Leaping Groundhog

Wow, it has been a while since I have updated the blog. Sorry, I guess busy but also we have been sailing. In December, Hayley, our daughter came to visit for the Holidays for a sail to Marathon in the Key's. We left the Monday before Christmas and headed to Boca Chita for the night. Then the next day we made it to Rodriquez Key near Key Largo and dropped the hook. A boat about our size came in from Canada and even though there was plenty of room, they tried to get too close. Luckily for us, they tried too hard to dig the anchor in that hard bottom and kept pulling it out. I yelled to them that it was a hard bottom and they finally set the hook quite far from us so that was good. The next day we sailed to Marathon and took a slip for the next few days in Marathon Marina, real nice folks. Even before we were hooked up to shore power, they were inviting us to a party.

We enjoyed Marathon and the Holidays with the Minder family and had a great time but soon it was time to head back to Miami; Hayley was flying out to California for New Years.

The next time the boat was out was Jan. 12 to 15 with a Bareboat Cruising Class. Marika, Brant, and Javier all enjoyed the time spent learning and cruising to Key Largo and then back to the club via out at Anglefish Creek and motor sailing in Hawk Channel. They all passed the class with flying colors.

Then on President's Day weekend, our good friends Marty and Mark from Ohio escaped to our warmer weather and we went to Boca Chita and surprisingly got a spot on a Sunday afternoon on the bulk head. As a 40 foot power boater was pulling out, we were just pulling in. I squooze (I know, not a work, private joke) between 2 power boats with both captains silently guarding their sterns. Actually they were quite friendly and grabbed a line for us. We spent a noisey but entertaining night there and headed back the next day.

Just last weekend Catherine and I, finally alone, spent her birthday weekend aboard Leaping Groundhog 2 (9) at Elliot Key. We didn't move for 2 days. Remember the name of the boat came from her birthday, Groundhog Day, Feb. 2nd and she was born in Punxuatawny, PA where Phil is from!

Back on the boat and headed for Key Largo with my niece and nephew, Kennie and Dave Martin. It was Kennie’s birthday on Friday and Dave had made arrangements to take her fishing with one of the charter boats docked at Key Largo. Marina Del Mar, a marina that I’ve stayed at many times was only a short walk from the charter boat. The entrance to the Largo Canal has a controlling depth of 4 feet 6 inches and with the old boat it was never a problem. With LG 2 (9), the 5 foot 2 inch draft needed close to high tide to get in or so the dock master told me. High tide was 12:02 PM on Thursday, our arrival day.
We were on the boat at 6:30 AM and underway at 6:45 with about 42 miles to go. The wind was non- existent and predicted to be very light all day so it was an obvious motor day.

By 7 we were out of the channel, in beautiful Biscayne Bay, and headed for Feather Bed Banks at 7.2 knots. A beautiful sunrise and promise of a beautiful day and a great weekend lay ahead. As we motored, Kennie went below to prepare a bacon and egg breakie and we soon had that in our stomachs. Well before noon we were heading out Angel Fish Creek to the ocean side and Hawk Channel. Since we were exiting on a flood tide, the boat slowed down to 6 knots and even less at times, but it was only for 20 minutes or so and we exited the channel and headed towards Key Largo. The speed picked back up to 7.6 knots and even faster at times. I cruise at about 2800 RPM’s.

By 12:30 PM we were making our turn into the channel that leads to Largo Canal and “Crash Corner”. I carried over 7 feet the whole way in so no problem with depth at that time. As we approached “Crash Corner” on the canal, I radioed our approach and we turned the sharp left and headed for the marina. I prepared the lines for a stern in, port side tie up and backed into the slip. We got tucked in, powered up, and dropped the stern platform for a short step up to the dock. Even though it was a fixed dock, the platform ended up being even with it at about mid tide, so either a short step up or down made it easy to come aboard. Fishing on Friday was great and we kept 3 Mahi, 2 red grouper, and one mutton snapper and later after Catherine arrived from Miami, we took a bag of fresh fish to Sharkey’s and they prepared them 4 ways for us and served all with sides for a great feast!

