Hilton Head Island: the not to Culebra sailing log

 

Two days ashore and I am still a bit stiff and sore, but the land has stooped moving and I have caught up with my sleep.

The straight line distance between GANNET’s slip and the most distant noon position on Monday, February 3, is 445 nautical miles.  The day’s runs total 937 miles, but with tacking, drifting and changing direction are even less representative of the distance covered over the bottom than usual.  I expect I sailed about 1000 miles.

I have crossed the Gulf Stream many times on three different boats, but if you read the log you will learn that never has it set me more than it did on the return to Hilton Head.  When the above screen shot was taken of the iSailor chart our bow was pointed 270º and we were being helplessly swept north at 4.4 knots.  Fortunately that only lasted an hour or two.

I have reread the log twice, but am certain there are typos and errors I have missed.  Comment and I will correct them.

Wishing you well from the marsh.

January 28, 2025  Tuesday

0900 Left the slip and had a fiasco.

GANNET was bow out.  Wind about 8 knots from the west, blowing up the fairway between the docks.  The tide was going out, much stronger than I expected with slack water having been only an hour and a half earlier.  Carol held GANNET.  I put the Evo in gear and attempted to make the turn to port.  I failed.  The tide took the little boat sideways and I could not clear the next dock.  Fortunately there was an open slip.  I got into it.  Carol walked around and we pushed GANNET out backwards and I went in reverse down the fairway with the tide turning us sideways at a 45º angle.  Once clear of the docks I was able to go into forward and at the first buoy marking the Intracoastal channel, set the jib and cut the Evo and then soon set the main as well.

We sailed and rode the tide at 5 knots along Skull Creek and into Port Royal Sound where I lowered the main and then the jib, turned us partway into the wind with the tiller pilot holding the tiller to leeward and was able without difficulty to remove the Evo from the transom and get it properly stowed below.  We had used 11% of the fully charged battery.

I set the jib and we continued down the sound.  I made some adjustments to the stowage on the v-berth and decided to stow the second Evo battery there tied to the four collapsible water containers.

On deck I tightened the lifelines.  I had done this a few weeks ago, but there was again slack in them.  

Near the mouth of the sound, the wind weakened for a few minutes, then returned from the SSW.  I reset the main and we were making 7 tide assisted knots.  Presently 6.4.

A sunny day.  49F outside.  55F in the Great Cabin with the companionway open.

1200

32º 10’ N   

80º 35’ W

day’s run 11 

SOG 6.0   COG  150

barometer 1018

wind 10 knots SSW

beam reach

seas 1-2’

Culebra  1170 miles  bearing 135º (distance is to a waypoint just north of the island.  The main harbor is ten miles farther.)

1500  25 miles offshore and I am still dodging between anchored ships waiting to enter Savannah.  I have lost count, but there are around 20.

The wind has picked up.  I don’t have a reading because my wind display is solar powered and the battery is dead.  I put it in the cockpit yesterday, but obviously it did not get much sun.  Enough wind to cause GANNET to yaw, so I put a reef in the mainsail.  First time I’ve done that in a while and then partially furled the jib.  All without much reducing our speed which continues at 6 knots on a beam reach.  Seas now 3’, white-capped, with a lot of water coming over the bow, and some reaching back to the companionway.  Spray hood up.

Inside the cabin I moved the inflatable, food bags, and one set of foul weather gear—I am wearing the other—from the starboard pipe berth to the port one and stowed the fenders and dock lines aft of the starboard berth.  We are now in full passage mode.

Time to check that we are clearing the next ship.

1600  Now 30 miles offshore and there are still three anchored ships near.  Also a Navy tower and another Navy tower 22 miles ahead.  I think that is the last, but as I have observed before, it takes forever to get clear of this coast.

I furled the jib deeper.  Our speed has dropped below 6 knots, but sufficient water was coming over the deck to threaten the tiller pilot and with the continuing obstacles I did not yet want to go to sheet to tiller.

A couple of hours ago I crawled over the stuff on the v-berth to reach the duffle bag with my cold weather clothes and am now wearing long underwear as well as Omni-heat jacket and pants and foul weather gear.

The temperature in the Great Cabin is 58F, but the ocean is cold.  46F.  And my hands have gotten wet, so I am feeling it.  More than I recall when I sailed from Hilton Head to Panama six years ago also in January and on a colder day.  I did have then a broad reach, an easier point of sail, and less wind.

