Well we left Indiantown Marina on Thursday morning around 9am after a not so quick stop at the fuel dock, the pump was malfunctioning and it took almost a half an hour to pump 31 gallons of fuel. We got a shove off from several new friends with the promise of seeing them down in Marathon in the next couple months.
We began down the waterway towards Stuart and made great time, we were excited about going through our first lock and didn't really know what to expect. I had been through a lock in Port Canaveral but it was only a 1 foot difference, this was 14 feet!
Peyton and Jessica took the bow line and Colby and I manned the stern. After a quick hello against the side of the lock wall we were tied up and ready to lock through. It wasn't a big deal and the kids had a blast.
We continued along and were just about in Stuart when we passed under the I-95 bridge and found a shallow spot just on the edge of the channel. We were motoring and I felt a slight bump, then a larger BUMP as we felt the boat slide up on the shoal, we had officially run aground. Now rather than call for any assistance I wanted to exhaust all other options. I began to work the prop in reverse, then forward while cutting the rudder, had Jess and the kids help me rock the boat while powering etc. Well once we all got in sync we noticed the boat begin to move! We were off the shoal and on our way again.
We continued along the ICW passing the crossroads at the St Lucie Inlet which was a little confusing, however we navigated through it without a hitch. We finally dropped anchor in Hobe Sound and enjoyed the evening in our own quiet, private cove. We enjoyed dinner and rested while the sun set and our first day was in the bag.
About 1am I woke up not feeling well (allergies) and couldn't get back to sleep so I set up the charts, guidebooks and laptop on the table and went to work. I charted our next day and was up until 5am writing down coordinates, waypoints and calculating miles etc. I got about an hour and a half sleep and it was time to hit the trail. We awoke to a view outside that was almost like a canvas painted just for us, had a Tervis tumbler full of coffee made and was punching all my hard work into the Garmin chartplotter. We fired up the engine and were back to work making our way down the "Ditch" (The name people give the intercoastal)
The problem with this route is the amount of bridges you are required to go through requiring you to request an opening and then wait, but actually those bridges are the easy ones since they will open when you call them on the radio. The ones that really slowed us down were the ones that only open on the hour and half hour. They are timed so that a boat going 6kts won't have to wait, which sounds like a great thing, except when going south and fighting the current our boat was only doing 5.4 so it meant every bridge we just missed and had to wait idle 25 minutes or so for the next opening. It really made for a long day as we made our way to Lake Worth.
We navigated into Lake Worth and made our way to the Lake Worth Inlet where we were going to get out of the "ditch" and go offshore for a run down the coast. The weather was forecast to be wind out of the SSE at 9mph and when we got out there that's about what it was. We raised the sails, fell off on a port tack and began the long sail down the coast.
The plan was to sail until just before dark, drop all sail and have Jessica motor along into the evening while I got some sleep. As we sailed along I figured out the Auto Pilot and it was working great, this would make the trip much easier meaning watches were really just looking out for shipping traffic. The kids were enjoying the sites, waves and flying fish, it was a great start for their first time out in the open ocean. If only we knew then what was in store for us..
We sailed along and about 4:30pm I decided to pull the sails down and get a little sleep while Jess took over and just kept an eye out for ships, buoys, markers etc. When I untied the main halyard and gave it slack I expected it to drop into the Mack Pack like it's suposed to, only to find it would not budge. "Oh well I'll just pull it down by hand"... Negative... It was getting dark and figured we could do main sail and motoring and Jess would still be fine for a few hours while I caught up on sleep. I laid down briefly but shortly after I was up again, I felt like I slept for hours but it was barely a an hour.
When I came up I noticed the winds were increased and the waves were a bit choppier and steeper. I got behind the helm and we motored as the sun completely faded. Jess and I sat in the cockpit and took it all in as we sailed along looking at the lights glowing along the shoreline off in the distance. About 10pm there was a dramatic change in weather, with both with wind and waves, and by change I mean a dramatic increase in both. Before I knew it we were clocking 17kts consistently on the meter and here I was with a stuck fully battened main sail in the up position unable to reef the sail or bring it down. The wind had also shifted more to the south and we were no pounding straight into the seas, which makes for a rough ride. At this point the seas had increased to a steady 4 ft but with no time between sets, but we were pounding along. We sent the kids below and told them to get ready for bed, they were out in a few minutes even with the rough ride.
Just before midnight things worsened yet again and I was determined to get the sail down and put on my harness to go forward. I tied myself off and worked my way forward in the dark as the bow punched through the waves like a heavyweight boxer, splashing me wave after wave as I tried everything I could to get that sail down. In defeat I returned to the cockpit and untied myself and began to wonder how this was going to turn out.
While it wasn't ideal we were moving along and were just off the coast of Miami when Jessica went below to check on the kids, just as she was about to come back up the engine began to suddenly power down then died. I made a couple attempts at restarting the engine, even though I knew the effort was going to be futile. After a couple halfhearted tries I put Jess behind the helm and went below to see what I could do. Well after checking the oil, lines, belts etc I couldn't see a problem. The seas were really too rough and working with a headlight wasn't making things any easier.
I came up as Jessica was trying her best to keep the boat on course but things were getting worse yet again. So here we are with the faint lights of Miami in the distance, offshore with a stuck main sail and now a dead engine. Waves were 4 to 6 feet now and the audible sound/roar as they were breaking was not a sound I wanted to hear. After doing everything I could I decided the best thing would be to call SeaTow. SeaTow is a service like AAA where you pay a membership fee and towing, fuel delivery, ungroundings and help are given without out of pocket expense.
I placed my first call for assistance at 1:18 am.
