The Dinghy Ride from Hell
09 February 2011 | Key West and vicinity
David, Calm and Stormy
We had the dinghy motor at max, aiming for the cut in the bridge that leads into Bahia Honda State Park. We were fighting both wind and current, with waves and spray dousing us with every surge forward. It was hard to tell whether or not we were making forward progress but as the minutes went by, we seemed to be closer to the bridge. Thank god Phil and Karl were there to catch most of the spray!
Phil, Chris, Karl and David had boarded the dinghy from Options only 15 minutes earlier, with no clue of the mayhem to come. The group had enjoyed a fast ride from Key West with boat speeds increasing throughout the afternoon. By the time we anchored, we'd experienced a top boat speed of 8.3 knots and apparent winds up to 22 knots--a joyous romp!
Phil had done some Internet research and had the given us the bad news that it would be difficult to get the anchor to hold. Sure enough, the anchor dragged and dragged across the bottom as the wind pushed Options out to sea. However, we were patient and somehow got the anchor to snag. We let out lots of chain and tested the anchor with the motors in reverse and got comfortable with the anchor holding.
Back to the cut in the old railroad bridge where a 50 foot section had been cut out to allow boats access: We made it into the cut only to find we were in the thick of the current, going sideways more than forward. We persevered and finally moved out of the fastest part of the current. We limped into the harbor, a shaken remnant of our former selves. Well, at least a more damp version of our former selves!
Our goal was to walk back up to the top of the bridge to view the sunset. Even though we left the boat an hour before sunset in an effort to make it by sunset, the rough dingihy ride took longer than expected and we were once again hurrying to arrive before sunset. Karl got there first, followed by David. Phil and Chris arrived just as the sun slipped behind the clouds, so we began our walk back to the dinghy.
Two days earlier, the three crew members had camped at Bahia Honda State Park. They had planned to see the sunset from the end of the old railroad bridge, but setting up camp took so long that by the time they arrived at the bridge, they had missed sunset by about 30 seconds. So they were 0 for 2.
Knowing we would be returning to Options in partial darkness, we had used a handheld GPS to record our path ("bread crumbs"). We retraced our steps, this time with the wind and current mostly in our favor. We climbed back onto Options in almost total darkness, safe and hungry. With David grilling the steak, Brooke pre-supplying the wonderful Dijon mustard sauce and Phil handling the grilled veggies and non-grilled salad, we had a sumptuous feast.
That was Tuesday night, February 8, 2011, a memorable night indeed. The day had started auspiciously with a large breakfast at Blue Heaven: three Lobster Benedicts, heartily recommended by Brooke (Blue Heaven thanks you!) and a pecan pancake for David, with a long walk before and after to help offset some of the calories.
Wednesday morning brought calm seas that proved too light to power Options back to Key West. We motored across flat water for most of the warm day. We learned the temperatures were 70 degrees cooler in St. Louis, before wind chill. As we made the final turn into Key West, the wind picked up enough to move Options slowly forward under jib alone. As we docked, the wind finally picked up, a little too late.
Tonight we are heading over to Mallory Square for the nightly sunset celebration. The crew has become addicted to "Pain Killers", a tropical drink from the British Virgin Islands. We may have one or two tonight.
David
P.S. The picture is of Karl, Phil and David trying to stay warm at the top of the bridge at Bahia Honda State Park at sunset.