Blog, Nov. 29 for Nov. 21 to 23
The Basic Cruising Class had been planned for months and 6 students were on board. What wasn’t planned was the weather. An unusually windy, not just breezy as the weather man says, weekend was forecast complete with cooler temps and rain. A northern front was coming in and we had to deal with it. So…. Friday morning, the LG 2 (9) was at the dock of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club and students were seated comfortably below. Intros were made, basics were covered, safety was discussed, and systems were inspected. Then lunch at the club and we were ready to go. The wind was howling from the north and the bay was more than choppy. I think we were about the only boat out there besides a few hardy racers practicing for the weekend races. I decided that it would be a good time to teach motoring skills, glide zone, steering a straight course, and just dealing with the conditions with a positive attitude. We motored north, right into it, winds apparent over 30, and headed for some wind relief towards the city’s tall buildings. It was a good time to discuss navigational aids, Intracostal Waterway marks, and many other things. After reaching the Miami River, we practiced backing a bit and then headed back to the club. Even though we didn’t get the sails up, it was a good day.

I hoped for better weather on Saturday but it wouldn’t be so. We decided to head out, double reef and unfurl about a third of the jib. Soon we were sailing all points of sail, in winds between 25 and 35 apparent. We did get to tack, jibe, heave to, and even worked on COB’s but certainly it wasn’t ideal sailing conditions. There were time when we were over powered and someone noticed a reading of 40 knots apparent wind, a bit much we all thought. Soon we were aiming for a bit of relief and lunch as we dropped sails and pulled into No Name Harbor, found a spot and tried dropping the hook. It was soon apparent that we were dragging anchor so we tried again and found success. This is always good practice and a good discussion about anchoring followed. Over lunch we continued to go over course material and rested from the morning sail. The wind had clocked around to the east but was still above 25 and we decided to just use the jib as we sailed back to the club.

Sunday was a much better day; the wind had dropped to 15 or so and the sun was out so we first tried a little docking and mooring practice on one of the club ‘s Beneteaus and then we headed out for some easier sailing. Everyone got a chance at the helm and all other stations, main sheet, boom vang, jib sheets, and helper. By the time we were headed back in the afternoon, the wind had dropped to below 15 and it was time to shake out the reef and unfurl the jib for some full sail sailing. But time caught up with us and we had to head back in to do the written part of the test. Everyone passed and we celebrated with a beverage and congratulations.

Blog, Nov. 17
Leaping Groundhog 2 (9) is resting peacefully on a mooring at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Even though I have stayed on the boat, I haven’t been out since the trip down from Baltimore. I have cleaned her up a bit and done some routine maintenance. The bilge pump was running and after tasting the water, I determined that it was salty, so coming from the ocean, not the fresh water system. It turns out that the raw water strainer for the Air Conditioning had loosened up and that was the problem, a quick fix. I did have to add some oil to bring it back to full but the good news is the tranny oil stayed clean and full.

Last Saturday was club workday so I helped refinish the teak on one of the club boats. After we were finished working, I sat around for a few hours listening to sailing stories of some of the older members. What great adventures they’ve had. I really enjoy their tales and wish someone would write them down so they’re not forgotten. After it got dark, I went to Fresh Market and grabbed some shrimp, some gnocchi, and some tomato pesto, and went back to the boat and cooked dinner. Later some TV and then reading and I was conked for the night. It is always a pleasure to sleep on the boat at the mooring at the club.

The boat will get used this weekend for a US Sailing Basic Cruising Class that I’m teaching. We have at least 5 students and maybe as many as 7. We’ll meet at 9 AM on Friday and go over the boat systems and safety and then after lunch head out for some sailing. I may stay on the boat on Friday and have Catherine down to listen to the music at the club. Then on Saturday, we’ll head out early and get a cruise in, either over to No Name or down to Boca Chita. The Biscayne Bay is just about as good as it gets for a teaching area, beautiful water and almost always good wind. On Sunday the class will finish with a review and a test, both on water and written. I am looking forward to it and I’ll do a blog on it next week.

