Kitra and Ben Gray and Cousin John Harrington
Leg 1—St. Thomas to Key West
Wed. April 1, 2020
We all awoke with great anticipation of leaving St. Thomas today and making our way to Key West and ultimately Kemah, Texas, outside of Houston. This will be Daggers Down’s home base for the next year. I took a shower and washed my hair because it might be a long time before I got another real shower. I convinced Ben to cut a generous inch off my hair so that it would not get so tangled on the journey home. Thus, the first boat haircut of our cruising life happened today. As I am a licensed beautician, I have aspirations of cutting hair for wine while we are cruising. Time will tell if this will work out for me.
Stewart’s wife dropped off a gaff hook to go with John’s fishing pole. She also picked up a camera from us that we were unable to install. Stewart, from Neptune Fishing Supplies, and his wife and Perry, the rigger, had been truly life savers this past week. They jumped through hoops to get the upgrades we needed for our boat as well as getting everything programmed and rigged.
After my shower and haircut, I went to the marine store to scrounge up some of the items that the US Coast Guard requires us to have on our boat. They didn’t have everything we needed such as a Navigation Rules book. I had to settle for a pamphlet instead, but they did have the placards we needed for waste and oil, a bull horn and a whistle. I think we have the rest and we will keep our fingers crossed that we are not boarded when we get to Key West or Kemah, but who knows with the coronavirus running rampant. It is definitely a different world right now.
We started to get underway about 10:15 a.m., but realized that our starboard engine gauge was not working. John had to take the console apart which was a bummer, because he had caulked it beautifully. Yet it had to be done. Luckily, it was just a snap connection and easily fixed. John closed the console back up and quickly recaulked it. Then we headed to the fuel dock to top off the tanks.
Finally, St Thomas was at our stern and we were headed out to sea for the next five days or so. The wind was light, only blowing about 10 knots behind us. So, we motor sailed for a bit with the sails somewhat flogging. This wind may be all we have for a few days. However, spirits are high and we were glad to be going home even though we knew we are heading to some very uncertain times back on the mainland. We heard 700 people died yesterday from cornonavirus. This pandemic is scary and sad and has turned the world upside down.
John and I watched an amazing sunset. It was the perfect weather for a green flash as the sun dipped into the ocean. We were well rewarded with the brightest green flash that I had ever seen! Otherwise, the sail through the night was uneventful, except the guys had trouble sleeping on their shifts, even though the breeze was light and the swells were small. Finally, about 1:00 a.m. as we jibed the main, we picked up a bit more wind and turned off the motors. Now it was time for me to go down to sleep and leave it to the guys until 6:00 a.m.
Thursday, April 2, 2020 Day 2 at sea…
While a few boats have appeared on the chart plotter, we have yet to see anyone except a tanker about 10 miles away. We had to motor sail until midmorning when we finally began to get swells and breeze from the slot between Puerto Rico and Dominica Republic. We were cruising about 9-10 knots when John’s fishing pole got a hit. So, the fun was on. We slowed the boat down by letting out the main and furling the screecher while John fought the fish on the end of his line. After about 30 minutes, Ben took over and we all speculated what we would be having for dinner tonight. Finally, after about an hour of fighting, Ben reeled the fish in only to find out it was a two-foot barracuda. Luckily it was extremely tired and did not fight John as he released it from the line. While we are all a little disappointed that we didn’t catch supper, the guys had a blast and it was a good diversion from the miles and miles of water.
Soon after, we had another diversion when a bird landed on our boat. It looked dazed and maybe hurt in some way. We were not sure, but it didn’t seem to care that we were only 2 feet from it in the cockpit. It then awkwardly hopped up the steps and took off. We thought that was the end of our stowaway, but it came back and landed on the front of the boat. Yet in doing so, it got its wing caught on the lifeline. Good-hearted John donned some gloves and went up to untangle it. John said it bit him but drew no blood. He got the bird untangled but then it fell into the ocean. I was afraid with its hurt wing it would not be able to recover from the ocean swells, and quickly it was gone from view. However, shortly our stowaway came back and sat on top of our bimini. We decided it was either hurt or tired as it settled in and went to sleep. We left it alone to rest.
About 3:00 in the afternoon, we took down the screecher and put up the jib as the wind had moved forward. We were on a close haul with about 16 knots of wind as we flew over the swells at about 10 knots. Everyone napped all afternoon to make up for the lack of sleep from last night. Thus, we were ready for another night at sea after we eating burritos for dinner. We were supposed to get into the doldrums again as the sun sets but maybe it won’t be as bad as anticipated.
Friday, April 3, 2020 Day 3 at sea…
Last night we had some wind but mainly spent the night motor sailing as the wind was light and on the nose most of the night. At first there were some stars, but when the moon went down, clouds and humid funk set in and it became pitch black. Since we were only making 5 knots and we could identify other boats on the chart plotter, the darkness was not as unsettling as when we were barreling into the night without an AIS system.
