Sailing The Pacific Ring Of Fire: January 2014

Renaming Blessings - My surveyor Lee and his family centre

Xmas arrived and forced me to act - had to push off on Boxing Day and move somewhere before I became stuck fast in Tampa Bay. It had become an almost funny continuum of bad luck and unseen issues - Customs needed me to depart the States at St Petersburg and become an exporter to ship Whakaari out, even tho the next port was still in Florida; The electricians hadn't had time to finish everything before Xmas and I wasn't waiting round for more work in the New Year; I managed to acquire a raging flu that attacked me with more vigour every day for more than two weeks, the drugs didn't help, and I ended up hacking away trying to direct preparations in between coughing fits; denaming and renaming of Whakaari was squeezed into the pre Xmas chaos and thankfully a great group of people came along for the renaming while Lizzie poured champagne and I beseeched the gods for fair winds and safe passages; my new inflatable dinghy arrived in the 11th hour and once out of its box turned out to be shop damaged so began a full day of haggling to get a replacement shipped down the line; making fitted linen and mattress protectors hadn't been started til Xmas Eve and poor Dianne who'd taken on the task spent her Xmas sewing; destinations south to the Keys were filling up for with the holiday rush and we left without having a mooring or slip to go to. But after a fun Christmas grill by the pool leave we did on Boxing Day nearly 3 hrs later than planned and we slipped the lines well after sunset and headed out into Tampa Bay for the last time.

"Whakaari" - rebirth & rejuvenation

Leaving Tampa Bay - Skyway Bridge

We had a fast reaching sail down from St Petersburg, sharing the watches and revelling in finally getting some sailing. Whakaari had a bone in her mouth the whole way, covering the 240miles in 37 hrs. Wow, is she fast, and a dream to sail - like a racehorse that has had the reins held too tight for too long - just ease sheets and she sets into her groove and pumps along , steady as a rock, at 8 knots - truly exhiliarating, and the wind held all the way, with super clear nights - takes a while to get used to sailing under a northern hemisphere sky - Orion and the Big Dipper sitting above the masthead. And endless lines of crab traps -thankfully Whakaari has a full keel and protected prop and rudder, with a rope cutter on the shaft, so we didn't have to be too concerned. There is no deep water here, quite the opposite to home. I draw 5'8" and having on average 11-12 ' under the keel is normal, 35' a rare relief.

A membership with BoatUS almost obligatory to get towed off the ubiquitous shallows. We didn't need it, I'm pleased to report.

We sailed most of the way relying on iPhone Navionics as the new Raymarine system fell over completely, not long after clearing the Skyway Bridge exiting Tampa Bay.

The AIS (ship collision avoidance) held in OK, but we only encountered four coastal freighters at night (no moon now of course so relying on instruments as they come up fast)and I have paper charts, a computer based set of charts, and our dead reckoning, so it was only ever depth that gave us concern. Luckily I had enough competent crew aboard for a watch schedule that meant we didn't need to rely on autopilot, as there was none! And the weather was perfect, a constant 16-20 knots of wind from the east giving us the chance to let Whakaari run free with full main and both headsails set.

Lizzie & Annika shooting the gap

We'd timed our arrival in the Keys for first light so navigated the channels OK -seriously, I've navigated some pretty hairy channels in the Med but nothing like here off the Everglades - half the beacons aren't lit, or are supposed to be and have stopped working, the shoals move around, and there are no straight lines. Its Red Right Returning on the Atlantic side but opposite bouyage on the gulf side of the Keys, so you have to stay alert. Going under the Seven Mile bridge was a heart stopper - 65' clearance with a 58' mast height - looked like we wouldn't fit when it was too late to pull out.

Bottlenose dolphins usually solo or in pairs paid us regular visits night & day, but otherwise visitors on the water were scarce, esp crossing the Bay of Florida where we were 30-40 miles offshore.

Lizzie and Annika have been fantastic crew, and Annika's skills with her $15 iPhone Navionics a blessing.

But it wasn't all fair sailing - going fast and easy across the Bay of Florida, stars all around, I got the fright of my life at 4 am when the emergency bilge alarms went off and shattered my state of reverie.

Lizzie was just getting up for her watch at 4 and I seriously thought it was her clock alarm -I told her to think about changing her alarm sound as it was too much like my emergency bilge alarm ha ha!

So, shorten sail to ease the heel on the hull, pull all the stowage out of every orifice until locating the source (a back siphoning into the boat as the stern pressed down on a light sea cockless skin fitting), then fashion a temporary fix and put the boat back together before we had a gust that would spill unstowed gear overboard - all hands were needed on deck, and we did really well.

Should've added a Jolly Roger

The most alarming part of it was that no-one responded to my Pan Pan calls, on either of the two VHFs, the back up handheld VHF, or the SSB! And no -one answered the phone til 3 hrs later - so if we had been sinking we were on out own -I was trying to find which ports we were passing had haul out facilities in case we had to get her out of the water ASAP - so that has exposed weaknesses in emergency coverage here and questions over my radio signal strengths - so add that to the list! (Actually resolved the VHF issues, just the SSB to work out now)

A few other problems aboard in addition to nav gear and needing more seacocks -the Isotherm thermostat went haywire and froze all our perishables so a lot of food was thrown out (A local whizz kid Alex has confirmed the problem and sourced new ones, plus a back up board for the compressor so that's sorted) This is a power hungry vessel, and as with all cruisers you're constantly managing amp hours. The latest investment is a complete conversion of all the halogen and conventional lighting aboard to LEDs. We've spent time & money proving all the charging systems and battery health and now understand better how to manage Whakaari's complex systems.

And its been fun too -getting to know Boot Key Harbour here in Marathon - a laid back city of boats, made up of cruisers from the four winds, time to talk and socialise, stone crab claws, and Eric Stone boating ballads.

So where next? - On 10 January we depart Boot Key for Key West, down at the tip of Florida, where US1 Highway starts its long run north to Maine, and Ernest Hemingway worked on his classics, where fabulous snorkelling and old forts are to be found, racing regattas about to commence, and our stepping off place for Cuba. We'll be there at least a week no doubt continuing with the refinements we find are needed on the 10 hour sail from here in Marathon - all part of the shakedown!

There's a tide in the affairs of men

which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries

William

Shakespeare