Windy Marco Island and Gulf Crossing

3/3/2017

We had an extra long day today that started at 3:00 a.m. when Clark was awakened by the movement of the boat due to heavy winds. He checked the anchor position using the phone app “Drag Queen” and concluded that we may be drifting. He came an woke me and said, “I may need your help” as he ran back up to the pilot house to evaluate the situation.

With an allowed range of 200 feet and the current display showing we had moved over 100, Clark expected the anchor alarm to go off momentarily. I watched out the pilot house window waiting for signals to start moving the boat that never came, but after checking the anchor, Clark decided to let out more line because he did not like the “scope” / angle of the line.

We have a lot more chain on Sunset Delight than we ever had on Sea Moss. Clark surmised that when the strong winds pushed us along, the chain piled up on the bottom of the anchorage stretched out thus showing our change in position. Given the “all clear” signal from Clark, I stumbled back into bed.

Knowing the winds would continue to build over the course of the day, we decided we better leave our anchorage as early as we could. Even though we were up at 7:00, we did not get on our way until 8:30. The wave height predictions for crossing open waters today was not good – 4-to-6 feet waves along the shore building to 6-to-8 feet offshore.

Fortunately, Sunset Delight is built to take it. Although this boat has stabilizers to help with beam seas, today’s waves came at us from just off the bow. We had a lot of up-and-down motion as we climbed a wave and dropped into the following trough. The big bell, named Wilhelmina from our boat’s previous name, rang out loudly when we hit a big trough. Clark called them “Bell Ringer” waves.

Once again we found the crab traps obscured by the waves. Consequently, even though we tried to be very diligent in observing the water ahead, occasionally a set would suddenly appear. I got very lucky at one point when one suddenly appeared beside the boat. Thank goodness that was not under the boat and wrapped around a prop!

Rough water did not seem to interrupt the dolphins from coming out to play. I saw several in the distance jumping through the waves, and then later, four of them came near to look us over.  We could not see the other three, but one jumped out of the water beside our boat.

Dolphin Jumping by Boat

Sunset Delight got coated in sea water on this trip. The winds sustained 25 knots with gusts to 30 or 35 knots. Some of the resultant salt spray rose high enough to reach the instruments and us sitting on the flybridge at 20-something feet in the air. I tried to capture a good spray picture but failed miserably. Looking at the picture below, one can see the compass is wet, the windows are covered in salt, and spray is shooting up albeit only on the lower deck in this shot.

Spray on bow while crossing the Gulf

Our first waypoint of the day registered a three-hour leg of the trip. I thought we would never reach it. The next point after that added another hour to the journey. The monotony of the trip and the constant rocking motion of the boat made us sleepy as we watched the waves and looked for elusive trap markers.  However, ducking the salt spray, drying our seat and faces, and hearing the “DING” of another “Bell Ringer” wave brought us back to alertness every time.

For the past several days we had hot and humid weather. Where yesterday I wore shorts and a thin shirt and felt hot, today the cold breeze forced me into long pants and a wind breaker to ward off the chill. Sometimes when I saw the spray coming, I huddled closer to Clark in an attempt to stay warm and dry. When we finally got to the Cape Coral inlet, the temperature rose as our direction changed relative to the wind. The waves and spray quieted and amazingly we found other boats out on the water.

We stripped off our jackets and enjoyed the view.  Immediately, we spotted some interesting vessels on the water.

Odd floating house - covered in mannequins 

Same odd house, different angle

Coast Guard at work on channel markers

Clark planned to anchor again tonight, so we followed the channel markers taking us in to the anchorage. We noted as we made our approach, however, that it was still early afternoon. This made us reevaluate our plan. We could go further although the thought of more time on the water today did not thrill me, we could anchor as planned, or we could find a marina to get electric and work on the generator problem. We decided on the latter.

We turned off to follow the waterway towards some marinas shown on Active Captain. Immediately, the depth starting dropping and pretty soon we were churning up sandy water with our props. Clark maneuvered the boat to backtrack to look for deeper water and get us out of trouble. As we moved ourselves out of harm’s way, I saw a trawler-sized vessel coming our way.

Clark and I both had the same idea – watch where he goes. As he passed by us, he signaled that we should follow him, and that is just what we did. He led us safely through the tricky waters.

