Day 87 – 90 Feb 1 - 3
We left JAX Naval Air Station at 1:40PM Friday - with a lot of help from our friends Alan Mitchell and Stephanie Peterson. Both the wind and the current were pushing us against the T-head of our dock. After two feeble and failed attempts, Alan jumped on board with us to fend our bow off the pilings. With Alan still on board, we came abreast of the catamaran at the end of the face pier and he jumped ship (I would have loved to kidnap him to journey with us. For those of you who know me well - the first time offshore with just Bob and me is a stretch for me.) It was an auspicious beginning to a long journey.
Key West is 500 miles and a 3 1/2 day sail from the mouth of the Jacksonville River. We anchored off Blount Island Friday night to allow us an early departure from Jacksonville through the jetties and into the Atlantic. A pod of four dolphins played with us – they were beautiful to watch, bringing their tails up out of the water and diving down. They are camera shy, but this time I did get a marginal shot. The weather window for sailing offshore looks good for at least 3 days.
Our First Offshore Overnight
We weighed anchor at 7:30 AM and had a rough ride for 14 hours due to a two to four foot following sea and north winds at 12-20 knots. DeLaMer was loving the 15-20 degree port to starboard rolls; her passengers were not as enamored by them. We motor sailed at 7.5 to 8 knots with a reefed main and staysail. At 3AM Sunday morning we passed the Port Canaveral Inlet, the busiest cruise ship port on the eastern seaboard. There were three cruise ships inbound. That AIS (Automated Information System) system is the best! It takes all the concern (or at least most of it for me) out of colliding with a large ship.
By morning, the winds had shifted to the south at five to ten knots. Sunrise was beautiful against the blue green sea. The water temperature at JAX was 58 degrees; here it is 76. The seas were still giving us quite a ride with the south wind bucking the waves created by the previous north winds. Neither of us had gotten much sleep, so we opted to go into Fort Pierce and spend the night at Harbortown Marina. It was recommended to us by a couple from Willsboro Bay, Tom and Babette Crittendon, our marina on Lake Champlain. They are based here.
Our first offshore trip was 280 miles – pretty impressive (at least to us!) for seagoing novices. Fort Pierce is halfway to Key West. We are planning to go outside again either tomorrow or Tuesday to Lake Worth – a day trip.
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