26Feb2013

Normandie and I were talking about loved ones who recently deceased, and what they most loved in life. After some discussion, I posed the question, "Does heaven have an outdoor shower?" To which Normandie responded, "Heaven IS an outdoor shower."
  Well let me tell you, a cockpit shower, with lots of wonderful hot water, after however long it has been, is heaven. We use a garden sprayer, attached to it is one of those things you spray out your kitchen sink. Heat the water to 102 degrees (Measured) and it is truly wonderful.
  It was in the low 80's in New Smyrna Beach today. I am anchored just inside Ponce de Leon Inlet. (Go to: Adventtwo.blogspot.com    upper right corner, "Location"). Warm today, warm tomorrow with rain. The decision is whether to stay put, continue south on the ICW, or to sail for Bahamas. Wed, Th Fri & Sat are good for sailing for the Bahamas, but everything turns bad on Sunday.....
  I know nothing about the debris field reported yesterday. After dark I passed about 6 miles away and I could see lights of a helicopter and two boats searching the area. At 20:00 the helicopter left the scene and flew right over me going back to base. Out here one hears a lot of drama: sinking, fire, medical emergency (most frequent) and only rarely is the outcome learned.
  It is raining pretty hard outside. Inside the cabin I am dry, warm, and clean and cozy. I wish you were here.
Bill

24Feb2013

The weather forecast for today looks perfect. I was going to hold up at St Simons for a few days letting this weather system play itself out but today is calm, sunny and warm. (Oxford comma?) "Move when the conditions are right, stay put when they are not." I stopped at the Golden Isle Marina for fuel, water, and what I hope will be a lifetime supply of transmission fluid. I left the marina with the engine at low revs, but I had good speed. The current was going out. Awhile later I noticed that my speed was 7.0 knots. Holy Cow that's fast! Just for fun I turned 180 degrees, and the speed was, conveniently, exactly 1.0 knots. The boat was going 4.0kts and the current was 3.0kts. Then for fun I speeded up the engine, and for a bit I was going faster than 9 knots. Zoom! Even at that it took 1h:45min to get out of the long channel and head south.
  The forecast for today is NW 5-10 veering to NE 5-10, tonight E 10, tomorrow E 10/15 - E 15. Unless the forecast changes this afternoon I will bypass Jacksonville and go down to Ponce De Leon Inlet south of Daytona Beach. I want to get there about mid-day, before the south-east wind. At 14:00 there are 101nm to go.
  We are trying to get a website up and running. Please look it up: adventtwo.blogspot.com  Note the two t's in adventtwo. Go to the upper right corner and click on "Location" I have a satellite device called a "SPOT". With it I send my location. For example, when I turned south out of the St Simons channel I sent the location. It was about 10:15. Change from "map" to "satellite" and zoom in. You can plainly see the deeper water of the channel, and why I had to go so far out to get to deep water. I typically send the location when I leave, every four hours, and when I arrive. That is  adventtwo.blogspot.com
  Bill Doar
  17:00 I just heard on the VHF radio. A natural resources airplane reported to the Coast Guard seeing a debris field, oil slick a mile long and floating life preservers and a life ring about 15nm from me. It is ahead but upwind so I cannot pass through to see if I see anything.
18:00  Pinching, motorsailing to maintain course and speed. If the wind starts going to the south and I can't make it I will turn and head for Jax. No problem. Otherwise everything is OK. 150ml fluid in 8 hours. I bought 6 qts today. This debris field is really something. Now, 17:45 the airplane is leaving scene.