Around 4:00 a.m., I woke up John from his 5 hour slumber and turned the helm over to the guys and went to bed. The bed felt damp with dew but I didn’t care, I slept until 10:00. I was glad nothing happened much last night so that I could get a good sleep. I took a shower and met the guys on the deck. They were ready for bed and rest as they had been motor sailing in the doldrums for a while.
Ben said our stowaway was still asleep early this morning, but later when he looked, it was gone. So now we just needed to clean up the remnants, that were left behind. I was quite relieved to find that it was not hurt so badly that it couldn’t fly away. That was a very happy thought.
Later in the afternoon while Ben slept, we had a visit from another feathered friend. This time it was a very small black and yellow bird who hung with us for about an hour flying in and out of the saloon, sitting on John’s head or my hand without encouragement. It was not afraid at all. We tried to give it water and bread but it was not interested. It just wanted to hang out.
After a late lunch of hamburgers with sautéed onions and Canadian bacon, Ben went down for another nap before his shift started at 11:00. John and I found ourselves in a shipping lane with one ship after another. We had to continually head down to stay out of their way. When Ben got up, we discussed jibbing to get out of the lane, but the wind shifted enough that we were able to just head down. When John came back on shift with Ben at 4:00 a.m., I headed for bed. Except for light air and needing to motor sail to keep the speed up, it was overall a calm relaxing day.
Saturday, April 4, 2020 Day 4 at sea…
We finally passed the DR and Haiti, but the wind was still not as high as predicted. Nevertheless, the weather was mild with puffy white cumulus clouds dotting the sky. It was a fairly uneventful day as we napped while the seas were not so rough, until we were about 20 miles south of Great Inagua Island. Since we had been running the motors more than we expected, Ben and I began to speculate about how much fuel we had left, and decided we should check the fuel level. Oh my, we were a LOT lower on fuel than we thought! We only had about a quarter tank in each tank. So off the motors went.
We discussed going into Great Inagua for fuel, but with assistance from friends on the mainland, we found that the Bahamas had extended their ban on visitors until Monday. We tried to call Matthew Town Dock just to see if there was any way to get fuel, but there was no answer. So, it was decided that we would need to become just a SAILBOAT and leave the motors off until we reached Key West unless there was an emergency. We had solar panels to keep the fridge and freezer going and we could turn the generator on a little every day to keep the batteries charged and instruments running. The generator takes less gas than the engines. My only worry at this point was crossing the Gulf Stream and wondering if we would need motors to make way. Fingers were crossed that we wouldn’t run out of fuel. The bad part of this was that we would probably not make Key West by Monday night as anticipated unless the wind builds. Humbug! We were all a little bummed!
Besides the fact that we were all bummed that we were still days away from Key West, we were also a little sluggish and tired today. We had gotten into a pattern of John and I taking the first shift from 7-11 or sometimes 7:30-12:00. Then John went to bed from 12:00-4:00 and Ben got up. I stayed up with Ben until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. Then he woke John at 4:00 and they covered the rest of the night. Sometimes I napped while John was driving which helped with my later shift with Ben. However, last night I was unable to nap.
I started out driving around 7:30 just after sunset (we saw the green flash again!), but it was a drifter. We were moving at less than 2 knots. I was afraid that at this rate, we would be drifting into Great Inagua from the current. I told John that if we were still here at sunrise, we were going to anchor in Great Inagua for Sunday and get gas on Monday so that we could run like the devil the rest of the way. However, at 8:00, as we passed the island the breeze began to fill and I had a glorious sail with boat speed of 9-10 knots. When John took over the helm at 10:00 the wind began to clock from 60 degrees to 90 degrees and then less.
Nevertheless, John wrangled with the wind for two hours coming up and then down, and up and down. Finally, as Ben came on shift at 12:00, the wind had become very light. Ben reset the sails and got a little more boat speed. I sat outside and chatted with him, but around 2:30, I began to fade fast because I had not been able to nap during John’s shift. Just as I was going to suggest I go below, the shackle on the main sheet broke and fell to the floor of the cockpit. Luckily, we have both a port and starboard mainsheet. Ben and I solved the problem by using the clasp from some web harnesses that were on the boat, because we did not have a D ring big enough to replace the one that had bent—mind you it bent—it did not break. Wow!
So Ben jerry rigged the mainsheet and I held my breath when he climbed up to attach it. Thank goodness he had his harness on and could tether to the boat. Yet, it still made me very nervous. So far, this fix seemed to be holding—fingers crossed.
Now it was 3 o’clock and I had to go to bed. So I went down and Ben woke up John at 4:00 a.m. to relieve him. However, neither of them got much sleep because of the shifting wind. John said the next morning, with tongue in cheek, that he did not know there were “32 combinations of sail sets.”
Sunday April 5, 2020 Day 5 at sea…
When I got up at 7:30, Ben and I got the sails set for wing on wing and I played with going down as much as I could to get us back on course while keeping as much speed on as possible, which was only 4-6 knots. Finally, the guys were able to rest a bit.
When they awoke, we jibed toward Cuba as the wind had shifted yet again. At least we were still making 5-6 knots which seemed like heaven as opposed to the doldrums we had been in for several days. We all took turns sleeping on and off during the day to recoup from a night of not much sleep.