I gave my gps location, nature of emergency, souls on board, all wearing life jackets and any other information she needed. She then put me in touch with SeaTow Miami and that's where the frustration began. SeaTow Miami said I was at a county line and should actually be Ft Lauderdale SeaTow even though we were much closer to Miami. I was then pawned off on SeaTow Ft Lauderdale, who said I should be assisted by the Miami office. "Let me call you back" the women on the phone said as I began to steam. I waited for 15 minutes while I tried my best to keep the boat on course and then made the decision to turn around, run with the wind and make for Ft Lauderdale to solve the jurisdiction problem for them. I spun the boat around and began to backtrack the 20+ miles for Port Everglades.
Even going with the flow, so to speak, the seas were rough and we were surfing down waves far larger than any forecast or weatherman had predicted.
SeaTow finally called back and still didn't have any answers, until I informed them I was already halfway back to Port Everglades. I was put on hold again for 5 minutes, then told "can I call you back?" At this point I'm about done with this whole process but replied with a very short "sure"
We were less than 5 miles from the port when I decided to contact them via VHF radio and hailed SeaTow on channel 16. We were told to continue our way to the port but to stay offshore and not to come in until they had a boat on the way. ETA 45 more minutes. We arrived at Port Everglades around 3am and were fighting the best we could to not get sucked into the Gulf Stream as it tried it's best to swallow us.
Things had reached critical mass at this point. I was tired, beat down, cold, wet and more than anything mad. I was mad at myself for putting my family in this position, mad at the weatherman, NOAA weather radio, Windfinder etc, but most of all plain pissed off at SeaTow. The waves were a consistant 6 feet with an occasional larger wave. We were doing our best to shield ourselves behind a huge cargo ship when we heard a loud roar. We looked to port and saw something white roaring at us, it was a breaking wave from another direction and far larger than the other waves. As we sat there in awe of the backhand the Atlantic was about to give us, we looked up in amazement at the height of this thing. It was as if time slowed down and we both knew this wasn't going to be good. The white water on the top of this breaking wave was higher than the bimini top on the boat.
As it hit we heeled over almost sending the mast into the water before she slid under the boat and it came back to center with a violent tossing motion. I gave another call to SeaTow on the radio and wasn't exactly nice, just as another large, yet not as big wave heeled the boat over. The kids were riding this out below and doing great. At no point did either of them get sick, act scared or seem upset at all. Colby later told us he was listening to the song "Sail" by Awolnation on his Ipod as it lifted off the pillow and floated over his head landing on the other side.
Just as I was at the breaking point I saw navigation lights heading our direction. A small inflatable Zodiac came speeding over and said "Evening Captain, need some assitance?" "YES SIR!".
John (the SeaTow Capt) gave me a bridle and told me I would have to go forward and attach a line to each side of my bow. This wasn't an easy task with the bow dipping underwater with every crashing wave, but it had to be done. I put on my harness, tied myself in and made my way to the mast. I slid along the lifelines as I climbed over the dinghy we had lashed to the deck. I took the lines he threw and began to attach them to the cleats on the bow. As I was attaching the second one I felt the boat dip and my legs were in the ocean, a wave had swallowed the bow of the boat and I was knee deep in Atlantic water. The force tore the second line from my hand and my heart sank as it faded into the dark water. The SeaTow Captain somehow got it to me again and after a couple more tries and a few more dips in the drink the line was secured. He hopped on the radio and said "Captain don't worry, I've got you now"
We talked on the radio as we tried to figure out where to put a boat with stuck main sail. There are very few anchorages or moorings in Ft Lauderdale and we made our way through the channel with our crippled boat in tow. Once inside the weather calmed, protected by the land and buildings. I figured this would be a great time to try again to get my sail down. I went forward and tried again, same result.. "damn" then I had an idea! I had Jess get me a spare line and throw it up on deck. I ran the line through the first reefpoint and back down the other side, grabbed both ends and basically sat and put my weight into it. There was the sound of something popping free, something hitting the deck after falling down and then the best sight ever, the sail coming down. It still didn't exactly fall down, I had to muscle it every inch, but I was able to get it down. I then requested to be towed to the city marina so I could attach to a mooring ball. He pulled us up to it, I hooked it with the boat hook and secured it to the boat. At this point I collapsed on the deck and just sat there for a second.
John tied up to our boat to do the paperwork and we thanked him several times for coming out to get us. When I signed the paperwork I looked at the total, 1,294 dollars! However since I had spent the 169.00 prior to departure for the yearly membership my cost for the tow was 0.00
After he left Jess and I sat there for a minute and I passed out in the cockpit. I awoke and went below to find them all passed out as well. At that moment I realized how lucky I am and what a special family I am lucky to be blessed with. I began to fall back to sleep, securely tied to the mooring ball and listening to the sound of the water lap against the hull as I passed out.
We awoke and I rowed the dinghy across the Intercoastal to the city marina office. I spoke to the dockmaster and signed all the paperwork to stay for a few days. We were talking about the ordeal I just had and he pointed to a large commercial fishing boat that was at the end of the dock "those guys came in too, took a wave up on the fly bridge and knocked out most of their electronics" I made my way over and talked to the Captain, he said from what he could tell the waves were around 6 ft with occasional 8 footers and one that hit them broadside was close to 10. I told him what happend to us and he said "glad we are both here to laugh about it" We shook hands and I headed back to the dinghy to pick up Jess and Peyton.
So here we sit in Ft Lauderdale at Los Olas Marina, safely attached to a mooring ball as I work on trying to repair both the engine and the sail. My main concern is getting the Yanmar 3gm30f running and getting us out of here, even if it has to be via the ditch ;-)
I'll update again tomorrow with the progress I make, if any! Hopefully it will be with a video of the engine running. For now cooking up some chili in the pressure cooker. Nothing like chili in 8 minutes!
Cory
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