Return Voyage - Days 1 and 2 (Marathon to Port St. Lucie)

8-4-2015

I woke early in the morning to finish preparing the boat for sailing offshore. I had a few hours before departure. I was waiting for high tide and the small tasks helped keep the pre-departure jitters to a minimum. Once the tide is high enough, I will go to Keys Fisheries' commercial dock to fuel up. I don't plan on using much diesel on this trip, as the majority of the trip will be offshore sailing. It would be foolish to leave without full tanks, though. I added 25 gallons diesel fuel. 15 additional gallons are stored on deck in jerry cans.

Distant Horizon is located on the north-side of Marathon. That is, the Gulf of Mexico side. I could take the ICW (intracoastal waterway) to Key Largo and jump out into the Atlantic there. That route would be shallow (7-10 feet) water, and I would have to motor the whole way. Instead, I will go back to the Moser Channel and pass under the 7-mile bridge; reversing the route I took this spring to get into the Gulf.

Approaching the 7-mile bridge and the Atlantic Ocean

The plan is to head out to the Straits of Florida and catch a ride on the Gulf Stream. I will go faster, but I need good weather.

The moon will rise around midnight tonight, giving good nighttime visibility. This will be short-lived, though. The moon rises almost one hour later each night. In just a few days, most of the night will be dark. If the skies are clear, the stars will be amazing. If the sky is cloudy, it will be a very, very dark night.

At 10:45am, I departed Keys Fisheries. The winds were light. I opted to motor to the Straits of Florida. That way, I would not have to fight a headwind. It was a clear, hot day. I did what I could to create more shade; like put up the bimini cover, and the dodger window covers.

All the angst was gone now. I was underway! Distant Horizon was sailing smoothly around 5 knots, in the Atlantic Ocean, heading  southeast for a meeting with the gulf stream. The sun was about to set. I was sitting in the cockpit with a slight breeze, eating Lemon, Basil Pasta for dinner with buttered sliced carrots as a vegetable. It was a very relaxing time.

I was happy to see this first sunset

It's hard to believe, this is the same sunset take a few seconds later. I simply zoomed in.

First sunset on the Atlantic Ocean

A short while after the sun had set, I found the gulf stream. According to the GPS, Distant Horizon was going about 8 knots. Speed can get confusing at times. Since the wind and weather had not changed, Distant Horizon was probably still doing a little over 5 knots through the water. That, with about 3 knots of gulf stream current meant we were going about 8 knots as the GPS measures SOG (Speed Over Ground). The important thing to remember is Distant Horizon's hull speed. That is the theoretical maximum speed the boat can travel through water. After that, she would start to get out of control, sliding and skidding. Distant Horizon's hull speed is 7.4 knots. So, we were at a good safe speed. This is just what I had hoped for.

All my expectations were met this first night: sailing fast; beautiful starry night before moonrise; good visibility after moonrise; fair weather.  A perfect start!

Around 9pm, a thunderstorm was building behind me. I kept a close look on the lightning and tried to judge it's distance. There was no thunder. Without rain, I couldn't see it on the radar. Another thunderstorm started up to the east. NOAA weather radio reported the storms as moving slowly to the northwest. If nothing changed, they would cross our wake, well behind us.

8-5-2015

Around midnight, I hailed Sunshine State; an oil tanker headed for Tampa, FL. He said he saw me on AIS about 21 miles out, which is very good. He had all the information from AIS and referred to me as either "captain" or "Kevin".  He said at about 6 miles out, I popped up on his radar with a very strong signal. He said he watches sailboats because they can tack and change course abruptly. He has been watching me for 20 miles and the boat held it's course +-5 degrees.  He was shocked that I do not have an autopilot. The steering was being handled by the Hydrovane, wind vane steering system. He said he figured I had a hydraulic system and even then, my course would have been excellent. Before signing off, he informed me that I had indeed outrun the thunderstorms behind me. The storms were turning more west now.

Having an AIS transponder is really important for offshore sailing. Not only can the ships see me on their chart plotters, I can see them and get their ship's name. This is how I knew the name when hailing the ship. Of course, the ships can see me on their radar... once they get close enough. With the AIS transponder, they can see me from a greater distance, which adds a margin of safety.

The picture below shows the shipping traffic near Key largo. White triangles are other ships. I am the block symbol in the center.

Plenty of shipping traffic

I was getting tired. It was 2am. I could see four ships, which meant they were all within 8 miles of me. I had no idea how many more were over the horizon. To help stay awake, I decided to call-up Orion on the VHF radio. Orion was a cargo ship passing me on my port (left) side about 4 miles away. We talked briefly as he pulled away.

Around 3am, the winds just died. About 10 minutes later, they came back again. I was about 15 miles southeast of Key Largo.

For some time now, I have been watching a ship directly behind me. He was slowly catching me. Distant Horizon has a radar system. I can see the ships 15-20 miles away with radar and 10-15 miles away with AIS. I was a little concerned, because this ship seemed to be on the same course as Distant Horizon. I hailed him on the VHF radio. The ship's name was Seaboard Atlantic. He said out CPA (Closest Point of Approach) would be one mile. No worries, I had a strong radar signal. He planned to pass on my port side. ...and he did... at exactly one mile away.

By mid morning, I was passing Miami, which was actually within view.

Miami

I could hear the deep rumble of the thunder. Ft. Lauderdale was getting some huge thunderstorms. I just hoped it stayed over there. The weather forecast is the same for the next 5 days: hot, sunny, scattered thunderstorms after midnight, isolated thunderstorms early morning. This is the forecast I would hear from Miami to Jacksonville...

Ft. Lauderdale on the left

10:45am, this thunderstorm was overtaking me and coming out to sea. The winds died. I saw a gap between this thunderstorm and another. I started the engine and went for the gap; hoping there was strong winds on the other side, which is the typical case. As I motored with no winds, I set two reefs in the main and furled (rolled up) the jib; preparing for strong winds.

This big storm dissipated before I reached it. Still, no wind and there was that other thunderstorm to contend with. I kept motoring. I had some very heavy rain, loud thunder in the distance, but no lightning nearby. By 1:30pm, the winds picked up. I shut the engine off and was sailing again.
The rest of the afternoon was hot, blue sky, light wind, fair weather and sailing fast (8.5 knots). I was okay with that.

I found the apex of the gulf stream! This is the fastest flowing water. Distant Horizon is now doing over 9 knots! That's SOG, gulf stream plus boat speed, since we are going in the same direction.

Best Speed ever for Distant Horizon!

At 6:30pm, the winds dropped completely. I was still going 4.5 knots thanks to the gulf stream. So, I dropped all sails and took a nap; happy with the progress I was making. The winds stayed very light until after midnight.