Friday, May 1st, 2009
Heading: 030 as close to the wind as possible.
Barr: 1000mb Forecast: east - southeast winds 10-15 kts. Seas: 1-3 Meters
Conditions: east - northeast winds 080* at 15 - 20 kts. seas only 3-5 feet.
Wind lightened after midnight and we plugged along till dawn at 4 knots.
0230 crossed with a freighter - so close I could see a guy with a flashlight walking on the bridge.
1200 noon position: N 23*54.371 W 086*06.575 162 miles first day.
Wind filled at dawn to a perfect 10-12kts from the east.
By lunch - I gave up on trying to catch the "Stream" and changed course.
Dinner was Pizza, awesome salad, and red wine. After dinner was tequila and Cuban cigars.
2400 midnight position: N 25*09.601 W 086*02.170
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
Heading; still north-ish 020 Forecast: winds 5-10 knots from the south east / seas: less than 1 meter.
Conditions @ 0600: 8 knots from the east - seas flat. beautiful sailing ! ! !
Breakfast of chorizo and eggs, then - shake out main and launch #1 jib. SOEL is cranking out 7 knots under a full press of racing canvass! however the 2 knot counter current has us down to 5 knots over ground. Damn, missed it!
Lizzy lands two big 6 pound "SkipJack Tuna" just after dawn. Once again - I am butcher.
1200 noon position: N 26*12.142 W 085*45.336
24hour total: 140 miles. or, 302 miles since Thursday.
current finally let us go around sundown. Tied - off the wind generator at sunset. Winds now so light, ARIES cannot keep on course. Switch on "Ray" the electronic autohelm and read another Carl Hiaasen novel.
Sunday, May3rd, 2009
Heading: due north. 000* barr: steady 1000mb
Forecast: winds 5-10 knots from the south-southeast. seas: 1-2 meters. temp - 80 F
Conditions: wind from the south-southeast (160*) sunny / warm Beautiful! seas: 1-2 feet .
Lovely evening last night! moon set around 0200 and the stars were incredible!
adjusted course at dawn - rigged spin pole for wing & wing.
1200 Noon position report: N28*24.515 W 085*34.377
24 hour run of 132 miles. total of: 434 so far.
Breeze died out completely at 1400.
SOEL became a trawler with a large riding sail around 1430.
Dinner was fresh caught tuna, beans & rice. Red wine and chocolates for desert.
wind returned before midnight- 10kts from the south-southeast - I killed the engine and recorded our midnight position as:
N 29*21.911 W 085*45.391
Monday, May 4th, 2009
Heading, 000* North! Barr: 1000mb steady
Conditions: 10kts from the south-southeast. 75*F Seas: tiny - 1 foot. . . maybe.
Arrive: Panama City, Florida - Sun Harbor Marina - @0815. N 30*10.993 W 085*43.993
Fuel: 1/2 full Water: 1/2 full EngHrs: 2457
SOEL sails at 6kts (wing and wing) till dawn. Then, the wind died - again, and the engine came back on - again.
Customs and Border Protection was very nice. They took our garbage with them - and also our Avocados - but not in the same bag.?.?.?
Dinner was Papa Johns pizza at Mike and Emma's and catching up with family. Then, back to overnight at the City Marina, and fall into the sleep of death.
Tomorrow we will look at our options.
Tuesday, 5th
Cloudy, overcast, 67 at night - High of 80 daytime. Winds 5 - 10 outta the southwest.
Wake-up and get to work!
Wash boat - fix autopilot of sailboat ahead of me on the transient dock.
Fill water tanks - fix transmission of powerboat behind me. (welcome home, huh)
three loads of laundry while Mike and Elizabeth complete huge grocery shopping trip.
Pull out of the Marina and anchor in Massilina Bayou - Again. we dink over to "Hawks Nest" for sundowners at 1700. Then Mike and Emma and the kids pick us up for some "Cinco de Mayo" Mexican food.
Restaurant was of course too crowded for us to wait, so we improvised with buckets of beer and "Bar Food".
