So, I said I’d give a follow up when I completed this trip. Here it is with some serious (even dangerous) moments and important lessons (only about 18 months late….) Sorry this is long,
Schedule-itis: We planned to leave Tampa Bay at the end of Feb (2020). We had a weekend picked and had the following Mon off from work - so that’s when we were going. How many times have you read or heard - don’t pick a schedule and then convince yourself it would work out? The winds were predicted to be very strong northerly for Sat, diminishing some on Sun, then turning around to strong southernly on Mon. Well, I’m thinking that’s perfect, for Sat we need to sail south (we’ll have following wind) and then enter the ICW, we’ll stop in Sarasota, on Sunday we’d be in the ICW all day stopping around Englewood overnight, on Mon we’d continue on into Charlotte Harbor and be then heading north (with that southernly wind) as our new place is in the very northern reaches at Port Charlotte.
We spent the night on the boat in the marina so we could leave early Sat in the am. All night the winds were howling out of the north. We got up before dawn and slipped the lines and headed out just at the sky was getting the slightest bit of light. Hmmm - things looked different. The channel usually has shallow water on both sides exiting the marina. Today it was land on both sides and the channel was just a narrow canal. The extreme northerly winds had blown the water out of Tampa bay and the level was lower than we had ever seen it.
Tunnel vision: the last portion of the channel to get to the bay heads north, after which I’d be turning west for a short bit then southwest. As I’m getting to the end of the channel and the wind is coming hard from the northeast, I’ve just got to get through this last bit of channel and we’ll be turning more downwind. I pass the second to last nav aid and am now only looking at the last red buoy (the green one is missing). I have a death-grip on the wheel and my eyes fixed on that buoy with me keepin the boat aimed about 20 feet to it’s right side. I’m now encountering waves as we get away from the breakwater’s protection. Suddenly I’m hitting bottom. But in the waves, it’s a bumping - not good. I realized….I’m out of the channel, way off to the left. Once I had passed the second to last marker, I only had the one point of reference. The wind was blowing me to port big-time and I didn’t even realize it. Had I glanced down at the chart-plotter or back at the line of markers behind me it would have been obvious. Anyway, I powered back into the channel (between bumps of the bottom) and got past the last marker and turned left and the wind was now a bit aft of my beam and things were a bit calmer.
We checked for any leaking - none and continued under engine. The radio has nothing on it but the coast guard spouting the small craft advisories. Winds are sustained in the high 20’s with gusts in the upper 30’s. That’s more than I care to enjoy, but…”well we’ll be going downwind”.
After about 30min the sky is light (but just flat grey) and our course turns further south so the wind is at about 120 degrees. We shut down the engine and put out a bit of jib. We are flying toward the Sunshine skyway. The further south we get, of course the larger the waves are as the fetch is getting longer. With only a bit of jib, I’m routinely seeing 9.8 knots from the gps which is above hull speed.
Near Disaster: so, we had unzipped the mainsail cover and attached the halyard in case we were going to use it. As we are nearing the skyway bridge the wind has pulled a tiny bit of main up out of the stack-pack and I decide I’d better secure the main better. The waves have been seemingly pretty regular, rhythmic (although large). So I stand up on the cockpit seat to do that. Something happens - rogue wave or whatever. The boat lurches to port, I’m thrown violently to starboard. I didn’t go overboard only because my right shoulder hits the lifelines, my left shoulder hits the ss tubing supporting the bimini (and the impact broke the fitting at the deck) and my wife was grabbing my arm with all she had (while steering). Yes we were wearing pfd’s. But it would have been disaster if I had gone overboard. It was cold, the wind was howling. It would have been near impossible for my wife to get turned around on her own much less spot me in the water in that sea condition. We both kinda sat silent for a bit as we headed on and passed under the Sunshine Skyway….
I was concerned about entering the ICW near Egmont Key due to the waves. Turned out to be fine though. Motoring down the ICW was no problem and the day was fine. We stayed at Marina Jacks in Sarasota and had a grand dinner (it was my wife’s birthday). The next day we motored down the ICW to Englewood and anchored the night just south of the Tom Adams bridge.
Headed out monday morning. Now we have a bit to go further south through the last bridge and then past Boca Grande before turning east into Charlotte harbor and then North up to Port Charlotte. As we do that last 10 miles or so heading south, the southerly winds kick in - gusting over 20. So for about 2 hours we are heading into wind and rocking waves. This is a beautiful area with Carribian looking water and sand bottom in a channel but with very shallow water on both sides. I’m now kicking myself that I didn’t put the extra 5 gals of diesel into the tank while we were at the calm anchorage (the yellow can is lashed to the shrouds). I’ve got like ⅜ tank of fuel, but I’m watching the fuel gauge swing wildly due to the rocking motion. It’s constantly swinging from what looks like ¾ tank to empty. My anxiety level is quite high thinking the engine is going to suck air at any point and quit cold. If the engine were to quit, could I set the anchor fast enough and would it even be possible to do so and keep us out of the shallows - not likely. I could maybe turn 180 and sail downwind down the channel - but to where? I’m going to get back to that bridge and there’s really nowhere to sail to before it and no good place to anchor.
Anyway, the engine ran perfectly for the couple hours without a hiccup and once we hit the turn to the east, we raised the sails, reached into Charlotte harbor and then ran up to our dock arriving at sunset. Whew!
Glad that trip was over, it was pretty beautiful along the way. But we did learn some important lessons along the way.
Thanks for the comments above folks,
Dave - in Port Charlotte