I have poured a glass of boxed red wine.  Cold at air temperature and was listening to a Bach cantata, which just ended.  Time to play other music and though early heat a freeze dry feast.  So far today I have eaten only an RX bar.

2000  We are two miles from Navy Tower R8 which appears to be the last obstacle before the open ocean.

I furled the jib completely.  We were heeled over too far and taking too much water on deck.  Under reefed main alone we continue to be making 5 and 6 knots.

I find myself wondering if it is really this rough or have I just forgotten.  However GANNET is heeling more than 20º and that is uncomfortable.

It appears that our port bow light is not working.  It was when I checked it not long ago.  A lose connection is likely.

Our masthead tri-color has not been working for a year.  I would pay a rigger to fix it, but none are available at Hilton Head I trust.  

Once past R8 I will try to get some sleep.

Dinner was Mountain House Beef Stew.  A long time favorite.  I even added a splash of boxed red wine.

2210  I retired fully dressed except for shoes to my sleeping bag on the starboard pipe berth at about 2030, but couldn’t get to sleep.  With only the reefed main up GANNET was not heeled excessively, but the ride was bumpy and we were slammed by a few waves.  At about 2130 the motion caused me to worry about an accidental gybe.  So I put on foul weather gear and the wind had indeed veered, so I set some of the jib, lowered the main, and set up the starboard running back stay.  While doing so I noticed the running lights of a ship not far away passing north of us presumably heading for Savannah.  I also found that one of the sheet bags had popped a rivet.  In the cabin I found that the leak around the compass has resumed.  I sprayed some sealant on it, but doubt that will help.  Even under a scrap of jib we continue to make 5.5 and 6 knots.  I again seek sleep.

January 29, Wednesday

0350  A rough night even with only a part of the jib set.  Not big waves, but several have slammed into us.  The tiller pilot is a new one, but I don’t know how long it can survive.  I can’t use sheet to tiller with only the jib set and I don’t want to set the main.

I got some broken sleep and finally decided to get up a half hour ago.

One thing I am not is cold.  The companionway is closed to reduce water inflow and the temperature in the Great Cabin is 65F.

0430  In the Gulf Stream.  Being set north 25º.  COG around 110º instead of the 135º we were making.

 

I will wait until dawn before considering hardening up.

0730  Sun just rising from the ocean.  

I dozed at Central.

A ship heading north a few miles east of us.

5’-6’ cresting waves.  About 20 knots of wind SSW.  We continue on a starboard broad reach.

1200

31º 02’ N

078º 39’W

day’s run   120 miles

COG 131º   SOG 5 knots

barometer  1017

wind 18 SW

broad reach

Culebra 1048 miles  bearing 136º

Wind increasing.  We seem to be beyond the Gulf Stream.  COG and compass heading about the same.  Sunny.  Warm.  GANNET moving reasonably smoothly.  No waves coming on board for a while.   I am tired.

I don’t wear my wedding ring while sailing, but just saw that I had forgotten to remove it.  My fingers have swollen.  It only came off with effort.

1445  I put the wind display and three solar cabin lights in the cockpit to charge.  The wind display now shows wind speed of 20 knots.

Relatively smooth sailing under partially furled jib.

I have taken off my long underwear.

1700  Dinner of Chicken Gumbo not a success.  This was a test.  I think Alpine Aire.  I will not buy it again.  Saved by some of my sister-in-law’s delicious fruit cake.  Thank you, Peggy.  And now a few sips of Plymouth gin accompanied by music, presently ‘Farewell to Stromness’.  

I eat early to do so before dark.

I stood in the companionway briefly.  I presently have this bit of the ocean to myself.  A dark blue white capped sea.

Today’s sailing was enjoyable, if at times a bit rough.  Not a day for spending time on deck except in foul weather gear.

If the forecasts just before I left were accurate, we are due to be headed tomorrow and Friday.

I hope I sleep better tonight.

1740   Gather your strength, old man.  Gather your strength.

1815  The sun has set.  

I stood in the companionway as GANNET  sailed on. 

January 30, Thursday

0920  The wind veered and lightened during the night.  GANNET moved smoothly and I slept well, but am still tired.

The wind is now NW at five or six knots.  We are sailing at three and four knots directly ahead of it under full jib.  The forecasts before I left were for the wind to go south this afternoon and head us.

I await developments.

