The Big Boat Move
Before I begin I wanted to
say that I don't believe that the previous owners new about any of the problems
we encountered. Tom and Kathy took very
good care of this boat in the 22 years they owned her. As we work on the boat now we can see how
well systems are organized and maintained.
However, it is a 33 year old boat and things wear out. When we bought Ahwahnee she had been sitting
in a boat yard for two years. Tom and
Kathy came down and helped put the boat back in the water and get her ready to
sail again. They spent a very long week
doing what they would normally do in a month and we appreciate all their
help. Now, on to the story.
Wendy, Michael Olstad and I
flew down to FL to move the boat from the West Coast to the East Coast. We bought Kailani in Punta Gorda, FL on the
west coast of the state and during our boat search we found a great marina in
Ft. Pierce, FL. It was to be about a 500
mile trip from where the boat was moored, down around the southern tip of FL
and back up to the marina.
We arrived at the boat with
the necessities - beer, tequila, limeade and of course some food. No tools, no diagnostic equipment. After all the boat had a stellar survey and
certainly had no glaring issues. We
already had the standing rigging replaced, so nothing major should go wrong.
We had moored the boat at a
very generous couple's house for the month of August. They watched over the boat and even offered
to allow us to fill the water tanks before we left. Plus they helped us cast off when it was time
to leave - thanks again Bonnie and Jerry.
As we were loading the boat
I noticed a little dirt on the saloon table.
That seemed strange so I looked around for the source and decided it
came from the headliner near the mast. I
poked around up there and saw a live termite.
Welcome Aboard!
There was nothing that could
be done at the time, so we finished loading the boat and shoved off. We pulled forward about 10' before running
aground. No problem, we would just back
up...where we made it nearly 20' before running around again. The sun was setting and the tide was
falling. We pushed the front of the boat
out into the canal, wiggled the rudder, revved the engine and slowly pulled out
into the channel. We managed to get out
to an anchorage as the sun set with no further incident.
Later that evening someone
went to use the head (marine toilet) and noticed that the inlet water was not
turned on. No problem, I flipped the
valve to open the line to supply water to the head so it could be flushed. Immediately water began running across the
bathroom floor. I looked around and found
the source was a broken fitting in the inlet line right behind the head. It leaked constantly, but much worse when
pumping the head. Hmmm, it was going to
be a long week if we couldn’t flush the head.
We decided that we would turn on the water each time we needed to flush,
turn it off when finished then mop the floor.
The leak was inlet water, not outlet water, so while it wasn’t fun, it
wasn’t like we were mopping up sewage.
The next morning we got up
early, before the sun came up. Started
the engine and started pulling up the anchor.
It all went well until the chain jammed in the windlass (the electric winch
that raises the anchor). Now we had 50'
of chain and a 65lb anchor stuck in mud to get on the boat with no mechanical
help. I tried pulling it in by hand, but
with the wind blowing the boat back I was no match. Wendy suggested using the cockpit winch to
help pull up the anchor. While we
couldn’t do that directly, we could run a line from the anchor chain back to
the winch and use that to crank up the anchor.
I pulled on the chain as Wendy cranked the winch and the anchor slowly
came on board. It only took an hour and
a half, but we were ready to go.
We were off, we still had a
chain jammed in the windlass that I needed to figure out, but at least we were
moving. Aside from there being no wind,
everything else seemed to be working well.
The engine RPMs were not showing up, but we were told that happened when
the batteries were fully charged, so no big deal. We motored out of the bay and headed south.
With no wind and flat seas it was easy
motoring. Set the autopilot, lean back
and relax. We had time to watch for
dolphins and other sea life; talk, read, eat or just do nothing. I decided to try to remove the jam in the
same way we brought in the anchor – run a line from a cockpit winch up to the
chain and start cranking. It popped free
with little effort. Winches are great.
Due to the late start and easy motoring we decided to
continue straight through the night.
That would put us in the FL Keys early enough to fix the cracked fitting
on the inlet hose then get some rest. As
usual everyone agreed to get some sleep so I wouldn’t be the only one awake at
4 am. As usual, they didn’t.
