CLICK HERE PHOTO LINK –>>  Blue Waters to Salty Sams, April 2011

March 28^th we said goodbye to the folks at Blue Waters Marina and headed out.

Suddenly the boat just took off, the throttle had stuck full open!! This was really not good!! Here we were heading out around a 90degree bend, flying down a narrow channel at 2500 rpms. Racing down a channel that had bends and no room for passing and in a run away boat. People were yelling “Slow Down!”

 John steered with the air horn in one hand, I held on and looked out. …finally we were at the entrance.

John handed the wheel over to me; he ran below to correct the problem. Then we thudded over the bar and eventually slowed. It was a very scary ride!!

As we motored further out John went to just check the engine the governor linkage had come adrift at the worst possible time. He also discovered a leak from the exhaust riser had occurred probably due to the stress of the runaway RPMs. There was seawater spraying over the engine….not good. And we had only just began…….was the boat that anxious to get away?

Indian Key

From there we sailed all the way to Indian Key. Upon arrival we dropped the dingy and both of us jumped in the water for a swim. The evening was lovely just beautiful with the sunset and the peaceful setting.

As John was washing up I could see the flashing of lightening in the distance. It was flashing from the west, however the wind was from the east. The flashing and rumbles continued when all of a sudden the wind just blasted in from the west at 37.9mph. From then on the night just deteriorated. The rain lashed the boat, the wind screamed through the rigging, the waves pounded, the dingy was catapulted from one side to the other. It was hellish until 4:30am. Then it eased back a bit and we managed to get a few hours of more peaceful sleep.

Marathon

The 29^th saw us head towards Marathon, a change of plans. We contacted the boatyard there that we had visited previously and they agreed to pull the boat.  We needed the boat’s engine repaired before venturing any further. We again sailed all the way to Marathon. Dropped anchor at Boot Key harbour and readied the boat to be pulled.

During our time in Marathon boatyard, the bottom was cleaned and painted. The sides were buffed and polished. The engine was serviced, new riser and hoses installed. All stainless steel was cleaned. We also restocked with parts and tools.

April 4^th and the newly spruced sailing vessel Aeeshah

was ready to get her bottom wet. Juan finished the engine by 2:30 after much hard work on his part. At 3:30 we were heading into the water. Our little problem this time was that the gear handle snapped off just as we were being let go from the slings. After some modifications using vice grips as a gear lever we then had to reverse all the way out the channel. The boat is too long at 45’ to turn around in the narrow channel. John did an excellent job of reversing out and we were headed to our anchorage. It proved to be another windy night, but nothing like we had had previously. We were being truly tested!

Going under the bridge for the first time was exciting. It really looks like the mast will hit as you approach. In fact there is a good 10-foot clearance, but the optics make it look like a hit. From there we headed towards

Cape Sable, Little Snake River

reaching the southern cape by 11:30, making good time sailing all the way. Having to avoid all the hundreds of pot buoys was the main challenge. Our plans were to stop at the northern end of Cape Sable but after lunch, around 2:00 I saw some questionable clouds approaching. Again they were heading towards us opposed to the wind direction.

John was not concerned, “No problem!” he said. However as they drew nearer you could hear a faint rumble. We started to stow away a few bits and pieces when this weather was nearly on top of us. John saw to the main sail as fast as possible. I literally threw everything else below. When he fastened the last toggle it hit and all hell broke loss. The estimated wind speed was 50mph. I found it very challenging keeping her bow to the wind. The seas were suddenly 5’ and swamping over the bow. The boat was at over 2000 rpms and we were not moving in fact we were being blown down wind. It had gone from zero to all hell breaking loose within no time! The main worry was all the pot buoys, trying to avoid them was extremely difficult. Many of the rigging rodes were blown loose and had to be secured. The scariest part lasted about an hour then the squall gradually decreased. Our test continued ….

Our plans for Cape Sable changed and we headed to Little Snake River.  Arriving there around 4:30 we crept into the mouth of the river, between the red and green markers to a lovely anchorage for the night. You are literally surrounded by the mangroves. There were 2 other boats there and we dropped anchor between them with plenty of room for privacy. It took a good 30 minutes to tidy up the boat from that weather. Only one strap from the bimimi had snapped, we were very lucky. It turned into a very nice evening and lovely sunset. Then the mosquitoes arrived by the dozens and chased us below, up went the screens and down we went. Our test continued…..

Indian Pass

April 6^th it was a beautiful morning when we arose in Little Shark River.  We set out for Indian Pass just at the mouth of the entrance to Everglades City. The day was hot and sunny. We sailed most of the 37 miles there. Saw some dolphins and arrived at about 5pm. The current was quite strong and we had some tidying up to do so we never went exploring. The mosquitoes were not as bad but there was much wash from the boats using the channel.

 

 

April 7^th Another early start to the day. Headed out just after sun up. Again we were sailing and motor sailing. About 2 hours into our journey we were thudded to a stop. Thud! Thud! Thud!  we discovered we were on top of an unexpected sand bar that was 3 miles off shore. It was on the charts but not quite where we thought it was. Another lesson learnt….stay further off shore and have the chart plotter zoomed in not out. (I had mentioned to John that I thought there was a sand bar ahead as the water looked light and shallow – Oh well).

Well getting off was nerve wrecking. We were surrounded by shallow water so we turned with 2000 rpm and full sails up, towards the way we had come and with time we finally thudded off. Apparently no damage was caused as it was a soft bottom, but it was dammed scary to be in the middle of nowhere, in the wind, seas rolling and aground.

From there we headed wayyyyy out, 5 plus miles off shore. Even then it was 11 foot deep. We sailed most of the way to Naples where we hoped to find an anchorage for the evening.

Naples

The entrance to Naples is a cannel between amazing properties. The wealth there is quite shocking, but the folks there have no manners. They zoom along no wake zones with very little respect or regard for any other boaters or the dolphins. After traveling a ways up the waterway we found there wasn’t anywhere we could comfortably drop anchor. Not enough space, depth and too much wake with idiots in motor boats flying by. Out we headed and opted for the Gulf shoreline for the night. Dropping anchor on the gulf side of Naples. There was a wonderful sunset and we had a peaceful evening.

Salty Sam’s Fort Myer’s Beach

April 8^th there was a brillent sun-rise. We pulled the anchor and set off early for Salty Sam’s and Fort Myers. It was a slow sail so we motor-sailed. Finding our way to Salty Sam’s was easier than we imagined. The main difficulty being that our wet slip was next to the pirate boat and we had to squeeze in. A number of the pirates helped. We were very please to have arrived and the new marina was excellent.