fetchinketch

One of the things that have to be true in the world, is you have to take things apart before you can put them together!  Or, as my thermodynamics  professor might have said, entropy has to increase before the system’s order can increase.

I think today has seen our point of maximum entropy for the projects on this haulout.  Most things that need to come apart, have been disassembled, and are ready to go back together. A few of the smaller tasks have been completed and crossed completely off the list, and others are getting close to that point.

We have disassembled the bow thruster as part of its regular maintenance schedule for oil and seal changes.  I also removed its massive 24 volt electric motor to take to the local shop for evaluation.  These motors are no longer manufactured, so taking very careful care of this one seems like an excellent idea!

What’s on our list?  We have a couple of projects that we have contracted out, but here is a list of the ones we are doing ourselves.  In no particular order, and I am sure I am missing something!

1. # Bow thruster maintenance, including electric motor inspection.
2. # Raw water manifold disassembly and inspection.
3. * New zincs on the rudder.
4. Grease the feathering propeller.
5. Install new speed sensor thru-hull fitting.
6. * Improve installation of in-hull depth transducer.
7. Install new instrument display.
8. Delrin plate to protect deck from anchor chain.
9. Mark both anchor rodes for length.
10. Lubricate seacocks.
11. Install second water pump.
12. Install upgraded anchor wash pump.
13. Tighten middle hatch support spring.
14. # Wash and wax hull
15. Paint transom bumper.
16. * Straighten bent rail.

# -> started
* -> Done!

There we go!  Harmonie dripping wet!  Out of the water, and waiting to be powerwashed.  By the end of the afternoon the yard crew has already gotten the bottom sanded and the first coat of paint on. They are fast!

The trip up the New River through Fort Lauderdale to the boat yard I think took about 5 years off my life.  A long, twisting, narrow river with crazy busy, HUGE boat traffic, and six(*) bridges to wait for openings, and a strong current from behind.

How bad is it?  We had a 74 foot sportfisher following behind us as we negotiate the bridges. Never too close, but having him shadowing us did limit what we could do. We have to hold position in a narrow (100 foot) channel with that strong current from behind us while waiting for the bridges.  You can’t just stop, the current will carry you away, so it’s a constant, dynamic process to hold position.  At one point we had to wait for about 45 minutes for two trains to go by.  When the bridges finally open, there is a line of 6 or 8 large boats coming at us from the other direction lead by a 112 foot monster who takes more than half the channel width.

Oh yeah, and…  there is a storm drain outlet right where we are waiting.  Now, this is Florida.  There is no “downhill” for the water to flow, so it must be pumped up into the river.  Every 10 minutes or so the pump turns on and a powerful jet of water comes shooting out, spinning poor Harmonie around in the narrow space like she was going down a drain. No chance to relax.

Everybody is talking on the radio to try and coordinate things, and that’s somewhat helpful, but they are frequently using the names of local landmarks that aren’t on the chart, so it’s not always as much help to a foreigner like me as it could be  (“Excuse me, Captain. Where, exactly, are ‘The Wiggles’?”).

The trip took two hours to go about 4 miles. But we are here, without significant issue. My blood pressure is back to normal levels.  We have a last minute rush to get the boat completely, finally, totally ready for her winter excursion out into the Caribbean.

(*) Locals will tell you there are only 5 bridges.  But they aren’t counting the railroad bridge because it normally stands open unless there is a train coming.  Or two.

We got in Port Everglades at 10AM (almost right on schedule!) and found a suitable anchorage (26º 07.7’N 80º 06.6’W) while we wait for our haulout time tomorrow morning.  The weather is delightful.  We aren’t in a quiet and secluded place, but it works for now!  We are enjoying a last afternoon of peace and quiet before “haulout hell” begins.

For those of you who have never owned a larger boat, the periodic times when she is out of the water are crazy busy.  There is never enough time to get everything you want done, and every day costs money–money better spent out actually sailing!  There is no such thing as taking a break until it is all done.

In the meantime, do go back and have a look at our postings about the owl https://fetchinketch.net/2016/11/14/stowaway/  and the dolphins https://fetchinketch.net/2016/11/15/the-most-interesting-thing-around

They have been updated with pictures and video!

Time: 14:20 local
Lat: 27 54.9′ N
Log: 80 08.5′ W
Distance from Hilton Head Is: 256 NM
Distance to Port Everglades Harbor Entrance: 109 NM

What happens when you are the most interesting thing around? You get lots of attention! Today we have gotten a lot of attention from a pod of spotted dolphin. They have been hanging out and swimming with us pretty much the whole day. No good way to count, but certainly dozens. At any given time we have three to ten buzzing close around the boat keeping a close eye on us. We did get some pretty great video… better than my beginner editing skills should be working on!

In addition to the dolphins, our daily wildlife count includes a green sea turtle, two flying fish on deck, and a school of remoras that have adopted Harmonie‘s bottom as their temporary home.

Light winds have us making slow, but steady progress south. Wind has been straight from behind us between 8 and 14 knots. When we are on a run like this, 8 knots is barely enough to move the boat, 10 knots gets us about 3 knots of boat speed, and 14 knots has us cooking along nicely at 6 knots.

