11/07/2009, Daniel Island, Charleston, SC
Heading South Fall 09 VX
Saturday, November 07, 2009 - 7 AM Daniel Island, Charleston, SC Water temperature 66 F
We spent most of the day at anchor yesterday, except for a mail run. We had intended to get a slip at the Charleston City Marina for the night but the marina was full. This caused a problem since we had mail waiting for us at the marina. But, wonderful people that they are, Charleston City Marina said they would bring our mail out to us in their work boat as we held position in the channel beside the marina. True to their word, they came up beside us in their little work boat and handed Patti our mail; kind of like a on the water Pony Express. We thanked them profusely and headed back to our anchorage at Daniel Island.
While at anchor, we did a few boat chores. I found and fixed the vent line problem on the forward fuel tank. It turns out there was a place where the hose drooped down about a foot and then went back up to the outlet. The low spot allowed liquid to pool there preventing air from coming thru the hose. There was a vacuum in the tank and when I removed the hose from the tank fitting, the tank sucked in air with a big whoosh. All I had to do was to arrange the hose so there was no low spot and that problem was fixed.
We are heading back offshore today. The weather looks good for the next several days and we are heading for Cape Canaveral, FL. It should take us two days to go the 240 miles jetty to jetty distance. For most of the trip, there are several inlets we can come in if we need to.
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11/06/2009, Daniel Island, Charleston, SC
Heading South Fall 09 IVX
Friday, November 06, 2009 - 10 AM Daniel Island, Charleston, SC Water temperature 66 F
Yesterday was a wonderful sailing day. The wind dropped to 15 K and we sailed all day long on a reach with the jenny, staysail and main all pulling together. As the day went by, the seas flattened and by late afternoon the boat was gliding thru the water almost rock steady. I woke up from my afternoon nap and asked Patti why we were stopped only to learn we were doing almost 6 K SOG.
We had the ocean to ourselves yesterday. Once you pass the Cape Fear River there are no other deep water inlets until you get to Charleston. The north/south shipping lanes were too far east of us for us to see the ships there. Except for a few trawlers and mega yachts that went by in the distance we never saw another vessel. The day before, coming out of Beaufort and heading for Frying Pan Shoals, we were never lonely. The Navy was doing some type of exercise and we had at least one Navy vessel in sight at all times. A destroyer would come within a mile or two and then go on by. All day long we heard Navy warships calling civilian vessels on the radio asking (telling) them to change course to stay clear of Navy ships. Often the Navy was asking for a 4 mile separation. We never were called so either we were always in the right place at the right time or the Navy figured we were just too damn slow to get out of the way so they just avoided us.
At sunset though, we had a close encounter. I was down below cleaning up from supper and Patti was on the helm. She called down that she needed me on the radio. A container ship was bearing down on us from astern and the AIS showed a CPA (the distance between our two vessels when the ship passes us) of 0.1 mile. This is way too close. The AIS wasn't showing the ship's name so I had to call using latitude and longitude to identify us and the oncoming ship. My first call didn't receive a response. On my second call I gave the ships COG (course over ground), SOG and CPA in addition to the Lat & Lon. I also said I was going to turn on our spreader lights. This call received a response. A little huffy, "I see you now. We will change course and pass your stern." And then to add insult to injury, when the container ship changed course to miss us, they were then on a course that would take them too close to a Navy warship that was paralleling us four miles off our starboard beam. The Navy ship called the container ship and informed them of the situation and asked the container ship what their intention was. Huffy responded that as soon as he got past the sailboats stern he was going to turn back on his original course. I think the Navy warship harassed the container ship a little because the Navy recognized the container ship was keeping a sloppy watch in congested water. As the container ship passed our stern, they turned to port and passed us on the starboard side a quarter mile away. As Patti said, that's the closest she ever wants to see a container ship at sea.
We came into the Charleston Harbor last night in the dark and made our way to Daniel Island, where the Cooper River and the Wando River join. At 10:15 PM, we dropped the hook, out of the channel, in the lea of the island. We took hot showers and settled in for quiet, peaceful night at anchor.
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11/05/2009, Offshore about 60 miles from Charleston, SC
Heading South Fall 09 XIII
Thursday, November 05, 2009 - 9 AM Offshore about 60 miles from Charleston, SC Water temperature 74 F
Offshore trips are always memorable. Some of them are better remembered than experienced. Salty sailors talk about having new material for Sea Stories as they lick their wounds. It's too soon to tell to predict how this one will be remembered. It's kind of like "Don't count your money till the dealing's done".
We averaged close to 6 K yesterday under sail on a downwind run. We turned off course 30 degrees to keep our speed up and to reduce the chance of an accidental jibe. The winds became light and variable about 7 PM and we cranked up the engine. By shift change at midnight, the wind was 30 degrees off our nose. Patti took over and I went to bed.
At 5 AM, the diesel stopped running. Patti woke me up to work on the engine while she sailed the boat. There was air in the Racor fuel filter and the engine stopped due to lack of fuel. The mystery now is why there was air in the Racor. We had been using the front tank and it appears there may be a problem with the vent in that tank. I switched to the aft fuel tank and after filling both filters with fuel, the engine started and ran smoothly. Never a dull moment.
By the time the engine was ready to run, the wind had picked up and our course was a close reach. After running the engine for awhile to make sure it was fixed, I shut it down and we went back to sailing. We are now on a reach doing over 6 K with a full main and staysail. The Monitor wind vane is steering the boat. It's a blue sky, dry air day out here. The wind is blowing 15 to 20 out of the NW. Every once in awhile a wave breaks over the bow and the spray flies over the boat. It's not cold but I'm wearing my foulies to keep from getting soaked.
With any luck, we'll be anchored in Charleston by 10 PM tonight. But then again "Don't count your money...........
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