Lumpy Day at Sea
03 November 2017 | Off Shore
Helen
Slept in as we knew the tide would not be in our favor early. Had breakfast and got everything set to go. Hauled anchor around 9:30 and headed out the St Augustine channel. There were huge waves and we buried the bows a few times. Set the spinnaker sail and we were making speeds up to 8 knots. The winds were too high to sustain it, so we brought in the sail and ran with jib only. We made okay speed. Took turns resting as we knew we would be going all day and night. I went out from the cabin to the cockpit and a wave knocked the boat which caused me to trip and fall. More bruises, but not much more.
We got water in the cockpit for the first time when a wave splashed our dinghy which is on davits at the back end of our boat. Had a lovely dinner as the sun set. Shortly afterwards, a beautiful full moon rose and is lighting our way. We will take shifts thru the night and offset each other for sleeping times.
I found the steady breeze to be cold. Tonight, the waves have settled some. Wind speed around 10 knots. We added a double reefed main and our speeds are just touching 5 knots. Will add more sail in the morning. It will take us all day to get to Ft Pierce.