1200

29º 52’ N

76º 59’ W

day’s run  110 miles

SOG 3.0   COG 130º

barometer 1022

wind 6 knots east

close hauled port tack  full jib  reefed main

seas 2’

Culebra 937 miles    bearing137º

Wind has continued to veer.  We could carry full sail, but I am waiting to see what happens before removing the reef

I took advantage of the smooth conditions this morning to change clothes.  76 in Great Cabin.  Now in t-shirt and jeans.  I also refilled the day water containers and moved extra oatmeal and protein powder into the morning duffle bag, and wiped myself down and shaved.

1300  Fixed the sheet bag, replacing the broken snap fastener with a screw and washer.

1600  Making 5 to 6 knots close hauled port tack with full jib and still reefed main in 7 or 8 knots of wind.  A few whitecaps, but more swells than waves.  Pleasant sailing accompanied by a gin and tonic with even a slice of lime and music, presently a favorites playlist with a Portuguese group, Madredias, singing ‘O Sonho’.

To life.

1730  The sun is close to the southwestern horizon.  Pleasant sailing, but I doubt it will continue unchanged throughout the night.  The wind continues to veer slowly and close hauled with tiller pilot steering likely means a backed jib.

My hands are swollen and hurt.  My shoulders hurt.  I am not sure why.  Maybe sailing GANNET is harder than I remember.

Dinner was Mountain House Chicken and Rice.  Another standard.  I note on the package they call them ‘Adventure Meals’.  I eat them anyway.

I have gybed the Avon and food bags and will sleep tonight on the port pipe berth.

January 31, Friday

0815  We are presently sailing close hauled on starboard tack under reefed main and deeply furled jib with the tiller tied down, making 4 knots on a course of around 120º.

Last night after getting up twice when the jib backed, I left it backed and hove to.  However that caused us to be blown SSW at 2 knots.  The Bahamas are 180 miles south of us.  Finally just after midnight I went on deck and got us sailing as we are on starboard tack with the tiller pilot steering.  A few minutes ago I went up and set us steering with the tiller tied down.  We could carry more sail, but I don’t want to unnecessarily to beat up GANNET or myself.  If the wind continues to veer we will follow it around until when our desired course of around 135º becomes a reach I will try sheet to tiller or reengage the tiller pilot which I have brought below.

I am not sure of the wind strength.  Somewhere in the teens.  The wind display is seldom exposed to direct sunlight on this course.  I put it on the cockpit sole yesterday afternoon and it got some charge, but not enough and is no longer working.

1200

29º 07’N

076º 08’W

day’s run 63 miles

COG 092º   SOG 3.7 knots

barometer 1022

wind 16-18 knots SE

seas 5’

close hauled starboard reefed main deeply furled jib, tiller tied down

Culebra  874 miles bearing 137º

Sunny.  Warm.  Not all that rough, but we are slamming into and off of waves.  Some water making it back to the companionway.  And we aren’t getting anywhere.  Every movement has to be timed and planned.  As always since we left I am tired.

When I was making my oatmeal this morning, a box of raisins went flying and broke open.  Raisins everywhere.  I will still be finding them months from now.

1630  I am sipping boxed red wine and listening to the soundtrack of the movie, THE HOSTILES, while my feast of freeze dry Spicy Sausage Pasta steeps and GANNET hops off waves.

It is not quite sunset, but close enough for me to look around and consider the night.  I expect there will be changes in the wind.  I expect I will be on deck responding to them.  That is my job.  One of my jobs.  

And you didn’t think I had one.

2045  The wind increased and GANNET began leaping off waves and slamming into troughs.  I lowered all sail and have let us lie ahull.  We are drifting NE.  Not the way toward Culebra.  I am considering not going there, but turning this into a voyage to no where.  Instead of suffering, putting GANNET on enjoyable points of sail, where I might even be able to spend some time on deck as thus far I haven’t.  As I write we are rocking to and fro, but I can probably get some sleep.

February 1, Saturday

0825   Very rough.  Wind 20-25.  GANNET leaping off waves, but the wind veered during the night and we are making 4.5 knots on course for Culebra under reefed main and a scrap of jib with the tiller tied down.  I hope the wind continues to veer and will decrease.  If not I will have to heave to or lie ahull again tonight.  I could not possibly sleep with GANNET leaping about like this.

I had to pump the bilge.

Difficult to write wedged here at Central.

1200  

29º 08’ N

074º 51’ W

COG 134º  SOG 3.5 knots

day’s run   67 miles

barometer 1020

wind 17 knots SW

seas 5-6’

beam reach under partially furled jib

Culebra 828 miles bearing 141º

A prodigious leap off a wave mid-morning caused GANNET to gybe.  When I went on deck to get us turned around I realized that the wind had continued to veer and we need no longer be close hauled.  The wind was still strong, so I lowered the mainsail, went below to bring up the tiller pilot, engaged it, set us on a course of 135º and let out a little more jib.  I may set more sail, but we are moving smoothly and little water is coming over the deck.

