Back in the USA
14 April 2013 | Marathon, FL
EVS: Hot, Sunny
Marathon and the Keys April 14, 2013
From West Bay, we sailed to the NW Channel (where the deep water – over 3000’ – meets the Bahama Banks – only 14-20’ deep) and thence on to the Banks, where we anchored overnight in the shallows behind Mackie Shoals. En route from West Bay, we traveled with Onward, until just before Mackie Shoals, when Joe turned northward to anchor out near the Great Isaacs (he is heading on to northern Florida and wanted a better and shorter angle of approach for his crossing). One Eyed Parrots anchored about one hour after we did – it was nice to have company. For our anchorage in the “middle of nowhere”, we selected a spot just west of a shallow (about 7’ at low tide) ridge to try to get some protection from the waves. Although the day was pretty benign, at 10-12 knots, the wind can build some pretty rocky waves and conditions given enough time and distance. We did not roll, but we rocked fore and aft all night. The trip from West Bay to Mackie Shoals took 12 hours, all hand steered.
At 5:30 the next morning (April 9), we departed Mackie Shoals at just after 5:30 AM. It was pitch dark. Although we were not worried about hitting other boats (we could see the two there – one came in well after dark and anchored nearby) or any rocks or reefs (there are none out there), it was disconcerting to try to get one’s bearings in such deep dark. Compass and GPS soon cleared the way and we were off, with all sails set, for the pass between Gun and Cat Cays, south of Bimini. We passed through there (madly using up the last of our Bahamas air time) and pressed on to Florida. Because the Gulf Stream flows North, one normally sets a more southerly course than the direct leg to the east coast destination. We set ours too far south (the Stream must have been flowing more slowly) and we had to turn back north as we approached Florida. We anchored in No-Name Harbor on Key Biscayne 12 hours after our early morning departure – another 12 hour day of hand steering. We welcomed sleep that night.
Our friends Dave and Mary, and their friends Don and Charlotte, on Sanity II departed from Miami’s Government Cut at 7:00 the next morning, and we were just ahead of them out of Biscayne Bay. Next stop, about 7 hours later, was the north anchorage at Rodriguez Key. We all welcomed a swim, shower, and dinner aboard Sanity II.
April 11 was another day with no rest for the weary as we picked up anchor and departed Rodriguez for the 7 hour trip to Marathon. As we were weighing anchor, we decided to sail under mizzen and jib alone as the winds already were blowing 15+ at 7:00 am. We are glad we did because the winds increased to 20+ and we had stormy conditions and rain on the trip south. With a smaller sail plan, we had much less weather helm and a more comfortable (i.e. less taxing) sail than otherwise would have been the case. Sanity II also sailed under reefed main and jib and experienced a twisty trail nonetheless. We arrived Marathon and took on fuel and water to replenish supplies last filled in George Town. The crews of Gratitude and Sanity II dinghied to a nearby restaurant for dinner and fell contentedly to sleep by 9:30 pm.
After shopping and cooking on Friday, April 12, we joined the crew from Sanity II on Sombrero Beach and enjoyed soaking in the water and keeping cool. Dinner aboard Gratitude was Chicken Marsala topped off with a Rum Raisin Tira-misu. The Admiral outdid herself on that one.
Sanity II departed on Saturday and Gratitude stayed put to do laundry, catch up on email, paperwork, bills, etc. before resuming our northward course to Charlotte Harbor, where we will put Gratitude to bed. We plan to depart Marathon on Monday, April 15, and arrive in the yard the 20th, after spending a day sailing and playing with Tracy and David, Jona, Elise, and Dane Christensen, who are living in Tampa and exploring the waters and wilds of Florida. (Tracey is one of our God-daughters and we have known her since she was born.)
While hand-steering is a lot harder than pushing the button on the auto-pilot, we have learned from the experience to pay more attention to sail trim to balance the boat and not make the auto-pilot do all the work. Not only is that hard on the auto-pilot, it consumes a lot of electricity and is hard on the rigging. So, a good lesson has come from a failed system.