We continued to motor on through the night watching the
chart plotter to see where we were and adjusting the autopilot as needed. I figured out we could flush the head by
filling it up with fresh water from the shower hose. So, now we didn’t need to open the inlet line
at all. That solved another problem for
us; even if I found a fitting to replace the broken one, I had no tools to
install the new one. No need now, we had
enough fresh water to last all the way to Ft Pierce.
Around midnight Michael said, “The chart plotter stopped
working.” I figured it was just a
setting and went to take a look at it. I
was wrong, it was broken. It had stopped
receiving the GPS signal, so while it could display the chart it had no idea
where we were on that chart. This was a
pain, but not life threatening. I had a
handheld GPS and the boat had a backup GPS down at the nav station. It would just mean that I would have to plot
our position on a paper chart. People
have done it for hundreds of years; it’s just not as easy as a chart plotter.
4 A.M., I’m awake, no one else is. We’re in the Bay of Florida, a large shallow
are between the Everglades and the FL Keys.
I’m looking for a channel marker with a spot light. The GPS and chart say that I’m about the run
into it, but I can’t find the thing.
According to the chart it is 50 feet tall and has a red flashing
light. How hard can it be to find? I check the GPS and chart again. And again - it is 4 am after all. I’m right where I belong, but the marker
isn’t. There are shallow areas past the
marker, so I just make the turn as if it were there. Now I can see other flashing red lights that
mark the left side of the channel, but I can’t find any of the green markers
that mark the right side of the channel.
I can’t go straight to the red markers because there are shallow in the
way. I plot my next heading and just
trust my compass.
Its 5 A.M., Michael is now awake, but that’s not much
help. He keeps asking questions about
what he can do to help. I’m tired and
trying to find the next marker, I’m picturing parking the boat on a reef in the
dark of night, there are lights everywhere and the next marker is nowhere to be
found, I don’t need to answer questions, too.
I check the course, check the GPS, check the chart, repeat, repeat,
repeat. Once again I reach the point
where the marker should be and nothing is there. Now I’m really concerned; am I where I think
I am or not?
5:30 A.M., Michael has stopped asking questions, I know he
is just trying to help, but I’m beyond being able to think straight. I approach the spot where the next marker
should appear. I’m shining the spotlight
around; it’s hard to see anything because we are getting close to 7 mile bridge
which is lit up like a Christmas tree. I
keep waving the light side to side looking for any reflection. Finally! I spot the green reflection I’ve
been waiting for! I’m so happy I could
cry. I didn’t realize how stressed I was
until I felt how relived I was. The
marker is where it belongs; it has the right color and the right number. We are on course. Whew.
6 A.M. we have reached 7 mile bridge. Actually, there are two bridges, an old RR
bridge with a section cut out right next to 7 mile bridge which has a raised
span to allow for sailboats to pass under.
The middle of the section has 65 feet of clearance at high tide; we only
reach up 53 feet from the water, so this will be an easy pass. We approach the RR bridge and pass right down
the middle of the opening. Looking
forward I can’t figure out the lights. I
can see the span right ahead of me, I can see a channel through the pilings,
but the lights don’t seem right. I’m
about to reach the bridge when I suddenly figure out that the channel zigzagged
between the bridges. I’m about to pass under
a lower section of the bridge. It should
be ok, but I don’t know that for sure. I
yank the wheel to the left and the bow snaps around. The lights now make sense. We motor forward a little ways; I spin the
wheel back to the right and pass under 7 mile bridge right under the center
span. Wow, I’m tired.
6:30 A.M. and the sun is getting ready to rise. The sky is turning a light grey and I can see
around me. There are three markers up
ahead which I cannot yet see, but they’ll be coming into view soon. Everyone is up; I pass the steering off and
go forward to look for the markers. Now
would be a nice time to have binoculars.
We find the next three markers with no problems, the sun is
on the horizon and the world is coming to life.
Other boats start to appear on the water and we’re heading into the
channel they are leaving. We pull into
Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, FL and stop at the first marina. We fill up on diesel, fill our dinghy tank
with gas and get a free basket of ice.
Yes, that’s right. They bring out
a laundry basket full of ice which quickly disappears into our coolers. I try to start the engine and it doesn’t want
to turn over. Odd. I try again and it starts right up. That’s more like it.