By late afternoon, we jibed back on a tack that finally was taking us towards the lay line of the Bahama Channel and we began making good way in the right direction for a change. Fingers were crossed that tonight the wind would be a more stable and more restful for us all. Ben was going down early to try to get some extra sleep. John and I planned to man the helm until about 12:00 a.m.
Monday April 6, 2020 Day 6 at sea…
So we all got 5-6 hours of sleep last night and we would have been in high spirits if we weren’t so deflated that we were not going to make Key West today and most likely not by tomorrow. Really no one would care if it weren’t for the responsibilities and obligations back home which were not adequately planned because of the impromptu nature of this trip as a result of coronavirus.
We tried to follow all our friends’ suggestions that we just relax and enjoy ourselves as we are in a far better place during this tenuous time than many of them. We relished each sunrise, moonrise and some glorious sunsets. The moon should be full in the next couple of days. Each night Venus guided us forward with the moon lighting our way. Then when Venus set before us, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars which were embedded in the spectacular Milky Way took our stern to keep us company.
Days like today with baby blue powdery skies containing big white fluffy clouds against a deep blue sea backdrop made you appreciate how lucky we were despite the responsibilities back home that continued to haunt us.
At dinner, we turned on the generator in order to charge the batteries and use the microwave, but it was not on long when it tripped off. It was quite dark at this point, so we decided to just start the engines and look at it tomorrow.
Tonight, we were sailing in a traffic zone beside Cuba, so our sailing area was not very wide and we had to stay out of the middle as much as possible. However, the wind was not very cooperative as it was only blowing about 5 knots directly from our stern. The boat does not love this wind speed or direction. The only thing that would have made it worse was a higher sea state hitting us on the beam. The light wind made for a very long night, as Ben could not sleep because he wanted to continuously adjust the sails. Therefore, except for a few hours of sleep, he was up most of the night with John. I tried to sleep so that I could relieve them when things settled down, but with all the changes of sail sets, there was too much racket. John finally went down about 1:00 a.m. and I got up to keep Ben company. Finally, at 4:00 am, I went to sleep. Ben woke up John at 5:00 and they tagged teamed until daylight.
Tuesday April 7, 2020 Day 7 at sea…
I got up around 7:30 this morning and the boat was glum. We still had no wind. We had been traveling at 2-3 knots for hours with no end in sight. Since we were not even halfway up the coast of Cuba, it was becoming obvious that it might be several more days before we reached Key West. Furthermore, we were all fatigued and ready to be there. Plus, there was the added stress that we might run out of fuel if we continued to have to charge batteries for days on end. We had to run the engines several times last night just to keep going and to stay out of tankers and cargo ships traffic lanes.
So we decided to elicit some help from friends on the mainland to see if we had any options to get fuel. If we could get fuel, we could motor sail to Key West and get there sooner rather than by just drifting along. This would reduce a lot of stress on the boat. We had several friends researching if we could go to Cuba for fuel, how far Tow Boat USA would come and whether the Coast Guard would be any help. To our chagrin, Cuba was out of the question even though we could see her in the distance. It was not legal for us to go there, plus they were shut down because of coronavirus. We talked to a few folks from Tow Boat USA out of Fl., but at this point, we were too far away for them to assist. Also, we were told that the Coast Guard would not be of any assistance either.
We simply had to resign ourselves that this is our fate for the moment. We will continue to drift along for the next 100 miles–which was a long way at 3 knots an hour. Then when we got into the Gulf Stream, we would turn on the engines so that we could overcome the 2 knot current that would be going against us. Hopefully, if we do run out of fuel it would be within reach of someone who could bring us fuel. Ben was still optimistic that we would have enough fuel to get there. I seemed to be the pessimist of the group. John tried to keep things light with his funny dramatizations.
Once the plan was formulated, the guys went to catch up on some sleep and I minded the drift for a while. I guess we were fortunate that the weather continued to be mild, except first thing in the morning when it is hot!. We saw several lighthouses today which was nice. We also heard an explosion on Cuba and saw dust rise from it. We had no idea what it was, but we hoped it was not anything sinister.
When Ben awoke, he checked the oil in the generator as the error light indicated low oil pressure. However, the generator had plenty of oil. So that was not the problem. We hoped that it had shut off because of the sea state rather than a fault with the generator. Nevertheless, at dinner when we turned it on again it gave the same error message and tripped off. I guess that is something they will need to look at once we get to Key West.
Tonight, we continued to drift along and watched for the green flash when the sun was setting and marveled at all the many stars in the sky that kept us company. During John’s and my first shift, we were visited by another small feathered friend. I am not sure what kind of bird it was, but it was gray and yellow, and just wanted to take a ride on our boat. At least it was giving John some company other than the ships in the shipping lane.
