by Terri Robbins
We spent a few days in Beaufort doing last minute adjustments.
We were beginning to notice a bit of a chill in the air, so, it didn't take
long for Cap'n Dave and I to decide to HEAD SOUTH! So, we loaded
the dinghy and set sail outside to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
(where we left from, and returned home to, on our first journey).
It was a little chilly, but nothing uncomfortable. We had a nice
sail this day, but didn't make it to Masonboro Inlet in Wrightsville
Beach until long after dark. Entering a channel can be a hair-raising
experience in daylight, much less at night, but we had entered
this channel many, many times in the past, only once at night,
and felt we knew it well enough that we weren't concerned. Once
safely in the inlet we cruised a short distance up into Banks
Channel, a nice, deep, protected anchorage, and anchored for a
much needed night's rest. We had made plans to meet up with Steve
on "Freedom" here, so prepared to stay for a few days
to wait.
Wrightsville Beach is a wonderful stop-over for cruisers. There is a free public dinghy dock, with laundry facilities, stores, restaurants, bars, beautiful beaches, fishing piers,,, everything a cruiser can get to on foot. Very important, and, amazingly hard to find amenities on the water!
Finally hooking up with Steve we set sail for, again, points and
dreams unknown. Since Steve's boat, "Freedom" was so
small, and we didn't want to leave him in our wake, we traveled
the next six weeks down the ICW without venturing "outside".
And,,, talk about COLD! It was almost unbearable! Poor Steve
was single-handed, and during the journey I'd frequently go down
in the galley and make up a hot thermos of coffee and hot grilled
cheese and salami sandwich (a WONDERFUL staple while cruising!
Cheese keeps indefinitely without refrigeration, and, hard stick
salami, though needs to be eaten quickly, will last a few days
without it. However, in all honesty, I think the weather was
cold enough to preserve anything at this point!) and Steve would
pull "Freedom" as close to "Patience" as he
could as I passed the goodies over to him. Each night we'd anchor
near one-another and Steve would come over for sundowners and
dinner. I felt like his "mother"! Had to give him
my gloves because his poor hands were becoming so red and chapped,
and he had no gloves! Had to give him my sleeping bag because
he had NOT anticipated this severe cold, and only came away with
one! (I had several! Been on a boat in the cold before,,, unprepared
for it….. and it is NOT FUN! So, this time I came prepared
for anything this trip had to offer me, albeit good OR bad! I
was READY!). "Freedom" was so tiny he only brought
about a case of small cans of beanie weenies and Vienna sausages,
so he was grateful to accept a hot meal every night (and, fortunately
for me, I always stock enough food to last the six-months journey.)
We finally reached St. Augustine, Florida, near Thanksgiving.
WARM! WONDERFUL! I have good friends there, and Steve was getting
tired, and losing a lot of weight, so we decided to stay here
a week or so and recoup our energy. However, by week's end Cap'n
Dave and I were once again ready to put some water under our sails.
Steve, however, said he'd meet up with us somewhere along the
way and decided to stay. So,,,, WE WERE OFF!
We cruised down the ICW until we reached Ft. Lauderdale, where we made a jump to sail "outside" due to the MANY BRIDGES! We sailed outside until we reached Government Cut, South Miami, and we cut across and decided to explore the Coconut Grove area.
We cruised around the harbor near Dinner Key (Coconut Grove) looking for a good place to throw the "hook", but this harbor was crowded, crowded, crowded! Many of the boats were the sunken remains from hurricane Hugo. Not feeling at all comfortable with situation we ended getting a slip for a week in City Marina - a real nice, protected marina. Calling home for a weekly check-in we again learned friends and family were just waiting for word from us, and were on their way! That would be nice. They would have a car and we could explore the area from more than a boater's standpoint.
There was a park nearby that was FULL of beautiful parrots. Apparent escapees from pet stores during Hugo. People of Coconut Grove were very,,,,,,, "interesting". It was quite an experience, to say the least. I am not going to elaborate here!
Family arrived, we ate, reprovisioned, explored, but after a week of land-life we were ready to move on. Besides NOAA weather was predicting a pretty bad blow, and we DO NOT like to be anywhere near other vessels during a storm, much less a crowded marina, so we said our farewells and sailed over to a nice, protected park south of Key Biscayne called "NoName Harbor". This would prove to be one of the most "exciting" days thus far during this journey!
It was only about a two-hour sail to "NoName Harbor", so we were able to take our time leaving Dinner Key, saying goodbye to our "neighbors", and arrived there and set anchor long before lunchtime. There were only four vessels in the harbor when we arrived. Three sailboats (occupied) and one catamaran, apparently moored there permanently. I think the park guard stayed there or something. Anyway, no one was on-board the whole time we were there. This park cost $8 per night to anchor in, and we understood that around sunset someone would dinghy out to your boat to collect. Seemed a fair price for the added protection the harbor afforded.
I noticed a small motorboat enter and anchor in the harbor with about five or six Spanish speaking individuals in it. Not long after they arrived, another identical vessel arrived, and they rafted up with the first boat. They were out enjoying the beautiful, sunny day….. drinking, playing music loud, swimming,,, and, I noticed they were dragging! We tried to hail them on the VHF, but, either they didn't have one, couldn't hear it, or it wasn't turned on. So, I tried hollering at them, with obviously no results. I don't think it was a language barrier, because if my body language had anything to do with it I KNOW they would have understood me! I went to the galley to prepare some lunch, and all of a sudden I hear all this yelling going on outside! I came up and saw Cap'n Dave watching these two motorboats with interest as they drug across another sailboat's ("Indulgence") anchor line, and he was STILL trying to get their attention! Well, never a dull moment on the water. Dave got eye contact with another neighboring sailboat, "Magier", jumped in the dinghy, went and picked up "Magier's" captain, Robert, and went to aid the tangled up mess! Dave and Robert managed to untangle the anchors, helped reset "Indulgence's" anchor, and returned to their respective vessels. The powerboats moved back to their original position in the harbor, threw their anchor back out, and resumed their partying.