We get back to the boat an hour after we left with nothing
to show for it. Google again provides us
with a place to park our dinghy. It only
costs $22 and leaves us with a 2 mile walk to the grocery store. There is nothing we need that bad. It’s time for a beer. Even though it is only 11 A.M., as Jimmy
Buffet says, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”
After a few beers we all get some much needed sleep.
We wake up late in the afternoon, make some sandwiches for
dinner, prepare some margaritas then sit around, talk and watch a great
sunset. Early to bed that night and
early to rise the next morning.
It’s before the sun rises and we’re up cleaning the boat and
readying the boat for sailing. We’ll be
out in the Gulf Stream today, hopefully with some wind and certainly some
waves. Everything put away, strapped
down and cleaned up I go to start the engine.
Nothing. At all. I go below and check the batteries to find
they are at about half charge. No way
are they going to turn the diesel engine over.
Like in the cartoons a little light bulb goes on over my head. The engine hasn’t been showing the RPMs
because the alternator is not running.
Either the alternator is broken or the regulator. At this point it makes no difference, we’ve
drained the batteries. We have solar
panels that will charge the batteries up.
With sunny days we should be able to start the engine in about 3 days.
OK, just getting a jump start isn’t going to help since the
alternator isn’t charging. We need
another source of electricity like a generator.
I do a search for Lowes and nothing shows up in the Keys. A search for Home Depot yields exactly one in
all the Keys. It happens to be in
Marathon right off of Boot Key Harbor. A
check with them confirms that they sell small generators and have some in
stock. Michael and I hop in the dinghy
and motor over to a mangrove forest where we find a path the leads to the Home
Depot. We’re obviously not the first boaters to make this trip. We find a generator, head back to the dinghy,
load it up and get ready to start the motor.
Then I realize I’ve dropped the key for the kill switch
“somewhere”. I retrace our steps back
through the mangroves and the Home Depot with no success. Someone found it and walked off with it. No one turned it in at Lost and Found and
they don’t sell them at Home Depot. I
buy a spool of twine and return to the dinghy.
I take some twine and wrap it around the kill switch over and over until
the kill switch is held in the “on” position.
We crank up the engine and return to the boat.
On the boat we have a little crane to lift the
outboard. We use that to easily lift the
generator onboard. We add gas and oil,
get the generator started and hook it up to charge the batteries. By noon the engine is started. This time when we pull the anchor up I put
all the chain on deck as it comes in then feed it down the pipe after the
anchor is up. Only 6 hours behind
schedule and we are on our way! We get
out to the Gulf Stream and have good wind – right on our nose. Another day of motoring, but we are helped on
our way by the stream.
The rest of the day goes by uneventfully and we anchor just
before sunset. We get to bed early in
anticipation of another early morning.
I get up and start the generator. We let it run while we have breakfast and get
the boat ready to leave. The engine
starts fairly easily and once again we head out towards the Gulf Stream. Today the wind is on our beam; great for
sailing!
I knew better, but I made the mistake anyway. Kailani has a set of davits on the stern to
hang the dinghy. When we left we had the
dinghy hanging on the davits. What we
should have done was remove the engine from the dinghy then lift the dinghy
onto the deck, so it would be out of the way.
We got out into the Gulf Stream and the waves were confused, mostly on
the beam, but sometimes on the bow or the stern. One of the waves hit the dinghy with a enough
force to break the davits. Michael was steering. I had him turn the boat into the wind while I
tried to crank the engine. Fortunately,
it started right up. I jumped over to the
davits to see what I could do the salvage the situation. The dinghy is on its side and the engine is
bumping up against the back of the boat.
I climbed part way over the rail and managed to reach the dinghy. I tied a line to the handle on the side and
pulled it up as high as I could. I tied
a line around the dinghy engine and pulled that up as high as possible. Then I grabbed a winch handle and used that
to beat the davits back together. I had
Michael steer straight north back towards the Keys. We were done sailing for the day and needed
to get in behind the reef to get some protection from the waves.