Wednesday April 8, 2020 Day 8 at sea…
This morning when I awoke, we were making about 6 knots without engines. So we rode that as long as we could. It seemed like it was taking forever to get to Cay Sol Bank and pass it. We knew that once we pass this shoal, we would be officially leaving Cuba behind and running toward Key West. By mid-morning, the wind began to die off and was on the nose. The guys had figured and refigured whether we had enough fuel to motor our way with one engine on 1200 rpms to Key West. As they started the engine, I sure hoped they were right. We would be going almost straight across the Gulf Stream current on this tack. I hoped we had the fuel we needed to overcome the current, as we certainly didn’t have enough wind.
To send us off from Cuba a pod of 20-25 dolphins frolicked in front of out boat for over 30 minutes. It was a beautiful sight to see and made our day!
We spent a great deal of time today discussing our options once we got to Key West.
- We know we can get fuel but will we be able to get bottled water? We only have about 3 days left of water and we can’t leave for Kemah without it.
- Should we leave the boat somewhere and fly home?
- Should we wait for a weather window next week to leave, or brave the seas and wind and just go once we have provisions?
- Should we navigate the intercoastal so that the guys would have internet and could work some?
These are just some of the ideas we hashed about, but the bottom line was we did not know what we would find in Key West. We had very little contact with what was really going on. Friends tried to keep us up to date through texts, but the information we received was sometimes contradictory and we knew that things were changing minute to minute. Thus, we really couldn’t make any firm decisions until we knew the state of Florida, the Keys, etc. I only hoped that there would be some way to buy some provisions before we could head to Texas.
Each afternoon we seemed to get a little breeze that would take us to sundown, but by 9:00 p.m. the wind seemed to just shut off each night. We were praying that when we got into the Gulf Stream, we might pick up a little more wind.
Thursday April 9, 2020 Day 9 at sea…
When I got up this morning, Ben was working hard to play the almost nonexistent wind. We had been running the engines since 9:00 pm last night. John was frequently checking the fuel tanks. At 10:00 when the wind shut off once more, it was decided to turn on both engines and make a run for it. We are about 25 miles out from Key West and wanted to get there in time to get fuel tonight. However, we do not know if this will happen. Only time will tell….
I took a shower this morning and washed clothes. I ended up having to wash the clothes in the ice chest, because the sink almost dropped when I began agitating the clothes. It looked like a bracket broke off, but it turned out that this was the second bracket on the same side of the sink that gave way. We were not sure if we would be able to get liquid nails in Key West. Meanwhile, we would have to be careful to not put anything with weight in the sink.
Anyway, I had quite the work out washing clothes, emptying water from ice chest, filling with water and rinsing and emptying over and over. I think I should have taken my shower after I washed clothes. Haha! Ben helped with wringing the clothes out and we discussed how this was another part of the cruising life. We have handles in the top of our bimini which made for a nice place to hang clothes to dry even while we were underway.
While making this trip was certainly not planned, it had given us time to really get to know the boat and become comfortable with where things were and where we should put things for efficiency and stowage. While the boat needed some TLC, we were basically very happy with the platform and believe that it would be a nice place from which to cruise and to have friends visit us. There were some things we definitely wanted to change like getting a new stove, different/more batteries and maybe adding a few cabinets.
The other really nice thing about this catamaran was that it would beat to the wind at 40 degrees which was unheard of in most cats. The daggers, come in handy. We put them down last night when we had wind and could hold a close haul with very little problem.
The channel marker to Key West was certainly a welcome sight!! After 9 straight days at sea, we had finally reached the end of this leg of the journey to Texas. We anchored off of Fleming Key about 5:00 pm. The guys decided to take the dinghy to shore to see if any restaurants were offering take out. I settled down to catch up with correspondences to let folks know we had arrived safely. While I was talking with a good friend on the phone, I thought I heard Ben’s voice—it was too soon to be hearing them. So I went outside and there they were tying back up to the boat and breathing heavily.
Come to find out, the dinghy motor would not stay running. So they had to paddle back across the windy channel with current running abeam. They were exhausted and there was not going to be a nice celebratory dinner tonight. Since everyone was now tired, we settled for hot dogs and sandwiches.
We were looking forward to a good night’s sleep without watches—1st time in 9 days. It was hot and sticky and not much breeze which hindered sleeping, but at least no one had to wake up in four hours!
Key West layover
Good Friday, April 10, 2020
Today we have to figure out:
- How to get the dinghy working
- Where to get diesel and boat water
- How to get drinking water and provisioning
Ben and John started out the day attending some work meetings now that they had phone service. John was very stressed about his company and we really don’t know if Ben’s branch of the company will be afloat by the time we get home. Coronavirus has the world upside down.
Ben and John took a look at the motor on the dinghy because we will need it to get provisioning. They discovered that the fuel line had split, as was par for Dream Yacht Charters, they used a fuel line that was too small.
Meanwhile, I was looking up grocery stores that might deliver to the dock as they will only let you on the dinghy dock for 1 hour. Faustos was the only grocery to answer the phone and give us a viable solution. I ordered our groceries and water over the phone and waited for them to call when it would be delivered to Key West Bight Marina which was open for fuel.
