Stopping at Key West and wishing we stayed…
The calm before the storm
We settled in quite a groove with the waves and the generator and the cooking and the watches. Nice. The sunsets are beautiful, the conversation interesting, and helpful toward making this a better blog. We stopped in Key West for refueling because the battery charging situation and the lack of wind forced a lot of motoring and / or generating. The sea was getting choppier, too, especially at night. Came into Key West on Tuesday morning, 11/17, and had to basically fill up both tanks, about 90 gallons.
Amber adjusting fenders in preparation for fuel dock approach
While docking for diesel, this attendant knew what we were in for….
All was well, with a warning from the operator - "you are going to get battered going up to Sarasota today", he said. The weather was calling for 20-25 kts and 8-10 ft seas. We felt confident that we could motor on, but we should have known better….
A long, harrowing and howling night
After leaving Key West, the wind seemed a little higher, but bearable. The video shows Carlos and Graham adjusting the reef before we left the "protected" harbor. Instead of heading for Marco Island, we opted for going straight to Sarasota. The waves and the pounding got worse and water spray was constantly coming over the bow. This led to a few issues - instrumentation was getting soaked, salt water was deteriorating the communication instruments, the panels inside the salon and bathrooms let go from their velcro mounts and starting at the beginning of a very soggy and tumultuous night, the autopilot failed.
Yikes - this was much more chaos then our small vessel could handle: no autopilot, constant pounding from the wind and waves, water pouring in from every hatch. When Carlos got up for his watch, Graham did not relinquish the helm. Amber was in full support mode - keeping him dry, awake and fed - also bailing the water out of the bathroom. Graham continued to sail on for the 40 miles to Marco Island in this weather, over 10 hours, until we headed into a safe haven. Fighting cold salt water spray, disabled autopilot and fatigue, Graham kept going and we reached Rose Marina at Marco Island at about 6:45 in the morning.
Our tracker failed in the weather, leaving our followers to think we had stopped out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. But, it was the failure of the satellite tracker itself, fortunately, not us going down.
Adjusting the sails, we should have seen that the wind was unmanageable.
Safety, Rest and Repair
Two things we all really needed, one thing the boat needed.. By 7am on Nov 18, we stopped at the Rose Marina on Marco Island to wait for fuel and to decide on a course of action. Time for a team meeting. The autopilot needed attention, the port side had considerable water, and we were all feeling a bit defeated. Graham needed rest. Called around and found a slot at the Factory Bay Marina and we signed up for a 3 day stay.
After some troubleshooting, a bite to eat and little reflection, Graham went to sleep and the rest of us cleaned up. The panels were replaced on the ceiling, having fallen due to the constant pounding (velcro). The autopilot did not have an electrical, but a mechanical issue. The sprocket that held the drive chain had fallen off, along with the chain. Luckily, it did not fall into the hull of the boat, but landed on a board at the bottom of the instrument panel. Note to self & Carlos: close up that hole!! The hatches on the port side are in need of additional sealing at the deck. We suspect that when the fiberglass work on the deck was done, the sealant was not replaced. There was minimal leakage on the starboard side, so we won't know how to fix it until we remove the hatches. Later, we found that the seal around the glass was in need of replacement. While we were docked, Carlos did a trial on the rear hatch over the outside table. He totally removed the hatch, and we found substantial rotting of the balsa. at the hatch cutout. He inserted some fast drying adhesive after cleaning out the rot. This would be a project to address while we were docked in the slip. After those items, cleanup, laundry and drying out Graham's cabin and mattress after he woke was the main topics addressed.
