Tuesday May 27, 2008 Indian Key, Florida Keys. Lat 26° 29.17’ N, Long 82° 12.33’ W (for the benefit of mailasail plotting I think our position needs to appear as 26:29.17N, 82:12.33W)

Yesterday was awful. It started on Sunday late afternoon. Janet should never have said we anticipated ideal conditions and 24 hours to Channel Five. After motoring all afternoon on Sunday the wind came back from the Southeast and we started sailing. It strengthened and we changed to the #2 genoa, then reefed the main as it got stronger. Just before dark we changed to the #3 genoa. We were then sailing at 6 knots in water only 25 feet deep and the seas were short and steep. By 1:00am on Monday morning we estimated the winds to be 25 -30 knots. The ensign was snapping hard at its mast and the wind generator whining and producing its best output ever. Janet didn’t like it and nor did I. We were sailing on ever bigger seas in this shallow water. We reefed the mainsail more and then hove-to on port tack. Even then we were still making 2+ knots in generally the right direction but the motion was better and we took 2-hour watches while the other slept some. I spent my off-watch time trying to sleep lying on the cabin sole with full foul weather gear on so I could be ready if anything broke. It didn’t, and by 4:00am the wind had slackened a little and at first light (around 6:00am) we started sailing again. We were again doing 6 knots with the #3 genoa and effectively two reefs in the main.

Once Janet came back on deck around 8:30am she announced that she didn’t enjoy heavy weather or night watches and she didn’t want to continue our trip. And this despite her single-handed trip to Bermuda aboard Melos 13 years ago. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear even though other issues may force us to change our plans. I was tired and upset.

During the day on Monday (Memorial Day) we motor sailed and motored across Florida bay, skirting the Everglades National Park boundary heading for Lower Matecumbe Key and the Channel Five bridge that would let us out into the Hawk Channel. It took hours longer than I had hoped. The wind was 20 knots on the bow for a lot of the time and we made slow progress motoring into the short chop. An additional problem was our engine. Though it had run for days in the ICW while we were motoring to New Orleans it had started to show signs of overheating at high rpm. I think it may be easy to resolve this problem (at least I hope it is) but I need to get somewhere where we can tie up for a couple of days and I can work on the engine. So, we were limiting the engine rpm to 1500 and at times barely making 2 knots over the ground.

By the time we reached the Keys we were exhausted. We had not got much sleep on Sunday night and we had both been up all day watching our way and steering through the shoals across Florida Bay. Yet another problem was that, since early on in this trip, I have been suffering from an allergy problem that is minor but persistent. We knew we needed to stop and rest but options were becoming limited. Janet phoned several marinas in the area but none had deep enough water for us to get in (we draw less than 5 ft). I searched the chart for anchorage areas but there was nothing obvious and our cruising guide had no real suggestions. Part of the problem was the abnormally strong E and NE winds that were occurring. Eventually a helpful person at one of the marinas suggested the Florida Park Service mooring buoys off Indian Key. The cruising guide confirmed their existence. We headed out into the Hawk Channel, rigged our autopilot (reserved for times when we were motoring) and then motored into gusty NE winds on the bow. About 30 minutes later our autopilot stopped working and we were hand steering again. It took over 2 hours to cover the 7 miles to Indian Key which we reached at around 7:30pm. We hooked the mooring line and while I made everything secure on the foredeck, rigging a bridle and a safety line through the mooring loop and back to the boat, Janet made us supper. Then, as a small luxury, I heated water and we rinsed the salt out of our hair before we went to bed.

It is now Tuesday morning. I have looked carefully at our charts, re-read the cruising guide and listened to the weather. It seems our only realistic option is to stay here today until the NE winds subside (that is the direction we need to go to get through the Keys to the East Coast) and then, tomorrow, head out beyond the reefs and take the offshore deep water passage around to some yet to be decided stopping point on the Florida East Coast.

Now for a review of our situation. Weather, sails and fatigue have made the trip so far long and tiring. What I had hoped would take no more than 10 days has now taken more than two weeks and we are not at our East Coast destination yet. We have an engine that needs attention. Janet is not sure she wants to continue (though this morning is not quite so certain as she was yesterday morning) and our autopilot has broken. Assuming we can get to a suitable place on the East Coast and deal with these things it still leaves us less time than we would like to get to the UK. I still am pushing to do this but, right now, it is looking as if my plans are unraveling. Stand by for more updates in a day or so!

Jeremy

I used to relish offshore passages. After several thousand miles of offshore passages, including some singlehanded and doublehanded ones with my friend Jane, for some reason this trip has me re-evaluating. Maybe it just hasn’t been that much fun, or because I have become lazy or too used to comforts and a little rusty on sailing. Jeremy and I work great as a team and we get on well, so that’s not a problem. The hope is I will start enjoying it more, and I would love to see Bermuda again, and go to the Azores, and get to do some cruising in Europe  because you never know how long you will be able to do things like that. However this voyage is not about proving anything.  For me it is just supposed to be a fun, interesting, adventure, that I want to do before I get much older. Whether I do or don’t get to a particular place is not the point. It’s the journey that counts. Sometimes I would like to stop and see more along the way and do some gunkholing, but I keep telling myself that is what we’ll do next year, when we don’t do any long distances. Either way I get to experience things and be in nature in a way that is not possible in a conventional suburban existence. This is the debate going on in my head. I’ll keep you posted.

Janet