Ben decided not to wait until the food was ready to go to the Bight marina. He wanted to go get fuel and see if he could run over to West Marine for a fuel line. So, we pulled anchor and went into the marina. It was not the best of experiences, as the “Dock Nazi” was not as accommodating as we felt he could have been. He said we could only come to dock for fuel, but he finally relented that Ben could run to West Marine for a part. However by this time, we had almost completed fueling so we no longer had time to get to the store and back.
John was filling up the starboard tank with water while I took the trash off the boat. It was nice that they didn’t charge us for trash disposal or water, but when John went to put water in the port tank, the dock manager, said we had been there long enough and turned off the water. Now mind you, there was no one waiting to get on the dock, and he knew we had a long journey to Texas ahead of us. Luckily our port water tank was not very low, but what a jerk!
We left the fuel dock and anchored, because we had to get the dinghy working in order to pick up the provisioning. “MacGyver” Ben problem solved the situation, and low and behold, found some fuel line that was long enough to cut it and use in place of the line that was too small. After a bit, he had the dinghy running. I was so proud and happy at this moment.
Finally, about 4:00, the grocery called and said the food was on its way to the dock. Ben and John jumped in the now running dinghy and went to get the food. I was afraid that since I had ordered 20 gallons of water, they would have to make two long dinghy trips, but amazingly enough they got it all in one trip.
After stowing the groceries, we raised anchor to move out to what we hoped would be a spot with more breeze. We anchored and decided to go ahead and have dinner as I had ordered a roasted chicken and it was still hot. We had lentils, corn and chicken and then…..we had CAKE! I had ordered chocolate cake for John and myself and carrot cake for Ben. Tonight was the celebratory dinner we had missed last night.
Then the discussion began as to whether we could cross the Gulf in the next day or so. The weather was not looking good as there were two back to back storms crossing the Gulf. This was VERY disconcerting to John. He could not just sit for two weeks as he had to get back to his company.
The option of going along the coast for a while, at least to start making way was considered. We all finally decided to leave tomorrow for Tampa. We would weather out the storms there and then make way up the Florida coast. We were hoping that we would find fuel and food along the way when we needed it. Uncertain times make for a serendipity journey. We must adjust and readjust constantly.
Leg 2— Key West to Texas the long way
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Well we left about 10:00 this morning and it took about 2 hrs to get out of the channel. The wind was again extremely light—same song, different verse. We sailed for a while and then finally put on one motor. We basically had motored for 4 hours and only gone about 14 miles. At this rate we would NOT make it to Tampa before the storm. At 5:30 while Ben was napping, John and I made an executive decision to turn on the second motor. There was not a breath of air across the water. We needed to make some way tonight. John and I were about to have an intervention with Ben regarding the Predict the Wind app. It only seemed to be right about 25 percent of the time.
However, as slow go as the day has been, we had a few diversions. We pick up another feathered friend who I think may be with us for the duration. It is a small gray and yellow finch. It made itself at home and loved the remnants of the chocolate cake in the trash. It ate cake rather than the seeds we had left out for it.
We also have some bottled nosed dolphins. They were definitely big, and at first, I thought they were small whales because I only saw one at a time. John then spied several other dolphins circling the boat. There were even a number of man-o-wars floating in the water. Also, John and I had to navigate the biggest crab pot minefield we had seen so far. They were everywhere and went on for quite a ways. Right before sunset, we saw a shark fin stalking our boat, but we didn’t invite it aboard.
Ben tried to the fix our sink that was falling out of cabinet because one brace after another was breaking off, but we didn’t have the needed supplies. So our main sink for washing dishes was now defunct. I suppose I would have to start using a bowl or the narrow 9 by 4 inch sink instead.
We also found that water was leaking down a wall in the port hull. We were not sure what that was about at this point, but we would need to keep an eye on it.
We sailed through the night with our usual watches and, in the morning, we would evaluate whether we needed to duck in somewhere before we got to Tampa because of weather. Tonight, the sea state was totally calm as was the wind. The ocean looked as smooth and silky as an oil slick. When the sun set, we believed we were having an Easter Sunset, because the water became pastel ribbons of beautiful blues, purple and pink. It was simply magnificent!!
Easter Sunday April 12, 2020
The wind finally came in about 4:00 a.m. I had gone down to get some sleep but could hear Ben stomping around and changing sails over and over. I finally popped back up to see if he needed any help and find out what was going on. He couldn’t maintain the course we had been in because of the choppy seas and wind, but he had finally found a sail combination and heading that he could sail without so much craziness. I went around and closed all the window because spray was now coming in the hulls and saloon. This made for a hotter sleeping environment, but I was so happy that we could shut off the motors, sail and finally make way.
After texting some friends regarding anchorages in Tampa, one suggested that we might look at Sarasota as they also had a West Marine and getting onto shore might be easier. We decided to change our destination to Sarasota because that would get us in between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. and it looked like they had some good anchorages in the bay. We also really needed to go to West Marine to buy a shackle for our mainsheet that had broken and maybe some super adhesive to fix our broken sink.
I made egg salad and we had this with crackers as our Easter brunch. That’s about as Easter as we were getting today except for me praying continually.
