Some times the last 100 yards are the most difficult of a 70 miles trip. On White Pepper's trip from St. Augustine to Green Cove Springs Marina each and every of the 100 yards were difficult, but the last 100 yards was perhaps most difficult.
Jan and I started out Tuesday from Rivers Edge Marina on the San Sebastian River on a beautiful morning in calm conditions. We cleared the Bridge of Lions bascule bridge in downtown St. Augustine on the Matanzas River near slack water. Later we were able to use the tidal currents of the Tomatoto River to good advantage. We could boost the boat speed of 2.5 knots under motor to 4 or more using current and wind. In Palm Valley we saw a manatee and cub. This is one advantage of travelling so slowly. The manatee was able to keep pace with us. We cleared the treacherous Pablo Creek Bridge at slack water. This bridge carries US 202 across the Pablo Creek and the ICW. It lies in the shadow of the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville and is notorious for impassable currents at max ebb and flood tides. We docked at Beech Marina in Jacksonville Beach at 5:17 pm.
Wednesday brought the challenge of the ICW intersection with the St. John's River. This is known to cruiser's as Sister's Creek and is also known for treacherous currents. White Pepper was 45 minutes late for low tide. Instead of slack water we had 1.5 knots of cross current. But with full sails and a favorable wind, she handled it beautifully.
Successfully in the St. John's River I expected a flood tide but found ourselves caught in the last of the ebb. This made for a long slow slog upriver. Currents in the St. John's are mystery to me. I have at last come to view them as great hills and valleys of water travelling up and down the river. Thus you can visualize why the river can be ebbing and flooding at the same time--just as a hill has an up and a down slope at the same time. Anyway we got to Jacksonville after the valley had passed through and now were in a rip roaring flood tide. This made landing at the Metro Marina something of a fire drill as the current tried to sweep us past the marina. We made it; literally crash landing into an empty slip.
The Metro Marina is our favorite spot in Jacksonville. It is a free marina for the first 72 hours and also empty. It lies in the shadow of Jaguar Stadium and is used by the city for special events. In between these events it is available to the transient cruiser freely. Our only company for two days was a hippie commune of sailing gymnasts who give exhibitions from the rigging of their Thames River Barge. (I can not make this stuff up.)
I had planned the events of the next day Thursday so carefully. Slack water at the Main Street Bridge downtown was at 9:30. If I left Metro Marina at 9 am White Pepper would cover the mile to the bridge in 30 minutes. A quarter mile further on was the FEC railroad bridge that was unpredictable, but at slack water I could deal with the issue. A fair East wind was predicted that would carry us by sail all the way to Green Cove Springs. I called the Main Street Bridge at 9:15 to request an opening. He responded that the bridge was under repair and would not open for 2 hours. There was NO WAY. The next opening would be near max ebb and we could not make it through as crippled as we were. Tomorrow slack water would be at 10:30 but a brisk South Wind would make the trip up the St. John's an impossible beat. Defeated we returned to the Metro Marina before the tide changed.
We called Sea Tow and accepted a scheduled tow on Friday to Green Cove Springs Marina. "Big Jeff" was the captain of Sea Tow 7 and did an excellent job taking us through downtown Jacksonville and up the river 25 miles to Green Cove Springs were we grabbed a mooring ball in the marina late in the day. Nominal cost for the tow of 7 hours was $3200, but it was fully covered by our Sea Tow policy. Somehow I was reminded of the economics of medical insurance while remaining very grateful to Sea Tow and captain "Big Jeff." I was particularly grateful because by this time the water pump had again lost its prime. No water was flowing through the exhaust so even minimal propulsion was not available.
Green Cove Springs Marina is very cheap and VERY busy. We could not schedule a haul out until the next Wednesday. That was not a problem as Jan and I had many chores to do, not the least of which was resuscitating the car. It had been in storage for 7 months and did not come back to life easily.
Finally the day of the haul out arrived on Wednesday. We had bagged the sails, stored the dingy, and prepped for the worst. There was 100 yards between the mooring ball and the haul out slip. We were number 6 of 7 and due to haul out at 1 pm. There was limited space at the slip. The sea breeze had picked up to 16 or 17 knots, a river current was flowing, and a huge thunder storm was brewing to the West. I seriously doubted if White Pepper could even make it these 100 yards. Then as our number was called out over the VHF radio, the thunder head swung around and blocked the sea breeze. It went flat calm for 30 minutes. Dropping the mooring line she chugged ahead at 1/3 to 1/2 knot getting hotter by the minute. But we made a perfect landing at the haul out slip. A hour later we were hauled, washed, and blocked safely in the yard.
Readers my see this episode of the Adventures of the White Pepper as another sorry tale of woe on the high seas. But Jan and I view today as answered prayers from a God who listens. I can not imagine any other explanation of why a dangerous thunder storm would block the wind for the very 30 minutes White Pepper's motor needed to make her last voyage.