Wednesday, 6th
Wake at 0130 - can't sleep. Read till E gets up at 0700. some investigating on land reveals that a berth will cost $350 per month. minimum. I gotta find a job quick.
We decide to go sailing instead! Of course it was a beat the whole way, but, good practice for Elizabeth on the wheel. When we are out sailing, the autopilot steers the boat most of the time.
Thursday, 7th A day at the beach!
I load the dink with chairs, umbrella's, sunblock, books, hats, and a cooler of beer. Once we got settled in the soft sand, (got the place all to ourselves) I spotted the shape of a sailboat a couple of miles away in the surf. After a long walk, I recognized the boat as one I had worked on back in Texas. Neil Liefook, or something like that. He talked about taking the boat over to the "East Coast". I had my doubts, and now they were confirmed. Sad day to see a fellow sailor lost his boat.
Friday 8th
Another 5 mile walk on the beach. Not another soul in sight again today. Desolate beaches. I love it!
Elizabeth and I walked and talked of the next chapter in our lives.
Saturday, 9th
Woke to a good high tide and began wondering . . . . What if we could navigate the channel to Mike and Emma's house? So - we tried it. I got within 5 feet of success! I backed SOEL out and anchored nearby.
I took the big Bruce anchor off the bow and tied it to a short bridal behind the ski boat, and at low tide we dragged it through the channel a couple of times. Hopefully we deepened the pass.
Find out tomorrow ! ! !
Sunday, 10th Happy Mothers Day!
Light south wind. Loads of sunshine. Big, high tide at 1030.
Elizabeth took the dinghy in. Mike came out in the ski boat. I piloted SOEL.
It took two hours of work, but we actually succeeded in pulling the old girl into Lake Claire. The entrance (at high tide) is almost 5 feet deep, and about 15 feet wide - SOEL has a 13 foot beam. Yep! less than a foot of clearance on either side.... and none on the bottom. It was tight!
The "Cajun Engineering" method was: I lined up the keel with the slot we dredged yesterday, then drove in as far as I could, till she was gently grounded. Next, we tied the ski boat directly in front / under the anchors / practically touching SOEL. Mike put the ski boat in forward gear, with the outdrive trimmed all the way down, and applied just enough throttle for the prop wash to blow out the sand in front of the keel. I had SOEL in forward gear, about half throttle, and kept turning the steering wheel side to side. This caused a "wiggle" movement that allowed the sand to be washed out from under the keel, and we just slid her on through. Nice and gentle. It took an hour to travel 10 feet, but, we didn't break anything. No cleats yanked out from full power pulls. No lines parted. No damage to the boats, or people, or property.
The redneck method would have been to get a running start at full throttle, yelling "Hey ya'll, watch this!" and try and jump it.
Saturday May 16th, 2009
After a week of stressful car searching, we finally decided on an 8 year old station wagon. Quite a stretch from my old 'Hotrod' pickup truck. . . but at least it's not a minivan! In the process, we met another cool couple. He dabbles in cars and likes to fish. She deals real estate. We need transportation, and a place to live. Good match! We discussed a possible project and traded phone numbers and email addresses.
Who knows what the next chapter of our lives will read like -
May
The rest of the month was filled with visits from friends and family and working on house and boat projects.
I repaired some rotten wood and re-painted the exterior of the house. Next, I fixed the electrical service on the boat dock, replaced a gas cap and stopped a water leak on the ski boat. One afternoon Mike and I attempted to dredge the channel into Lake Claire with a 3" trash pump. After a couple of hours we "struck our colors" and admitted defeat. I'll have a professional tackle that issue later.
About a half-a-day of yard work on Friday keeps the place looking nice. Elizabeth helps out with the twins, grocery shops, and cooked some good eats almost every night.
Sydney hung out with us for a week. Donna and the boys showed up for a few days and we all went to the beach two days in a row. The twins played in the sand for hours, skipping the afternoon nap, and everyone had a ball. The day Donna drove back to Houma, Lorenda (one of E's buddies) drove in from Texas. She brought the best gifts possible. Brisket and Shiner beer! Of course we went back to the beach two days in a row, again.