What a lovely bay we sailed into. Sarasota channel was lined with some very nice homes and some quite expensive high rises overlooking the downtown area of the bay. We decided to pick up a mooring ball at Marina Jacks, which was close to land and would give us access to go to the store tomorrow.
Now sometimes you get to watch the “entertainment” and sometimes you actually are the “entertainment”. Today we were the entertainment for the little park next to the bay where folks were walking and relaxing on Easter. John and I realized that picking up a mooring ball with a screecher and dolphin striker in the way was very different from mooring other catamarans. Ben tried to hold the boat steady in quite a bit of windage while John and I figured out how to get the lines for the bridle out beyond the screecher and bow sprint. Let me tell you it was no easy feat as John had to lasso the line around and then make sure it was outside the dolphin striker. It was part rodeo and part contortionist’s dance. Nevertheless, after fiddling around for about 15 minutes, success—we were moored!! Entertainment was over😊
We decided to order dinner from the marina restaurant which was providing take out. John got a burger, I had fish tacos, which turned to be more like a salad, and Ben ate quesadillas. We also got an order of wings which we can always munch on later. Tonight, hopefully the breeze would continue so that we could all have a good night’s sleep without watches!!
Monday April 13, 2020
Well it was hot and sticky last night but at least I can say I was in bed for at 8 hours. Ben and John did some work this morning. Then we got some good weather info from a friend back in Texas. It looked like we may have a weather window to head out across the Gulf tomorrow. More prayers!
John and Ben left to go ashore to West Marine for some parts and maybe a store to buy me some wine. I have my priorities straight! I stayed on the boat and did laundry and cleaned up the saloon that was looking a little ragged. If we were heading out tomorrow, we would need to get things stowed a little better. I sure hope we get to make the passage as I am very ready to Kiss the Ground of Texas—maybe wearing a mask—haha.
The guys returned from their shopping excursion with 4 West Marine bags, a backpack with wine, and lunch. I think they had a very successful venture. They fixed the mainsheet tackle and got the sink back attached to the counter top. I believed we were ready now to head out tomorrow.
Tonight the bay was so thick with dew and humidity that the boat was wet enough for it to have rained. The sheets were wet and the clothes I laundered were having trouble drying. It was going to be another hot, sticky night.
Tuesday April 14, 2020
It was so hot and calm last night that I don’t believe any of us got the sleep we were hoping to get. Yet, this would not deter us from starting the next leg of our journey home. Ben attended a work-related conference call while John finished up washing some clothes. After completing an engine check we decided that we needed transmission fluid in the starboard engine, and what do you know, we didn’t have any! So, when we went to the fuel dock, John helped us tie up and then high tailed it to the auto parts store, while Ben and I slowly fueled the tanks, filled the water tanks, took the trash to shore and bought ice. We had to give him time to get to the store and back as we were not allowed to just sit at the dock. John made it back in the nick of time.
Here we go, back out into the sea. It was kind of funny, that after such a hot anchorage and knowing we were finally heading home, we were all a little giddy about getting underway. The wind was about 10-11 knots and we sailed at about 6-7 knots of speed. So it was quite nice for a while. John even caught a Kingfish. We were so surprised when we watched John bring in the fish without even a struggle. It simply swam to the boat. John, who is a trained chef, quickly filleted the fish and we got it in the fridge. Maybe our meals won’t be boring after all.
This morning another finch joined us on board and entertained us. Then, later in the evening when Ben went down to sleep, John and I saw dolphins playing around the boat several different times.
Ben came up on deck about 12:00 and John went down to sleep. About 3:30 a.m., I headed to Bed after walking John up to help Ben as Ben was not feeling all that well. He seemed extremely tired. Then just about the time, I was almost asleep at 4:00 a.m., I heard John call out to Ben who had laid down in the saloon. Dang it, the mainsheet tackle had broken again!! This began a very long night for everyone.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
I got up to assist the guys in getting sails down so that they could once again work on the mainsheet tackle. Then about 7:30 a.m. when it seemed that things were back together, I laid down again. Unbeknownst to me, the tackle broke again before I got up about 10:00. This time we reefed the main to see if that would help the situation. The wind and seas were full on by this point. We had 10-12 foot seas and 15-20 knot winds, plus rain showers at times. This was a lot more than we had expected. The guys had had almost no sleep and things were so fluid that even though I kept encouraging one of them to rest, there was not time. Then once again the mainsheet tackle broke.
They decided to steal some shackles from the main halyard in order to fix the mainsheet properly, but this meant going up to the mast and on the bimini. Man, did I start saying some prayers. Especially when it was discovered that our starboard engine might have a fuel filter issue. Only one engine, no main and the guys climbing around in 10-12 foot seas made me terrified. Nevertheless, they persevered and put everything back together and finally at 4:00 p.m. John got to lay down to rest. They had been at it for 12 hours straight.
The seas were too rough for auto-helm, so Ben had to continue to drive until John had a few hours of sleep. I kept him company and helped where ever I could. Then John arose and Ben got to get some sleep. We were all tired and had not eaten much but we needed to get through another riotous night of wind, waves and rain.
