We planned to leave Ortega Yacht Club Marina on Saturday the 14th of January. I had carefully researched the tide, current, and weather and decided that we should leave around 9:30 in the morning or a bit later if possible to wait for a rising tide and still hope to make it to Beach Marina at Jacksonville Beach. However, my "fellow captain" - whose name will not be mentioned - decided that he did not fully trust my judgement and that we should go and get some advice from the dockmaster. Now the dockmaster is a great guy - a boater, a licensed captain, and very experienced - but he is not a sailor. He doesn't need to worry about a "keel" and shallow waters as he is a big game fisherman with a power boat. He told Wiley that we would probably be fine if we left leave at 8:00 am.

So, following this advice, rather than my original plan, we prepared for our departure at eight. Goodbyes, kisses, and hugs were shared at the pier and we started off on a very cold crisp morning. We were bundled in layers like kids ready to go play in the snow and tried to avoid slipping on the frosty dock. Wiley put the boat into reverse and we very slowly - and I mean SLOWLY... moved. I got on board with the docklines and found that we continued to move even more SLOWLY. Wiley shouted to me as I began to tidy lines that we were not moving even with the engine turning 2700 rpms.

Wiley thought was that our transmission was out. So, when in doubt call for help. I called the dockmaster on the cell phone and he agreed to meet us back at our slip to help us in. Wiley turned the boat around, I threw a line to Paul and then, holding a long line from the stern, I jumped off the boat as we inched past the end of the pier. We then began pulling the boat into the slip. I was at a 45% angle while pulling the boat to get the boat into the slip ..and as I grunted while pulling, "wheels" began to spin in my head.

Normally, a sailboat is a cinch to pull through water - even a large boat (that is, after all what they are designed to do!) - and our boat was needing to be muscled into its slip. However, once in our slip we thanked the dockmaster who helped us with a great smile and an invitation to the evenings pot luck dinner. I then returned to the instruments at the helm and read 3 FEET! We draw 4 ft 3 inches or more fully loaded. Basically we slogged our wing keeled boat boat through the mud during an extremely low tide. I have this image of a plowed row in a field under our boat!

However, the "other captain" continued to think that we may have a problem with our transmission. We talked about it and decided that we should probably have it checked out because if we didn't we would be worried about it on our next leg of the trip. However, since it was the weekend and Monday was Martin Luther King day we would not be able to get services until Tuesday. Well the delay in getting services paid off because the more we talked, and the more the "other captain" talked with other boaters, the greater the realization that we were merely slogging through mud and did not have a transmission problem. It turns out that some of the local sailors routinely "plow the mud" getting out when there is an unusually low tide (and the dockmaster said that the tide that morning was the lowest he had EVER seen there). However, none of these sailors have a wing keel- a device expressly intended to affix a sailboat to the mud of a shallow bottom, like a burr on a blanket.

Of course, just as one problem slowing our departure was solved others appeared. The water pump seemed to be dying a slow death. It would continually run even after the water was turned off. The "other captain" marched off to West Marine with the part numbers I found on the pump and ordered a new one. However, of course it would not arrive until Wednesday. Add to this, the next time we could leave and make the railroad bridge opening, along with the best tide, current, and weather, would be the following Friday.

So,trusting my judgment regarding tide, current, weather, etc. - this is what we did. The advantages of our delayed departure were that we were able to spend more time at Ortega with some great people, participated in another OYCM pot luck, and we got back into our exercise routines. The day we did leave Friday, January 20th was warm and sunny - we no longer needed multiple layers of clothing, and we did not have to work our way through sludge!

Trust me I wanted badly to say "I told you so!' - but I never did (well maybe I did once or twice). We have learned to trust that even when things don't go according to plan it all usually works out for the best in the end. We had a beautiful trip down the St. John's river and the ICW to Beach Marina that went without a hitch, the original water pump decided to start working again (so we now have a spare) and we arrived early enough to enjoy Margaritas sundowners and plan the next day's trip to St. Augustine. I even listened to the "other captain's" input - but I am not so sure I trust it.

Before I enter a blog re: St. Augustine I cannot close this account without mentioning that Paul Howe, who runs the Ortega Yacht Club Marina, is the best harbor or dockmaster we have encountered on our journey and this marina is a wonderful place to stay or leave your boat at. 5 stars to OYCM and 5 stars + to Paul!