23Feb2013

Well Folks, latitudes and attitudes. I am down to shorts and a white shirt, my cruising uniform. It won't last, but it will be rum on the foredeck tonight. (If one of the frequent showers don't come by) The forecast for today ended up being for showers, south wind, and warm. (Oxford comma?) It happened just like that, and I have had a productive day.
  I made it to St Simons entrance at 16:00, right on schedule. This area off lower South Carolina and Georgia is what Will calls a "low energy" coastline. It has a mild surf and very high range tides. Compare that to Cape Hatteras where the ocean is violent with only a foot or so tides. The ocean in this area is also shallow way far out. Way out. Years ago Will and I were going in at Port Royal, SC and we had breakers (shallow water) far out of sight of land. The entrance channel is maybe 15 miles long. The entrance to St Simon is only about 8 nm long, and then there is another 4 nm into the anchorage. I did not have an opposing current so I made it in just about the time to turn the running lights on, and anchored exactly where Jeremiah and I anchored a few years ago when we stopped to see Marian's cousin. It is comfortable here, and right next to a marina where, tomorrow, I can buy transmission fluid. That's right. The 30 year old transmission has started dripping fluid from where the shift lever enters the housing. Not serious unless it gets much worse, and I will buy a lifetime supply tomorrow.
  Weather forecasts have been changeable, to say the least. Tomorrow morning I will decide whether to keep moving south or stay comfortable another day.
  The Bahamas sure do seem a long way away.
Bill

22Feb2013

Sunset is my favorite time. I love to stand in the cockpit holding onto the dodger, and just look at the boat moving through the water, especially when we are sailing into the sunset. Another favorite time is at night, when there is enough moon to be able to see the sails and the water all around. Today the sunset was all I like, and the moon lights the sea around me, but it is just too darn cold to enjoy it. When does it get warm? Inside the cabin it is comfortable. But I just pop topside, look around to check things, then duck back down.
  Today was one of those days that makes sailing worthwhile. The sailing was good and the sea almost calm. Very comfortable. I took the opportunity to trace two leaks which have been bothering me. The easy one is that the source of water in the bilge is one of the sink hoses dribbling. Not serious and easy to fix, but to get to it I have to remove the motor box, which takes some time and is very disruptive. I will live without hot & cold running water until a good time to fix it. I will get water using the foot pump that squirts water through a spout into the sink. The other leak is more serious. A red colored oily liquid has been accumulating in the bilge. There are three red oils onboard, kerosene, red dyed diesel fuel, and transmission fluid. I traced it to the transmission. It seems to be dripping from where the shift lever goes into the housing. I don't think it is serious, but I have no idea how to fix it. Do I have to remove the transmission? I don't even know how to do that. I put a cup under where it is dripping to reduce the mess, and add a little each day, but I only have one quart of extra and if I run out I can't use the engine. Humm...
  Right now I am offshore of HIlton Head and will go about 50 nautical miles tonight. Then tomorrow will go back inland because of contrary winds Friday night and Saturday, not to mention rain. There is a circle around the moon. Rain. I hope it is not too bad tomorrow. I don't know where I will go in, and don't know till I get there where to anchor. I am still looking forward to balmy tropical breezes, but tonight it sure seems like it is a long way away. By the time I get there it will be time to come home. And it is cold outside, and the winds are forecasted to be against me for several days, and it is going to rain. And then rain again. But right now I am warm, dry, the boat is moving nicely, there are some stars out (brrr) and the sea is calm.
Bill

20 Feb 2013

Last night I anchored just upstream of Bucksport, SC, on the beautiful Waccamaw River, in the rain. This morning everything was crispy with ice, and white mist rising from the warmer water. I had to wait for the sun to burn off the mist before I could get going. The trip downriver was beautiful, as usual, and I had the added benifit of the current going where I wanted to go.






 I got to Georgetown about noon, and went down the Winyah Bay, and out into the ocean. The forecast was for SW to W wind at 10-15knots. Instead the wind was almost southeast. I started out sailing at 110 degrees; at least it was south of due east. As the day went on the wind started to veer (change in a clockwise direction). I sailed at 120 degrees, then 130...now, at 19:00 I am sailing at 190 degrees, and the veer is forecasted to continue. I look forward to an uneventful night with favorable wind.
Bill

Departing Wrightsville Beach

 Wind gusting to 30-some knots,
air temp 30-some degrees.