Log of Heathen: New Orleans to Fort Myers 8/6 Left NO @ 745 pm after paying respect to Neptune. Fair winds from the south brought us under I10 bridge to the channel connecting to the rigolets exit of Lake Ponchatrain. Chris (First mate) and Robin (captain) departed loaded down with fishing equipment. Planning a cruise of the Chandelier Islands before heading west to Panama City. Expected arrival sometime Friday or Saturday. No one else has the stupidity to accompany us during the hottest part of summer in the middle of hurricane season. Hurricane Barry just made landfall in Panama City thank god. We sailed under fair winds until about 1 am when we made anchor about 1 mile west of the Hwy 90 rig bridge. Spent a night tossing and turning sleeping on deck ill equipped. Chris and I are getting along great but how long before we start killing each other? After extensive boat yard work everything is holding up well. The head smells like roses. No fishing, no catch. 8/7 Tuesday Weighed anchor about 7:30 am and made for the rigolets. Sailed the entire channel excluding bridges and for short periods to charge the batteries. Great winds out of the south moved us along at 5-6 knots under jib alone. We made Lake Borgne by 930 am. We began trolling at around 10 am, two spoon/ jig duster rigs and hooked a Spanish mackerel at about 1100. We discovered him surfing behind us at about 6 knots. Upon reeling him in the hook pulled free of his mouth and we lost him. Chris is pissed but is now digging through a monstrous box of fishing tackle and talking of Marlin (which we are equipped for). I am scrubbing the deck for about four hours; Chris is at the helm mostly. We dodged a few thunderstorms from 1000 to 1300 before finally getting chased down from behind by a massive system. We thought we could slip it but it eventually overtook us. We had an unnerving moment getting the main down (2nd reefed) and bringing in the jib during an explosion of wind we guessed at approximately 30 knots. We finally brought them under control and motored through the storm about 120 degrees southeast headed for the Chandeliers after slipping through the tricky Cat Island pass. We spot many shrimp boats (25 to be exact) between Chandelier and Cat Island. Several porpoise swam over in an attempt to ride our bow wave to no avail. 4-5 foot seas from the south plus 3-4 from the southwest made for a bumpy ride for the 25 miles to Chandelier. We were hit by a few more showers on the way out also. We caught a 2-pound Spanish mackerel, which was iced and filleted after homage was paid to the gods. Had a great dinner anchored just south of the northern islands of the rigolets. Of course one more shower had to wreak havoc on us before we could sleep. Lots of lightning in this one. More showers and lightning in the night. We both slept in the steaming cabin until about 11 pm. Then I ventured on deck and slept a soggy night. 8/8 Wednesday We woke up at about 6 am and planned on kayaking into Chandelier for some fishing and exploring. Nice and calm anchorages are worth their weight in gold. Only problem is lightning all around and several large T storms. We are just about to weigh anchor and run before the storms when we decide you only live once. Kayaked into the islands, Chris took an accidental swim. As we approached shore we realized that a large Storm was bearing down packing 30-knot winds. We put some water in the yaks and beached them and tried to find a spot where we weren’t lightning rods. This is a major challenge in parts of SE Louisiana. We ended up taking a cold rain shower lying face down in the sand next a few yards away from the highest points on the island, some 3-foot sand dunes. We were pelted with rain for 45 minutes and had several close calls with lightning. After the storm we spit the sand from between our teeth and started wandering. Great shells on the island. I caught a 2-½ pound skipjack right near shore. We kept it for cut bait. After listening to more thunder from the west we decided we had enough of the Normandy beach treatment and paddled back to Heathen. We headed east under jib alone cruising about 5.5-6 knots. Immediately started fishing. We caught several Bonita, took advantage of some photo ops and released most. Saw some incredibly large and active schools of Bonita near some oilrigs in about 80 feet. Later in the evening hooked two large fish, lost both. One broke a swivel, the other slipped off the hook. We sailed all night past mobile towards Pensacola about 20 miles off the coast. 8-10 knot south winds allowed us to sail comfortably all night. We took two-hour shifts and slept on deck in between. The two-hour naps were gone in a blink while the two-hour helm shifts lasted forever. 