First though, backing up to when Denise was still on the boat: The strong winds that were forecast did materialize and we "suffered" through a couple of days of bumpy seas. Most notably as we made our way through Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee River, taking 3 and 4 foot waves directly on the port beam for a couple of hours. Finally, though, we got to the narrow part of the river and things calmed down dramatically and we found the same anchorage that Tom and I used last year just east of Fort Meyers.
The first lock going east was on a restricted schedule due to low water in Lake Okeechobee and we arrived with several other boats for the 9 AM opening. The last lock on the west side of the lake was operating a little differently. Because of the recent heavy rain, there was just a slight change in the water level in the lock. Instead of going in and grabbing lines, we just idled through without stopping. There was just a little stronger current coming at us.
It did get a little more exciting as we made our way down the rim canal towards Clewiston. Denise spotted the first aligator, just sunning its self on the bank. This was different from last year, where we usually saw them in the water. Unfortunately, we still didn't have my camera, but we did get some pics with Denise's phone, which I will try to post at a later date. We saw several and all seemed quite large, 8 to 10 feet. Later, Denise did some internet research and learned that gators can get to 800 pounds and 12 to 14 feet in length. Their only predator is man.
The lake Okeechobee crossing was the worst of the three I've done to date. We thought by leaving early in the morning we'd be ahead of the worst of the winds, but it didn't work out that way. For 3 and a half hours we were rocked by 3 and 4 foot waves, mostly hitting us off the port side front quarter. It was not pleasant. But we did make it all the way to Stuart, on the Florida east coast, and it took the whole day for Denise to fully recover from the crossing. We got a mooring ball in Stuart, which Denise manuvered us to while I grabbed on the first try. I launched the new dingy and went to shore, borrowed a bike from the marina and rode a mile to a grocery store for a few provisions. From Stuart, it was another three days up to the intersection of the ICW and the St Johns River.
We did have, a now minor, incident when we tried to get another mooring ball in St Augusine, FL. The wind was blowing pretty good and we went around the mooring ball a few times trying to catch the line. In one attempt, I got our line through the mooring ball line, but somehow got myself between the line from the boat and the boat. The wind was blowing us backwards and the line pinned me against the inside portion of the bow. Denise got the boat in forward, I think just before I was going to have both legs broken. I only ended up with fairly severe rope burns across the back of both legs. Those pictures are also on Denise's phone.
The intersection of the ICW and the St John's River is 25 miles east of Jacksonville, FL. This time we went up the St Johns to the west side of Jacksonville and docked at "The Marina at Osprey Landing", a very nice facility where we left Tranquility for a few days. Denise flew home and I drove down to Ft Meyers and picked up a car to drive back to Illinois. I left most of my profit from driving the car to Illinois in Florida in the form of a $244 speeding ticket.
I was only home for a few days and am now back on Tranqulity with my brother Ron. He's not sure how long he is staying and liked to tell his friends that he only had a one way ticket. He might be with me all the way to Norfolk, but it is somewhat dependent on how successful he is at finding record collections to buy.
While home I did get a replacement camera and will now have pictures to post.
Ron and I planned to start cruising again on Monday, May 7th and kicked it off with steaks from a local Jacksonville meat market the night before.
The 25 miles back to the ICW took us first through downtown Jacksonville,
Jacksonville is a major shipping port and also has a cruise ship terminal.
With all the commercial activity, the Coast Guard was very visible.
We stopped the first night at Fernandina Beach, FL and the second night at the same anchorage on the Frederica River in Georgia, the same spot where Densie and I anchored last year. Our night there this year, though, was a little more exciting than last year.
It started out ok as Ron whipped up his special pico de gallo, which I call pinko de gallo. You may recall this was a staple last summer when Ron and Mark were aboard.
Of course, margarita's go well with this and the chipotle chicken Ron prepared. They were so good, one pitcher of marg's wasn't enough. We enjoyed dinner and a few marg's and sat outside, watching dolphins and waiting for the tide to change so we knew the boat had room to swing all the way around without hitting the bank. All seemed good when we turned the lights out.
About 3 AM things got a little exciting. I will try to tell the story the way Ron told Denise on the phone yesterday.
Ron says he was sleeping soundly, enjoying his dream (something about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders) when he heard what he thought was the salon door opening. For those of you who have been on board, you know what that sound is. A wood door sliding on an aluminum rail. This woke him and he thought maybe I had gone out on deck. We had talked about going out if we woke up during the night to look at the stars. He called out the hatch in the front cabin.
"DON?" No answer.
"DON ROLOFF?" No answer.
Then he hears the door sound again and thinks its the door closing ant that someone has come onboard.
Rather than confronting the intruding Captain Ahab, he calls my phone. I hear it, but stumble around in my cabin and can't find it in time. Remember the margarita's.
It rings again and by now I have found it and I hear, "SOMEBODY IS ON THE BOAT"!! I say, "I don't think so". At the same time I am looking out the cabin window and notice the bank of the river seems to be going by at a very rapid pace. Remember the margarita's.
We're still on the phone, Ron yells, "GET THE F*** UP"!! By now, I realize the bank is going by because we ARE moving. I yell, "WE'RE MOVING"!!
It took me a couple of attempts to get my shorts on, but I did and was into the salon at the same time as Ron. By now I had determined that the anchor had given way and we were gliding down the river at the same speed as the current, which was fast. I had also seen that we were on a direct collision course with a very large and very nice boat tied to a dock.
I yell to Ron, who is now on deck, "DON'T LET US HIT THAT BOAT"!! At this point we are sliding down the side of another dock and Ron does the only thing he can think of, that is, trying to grab a dock post that is going by. At the same time I start the port engine and immediately put it in forward. The combination of this and Ron grabbing at the dock post slowed our reverse motion and with no exaggeration, we stopped short of a stern to stern collision with the other boat by less than 2 feet.
Whew! We had gone down river more than quarter mile and the whole event took place in less than 5 minutes.
Upon further review, I think this is what happened. We had anchored when the tide was going out and very near the low tide point. While we were there, we had gone through slack tide and the tide was coming in again when we went to bed. The tide here is 9 feet. During the night we were raised 9 feet higher than when we got there and I had not accounted for that in how much anchor line we had out. 9 feet would theoretically call for another 50+ feet of anchor line to properly hold. As soon as we were at high tide it broke free and then the tide started going out again. The current was so strong, the anchor couldn't get another hold. Its not real unusual to drag the anchor a few feet during the night when there is wind or current, but this wasn't dragging, we were moving at the same speed as the current. The sounds Ron heard that sounded like the door opening and closing was the boat scraping the side of the dock before the one with the boat on it.
This could have been a disaster in more ways than just crashing into and damaging someone else's boat and mine. My insurance expired at midnight that night and my new insurance was supposedly in place, but the signed application and payment were not yet in the mail. I was assured that I had coverage, but I'm just not convinced it wouldn't have been a problem if I submitted a major claim three hours into the new policy.
Another lesson learned.
We're in Thunderbolt, just outside of Savannah, GA and Ron is trying to buy records and has talked to several potential sellers, but nothing is firm yet and we may or may not be leaving here today.
