Marathon to Charleston - Delight and Dismay

The last week at Harbour Cay Club after our return from Cuba we said "So Long" to new friends heading North West, "See You Later" to new friends heading North East and "Have a Good Summer" to new friends living full-time at Harbour Cay Club.  It was a great stay and we hope to return again one day.

Prior to our departure our daughter Courtney and new fiance' Paolo (yes, they got engaged when we were in Cuba) visited us for a weekend on the water.  We took advantage of what makes the Keys special: sailing in light winds, anchoring out in remote areas, swimming in the beautiful blue water and generally hanging out.  We all had a great time.

Monday morning we pulled away from the dock at Harbour Cay Club and headed for the Channel Five bridge and then into Hawk Channel - that protected water way running between the East side of the Keys and the long reef that runs outside them.  We had two glorious sailing days with winds of around 11 knots on our beam, full main and genoa out and rolling along in perfect weather at 6 knots.  We also had two perfect nights at anchor and were lucky enough to get a mooring ball at Coconut Grove Sailing Club, saving us from the crazy waves out in Dinner Key Mooring field.  Yay!  Coconut Grove Sailing Club is in the heart of the town's maritime district and within walking distance to all of the shops and restaraunts.  We also rented a car for two days in order to be able to drive to Courtney and Paolo's home in Boca Raton, an hour north.

Sunrise at Harbour Cay Club

After sharing these two days with Courtney and Paolo at their home we headed out Friday afternoon to anchor at Fisher Key for a few hours.  This is a private island just South of Government Cut, Miami's main shipping channel.  Here we dropped the hook for a couple hours to prepare some dinner and the boat for our offshore trip to Charleston.  Government Cut, Port Miami is heavily used by container ships and cruise ships.  Our plan was to rest a bit and then head into the ocean around 4pm.  In order to beat some scheduled cruise ship departures, we moved that up to 3pm.  On a Friday afternoon, that area is rife with sport fishing boats, large pleasure craft and small runabouts.  Sharon pointed out it would be more calm in the ocean, away from these crazy boaters!

Miami Skyline

Such cool architecture in this skyline!

Port of Miami

The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  With winds at 10 knots on our beam we motor sailed in calm seas, beautiful blue water and blue sky.  It was delightful.  Overnight was uneventful and we each took our watch anticipating more beautiful weather.  Saturday was more of the same - what luck! As we were buddy boating with our friends on Cutter Loose, we were in close contact by radio and were able to match each other's progress.  There is an incredible comfort that comes with having another boat out there with you 70 miles from land - especially one whom you know and trust.  Hopefully, you never need them for anything, except a bit of moral support and an occasional chat at zero dark thirty hours.

At about 2am, Sharon radioed Pat to tell her to look into the Eastern sky to find the blood red last quarter moon.  As it first rises out of the sea, it is so red from the sun's reflection that you aren't sure what you are looking at.  Then, as it rises, it quickly turns its familiar yellow and brightens the evening for night sailing.  Night sailing is amazing when it's good.  Millions of stars are visible, phosphorescence scatters each time the waves bounce against the hull, and a feeling of being out there doing something truly special.

Once we hit the Gulf Stream we were rolling along at 10+ knots.  We usually travel at around 6-7 knots, and so 10 is just amazing. These conditions continued for the entire time we were in the Stream, 340 nautical miles of our 440 mile trip.   So, by late in the day on Saturday, we are all doing new calculations for our arrival in Charleston.  Initially, we had calculated that we would travel at an average of 6.5 knots for the 440 nautical miles from Miami to Charleston.  So - it should take us 67 hours, or 2.8 days.  We left at the time we did to assure we would get to Charleston on a favorable tide in the daylight.  Our calculations gave us an expected arrival around mid-day on Monday.  After re-calculating to match our Gulf Stream speed, we figured we would arrive by Sunday afternoon.  Any time shortening long overnight passages is a good thing!  We love being out there, but it definitely has an impact on one's body - sleep deprivation, constant motion, constant vigilance - wears one out in short order.  So, shortening the trip by a day was a gift!

Cutter Loose at sea

As we prepared for nightfall on the second night we decided to take the main sail down because we knew the wind was going to continue to move more behind us, which would render it ineffective and require work on deck at night.  Also, having only the jib out for downwind sailing makes it much more manageable and often more effective.  So, in the light winds, before nightfall, we dropped the main and motor sailed with the jib.  Good thing!  By nightfall, the wind started to pick up a bit.  By the time Sharon went off shift at 10:30, the wind was up to 14 knots.  We throttled back and hopped along.  But she was awakened at 11:30 by a very bouncy boat.  When you are below on a passage and the weather gets nasty the entire boat can sound like its is going to break apart.  Every cupboard sounds like breaking glass and crashing stuff.  It just kept getting worse.  Finally, we reached our next waypoint that allowed us to turn the boat to stay in the stream, the engine went off and we were sailing downwind.  Our speed reduced from 7 to 6 knots, so less boat bashing and Greg breathed a sigh of relief.  But, then it meant waves on our beam, waves on our quarter in totally confused seas.  Where the heck did this come from?! The forecast dodn't call for six foot sharp swells and chop!

So - 100 miles to go and we have crazy rolling seas, waves from all directions and a boat rolling back and forth like a rubber ducky in a bathtub with a three year old.  We are constantly and happily amazed at how this boat handles these conditions.  The creaks and groans would have you think it would just break up into pieces, but it just does what it is supposed to do.  Finally, at about half way, Greg turned on the engine and improved our waning progress.  So then it became just a matter of getting through it.  With the boat rocking back and forth, every time it did, glass and plastic would crash around and Sharon swore there would be shards of glass everywhere when we reached Charleston.  Amazingly, no breakage, nothing really out of place, just lots of noise. You'd think we'd pack better next time!

We finally got to the breakwater at Charleston Harbor and Sharon was able to raise her head and take the wheel.  Greg is a trooper through these trips.  As he says, you really have no choice - you just do it.  We pulled into the anchorage off the Cooper River where we will hang until we head into Charleston Maritime Center tomorrow.  We had lost sight of Cutter Loose through all the craziness last night, but picked them up just outside the Channel and followed about a mile on their tail all the way into the anchorage.  While gathering up the jack lines (the lines we tie on the inside of the cockpit and the outside deck, to which we clip ourselves so as not to go overboard), we found this guy met his death somewhere during the trip.  We fed him to the bigger fish overboard.

Dead Flying Fish

We are happy to be here, look forward to a week of fun and great food and feel fortunate to have had another great trip at sea.

'Til next time -