8/9/01 Thursday We began fishing around 6 am and headed out to the deep water shelf off of Pensacola/ Destin. Trolled all day to max depths estimated at about 400 feet. Ran into a few ugly squalls, which drenched us pretty well. We found a few tide lines with grass/ debris and could see dolphin (fish) but were unable to coax any to the hooks. Great west winds especially around storms ticked off the miles. We saw two giant sea turtles, estimated shell diameter about 4 feet. Both were orange in color, we thought sea turtles were green? We didn’t have much luck in deep water so we headed back towards the shelf, finally getting there around dark. Hooked a small dolphin (fish) that declined our photo op offer, slipped off the hook and fell into the water. Gotta hate when dinner swims off. Time to assume the despised two-hour watches as the moonless night blankets us. As we discussed various ways to ward off the standard hallucinations and quick dozes, a school of about 10 light gray dolphin (mammal) put on a dazzling display as they chased flying fish off the bow, swam under the boat and did some amazing aerial stunts. They must have known we didn’t catch any fish and were hungry because they chased a flying fish right up on deck. We tried to catch it but it eventually wriggled overboard to freedom. They stayed with us for about two hours, and then left as soon as it was my turn at the helm. We agreed that it was the most amazing thing we had ever seen. We sailed on until 7 am when we reached the entrance to St Andrews bay and were nearly killed by no less than 5 charter boat captains who completely ignored the rules of the road. We docked at Panama City Marina weary and sleep deprived and took much-needed showers. One only truly values civilization after living in deprivation. 8/12 Sunday Have to solo the rest of the trip to Fort Myers, Chris has to get back to work. After waiting out several showers and T storms at dock I left about 10 am. Headed South to Apalachicola bay to spend the night. Light variable winds made me motor sail about 50 % of the time. Here are the calm winds everyone promised me this time of year. The yanmar runs like a champ. I hook a Spanish mackerel around 1pm. Several dolphin (mammal) accompanied the boat all day. Rounded San Carlos around 5 pm and headed south east to try to knock off a few miles for tomorrows big crossing down to St Pete/ Clearwater. My mast is just too tall for the fixed bridges on the intercoastal. Had a nice dinner and anchored in about 30 feet of water, which was fairly well protected. The winds came up a little better after nightfall. A really bright moon lit everything up pretty well. I can see T storms all around but none were coming my way luckily. Got a nice view of a shrimp boat at about 2 am that cruised near my location. Other than that a pretty good nights sleep. 8/13 Monday Awoke around 6 am to head southeast to Tampa. This is the scariest part of my journey. I will be 50-70 miles offshore for most of the 160-mile crossing. I have a cooking timer to sleep in 15-minute increments. Nice winds from about the time I lift anchor until I get the sails up. Then it dies. I motor sail probably 90% of the time, and very little of it is sailing. Trolled the Wahoo waster and 2 spoons. About 3 miles out of Apalachicola I hooked something big on a spoon. I looked back and saw a big swirl before it straightened the hook out and got off. Must have been a nice fish cause it didn’t bite through the monofilament and steal the lure. I can see schools of Spanish mackerel all around. There is so much seaweed in the water that I can’t keep it off of the lures for more than 5 minutes at a time. Finally around noon I give up on fishing for a while. Several schools of Dolphin (mammal) swam along with the boat. I actually worked on my statistics homework for a while. I must be the first human being ever to do statistics 60 miles out to sea. That puts me right up there with Slocum, Magellan, etc. Around 6pm I hooked something HUGE on the Wahoo waster. As I slowed the boat after increasing the drag to set the hook it got off. This thing peeled line off of the rod so fast I don’t think there is any way I could have handled it myself anyway. Would have been nice to see what it was though. I reeled in the lure to find a bite mark in the rubber lure but no damage done to the monofilament leader. I think I need to try actively setting the hook from now on. Reeled in all of the lines (and seaweed) at dusk and got everything prepared for nightfall. The moon rose really late so it was pretty dark until 1 am. I didn’t see another boat since about noon but was worried about freighters from Tampa. About 9 pm I started the cooking timer at 15-minute intervals. The wind was blowing about 2-5 knots so I left up all canvas. After the 2nd or 3rd interval I woke up dazed and confused thinking we were overpowered and groggily pulled down the main. I was doing about 3 knots under jib through the night. Woke up several times to Dolphin swimming alongside the hull. About 2 am with a little more moonlight and really calm winds I put the main up with a reef (just to be cautious). I shook the reef at about 4 am. I woke up at 6 and cranked up the engine since there were very little winds. Where are the 5-10 knot southwesterlies promised by NOAA????? I dread the thought of another day of motor sailing but decide it is better than a day drifting. 