Finally, Ben and John got the daggers down a little and the seas laid a bit. We used autohelm, which really helped, because as John came on shift, it began to pour! It was pitch black and there were no other boats around, so at least we could sit under cover in the cockpit and watch the helm on the i-pad. John watched for two hours and then I took over for two hours. At 2:00, Ben came on deck and John went down for another two hours of sleep. I snoozed some in the saloon in case Ben needed any assistance, but when John came back on at 4:00 to relieve Ben, I went down to bed and slept into the morning.
Thursday April 16, 2020
It had been 1 month since we started out on this journey to retrieve the boat. None of us would have believed that we would still be making the journey a month later, but here we were about halfway across the gulf. We were finally heading due west and the wind was mainly off our beam. The sea state was still high at 6 to 8 foot swells, but at least the swells were not 10-12 feet any longer. The wind was mainly blowing 20 knots or below. So we were basically making good time. The only problem was, with the point of sail and the sea state, the autohelm was not working well which caused the guys to have to hand steer. I had planned to practice steering some today, but woke up with a headache and some nausea. Ben had been fighting the same thing since yesterday. We were not sure if it was lack of food, water, sleep or maybe sinuses.
At least the sun was out today and we were sailing in the correct direction. I finally started feeling better. So in the afternoon while John napped, Ben gave me some pointers that were very helpful on steering in these swells. Afterwards, I felt much more confident steering without the autohelm. Just about dusk though, we entered the oil rig zone. I was glad that my shift was almost over because I have learned on this trip that my night vision was almost worthless when it came to lights. Between my eyes being monovision and the cataract in my right eye, lights were just a blur. I couldn’t tell how far away they were or if they were coming or going. Thus, John, for his own sanity, I suspect, he let me drive during twilight, from 7:00-9:00 or 9:30.
I tried to rest while John was driving, because I figured that I would need to be up with Ben most of the night because anyone driving through oil rig roulette would have to be on high alert.
We woke Ben up at 12:00 and John went down to rest. Ben drove until 5:00, trying to give John a little more rest. I dozed on and off for 20 min. at a time, but mainly helped Ben spot oil rigs and tankers that were in our path. The night was pitch black with very few stars and we were clipping along at a good rate. Ben used both radar and the chart plotter to discern the objects in the water and we were lucky enough not to run up onto an unlit oil rig.
Friday April 17, 2020
I will say that the last couple of days have been somewhat of a blur. I think we were all tired and we really, really wanted to be on shore. When I awoke, we were moving along at a pretty good clip under sail. There were still oil rigs around but at least it was daytime and we could see them.
As I came out on deck, Ben said there was a pod of dolphins welcoming us to into Texas. I went to the bow and saw over a dozen of gray and white spotted dolphins with white noses playing in the surf around the boat. There was even a mama dolphin and her baby swimming side by side.
Since the seas had laid, Ben decided it was time to finally see if they could get the starboard engine to work. I manned the helm station while Ben and John gathered the tools and began to diagnose the engine problem. It turned out that there was water in the fuel. So after bleeding the fuel line and emptying the strainer, the starboard engine sputtered to life. That was the best sound ever!
At this point, we had plenty of fuel, so we decided to motor sail for a while in hopes that we would only have one more night at sea. We think we are about 30 hrs from shore. However, the autohelm was still not working, everyone needed to take a turn at the helm while others slept or rested.
Since the seas were amiable, I decided to try to cook the King Fish that John had caught a few days earlier. It was a simple meal of teriyaki pan fried fish and green beans. While we all ate some, none of us ate very much as we were not used to eating a lot at one time. It was a nice change though from sandwiches.
As my shift began at 7:00, it looked like it might rain. Although it was still sticky and hot, I donned my rain gear and vest and manned the station. I guess I was lucky because the rain did not begin until my shift was over. John, however, got quite wet and we all held our breath as we saw lightening approaching from the distance. It began to light up the sky towards the end of John’s shift and I said silent prayers that he would be safe at the helm station. I began to notice towards the end of the shift that John seemed to be struggling to hold the boat on course. He was getting quite fatigued. So, I woke up Ben a little early.
During Ben’s shift, he and I watched what would have been an amazing lightening show had we not been smack dab in the middle of it. We were beginning to believe that someone was trying to see how much they could throw at us before we just gave up! I cannot tell you how glad we were that this was going to be our last night at sea for a while. I hoped all the while that the lightening would not hit our boat and knock out our instruments as we were still dodging oil rigs and anchored tankers all through the night.
By 4:30 when I awoke John, the wind was directly behind us and the guys had to pull in the sails that were just flogging around. It was almost weird trying to sleep with only an engine hum and without all the noise of waves crashing against the hull. If anyone believes that sleeping on a boat sailing through swells and waves is nice and peaceful, they would be sadly mistaken. Below, in the hulls, it basically sounded like bombs were going off, usually in sets of three, as the boat slammed through the waves or they hit the underside of the boat. You also hear the sheets and sails popping in and out. It could be incredibly loud and rough below. Sometimes, it was quieter to sleep in the saloon, but even then, the wake behind the boat was amplified under the bimini into the saloon. There were several times that I stepped outside to see if we needed to reef the sails, only to find that we were only going 7 knots. Outside in the cockpit, it was nice and peaceful, but inside the boat, it sounded like the water was churning up a storm.