As we were heading back in I was trying to figure out where
we were on our charts. There was a very
shallow area that we needed to miss. The
shallow area was about 2 feet deep and our draft is over 5 feet. It would not end well if we ran into that. Wendy took over steering and I went to the
front of the boat to look for markers.
Once again, it would have been nice to have some binoculars. I see a marker and we head for it. I think it is the marker we need, but I’m not
positive. As Wendy steers I maintain a
lookout for shallow water. There is an
area that looks suspicious, but it isn’t where it should be if were heading to
the correct marker. As we approach I
realize I’ve screwed up. We’re heading
to a different marker and are about the beach the boat on a reef! I lunge for the wheel, yank it sideways and
manage to turn just before we hit shallow water.
Now that I have figured out where we are, things get
easier. We find the channel and motor
the rest of the day up to No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne. Finally we arrive in the harbor. Nice and quiet, no waves, gentle breeze,
showers, rest rooms, restaurant, awesome.
I spend the next hour sorting out the dinghy and dinghy engine then we
head ashore to enjoy the amenities.
That afternoon we sailed into Ft Lauderdale. There is a bridge there that is 56 feet above
the water at high tide. We stand 53 feet
and have a vhf antenna on the top of the mast.
That leaves us inches. I steer
the boat, so it will be my fault if something doesn’t go right. We line up with the center of the span and
sloooowly move forward. From our
perspective it looks like we are going to hit for sure. I brace for the impact, but it doesn’t
happen. We slide under the bridge
looking like we must be brushing the underside and come out the far side with
no issues. We motor up the Intercostal
Waterway (ICW) to where we plan to anchor for the night and come to a drawbridge. A drawbridge that opens to the sea must open
as a sailboat approaches, but one on the ICW opens on a schedule. The thinking is that when coming from the sea
you may not have the luxury of waiting, so they just open when you show
up. On the ICW you can wait around until
the scheduled opening time without it being life threatening. The drawbridge has instructions written on
the side, but they are small letters. If
only we had binoculars. Of course, we don’t, so we motor right up to the bridge
to read the bridge name and the vhf hailing channel. The bridge operator gives us a time and we
hang out for 25 minutes until he opens the bridge.
We arrive where we are supposed to anchor for the night and
it doesn’t look right. We are where the
cruising guide says to be, but it is a narrow channel and there is nothing
around. We motor up another channel and
find a wider place with sailboats already anchored. We drop the hook and enjoy a nice quiet
evening surrounded by multi-million dollar houses.
The next two days pass pretty much the same way. Beautiful weather, small waves, good wind, quiet anchorage.
In general, life’s good. Except the early morning of the last day. On our final day we had to leave our anchorage in Palm Beach very early. We lift the anchor at 5 am in light rain and head out into an approaching storm. If we can move quickly enough we'll beat the storm, but its going to be a close call. We motor out the channel into 6 foot breaking waves, 40 knots of wind and pitch blackness, except for when lightening illuminates everything. Heading into the waves while we get offshore isn't too bad, but when we turn north the waves are on our beam making us roll side to side. We push the diesel as hard as we can in an effort to escape before the lightening reaches us. Over the next hour the wind begins to diminish, the lightening falls behind and the waves decrease in size. By 9 am the skies have cleared, the wind has dropped, there is no sign of the storm and we are sailing along at 7 knots. Later that day we run out of water. No big deal, we have water in our second tank, we just need to turn some valves and we’re all set. We shut off tank 1, open up tank 2 and nothing. Maybe the line is clogged? Turns out that’s not the case, but I’ll save that story for another time.
We arrive at the marina in Ft Pierce on a Saturday around
noon. Since we won’t be back on the boat
for a month we strip it down. We didn’t
want a hurricane showing up and ripping everything off for us. We deflate the dinghy, remove all the sails
and remove most of the canvass. With
nowhere else to store everything, it all goes down below. I take a taxi over to pick up a rental car,
stop by ACE hardware to buy some locks then head back to the boat to lock it
all up. When we put our new generator
into one of the cockpit lockers I have to move some stuff around. I find a trail of termites running
around. Great.
Nothing we can do now, but that’s something we’ll have to take care of soon. For now, its drive back to Tampa to catch a flight back to Austin.
No comments:
Post a Comment