Jan and I started out Tuesday from Rivers Edge Marina on the San Sebastian River on a beautiful morning in calm conditions. We cleared the Bridge of Lions bascule bridge in downtown St. Augustine on the Matanzas River near slack water. Later we were able to use the tidal currents of the Tomatoto River to good advantage. We could boost the boat speed of 2.5 knots under motor to 4 or more using current and wind. In Palm Valley we saw a manatee and cub. This is one advantage of travelling so slowly. The manatee was able to keep pace with us. We cleared the treacherous Pablo Creek Bridge at slack water. This bridge carries US 202 across the Pablo Creek and the ICW. It lies in the shadow of the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville and is notorious for impassable currents at max ebb and flood tides. We docked at Beech Marina in Jacksonville Beach at 5:17 pm.
Wednesday brought the challenge of the ICW intersection with the St. John's River. This is known to cruiser's as Sister's Creek and is also known for treacherous currents. White Pepper was 45 minutes late for low tide. Instead of slack water we had 1.5 knots of cross current. But with full sails and a favorable wind, she handled it beautifully.
Successfully in the St. John's River I expected a flood tide but found ourselves caught in the last of the ebb. This made for a long slow slog upriver. Currents in the St. John's are mystery to me. I have at last come to view them as great hills and valleys of water travelling up and down the river. Thus you can visualize why the river can be ebbing and flooding at the same time--just as a hill has an up and a down slope at the same time. Anyway we got to Jacksonville after the valley had passed through and now were in a rip roaring flood tide. This made landing at the Metro Marina something of a fire drill as the current tried to sweep us past the marina. We made it; literally crash landing into an empty slip.
The Metro Marina is our favorite spot in Jacksonville. It is a free marina for the first 72 hours and also empty. It lies in the shadow of Jaguar Stadium and is used by the city for special events. In between these events it is available to the transient cruiser freely. Our only company for two days was a hippie commune of sailing gymnasts who give exhibitions from the rigging of their Thames River Barge. (I can not make this stuff up.)
I had planned the events of the next day Thursday so carefully. Slack water at the Main Street Bridge downtown was at 9:30. If I left Metro Marina at 9 am White Pepper would cover the mile to the bridge in 30 minutes. A quarter mile further on was the FEC railroad bridge that was unpredictable, but at slack water I could deal with the issue. A fair East wind was predicted that would carry us by sail all the way to Green Cove Springs. I called the Main Street Bridge at 9:15 to request an opening. He responded that the bridge was under repair and would not open for 2 hours. There was NO WAY. The next opening would be near max ebb and we could not make it through as crippled as we were. Tomorrow slack water would be at 10:30 but a brisk South Wind would make the trip up the St. John's an impossible beat. Defeated we returned to the Metro Marina before the tide changed.
We called Sea Tow and accepted a scheduled tow on Friday to Green Cove Springs Marina. "Big Jeff" was the captain of Sea Tow 7 and did an excellent job taking us through downtown Jacksonville and up the river 25 miles to Green Cove Springs were we grabbed a mooring ball in the marina late in the day. Nominal cost for the tow of 7 hours was $3200, but it was fully covered by our Sea Tow policy. Somehow I was reminded of the economics of medical insurance while remaining very grateful to Sea Tow and captain "Big Jeff." I was particularly grateful because by this time the water pump had again lost its prime. No water was flowing through the exhaust so even minimal propulsion was not available.
Green Cove Springs Marina is very cheap and VERY busy. We could not schedule a haul out until the next Wednesday. That was not a problem as Jan and I had many chores to do, not the least of which was resuscitating the car. It had been in storage for 7 months and did not come back to life easily.
Finally the day of the haul out arrived on Wednesday. We had bagged the sails, stored the dingy, and prepped for the worst. There was 100 yards between the mooring ball and the haul out slip. We were number 6 of 7 and due to haul out at 1 pm. There was limited space at the slip. The sea breeze had picked up to 16 or 17 knots, a river current was flowing, and a huge thunder storm was brewing to the West. I seriously doubted if White Pepper could even make it these 100 yards. Then as our number was called out over the VHF radio, the thunder head swung around and blocked the sea breeze. It went flat calm for 30 minutes. Dropping the mooring line she chugged ahead at 1/3 to 1/2 knot getting hotter by the minute. But we made a perfect landing at the haul out slip. A hour later we were hauled, washed, and blocked safely in the yard.
Readers my see this episode of the Adventures of the White Pepper as another sorry tale of woe on the high seas. But Jan and I view today as answered prayers from a God who listens. I can not imagine any other explanation of why a dangerous thunder storm would block the wind for the very 30 minutes White Pepper's motor needed to make her last voyage.
1 comment:
Glad everything went well.
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