Retreat from George Town, Part III

Do you think that you are a good enough sailor to sail 240 miles up the Florida coast without an engine. I thought I was. I wish I had never had that thought.

After cooling down overnight from all of the excitement of anchoring under sail in Lake Worth I phoned the US Customs to clear in. We had prepared extensively before leaving the US in order to participate in the Florida Local Boater's Option. By visiting the Customs office ahead of time and doing considerable work on the internet we hoped to be eligible to clear customs upon returning to the US with a phone call. The process worked well and within 20 minutes I had a clearance number. We had never even stepped off the boat. Jan worried that our border security seemed weakened somehow. But I think that by streamlining the routine stuff, Customs can concentrate on the bad guys.

For the next two days I fiddled with the exhaust system. I called our new mechanic, Al, and got several suggestions. Somehow the cooling system started working again. I was not quite sure how or why, but the engine purred along for 20 minutes and water poured out the exhaust. We canceled plans to haul out in West Palm Beach. We would try to make Green Cove Springs on the St. John's River. The St. John's River entrance is 240 n. miles north of West Palm Beach.

The weather forecast was perfect. Four days of dry moderate SE breezes were predicted. Within 30 minutes of making the decision White Pepper was motoring out the Lake Worth Inlet. The afternoon was perfect with moderate quartering breeze and seas. With the edge of the Gulf Stream pushing us along we were making rapid progress north. Rounding Cape Canaveral that night, the wind lightened (NOAA said it would strengthen) and the seas became lumpy for some reason. I turned on the motor to get some more forward motion and hopefully allow the off watch crew to rest. After 3 hours the motor overheated. We were once again a pure sailboat.

The next two days were difficult. We slowly gybed the boat down wind as the wind became weaker and weaker. I did not want to set the pole in the lumpy seas or if the wind were really going to build. I downloaded the GRIB files and sure enough it was supposed to be blowing 20 knots. The radio was calling for breezy conditions which would have easily blown us up to the St. John's River. Looking out from the cockpit what I saw was 6-10 knots of wind and 3 knots of boat speed. The atmosphere was clearly unstable and despite dry predictions thunderstorms were building over the coast 15 miles away.

We tied down everything on the deck. I put the electronics in the oven which can act as a “Faraday cage”. We took down the main sail and lashed it to the boom. About 8 pm when the first rain drops were falling, we rolled up the Genoa to flag size, sheeted it tight and went below.

The line squall struck hard about 2010 with 35 knot winds and gusting rain. Fortunately most of the lightning was cloud to cloud. About 2020 NOAA was warning of a major line squall moving off the coast. We stood watch from behind the dodger and by watching the AIS display below. The little flag of a foresail caught enough breeze to pull us along at 4 knots and keep the motion reasonable. It was all over within an hour.

By midnight when my watch started the SE breeze was back in force. The St. John's jetties were only 65 miles away. At 6.5 knots we would be there by late morning, just in time to catch the flood tide. Things were looking up! However, by 4 am the wind had died for good. Boat speed was under 3 knots. It looked like we would have to spend another night at sea. At dawn there were ominous clouds over the shore and another evening squall seemed like a sure bet. Even NOAA had caught on and was calling for thunderstorms. Jan and I decided to throw in the towel, and divert to St. Augustine 26 miles away, and call for help.

Arriving at the St. Augustine sea buoy about noon, Captain Dan on the Sea Tow 4, came out to meet us. There was no way I was going to try the treacherous St. Augustine Inlet without power (or even without wind).

 Capt. Dan and Sea Tow to the Rescue

Dangerous Inlet and Gathering Clouds.  Made the Right Decision

Captain Dan did an expert job with the tow, negotiating the Bridge of Lions lift bridge and putting us gently on the dock at the River Edge Marina on the San Sebastian River. Another thunderstorm struck just as he was casting off. Getting a Sea Tow membership seemed like the smartest thing I had done all season.

St Augustine is the end of our retreat from George Town. I am going to call a proper mechanic to look at the motor.

Being forced to sail without a motor for 3 days was a humbling and instructive exercise. Dealing with the really light airs for hours and days was trying. With a working motor, just a push of the button takes all that misery away. I believe that just sitting there waiting to be run over by a tanker or a thunderstorm was the worst part. Finally, my previously high confidence in the GRIBs and modern weather forecasting in the supercomputer era has been shaken. I never would have started off on this voyage if given an accurate forecast.