We were underway early on Nov. 2nd and we stayed inside and motored to New Smyrna Beach, where we fueled up and then stayed at the New Smyrna Beach Marina. Instead of going out for dinner, a pizza was ordered and I got to watch the Steelers on the Sunday night game. We discussed our options for the next day and listened to and looked at the weather. If we headed out at Canaveral, waves would be building from 2 to 4 to 5 to 7 with 9 foot peaks and winds were going to be above 20. Since we had to get close to the Gulf Stream, it could be rough. But if we stayed in it would be a motor and only during the day. I decided to head out at Canaveral.

We were underway early on Monday, as it got light out an hour earlier. Motoring to Canaveral, off the ICW, under the bascule bridge on the barge canal and through the lock got us out the Canaveral Inlet. As we were motoring out a friendly voice hailed us and identified himself as The Lucky Leprechaun. He was headed to Fort Pierce Inlet, about 60 nautical miles away and proposed a race. LL was about 5 miles ahead of us so we set sail, double reefed main and reduced jib and headed south. We motored sailed a bit when the wind dropped down but soon turned the engine off and reached speeds over 7 knots. We couldn’t see LL but were gaining on them.

After dark I hailed LL and found that they were close to the beach and we were about 5 miles off shore. We couldn’t see each other. It wasn’t long before we spotted the Fort Pierce lights and sometime before midnight we were passing the channel. I Hailed LL again and found that they were still 3 miles from the inlet so sometime without seeing them, we passed them. We said our goodbyes and started our watches. Olivier was on first and I was in the cockpit with him while Mark slept below. We kept harnessed and tethered in, PFD’s and with PLB’s attached to them.

We sailed all through the night on a beam and then close reach, big waves, big wind, and flying often over 8 knots. We had to start the engine a time or two to keep the batteries up. The bilge pump was running from time to time, apparently taking water in on the starboard side as we heeled and rushed forward. It was a challenge but the crew and boat rose to the occasion and by daylight, we were coming up on West Palm and by early afternoon, we were nearing Government Cut and Miami. We still had 5 to 7 foot seas and winds at 25 as we furled the jib and turned into the Cut, heading into the wind behind the South Beach buildings and dropping the main. A short motor to Coconut Grove Sailing Club, and we were tucked into the dock, cleaning and then unloading the gear. It felt great to be home!

We sailed and motored through the night in pretty gentle conditions and shortly after daylight on Friday, Oct. 31, we pulled into St. Mary’s Inlet. I was going to go to St. Mary’s and a marina but decided to just anchor off Cumberland Island and relax a bit before the front came through. After we anchored, I dropped the kayak in the water and got some exercise. Then Olivier also jumped in the kayak for a paddle while I took a nap. Later I paddled into the Park Service dock and took a hike to see the ruins of the Carnegie Mansion and then walked out to the beach. Pretty neat going from inside of the island to the outside. Anyway, after I got back we had dinner and relaxed in the cockpit for a while and then to bed.


We awoke to the wind already howling from the northwest at over 20 and a definite chill in the air. It was November 1st and I could now, insurance wise, cross over the border. Even before it was light the anchor was up and we were motoring in a very stiff breeze into sunny Florida. Yes, even though a front was coming through it was bright and sunny during the day but also very chilly, not a very nice welcome to the state. We motored inside as winds picked up to over 40 at times until we pulled into St Augustine Municipal Marina at a nice floating dock for the evening. I decided to get a bike ride in as Mark and Olivier took a walk and ended up at Tradewinds, a favorite local bar with music. After I got back from my ride, I joined them and enjoyed a very good song man. I requested “He Went to Paris” and the song man quickly provided us with a great rendition. French Olivier had never heard it but appreciated the tune.
We were hungry so we went around the corner and sure enough a French restaurant. Olivier spoke French to the hostess and soon we were seated and enjoying a French wine, salad, and other French dishes. After that the chef appeared with a bag a pastries for our morning breakfast and talked to Olivier for a bit. It turns out that he was a sailor and dreams of sailing again someday. We returned to Tradewinds and the night band was just taking off to a roaring crowd. The bassist for the original Molly Hatchet was in the middle and the band was completely remarkable. A few beers later, Olivier and I headed back to the boat and Mark straggled in later after listening to them into the next day, greeting Standard time.