We are very much looking forward to getting our new “ballooner” sail, replacing the one we ripped on the way north. It makes running straight downwind like this fast, and really easy. It would be waiting for us in Fort Lauderdale.

Time: 13:30 local
Lat: 29 43.3′ N
Log: 80 48.3 W
Distance from Hilton Head Is: 145 NM
Distance to Port Everglades Harbor Entrance: 229 NM

It’s not unusual when sailing offshore to have land birds perch on the boat. Blown out to sea, the are exhausted and are looking for any place to perch and rest. I have found warblers, wrens, and sparrows on boats, sometimes great distances from land. I have even had them perch on a fishing rod I was holding in my hand.

But today while about 30 miles off Jacksonville we had a rarer visitor find refuge on the boat. An Eastern Screech Owl. He spent most of the morning moving around to boat trying to find a place he was most comfortable. He seems to have settled on standing on the foredeck as his best option. Fortunately for him, our course is taking us closer to shore. Hopefully he’ll hang out here long enough to get within whatever flight distance he has left in him of shore.

Right now he is just standing on the deck, watching the world go by. I wonder, does he understand that we are moving? Does he know we are getting closer to shore?

If we keep up our current pace we’ll be entering the inlet at Port Everglades on Wednesday morning.

Time: 14:15 local
Lat: 31 50.6′ N
Log: 80 45.8 W
Distance from Hilton Head Is: 18.1 NM
Distance to Port Everglades Harbor Entrance: 346 NM

We are back at sea again, headed south away from winter as fast as we can go. Karen checked weather forecasts this morning, looking at forecast low temperatures back along our route. Newport: 33; New Jersey: 36; Annapolis: 37; Hilton Head: 48; Fort Lauderdale: 68. I think we are headed south just in time!

Our initial leg out of Calibogue Sound, and the Savannah River approach channel was very rough in a confused sea heaped up by the strongly flowing tide. It’s a bit scary following the channel when you see breakers off to both sides, with a narrow gap of smoother water between that marks the only water deep enough to float your boat.

Now we are a bit offshore, the waves are more regular, and the wind is behind us. Right now the wind is blowing 15 to 17, and the forecast is for it to ease up a bit overnight. We are making 6 to 7 knots, on a deep broad reach, and all looks good for about a 72 hour trip to Fort Lauderdale.

We were scheduled to depart for Florida this morning, the weather was crappy, so we stayed put.  Anchored here off of Harbortown on Hilton Head Island.  Right now it is cold, and windy and gray.  All good reasons we really SHOULD be further south already!

The weather forecast for tomorrow is better, not great, but better.  We’ll be underway on the rising tide tomorrow afternoon.

For this week we have been anchored here near Hilton Head Island visiting while family vacations nearby.  Nothing exciting, just simple fun.

We are finalizing arrangements to get Harmonie hauled out in Fort Lauderdale for bottom paint and our last major upgrade projects.  Then we’ll be off to the Bahamas and points further east and south for the winter.

Time: 11:00 local
Lat: 32 53.2’N
Log: 79 01.5 W
Distance from Port Annapolis: 384 NM
Distance to Calaboge Sound: 102 NM

If the wind holds steady as it is forecast to do, we’ll be arriving at the entrance to Calaboge Sound at about 01:00 tomorrow morning. We should have the anchor down by 3 or 4. For those of you who will be in the local area, we’ll most likely be anchoring just north of Daufuskie Island.

Caliboge Sound has a very tricky entrance. Many shoals, not well marked, fairly strong currents, and not at all a straight and obvious way through. Normally not at all a place I’d try to go into at night, especially for the first time.

What will give us a large cushion in the wee, dark hours of tomorrow morning is the the tide will be high. With a height of tide of over 5 feet, even Harmonie’s draft of 6′ 7″ won’t be too scary. Add to that a flooding current to help keep the waves down, and it should be pretty straightforward. Once inside the Sound, the water is deep and navigation is pretty straightforward.

As always though, there is a “Plan B.” If for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all, I decide that the entrance to Caliboge is making me nervous, we can go into Port Royal Sound on the north side of Hilton Head which has a deeper and more easily negotiated channel.

Time: 11:30 local
Lat: 34 23.9’N
Log: 76 18.6 W
Distance from Port Annapolis: 274 NM
Distance to Calaboge Sound: 265 NM

After a slow and difficult night rounding Cape Hatteras, much of it motoring straight into the wind and a sloppy sea, the weather front that was predicted has passed. The wind is now behind us, and it has picked up a lot, running 25 to 30 knots. The waves are larger and further apart, and it is pouring rain.

Last night we listened on the radio as the Coast Guard sent out a helicopter to rescue three people off a sailboat who had run aground and was taking on water.

But… in our enclosed cockpit it is warm and dry, the autopilot is doing the tedious work, we are sailing fast, 7.5 to 8 knots, and as I write this we are surrounded by a pod of spotted dolphin who are putting on quite the show. Darting around the boat having a grand time, and several times now six of them kept out of the water together at least 8 feet into the air right in front of the boat.

So, windy and rough–but all is good.