Somehow, the guys fought their fatigue by trading off driving and made it until dawn when the starboard engine quit again.
Saturday April 18, 2020
When I awoke, we were under sail power only, but at least we were still moving at a good clip in the correct direction. It looked like we would for sure make it shore by 6:00 p.m. While we were all tired, there was a little more humor on the boat and more of an upbeat feeling. We were extremely happy when we reached the mooring field outside Galveston Bay, where large ships waited for their turn to enter the ship channel.
At this point, Ben decided that once again they needed to see if they could get the starboard engine started, because having two engines would make docking a whole lot easier. They found water again, completed their magic and yay, the engine came to life once more. Now if it will only keep running until we can dock. Finally, Galveston came into view and the Texas shore was such a welcomed sight!
We traversed the ship channel, staying out of the way of the large tankers and ships cruising rapidly up and down the channel. Finally, we reached channel marker 61 and made the turn into the channel for Kemah. Kemah Boardwalk Marina here we come and it looked like we would be there before they closed at 6:00.
The crew at the Kemah Boardwalk Marina assisted us in docking the boat and getting it tied up. They were so nice and told us just to relax and rest. There was plenty of time later to worry about paperwork and such. What a nice welcome back to Texas!! Texas hospitality sure beats Key West hospitality, hands down.
We ordered a steak dinner from Saltgrass at the Boardwalk and the guys went to pick it up. It was sooo delicious, but it seemed like so much food since we had been eating only a few bites at time on the crossing.
We all went to bed early with shore power and air conditioning. It was heaven!
Sunday, April 19, 2020
John was flying out early this morning and our good friend Ron was picking him up at 5:30 and driving him to the airport. I woke up at 5:15 and realized Ben was still in the bed. I thought he was saying goodbye to John. So I woke him up and, oops, everyone had over slept their alarms. Ben got John up and they hustled up to the gate of the marina to meet Ron. Luckily, John made his flight at Houston Intercontinental Airport without a hitch and was finally home to his puppy by the afternoon.
For me, it was first things first this morning, I went to the marina bathroom to take an onshore shower! Wow it was so pleasant, and much to my surprise, land sickness did not seem to be much of a problem. Only a little weaving in the shower was noted.
After Ron took John to the airport, he picked up Deb, his wife and one of my childhood best friends, and they came to the boat. I gathered all the wash including sheets and towels and Deb took me to find a place to get the stuff laundried. Ron and Ben worked on cleaning the outside of the boat.
We could not find anyone who would launder the clothes for us, so armed with masks, we braved the Washateria ourselves. Wearing a mask in Houston, in a laundromat was almost stifling. My hair was dripping with sweat by the time we finished. So much for that luscious shower I had had earlier, but finally all the clothes, bedding and towels were clean and dry!
After Deb and Ron left, we continued to clean until a sailing friend of ours from over at Lakewood Yacht Club stopped by for a visit. He had been basically quarantined on his boat for a while.
As we got ready to go to bed, Ben and I realized that we were alone for the first time in over a month. It was kind of weird. We were really ready to get home to Fort Worth.
Monday April 20, 2020
I spent today tearing the boat apart and cleaning everything and sorting through food to determine what would stay and what would go to Fort Worth. I wanted to leave the boat as clean as possible so that we would not return to critters who had invaded our boat. As first we thought we might not be able to come back for a while because of coronavirus, but our friends had assured us that movement was being less restricted now as long as we practiced social distancing.
About 5:00 in the afternoon, Irene and Bill showed up. They were going to be our ride home. We ordered dinner from Landry’s and caught up on what was happening in the world. We were very excited about the prospect of getting home tomorrow and finally seeing our little dog, Angel.
Tuesday April 21, 2020
Well 1 month and 5 days later, we were finally going to be home. We had a pleasant drive through Houston, which is NEVER the case, but because COVID-19, traffic was light everywhere. We made it home in record time and it would have been quite the exciting event had Ben’s boss not called him 5 minutes before we pulled into the driveway and laid him off. Dang we were finally home and could put our lives back together and now Ben was out of a job!!!
I tried not to panic! Yes, we had gotten the boat, but it needed a lot of repairs and upgrades, plus we still had not closed up our house yet. We thought Ben would work until at least December and in the meantime, we would get rid of stuff and get our house ready to sell or rent. With COVID-19, we cannot have a garage sale as we had planned. So I guess, I will need to learn to sell things online and get with the 21st century.
The good news, I guess, is that Ben will have time to work on the boat and oversee everything. The bad news is that we will be monitoring every penny until we can make our great escape next fall. We pray no hurricane hits Houston this year!!
Nevertheless, we were home, safe and sound and our dog was extremely glad to see us. We are blessed!
