Thursday, May 29, 2014 Miami, FL Tuesday morning I was eating breakfast and listening to NPR when I heard a scraping noise outside on the hull. Climbing topside, I didn’t see Bobby’s boat so I guessed it be Darren from Alibi who I had sold the bicycle to. Sure enough it was. When he was done I thought that it might be nice to invite him and Ann to lunch at the steak and lobster place across the highway from the marina and the community park. Darren said he’d ask Ann, and I was pleased when she agreed. Truth be told was I thought the two hours he spent cleaning my hull were worth a lot more than the price of the bicycle and felt like treating them to a nice lunch might mitigate my feeling of fairness. We agreed to meet and walk over near noon time. Catching up with Darren and Ann we headed across the highway to the air-conditioned restaurant and were shown to a table. While we ordering, Kevin called to tell me he was just fifteen minutes away. I explained to him where we were having lunch, but twenty minutes later he was calling saying he was at the seven mile bridge and hadn’t seen the restaurant. We got it straightened out and moments later he walked in. Introductions were made and we four sat telling stories and laughing while we ate. It was great to see Kevin again. After lunch Kevin and I drove to the market and bought food for our journey. Loading it in the car we drove back to the marina and transferred the stores and Kevin’s bags to the dinghy. A pull on the starter cord and the motor started right up and with Kevin’s help untying the line we headed out to where Kittiwake was moored. Gandalf greeted us when we arrived voicing his usual feline commentary on being left alone. Aboard, we got Kevin settled in and went through a brief orientation covering operating the head, the radio in case of an emergency, and other safety information. Afterwards, with cold drinks in hand we caught each other up on how life had been going since the last time we had been together. As Kevin had to turn in his car at the airport we went back ashore. He headed off to the airport and I went in to the office to check out and turn in my laundry and bathroom cards. I waited for Kevin in the lounge and when he returned I gave him a tour of the facilities. Back aboard we continued our conversation, had salmon which Kevin cooked for supper and because we had lots to do in the morning to prepare the boat for getting underway, went to bed. Wednesday morning we motored ashore to shower and then we walked across the highway to the Stuffed Pig for breakfast. Returning to the boat we got busy hauling the anchor chain out to mark it every twenty feet with colored plastic wire ties. With the two of us working together we got the chore done quickly. Then we hoisted the dinghy aboard and got it secured on the bow. We then gave attention to securing things for sea such as tying down the boarding ladder, gas can, and other things. It was 1400 hours when we started the engine and Kevin cast us loose from the mooring ball. We slowly motored through the harbor until we got to Burdine’s where I bought fuel and forty gallons of fresh water. Pushing away from the dock we cleared to sea at just short of an hour later. Turning east we unfurled the head sail and the mizzen but left the engine running to motor sail as the wind was pretty much on our nose. I decided that we would sail through the night with hopes of arriving in Miami the following afternoon. Kevin and I discussed how we were to stand watches and what to do if one of the thunder storms we could see threatening from the south moved in on us. It proved to be an exciting night navigating between reefs and islands in the dark, tacking to get a better angle on the wind, and dodging shoals. The occasional thunder shower and accompanying wind kept us on edge at times but the beauty of the stars above helped mitigate the exhaustion caused by the tension of battling the elements. I was able to get a couple of hours sleep just before dawn and relieved Kevin at the helm so that he could rest. The seas had calmed a lot and the wind angle improved so I was able to shut the engine off to sail quietly along the coast making the occasional adjustment to the sail trim to coax a little more speed from the breeze. Gandalf had not done well through the night. He spent most of the time hiding in the workshop in one of tool bins. He did, come topside to climb into my lap but his persistent attempts to go out on deck forced me to sternly admonish him several times. He went back below to hide out again. Every half hour or so Kevin would check to see how I was doing and then go back to sleep. We had to reef the sails a few times in the afternoon when the storms came but for the most part it was great sailing. Every so often I’d look over the side to watch the sea bed passing beneath our keel some fourteen or so feet below us. I had decided that we would anchor out in Biscayne Bay just beyond No Name Harbor because after the last twenty four hours of adventure I just wanted to get the hook down and go to bed. That proved to be wishful thinking. As we came to the turn at Cape Florida a storm hit us with too much wind and we had to reduce sails to bring the boat’s speed under control. There were just too many reefs and shoals about to risk it. Once the storm had gone by the wind turned light and variable so I turned on the engine and we reefed the sails. Pushing the throttle forward nothing happened. Put it in reverse; nothing. Going below I could see the shaft turning but for some reason it wasn’t moving the boat. Either the prop had fallen off or the transmission had died. I got on the radio and called BoatUS for assistance. They said they’d be there in forty five minutes so I went forward and dropped the anchor. When the tow boat arrived he couldn’t get us going as the tide had gone out and the boat was aground. Taking his tow line we attached it to the main halyard so that he could tilt the boat on its side by pulling on the top of the mast and free the keel from where it was stuck. That worked well so I made some phone calls to find a place to get repairs, but the place that could best help me was full and we weren’t allowed to take a mooring at Dinner Key marina due to some law about accepting disabled vessels. We found a place at a tug boat landing and ship yard where we could spend the night ten miles up the Miami River in the heart of Little Havana. So here we sit, surrounded by high rise building in the center of Miami, having been towed under eight bridges, wondering if I’ll have enough money to get the boat fixed and worried about what to do if I don’t. Kevin leaves on Sunday and Ernie and Barbara were supposed to arrive on the 9th; shit. Well, this is Captain John aboard the disabled vessel Kittiwake saying thanks for joining me on this voyage. May the winds favor you always
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 11:43:07 +0000
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