S/V Sjokolade

Intermittent thoughts on my Journey to the Deep Blue Sea.

Vessel Name: Sjokolade
Vessel Make/Model: 1982 Morgan 383
Hailing Port: Bayfield, WI
Crew: Rolf Peterson
About: Departed August 22nd, 2015 for Annapolis MD via L. Superior, Huron, Erie, Erie Canal, Hudson River, NYC, and Atlantic Ocean. Currently stopping in Pensacola for awhile.
Social:
23 October 2017 | Masonboro
21 October 2017 | Cape Henry
21 October 2017 | Cape Henry
19 October 2017 | Chesapeake Bay
15 December 2016 | Pensacola
11 July 2016 | Bean Compound
09 March 2016 | Pensacola
29 February 2016 | Matecumbe Harbor
27 February 2016 | No Name Harbor
25 February 2016 | Dinner Key Marina
31 January 2016 | Dinner Key
28 January 2016 | Fort Pierce
27 January 2016 | Indian River
22 January 2016 | Georgetown, SC
21 January 2016 | Little River Inlet
16 January 2016 | Beaufort, NC
12 January 2016 | North River (near Kittyhawk!)
07 January 2016
04 January 2016
08 December 2015
Recent Blog Posts
23 October 2017 | Masonboro

Visiting bird

7:00pm Monday, October 23 - we arrived at the Masonboro Inlet about 730 this morning, anchored, had a huge bacon, eggs, hash browns, and bagel breakfast.

21 October 2017 | Cape Henry

Cape Hatteras

7:00am, Saturday, Oct 21 - We have just departed the Chesapeake Bay outside of Norfolk VA. There is no wind and the swells minimal, though we are rolling a bit. There is a lot of traffic on the VHF, particularly the clear broadcasts of the young men and women aboard the Navy vessels leaving and entering [...]

21 October 2017 | Cape Henry

Cape Hatteras

7:00am, Saturday, Oct 21 - We have just departed the Chesapeake Bay outside of Norfolk VA. There is no wind and the swells minimal, though we are rolling a bit. There is a lot of traffic on the VHF, particularly the clear broadcasts of the young men and women aboard the Navy vessels leaving and entering [...]

Miami to Pensacola

09 March 2016 | Pensacola
Rolf / 10-20 knots, clear skies.
Too long between postings, much has happened. I added an album with pictures for the Miami to Pensacola legs.

We (Pete V, Andy F, and I) departed Miami (Dinner Key Marina) on Saturday March 6th and sailed across Biscayne Bay to NoName Harbor, the jumping off point for many boats headed to the Bahamas. What we discovered is that on a Saturday night it is also a popular destination for the Saturday night power boat party crowd. The Harbor, which is listed as accommodating about 15 boats, had over 50 anchored out and tied up along the wall overnight. There was also a parking lot and popular restaurant at the head of the harbor. A busy place, but with earplugs and an older party crowd, we easily crashed early for our 5:30 wake up call.

NoName to Lower Matecumbe was our longest single daylight leg of 70 nautical miles. We left at sunrise and arrived at sunset after a beautiful and uneventful broad reach down the Hawke Channel, the stretch of water between the main islands of the Florida Keys and the offshore shoals, islands, and coral heads. This stretch is relatively shallow but very well marked and is inside the racing Gulf Stream which moves north just outside this shallow shelf of underwater protection. We had 15-20 knot winds and moderate 2-4 foot seas the entire trip.

Once in Lower Matecumbe, we passed under the first high bridge south of Biscayne bay and into the Bay of Florida on the west side of the keys. We anchored just off a key by the bridge and slept well, without alarm. At one point in the middle of the night while on deck for a nightly, I noticed that the boat was pointing beam on to the wind. The snubber line appeared covered in weeds and I worried that the keel was tangled as well, but we were rocking slightly to the chop in the bay, so I decided that morning was a better time to deal with it and returned to sleep. In the morning we decided that there must have been a strong current pulling us across the wind and so the boat lined up with the current instead of the wind. Another lesson on the journey for us current-less Great Lakes sailors.

We decided to do at least one overnight passage for the next leg as the weather was with us. We left motoring in the morning and followed the shipping channel up the "coast", which really meant we were able to stay away from the masses of crab pot bouys for awhile. Further north we got under sail and for stayed within the boundary waters of the Everglades to avoid the crab pots. Then we headed West, hoping to get to deeper waters and away from the pots. As the day drew to a close, we were getting out to the clearer deeper part of the Gulf and we slowly began the northward turn. As time went on, we realized that the weather and the winds were with us, and we continued all the way to Clearwater, Florida, having departed Matecumbe on Monday morning at about 9:00 and arriving in Clearwater on Wednesday morning at 11:00.

We visited quite a bit with two other Morgan owners in Clearwater, one just down the dock from us. It has been great to see other Morgans on this trip, but more so, to meet their owners and share stories of our relationships with our boats. John H and Lee and Rose N were the highlight of our days in Clearwater.

In Clearwater, Andy visited his brother and then flew home to MN, and Mike B flew in to join Pete and I on the last leg. By Sunday March 6th the weather indicators were pointing to a one-leg passage and we left Clearwater about 11:00am on Sunday against steady Northeast winds. The winds were supposed to move East and eventually South over the next two days. During the next 50 hours, we put 10 hours on the motor, 2 of which were just for charging the battery Sunday night. Overnight on Monday we ran out of wind (5 knots abaft) so we ran the motor and pointed straight at the Pensacola entrance. In the early morning the wind had picked up and we polled out the jib and ran downwind under jib and HydroVane for a few hours, then turned straight North and with the third reef in the main and 100% jib, we balanced easily for the HydroVane for a long rolling run to Pensacola.

In Pensacola Bay (a huge deep water port) we were again in flat water and with the 3rd reef in the main and 100% jib we sailed right past a 3-barge tug pushing upwind on the Gulf Intercoastal channel. The Bay seems like a great place for day sailing.

We arrived at the Marina at 1:00pm (East coast time?), called Richard and wandered around somewhat confused about what to do next, though eventually we packed up our clothes, battened down the boat, and went to the house. At 5:45 on our watches we took off for Joe Patti's for shrimp and calling from the car about their hours, we discovered we were an hour ahead and their doors closing at 6:00 would be at 7:00 our time. Shrimp and salads with Richard (pork chops) put me completely under, as I hadn't had coffee since daybreak and completely forgot this in the excitement and bustle of arrival. Good to be "home".
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Journey So Far
Sjokolade's Photos - Main
Projects I've worked on while in Pensacola
9 Photos
Created 15 December 2016
19 Photos
Created 9 March 2016
Photos taken along the ICW from Solomons to ?
8 Photos
Created 21 January 2016
These are pictures of the projects I am attempting to complete in the Solomons.
23 Photos
Created 10 November 2015
Pictures from the Trip from Bayfield, WI on Lake Superior to Annapolis, MD on the Chesapeake Bay, via Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, the Erie Canal, Hudson River, Atlantic Ocean.
8 Photos | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 1 September 2015
Pictures of projects done or contemplated
11 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 20 May 2015
8 Photos
Created 20 May 2015