I tuned the radio to weather channel 2 and adjusted the squelch, the scratchy voice that came through was forecasting waves of 1-2 feet and winds around 15mph out of the east. Our plan for the day was to head to Key West for some fuel and a Turtle Krawl happy hour. We hadn't intended on motoring as much as we had so the 10 gallons I had brought left me a little leery we would have enough to finish the trip. Key West was around 25 miles to the east and though there was a chance of rain, the weather looked (sounded) good on the NOAA report. We pulled the anchor and once again reluctantly left the beautiful Marquesas Keys.
A couple hours into our trip just north of Boca Grande we saw dark clouds rolling in and it was obvious we were about to get wet. We threw up the dodger, buttoned everything up and just minutes later came the gully washer. Waves weren't bad but the rain was blinding and driving sideways, the rain like pebbles and the wind like the slingshot shooting us in the face. Once again the squall was short lived and only lasted about 10 minutes, we did have a few of these over the next hour or two.
We could see Key West in the distance when I finally got LTE on the Ipad and looked at the radar. What I saw made a knot form in my stomach, a red and yellow cell about half the size of Florida centered on Key West and we were headed directly into the red.
The winds were already picking up when I told Peyton to put on her orange vest. You see the orange vest is reserved for those moments when something bad is imminent. The kids each have their heavy duty type 1 big orange vest with flashing lights, whistle and reflective tape, they know it's not a good thing when they are told to put it on. There is only one thing in the boat worse than being told to put on the big orange vest, that's to put on the big orange vest and grab the ditch bag!
Peyton in her berth staying dry
Just as we reached the north channel the storm descended on us and we felt the temperature drop as it got very dark. The wind increased, the waves built and we were hunkered down ready for whatever was dished out, or so we thought. It wasn't long before we had 50mph winds, driving rain and waves crashing against the hull. I had expected wind, but 50+mph was far more than I was expecting or had ever felt up to this point. We mad the turn into the north channel and the storm threw up a wall stopping us in our tracks. I increased the throttle and my focus shifted from making progress to just maintaining position. It was everything I could do to keep the boat pointed into the wind, I was in a channel without many options but I did my best to hold my ground. At one point the compass on the GPS spun 180 degrees and we were making almost 1 knot,,, backwards.. Colby and Jess peeked around the dodger and kept an eye out for the lobster pots that were littered inside the channel while I did what I could to just steer with the compass. I could see nothing, I couldn't rely on my GPS but knew I could trust my compass. In the past we had experienced squalls but this was no squall, it was a storm and I wondered how this was all going to turn out.
At one point the wind got the best of me and the boat got caught beam (sideways) to the wind. We heeled over hard to the side and I heard things crashing below, I turned the boat hard to starboard but couldn't get the bow back across and into the wind, more throttle did nothing. Finally I fell off a little with my sea room shrinking rapidly and 2ft deep shoal waters around me, I then cut the wheel back and was able to stand her up again as she cut through the wind and waves. Between the current, 50mph wind and waves she still held her ground. For over an hour and a half we fought as the green and red marker of the north channel stayed to our sides. Later I reviewed our satellite tracker only to find that the entire time we didn't move 1000 yds. At this point we discussed anchoring the boat and waiting the storm out but there was still commercial traffic coming in and the visibility was almost non existent. I knew this was going to be a long storm and that something as simple as a clogged fuel filter could spell disaster to our boat, our home and our trip. At this point I decided to call Sea Tow just to advise them of our situation and to see what their status was. I informed them of our current location and told them we could use a little assistance getting into the channel. The dispatcher said it would be about 30 minutes and we thanked her and kept up the fight while we waited for a little boost getting us in.
Sea Tow is a towing service almost like AAA is for cars. They will tow you if you break down, bring fuel if you run out and pull you off if you run aground. We always try to be self sufficiant, kedging ourselves off if we run aground, not running out of fuel and sailing our way in if we break down. However I paid almost 200 bucks for the coverage and it runs out in December so I figured why put the crew through the beating when we can just get pulled the last bit in.
Not long after the winds dropped to around 30mph and we began to make headway, though the current was still ripping. I asked Jess if we should call and cancel SeaTow and she pulled up the radar and gave a resounding "No" there was more yellow and red just minutes away. I had made my way to an area that showed about 15ft of water off to the side and knew I had more room to maneuver if needed, but about that time the flashing lights of the SeaTow boat came pulling up. "Ya'll still need a hand?" the young captain looking at us and then the sky. I said "yeah if you don't mind we could use a hand getting in before round two hits" with that he threw us a bridle and I attached it to the front cleats. The line pulled taut and we began to fly through the water as the captain throttled up the big outboards. At one point we were exceeding hull speed to race the storm with the boat moving 8.2 kts. It wasn't long after we hooked up we felt the winds begin to increase.
We were pulled around Flemming Island and into the city mooring field where we unhooked the towing bridle, fired the motor up and picked up a mooring ball just as the winds clocked up and the rain started. We thanked the captain and headed below to get out of our wet clothes and try to stay dry as the rain beat down and the wind howled outside. The Key West city mooring field is nothing like Boot Key harbor, almost no protection and we were rocking and rolling for hours as the storm moved through. We settled in for the night and relaxed, tomorrow we would head in and do a little exploring, but for the rest of the night we rested, protected from the fury outside and in our own little sanctuary.