I went back down into the galley to finish preparing lunch, and, all of a sudden I hear all this yelling and screaming again. This time, much more aggressive than before! By the time I got back on deck Cap'n Dave was already in the dinghy and on his way to pick up "Robert" from "Magier" (they were becoming old friends at this rate!). They AGAIN went and helped untangle the same mess as before, but this time the power boats left. Thank goodness!!!!
AGAIN I went below to finish preparing lunch, but, by this time it was close to dinner, so I began marinating some pork chops, and Dave and I snacked on some cheese and salami until dinner. The rest of the day (which there wasn't much left of it at this point!) was relaxing and uneventful. Near sundown we had our usual sundowners in the cockpit, brought out the guitars and were enjoying life! We noticed a new sailboat enter the harbor. Obvious family,,,, husband, wife, and seemingly teenage daughter sunning on the bow. They slowly passed us and we, as always, waved and said "hello". We always watch as a boat passes by, trying to note the name of the vessel for mental reference. The name of this boat was "Andrea". Looked like a "rent-a-boat". Well, we watched Andrea as she came to an almost complete halt,,, the captain ran up front, and stood there and dropped the anchor directly straight down off the bow! Now, this is NOT how you anchor! You have to drop the hook, let out some scope, and back down on it to "set" it. Cap'n Dave and I looked at each other with a knowing smile as we watched him drag. He pulled the anchor back up, moved back to his original position, and dropped it straight down and stared at it (as if THAT was going to help!). It didn't! He DRUG AGAIN,,,, AND AGAIN,,, AND AGAIN! It was becoming painfully apparent this "captain" had no clue what he was doing, and his wife and family obviously embarrassed! Well, the guy finally moved a little further up the harbor, drug again, but this time into the seawall! When he was trying to back off of it he forgot to pull his anchor in, and it caught on the moored catamaran and started swinging it around! The two boats collided, and put a small hole in the catamaran. His wife and daughter were running from bow to stern, not knowing what to do, hands on their cheeks, mouths open, faces red! This was all we could stand. By this time EVERYONE in the harbor was looking at them, with interest, amusement, and FEAR! So, becoming practiced at this by now, Dave jumped in the dinghy, ran over to get "Robert" (becoming REAL good friends by this time!!!) and went over to "Andrea". The "captain" of "Andrea", "Larry" was more than willing to surrender the helm. Dave and Robert took their time setting TWO anchors on "Andrea", much to the captain, mate and crew's delight (not to mention everyone ELSE in the harbor!). Remember, there was to be a bad blow this night, and we ALL wanted to make sure this boat was secure!
Well, BLOW WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! It blew, and blew, and blew and BLEW! It was the first time in a long time I'd been frightened of the wind! We did not have an anemometer, but all cabin lights in the harbor were on all night (except "Andrea"! I couldn't BELIEVE this!!! It was disconcerting, because it was raining and blowing so hard we could not "see" her, much less tell where she was or whether she was DRAGGING OR NOT!!! As if we needed this to worry about!) Everyone in the harbor was conversing on VHF, and one guy said he'd recorded gusts up to 80 knots, with pretty constant 45-50 knots.
This blow went on until almost dawn. Nerves frazzled and sleepless, by dawn everyone loaded in their dink to check for damage on either their boats or neighboring boats. Everyone was fine. Dave went over to check on "Andrea" and WOKE THEM UP! They hadn't even realized there was a storm! AMAZING!!! They said they had their generator and air conditioner on, boat closed up, and slept like babies! Just as well I suppose.
Anyway, they invited Dave and me and Robert and his first mate, Ruth, over for lunch and a beer. We accepted (of course!), and when we arrived he had a bottle of chilled wine awaiting all of us as gift, and ice cold beers for lunch. The camaraderie on the water, as I've mentioned before, is wonderful! We became fast friends and sailing companions with Robert and Ruth ("Magier"), as WELL as Larry and his family (from "Andrea")! (although, we try to stay out of harbors they plan to anchor in!!!)
As I said, we became fast friends and sailing companions with Robert and Ruth from "Magier", and they had already made friends with the first boat that was drug around the harbor, "Indulgence". Seems we were all headed south, and decided, strength in numbers, we decided to travel together. With that bad blow the previous night we were sure there was probably quite a "rage" going on outside in the ocean, so decided it best we wait a day or two before heading out. There was a lighthouse near this park, so we walked over to it and our guess was right. There were pretty severe whitecaps outside. However, this delay gave us time to get to know one another, and soothe our frazzled nerves. After about two days Cap'n and I decided to venture out into the wild blue and "test the waters". MISTAKE! We no longer reached the lighthouse before waves were breaking over the bow,, so,, (we're learning!) we turned around and beat-feet back into the protection of the harbor. It was another three days before seas were calm enough to head south, but what a fine sail we had! WELL worth the wait! It was nice, too, because "Magier" (a Tayana 42') and "Indulgence" (a Westerly) were sleek, fast vessels, and we had a "friendly" race, each taking turns slowing a bit so the other could pass and take a picture. We all ended up throwing the "hook" in the lee of Rodriguez Key and got a nice, much needed, night's sleep. Next day was a good day's sail to Boot Key Harbor, Marathon.