8/13 Tuesday Start fishing around 7 am. There is a ton of seaweed everywhere. I set out a line, wait for enough seaweed to build up to start pulling the drag and then reel it in and clean it off. This process had to be repeated about every 15 minutes on each rod. Finally around 10 am I give up and bring in all the lines except one spoon. I am in about 90-100 feet of water and the water is really blue. There are schools of fish breaking the water sporadically, but there is just too much grass. I do another stats assignment, and then take a butt naked bucket bath on deck. Has to be one of the greatest feelings on earth. The winds are really poor and I motor a lot. I pull in to Clearwater FL at around 630 pm. I am really glad to be done with this portion of the trip. I try to fuel at Clearwater municipal harbor, which closed 20 minutes ago. Transient slips are 1.05 per foot but since I fried my thermostat on my a/c I decide to anchor. There are many dolphin in the harbor. I kayak into Clearwater around 8pm to grab some dinner and call and let loved ones know I am alive. End up getting great nights sleep in the calm and protected harbor. The only time I wake up is when I hear a coast guard boat entering harbor at full speed right outside of the protected manatee area to fuel up. As they are leaving at full throttle they hit something. I only hope it wasn’t a manatee. I hear one of the crew say “Did you see it?” A nice breeze starts blowing out of the west pretty much as soon as I enter the harbor. Hope it lasts till tomorrow… 8/14 Wednesday I fill up with a whopping 6 gallons of diesel (I thought I was way drier than that) and leave port about 7 am. I make small talk with the crewman on a charter fishing boat filling up next to me. I over hear his bill total at 200 bucks. God bless diesel. I get out of harbor and unfurl the jib and raise the main second reefed. I am flying along at 7 knots. Several squalls move westward as I go down the coast. I get overpowered a bit in one and have to furl the jib in a hurry. I start trolling a spoon around 10 am. I am heading south from Clearwater past Tampa toward Ft Myers. If these winds hold up I may sail all night. NOAA predicts lots of T storms tomorrow and there is some activity in the tropics. After the squalls break I shake the reef and have a great day of sailing. The boat is absolutely flying. I top her out at 8 knots and am so glad not to be running the engine. The autopilot has some trouble every now and then due to the big following seas so I spend most of the morning and early afternoon at the helm, which was delightful. I catch a really nice Spanish mackerel around 130 pm. After that I start pulling in Spanish mackerel one after another. I let all but one go after taking some pictures. About 4 pm I caught about an 8-pound king mackerel that slipped off the hook and got away as I was trying to take a picture. The winds hold up through the evening. I stay within 5 miles of the coast most of the way. It is disheartening to see that so little of the western coast of Florida is undeveloped. I decide to take advantage of the favorable conditions and sail on until about 1 am when I anchor in close to Captiva Island. The winds are dying. I have sailed over 100 nautical miles today according to the knot meter. I am absolutely exhausted. As soon as I am about to turn in the first bugs start attacking. I try to tough it out for about 30 minutes but it is impossible. There are also phantom waves that are rocking the boat unbelievably bad. I weigh anchor and start steaming south. I end up motoring about 20 more miles and anchor off of the south east coast of Sanibel Island. It is very calm and quiet and I haven’t been attacked so I quickly go to sleep. 8/15 Thursday I awaken at about 8 am and am very anxious to get in to harbor. The winds are poor so I motor. I pull into harbor around 10 am. I can’t believe it is finally over. I have lost 14 pounds since leaving New Orleans. I think this is mostly water and muscle loss, despite the fact that I drank at least a gallon a day. Don’t think this would be a very successful weight loss plan for anyone. I feel wonderful after taking what may possibly be the greatest shower in the history of mankind. It feels pretty weird to walk on land and my equilibrium is off quite a bit. I install a new thermostat and revel in the fact that my a/c works great. Later that evening I am already discussing my next trip over margaritas with my great new neighbors.
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Great trip!
Thanks for sharing. And I thought no one sailed in the Gulf between June and November.
Thanks for sharing. And I thought no one sailed in the Gulf between June and November.
hopefully this winter
Think I will stay away until after hurricane season. Plus school is killing me. They are only about 12 hours away though!
Think I will stay away until after hurricane season. Plus school is killing me. They are only about 12 hours away though!
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