Nauti Anchor leading the way

Cape Coral

Cape Coral

Cape Coral

The marina we found that had the best price per foot of boat was back in down what looked like a set of lagoons. We snaked our way in and found the fuel dock and Rumrunner restaurant shown on Active Captain but not the marina. What we found instead was a wee tiny lock – the smallest I have seen.  It appeared that the marina we sought sat on the other side of this small lock.

Clark suggested I ask at the fuel dock if they had a place to tie up for the night. They did not. When Clark called the restaurant to see if they had overnight docking, they said no and gave him a phone number to call. That number led us to the marina on the far side of the lock. We had no choice, if we wanted to stay the night at a marina, we had to traverse the lock.

As we sat talking to the dockmaster about accommodations for the night, a boater asked if we waited for the lock and then snuck past us to enter the lock.

One-boat-at-a-time Little Lock

After he passed through, it was our turn.  As we watched the smaller boat navigate the lock, I wondered if the width of the lock would accommodate Sunset Delight’s 17 foot beam. Approaching the lock when we got the green light, I realized that we would have enough room widthwise.

Although I worried about width, I never thought about length! We just barely fit. I had to tell Clark to pull the boat in further as when he stopped his forward motion, the stern precluded the closing of the gate. I knew he thought he was “in” because he was waiting for me to grab the line while I was waiting for the next one further in.

The rope tied to the lock wall was no more than 4 or 5 feet long. I knew we did not have far to go up or down. I grabbed a line as Clark moved forward enough to squeeze us in.  Immediately after we moved up the few feet required, the gate closed behind us.

Tight fit in the small lock at Cape Coral

When we pulled out of the lock, we had an audience watching us. I directed Clark I could see both sides of the boat easily by scurrying back and forth across the bow of the boat. “Move to port. Move to starboard. Get your port stern away. …” We exited without ever touching the walls once. After we completed our maneuvers, the folks on the dock gave us a round of applause and said, “Well done!”

We found a transient slip with 50 amp power and tied up for the night. Sunset Delight had a coat of salt on her from bow to stern. We saw no point in putting the instrument covers on with salt all over the display screens. I headed for the hose, a bucket, and sponge to start working on salt-removal duty.

After two hours of washing the boat, I had the worst of the salt removed. Since I really only rinsed the boat with fresh water and no soap, the boat needed more serious attention. I met my objective of being able to touch the boat without coming back with a handful of salt, and it looked a whole lot better than it did before I started.

While I hosed the boat down, Clark made reservations for our next stops and took care of other essential duties. When we had completed our self-assigned tasks, Clark decided we should work on the generator since that was part of the reason we stayed at a marina. We had a very early lunch, so we had a cheese-and-crackers snack before starting that work.

What a nasty job it is to reach the part of the generator that needs to be worked on. As thin as he is, Clark had to struggle to wiggle in behind the unit to service it.  I felt like the nurse in the operating room to Clark’s surgeon. He stuck his hand out periodically to hand me items or collect tools from me as he requested them.

Kneeling or squatting down on the engine room floor, my body complained at the various poses I used to try to get more comfortable while I helped Clark. Seeing what he was dealing with though, sitting on the prop shaft while straining to reach the back of the generator, I had no grounds to complain about my situation.

Getting ready to do Generator work

Squeezing in behind the unit

The rest of him is somewhere back there

When he removed the back panel of the generator, he asked me for the camera and took a picture of the mess he found back there. Whoever serviced it last, left rags, tools and loose screws inside. He handed me the camera to see the mess and said, "This is how a professional does the job".

 Junk found inside the generator unit

Clark disconnected the alternator for the generator, so it cannot charge itself and therefore overcharge itself. He tested to make sure the generator still started and put the covers back on the unit. After we finished the generator job, we enjoyed what Clark called a “fast food” dinner. To him that is leftovers, to the rest of the world, that is McDonald’s!

Somewhere between all the goings on, he still managed to remember to run out for the sunset picture of the day.

Sunset reflected on the buildings of the marina

Harbor at sunset

I finished the day by working on my blog and baking Clark one of his favorite desserts – Applesauce Cake. We have another long day on the water tomorrow as we start our move across Florida to reach the east coast. Instead of making up for lost sleep from last night's anchor "fire drill", here I sit watching the Late Show while I work on my blog.