24 Years - Phew!
We survived 24 years together (Peggy & I, we have only owned JD for 7 years ;0)
So this weekend we planned to be trailing JD to Black Point Marina on Biscayne Bay by crack of dawn Friday. But ... Chloe, our 75lb 14 year old German shepherd was demanding attention, she deserves it, and our daughter Pam was stuck in Georgia for an extra day. So re-plan, leave pre dawn Saturday. Just as well, we were not ready for a dawn departure Friday anyway. Maybe flexibility is the reason for making it to 24!
Easy drive down to BPM. and no snags as we prepared JD to launch. It takes between 90 mins and 2 hours to get everything ready. The grumpy weather suggested that we rig everything before the launch, rather than my normal procedure of bending on the sails as we take the 25 minute channel out of BPM. Another good idea that day. The winds were up in the low to mid 20s from the East. The Bay had white caps and, before we got to our anchorage, there were streaks of white foam flying towards our port bow. Regular salt sprays over the deck had us both wearing foul weather jackets. We arrived at the anchorage where there were about a hundred power boats, only two other sail boats, it was Mother's Day Weekend. No sailing today.
Things Break
The wind indicator display failed as we headed to our anchorage, started chirping to us in what seemed morse code, I planned to take a look at the deck connections in the morning. We only recently had the entire system serviced by Raymarine, something's up with it. It's all magic, so I'll re-inspect the deck connection.
Our new Dometic Freezer works great! Sucks power big time, drawing around 4amps when set to stay at -2degrees C. Have to get a bigger solar panel! We flashed up the Generator so that we could have the AC running, and charge the batteries at the same time.
Dinner was to be Lasagna. In the weeks leading up to our sailing date, I always cook extra and Freeze a few meals. This trip I brought with us Lasagna, Shepherds Pie, Baked Chicken, & Chillie. So the planning was good. But then the Seaward Princess Stove failed! The gas flow stopped almost instantly. So I checked the seal where the can engages with the pressure control system, that was ok. Took the pressure control system apart looking for blockages, nothing there. Removed the stove from it's housing in the counter top and inspected for any other issues.
The only thing I can think of is a stuck Flame out preventor. It looks like there is some kind of thermo coupler that turns the gas off if the flame goes out. I'm guessing it's stuck. Will have to call Seaward after trip.
So, how to cook dinner without the stove! I purchased a new Magma Grill from West Marine a few weeks ago, and we checked that it would mount to the stern rail. But how to cook Lasagna on a Grill?
I put a skillet with the Lasagna on the grill, but could not close the lid as handle would burn. Nasty plastic skillet handle. I was able to shield the grill from the high winds using a bath towel, Peggy holding one side, me the other. It took ages to heat the meal.
Sunday Morning
Tried to perk some coffee on the Grill, that's not going to happen! But was able to fry up some corned beef hash, and Eggs. No Coffee!!!
Let's go sailing! We raised the anchors ( I had put out two to handle the high winds overnight). Turned to the Northwest, once in deep water, we turned into wind, raised the Main with one reef, then turned off the wind and unfurled about 50% of the jib.
Heading towards the Feather Banks channel, we hit 6 knots several times even reefed, and the boat was sailing pretty level most of the time. It was a great ride to the channel, and we were able to continue sailing though the short channel with the wind just off the stbd beam. Beautiful day to be sailing.
I had thought of sailing up to Coral Gables Yacht club, but re-thunk that one. It's Mother's day, so there will likely be a lot of families celebrating, not really the time for 'guests', we'll head that way another day. So we turned back south and headed back for the channel.
The wind had really not dropped much, but without the wind display we had to guess. Anyway, we were able to tack to the East and back to the Sands key Anchorage. Only a couple of sail boats there now, I guess they all headed home to take Mom out to Dinner. A couple of hours sailing and we joined the other boats with the prospect of lower winds overnight. Upon anchoring, a quick dip in the 'just too cool' water to freshen up, followed by a rinse down.
Some as%$^*^&(le creamed though the anchorage at very high speed, tossed the boat around and I clambered up to see what the heck was happening. His prop wash was only 20 feet from our port side and he passed over our anchor line! He was fortunate that he did not pick up the line! He was not so fortunate when the blue and red lights started flashing and pulled him over! He got to enjoy a full on the water inspection, and got at least one ticket and spent nearly 40 minutes along side the patrol boat. Way to go guys! Glad to see you are there when we need you.
Dinner tonight was Shepherds pie on the grill. This time I put the meal onto some cooking foil rather than heat up the skillet. Cooked great in a fraction of the time. Looks like we're ok for meals.
TV columbo, then hit the sack.
Breakfast was another challenge, but the aluminum foil process worked a charm. Eggs, Corned Beef Hash, Tomatoes. Still no coffee! (that's 2 days without java!)
The forecast is looking bleak, storms headed our way late Monday/Tuesday. re-plan. We'll head back today but for a change, we'll sail back to BPM, great chance to fly the Asym.
Peggy took this pic just after I hoisted the sail. Looks like a dobie hitch at the tack.
The chute scoop control line is hanging down loose too!
Finally, got the lines sorted out. Added a sail tie as a Tacker, raising the tack to level with the clew, and she Flew! Even in the much lighter winds today, we hit 5.5knots. Made all of the work getting here worthwhile. We should have got the Asym years ago! It's Awesome!
We were able to sail under the Asym to within a quarter mile of the BPM channel entrance. What a great sail today. Boat is covered with Salt from the Spray, so we'll have some heavy cleanup to do. But this is why we do all it takes to make these trips possible. It would be great to be able to go out every weekend, but once a month will suffice till we win the lottery.