A couple hours into our trip just north of Boca Grande we saw dark clouds rolling in and it was obvious we were about to get wet. We threw up the dodger, buttoned everything up and just minutes later came the gully washer. Waves weren't bad but the rain was blinding and driving sideways, the rain like pebbles and the wind like the slingshot shooting us in the face. Once again the squall was short lived and only lasted about 10 minutes, we did have a few of these over the next hour or two.
We could see Key West in the distance when I finally got LTE on the Ipad and looked at the radar. What I saw made a knot form in my stomach, a red and yellow cell about half the size of Florida centered on Key West and we were headed directly into the red.
The winds were already picking up when I told Peyton to put on her orange vest. You see the orange vest is reserved for those moments when something bad is imminent. The kids each have their heavy duty type 1 big orange vest with flashing lights, whistle and reflective tape, they know it's not a good thing when they are told to put it on. There is only one thing in the boat worse than being told to put on the big orange vest, that's to put on the big orange vest and grab the ditch bag!
Peyton in her berth staying dry
Just as we reached the north channel the storm descended on us and we felt the temperature drop as it got very dark. The wind increased, the waves built and we were hunkered down ready for whatever was dished out, or so we thought. It wasn't long before we had 50mph winds, driving rain and waves crashing against the hull. I had expected wind, but 50+mph was far more than I was expecting or had ever felt up to this point. We mad the turn into the north channel and the storm threw up a wall stopping us in our tracks. I increased the throttle and my focus shifted from making progress to just maintaining position. It was everything I could do to keep the boat pointed into the wind, I was in a channel without many options but I did my best to hold my ground. At one point the compass on the GPS spun 180 degrees and we were making almost 1 knot,,, backwards.. Colby and Jess peeked around the dodger and kept an eye out for the lobster pots that were littered inside the channel while I did what I could to just steer with the compass. I could see nothing, I couldn't rely on my GPS but knew I could trust my compass. In the past we had experienced squalls but this was no squall, it was a storm and I wondered how this was all going to turn out.
At one point the wind got the best of me and the boat got caught beam (sideways) to the wind. We heeled over hard to the side and I heard things crashing below, I turned the boat hard to starboard but couldn't get the bow back across and into the wind, more throttle did nothing. Finally I fell off a little with my sea room shrinking rapidly and 2ft deep shoal waters around me, I then cut the wheel back and was able to stand her up again as she cut through the wind and waves. Between the current, 50mph wind and waves she still held her ground. For over an hour and a half we fought as the green and red marker of the north channel stayed to our sides. Later I reviewed our satellite tracker only to find that the entire time we didn't move 1000 yds. At this point we discussed anchoring the boat and waiting the storm out but there was still commercial traffic coming in and the visibility was almost non existent. I knew this was going to be a long storm and that something as simple as a clogged fuel filter could spell disaster to our boat, our home and our trip. At this point I decided to call Sea Tow just to advise them of our situation and to see what their status was. I informed them of our current location and told them we could use a little assistance getting into the channel. The dispatcher said it would be about 30 minutes and we thanked her and kept up the fight while we waited for a little boost getting us in.
Sea Tow is a towing service almost like AAA is for cars. They will tow you if you break down, bring fuel if you run out and pull you off if you run aground. We always try to be self sufficiant, kedging ourselves off if we run aground, not running out of fuel and sailing our way in if we break down. However I paid almost 200 bucks for the coverage and it runs out in December so I figured why put the crew through the beating when we can just get pulled the last bit in.
Not long after the winds dropped to around 30mph and we began to make headway, though the current was still ripping. I asked Jess if we should call and cancel SeaTow and she pulled up the radar and gave a resounding "No" there was more yellow and red just minutes away. I had made my way to an area that showed about 15ft of water off to the side and knew I had more room to maneuver if needed, but about that time the flashing lights of the SeaTow boat came pulling up. "Ya'll still need a hand?" the young captain looking at us and then the sky. I said "yeah if you don't mind we could use a hand getting in before round two hits" with that he threw us a bridle and I attached it to the front cleats. The line pulled taut and we began to fly through the water as the captain throttled up the big outboards. At one point we were exceeding hull speed to race the storm with the boat moving 8.2 kts. It wasn't long after we hooked up we felt the winds begin to increase.
The only photos taken of the entire ordeal during a lull in the storm
We were pulled around Flemming Island and into the city mooring field where we unhooked the towing bridle, fired the motor up and picked up a mooring ball just as the winds clocked up and the rain started. We thanked the captain and headed below to get out of our wet clothes and try to stay dry as the rain beat down and the wind howled outside. The Key West city mooring field is nothing like Boot Key harbor, almost no protection and we were rocking and rolling for hours as the storm moved through. We settled in for the night and relaxed, tomorrow we would head in and do a little exploring, but for the rest of the night we rested, protected from the fury outside and in our own little sanctuary.
I just found your blog via cruisersforum- I am enjoying reading the truth and reality of how it's been. My husband and I are learning to sail and had a 7 year plan, now a 5 year plan that I expect will become a 3 year plan shortly :-)
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