I each flew back down on Thursday along with newly recruited crew member Paul McMahon. Mary and Katie spent the week in Charleston cleaning and re-provisioning Aquila, so she was in excellent shape when we showed up at 10pm. We pushed off the dock just after midnight and began the long run out through Charleston Harbor into open water. It was dark, cold and windy as we departed the mainland. The offshore wind forecast was very similar to our previous week’s sailing – winds out of the North and NorthEast. Initially they were forecast to be 25-30kts but largely behind us, so bearable. We started with a single reef in the main, but with sustained winds in the 30+ knot range, we put another tuck in the main and barreled southward at 8 – 9 kts.
Our course for Ft Lauderdale was approximately 400 nautical miles, due South. The wind was working to our advantage, but was kicking up some serious seas – which again, made the steering very challenging and tiring. As before, using the autopilot was out of the question. The following seas made for wild swings in the boat’s direction and it took a fair amount of looking over your shoulder to anticipate where the next wave was coming from so the boat wouldn’t round up or jibe. At some point in the wee hours of Saturday, Paul and Rob sailed full on into the Northerly current of the Gulf Stream. When this 80 mile ride river of 88 degree water that flows north in a 4 knot current meets 25 knot winds coming from the opposite direction, it kicks up some ridiculous seas. Not only are the waves very steep, they are wildly confused, coming from all directions. After about an hour of getting hammered (and not the fun kind) they wisely jibed the boat over and headed west – at right angles to our course, but away from the Gulf Stream.
Later in the night, Mary and I had a close encounter with a big container ship that was steaming East at 20 kts. We watched the blip on the radar continue to vector towards the bow of our ship before we decided to turn around and sail in the opposite direction. After putting a few miles between us, we put the boat back on a southerly source toward Fort Lauderdale. We held this tack for the next thirty hours with a strong wind helping us make great time.
By Friday night, we had covered 180 nautical miles (a great 24 hour run for any 42’ boat). Rough seas and lack of sleep had some of our crew “under the weather” (aka puking over the side) at various times during this leg. Everyone managed to keep to the watch schedule and slept when not steering. Doing anything below besides sleeping was really not an option – which is why this blog entry is getting written after the fact. And why we didn’t really bring the camera out to document marine life or spectacular sunsets.
Saturday was a GOREGEOUS sailing day. We still had lots of wind and big seas but it was a bright, sunny day. The dolphins kept us company, diving in and out of the water all around us or surfing in our bow wave. Katie spotted something in the water just off the starboard side of the bow – we all looked to see a big 5’ Loggerhead Turtle practically swim into the side of our boat. She lifted her head as we flew past, gave us a disinterested stare, and kept swimming along in the warm Gulf Stream Waters.
Late Friday night Mary and I were cutting across the western edge of an area that said “US Restricted Area”. It seemed pretty innocuous on the chart, and it wasn’t really going to be practical to significantly alter our course, so I told Mary to keep her eyes open in any case. About half an hour later, I was just dosing in the cockpit and Mary was driving when the whole world shook with an unbelievably loud boom that seemed to be all around us. Needless to say, I rocketed out of my seat and looked around. No flash, no boats no planes. We had no idea what it was – but in the middle of the night, in the pitch dark, we decided to high tail it out of there. In retrospect, I have to assume it was a sonic boom. Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta is about 300 miles inland of that spot and any fighter jets that travelling faster than the speed of sound would direct the sonic boom at an unpopulated area before coming back in over land. Either way – it certainly got our attention.
Here’s the information I found once back on shore:
(a) The danger zones—(1) For fighter aircraft. An area approximately 30 miles offshore between Wassaw Sound and Brunswick, Georgia, described as follows: Beginning at latitude 31°55'30", longitude 80°24'00"; thence 90° true to longitude 80°16'00"; thence southwesterly to latitude 31°10'00", longitude 80°43'00"; thence 270° to longitude 80°51'00"; and then northeasterly to the point of beginning.
(2) For bombardment aircraft. An area approximately 70 miles off shore between Savannah Beach and Brunswick, Georgia, described as follows: Beginning at latitude 32°00'00", longitude 79°43'00"; thence 90° true to longitude 79°07'00"; thence southwesterly to latitude 31°10'00", longitude 79°24'00"; thence 270° true to longitude 80°00'00"; and thence northeasterly to the point of beginning.
(b) The regulations. (1) The danger zones shall be open to navigation except when aerial gunnery or bombing practice is being conducted.
(2) Prior to conducting each practice, the entire area will be patrolled by aircraft to warn any persons and watercraft found in the vicinity that such practice is about to take place. The warning will be by “buzzing,” (i.e., by flying low over the person or watercraft.) Any person or watercraft shall, upon being so warned, immediately leave the area designated and shall remain outside the area until practice has ceased.
Fun !
Sunday’s weather was much the same, strong winds and significant seas. As we got down to the Port St. Lucie area we ended up back in the throes of the Gulf Stream. At this latitude, the Gulf Stream gets squeezed between Grand Bahama and Florida so there’s no escaping it. We had to fight about 2.5 knots of current for most of the morning, and the waves were even bigger and more confused. By this point we were ready for some smooth sailing. We got in close to the coast, where the depth came back under 300 feet and the worst of the current and waves subsided. We finally arrived Port Everglades, 415 miles later at about 3:00pm.
Once inside the intracoastal, we drove north under a couple bridges and by some ridiculous yachts.
Further up the ICW, where the boats were only 70' and 80' long, we worked our way throught the maze of canals and bridges, past venetian stlye water front homes (a full 20% of which were for sale) to our winter home. It is a little strange after covering nearly 1500 miles of open ocean to suddenly navigate with directions like, go the fourth finger, take a sharp left, then down to the motel at the end of the boulevard and take a right.
Right up to the end, we had to pay attention to what were doing. We had to slip down the narrow canal (marked by the A in the picture), do a ten-point turn (42' boat in a 50' wide canal) and then back into a narrow slip with pilings on both sides. And, or course, the first spot turned out to be too narrow for Aquila by about 6 inches. So we got to pull out and try it again one slip over.
After 15,00 miles, it felt great to finally tie up, put the boat to bed, get some showers and then walk down Las Olas Boulevard (without needing to worry about the floor under our feet pitching and rolling) and go get a well-deserved Margarita down by the beach.
- david
Once inside the intracoastal, we drove north under a couple bridges and by some ridiculous yachts.
Fort Lauderdale appears to be the Mecca of superyachts. And there are plenty of them to gawk at.
Further up the ICW, where the boats were only 70' and 80' long, we worked our way throught the maze of canals and bridges, past venetian stlye water front homes (a full 20% of which were for sale) to our winter home. It is a little strange after covering nearly 1500 miles of open ocean to suddenly navigate with directions like, go the fourth finger, take a sharp left, then down to the motel at the end of the boulevard and take a right. Right up to the end, we had to pay attention to what were doing. We had to slip down the narrow canal (marked by the A in the picture), do a ten-point turn (42' boat in a 50' wide canal) and then back into a narrow slip with pilings on both sides. And, or course, the first spot turned out to be too narrow for Aquila by about 6 inches. So we got to pull out and try it again one slip over.
After 15,00 miles, it felt great to finally tie up, put the boat to bed, get some showers and then walk down Las Olas Boulevard (without needing to worry about the floor under our feet pitching and rolling) and go get a well-deserved Margarita down by the beach.
- david
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