A Day of Frustration

Day 78 Monday January 21, 2008

We were up at the crack of dawn and ready to cast off at 7AM. Turned on the VHF and heard the end of a Coast Guard announcement about the McCormick Bridge – located eight miles after we would enter ICW this afternoon. Neither of us heard the complete announcement – but we did hear, “… closed until January 24th.”

We spent the next 35 minutes calling the bridge (which was closed for the holiday) and the Coast Guard (who, after 20 minutes on hold, was able to tell us what they had just broadcast.) Their answer was, “Call the bridge tugboat on channel 9 two hours ahead of time – and the tug will open the bridge periodically throughout the day.”

We finally cast off at 7:45AM, temperatures in the 30's, and spent the next 3 hours with waves breaking over the boat, 20-30 knot winds, heeling 10 degrees (without any sail up), and fighting the current and tide on the St. John’s River.
Just to make the trip a little more enjoyable, I went out on deck periodically to clean the spray off the dodger windows so Bob could see.

Our morning had some added interest when our AIS went off just before we rounded a blind bend in the river. As we came around, there was a 650’ cargo ship from Singapore with two tugs immediately in front of us. It appeared to be beginning to turn around in the middle of the channel. Bob called the ship on Channel 13 asking their intention and, “Will it be safe to pass across your bow as you make your turn?” The captain replied, “Looks like there’s plenty of water out there. We’re turning to port for a portside dock before heading back out to sea. Go ahead.”

At 11AM, in lieu of what we had been experiencing all morning, we thought it prudent to recheck NOAA’s earlier forecast for 15-20 knots since our only choice for tonight was an unprotected anchorage on the ICW.

NOAA had updated their small craft advisory to: “NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO GALE FORCE. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET. INLAND WATERS ROUGH. ISOLATED SHOWERS.”

We had a short general staff meeting and made the unanimous decision to turn around and head back to JAX Marina. We arrived back at JAX Naval Air Station at 1:30 PM in 20-25 knots true winds. Our cruising friends Alan and Pete met us on the dock along with Gary from the marina staff. Bob did a great job bringing DeLaMer into the dock.

Bottom line for today – DeLaMer did just fine with the weather and wind. The crew abandoned ship! We are cozy and warm tonight – winds still howling - and once again looking at options.