We are on almost the same latitude as yesterday noon, but 50 miles closer to Culebra which isn’t bad considering we lay ahull all night.

1430  Wind has dropped to 12-15 knots.  Still on the beam.  I raised the still reefed main and went to sheet to tiller steering for a while, but the wind strength is varying too much, so back to the tiller pilot.

I’ve changed into shorts and t-shirt.  78 in the Great Cabin.  Some hazy clouds.

1610  Pleasant sailing.  We have not had much so far.  I have spent little time on deck except when handling sails.  I’ve just come below from standing in the companionway sipping a glass of boxed sauvignon blanc.  Now listening to music and then to prepare a freeze dry meal.  It would be very nice if this wind lasted for a while.

1710  Louisiana beans and rice for dinner.

Ahead of us all clear, but an ominous solid cloud bank coming toward us from the west.  I have put on foul weather gear and am waiting.

1930  The line of clouds reached us with total darkness and a 180º wind shift.  We went almost instantly from a starboard beam reach to a port beam reach.  I activated the Velocitek so I could see our course and used a flashlight to illuminate the masthead Windex.  Light rain began to fall and is falling still.  The wind is light. We are making maybe 2 knots in the right direction according to the iSailor readouts on my iPhone.  Quite a difference from navigating as I did fifty years ago with a sextant.

February 2, Sunday

0847  We are making about 4.5 knots on a close reach about course 145º under partially furled jib and still reefed mainsail.

I slept in my foul weather gear until 0115 as we continued to sail at a couple of knots in very light wind.  At 0115 I went on deck and completely unfurled the jib and removed my foul weather gear before returning to the pipe berth.  A little after 0400 the jib begin slatting and I thought might back.  On deck I found that the wind had died almost completely.  I furled the jib, set the tiller amidship and the tiller pilot to standby and went back to the pipe berth.  When I woke an hour later light wind had returned and we were sailing east at 2 knots.  I put us back on course of 140 and unfurled the jib.  We continue, though I have partially furled the jib to reduce our angle of heel.  Doing so did not reduce our speed.  Some clouds to the north.  The barometer remains high.

I found boxes of apple juice in my morning food bag.  They were marked ‘Best used by June 30 2021.’  I don’t know what can happen to apple juice, but I declined and opened one of the boxes I bought for this sail.

1200  

28º 07’ N

74º 08’W

SOG 3.0 knots  COG 177º

day’s run 72 miles

barometer 1022

wind 4-5 knots ESE

seas 1-2’

close hauled port tack partially furled jib, reefed main

Culebra  759 miles

In the last a half hour the wind has gone light and headed us.  Waiting possible change.  I expect to unreef main and unfurl jib.

1220 Sailing under full main and jib.  Not going any faster but pointing higher.  COG 153.  And it looks better.  

1330  Becalmed.  I furled the jib and have left the main up.  Tiller pilot standby.  Tiller amidships.  Rolling slightly.

1420  Sailing again at 3.5 knots, but iSailor and the Velocitek show our COG with 30-40º difference.  I have tacked several times.  On port tack, the Velocitek shows 80-90º. iSailor 40-50º.  On starboard which we are now on, Velocitek shows 165º.  iSailor 195º.  We should be far from the Gulf Stream.  

1848  A very pleasant evening.  Sailing smoothly close hauled.  Starry sky.  Early sliver of moon.  Music.  Sipping Laphroaig.  

I found myself trying to connect that solitary boy in a small suburban house in Missouri seven ago with this old man sailing a small boat in the Atlantic Ocean.  So much has happened in between, it is almost impossible and certainly improbable.

So where do I go from here?

That few 83 year old even consider the question is irrelevant. 

I don’t know where I go from here, other than Culebra, a most arbitrary destination and I hope one that brings enjoyment.

So I am going to have to redefine myself or just wait as most do for time and chance to kill me.

That seems grim.  Well end of life is, but this is in fact a moment of joy, GANNET sailing well and I alone with perhaps no other of our species within a hundred miles.

February 3, Monday

0700  Another becalmed night.  I had the sails furled by midnight.

I woke an hour ago to very light headwind.  We have made 16 miles since noon yesterday.  This is our sixth day out and we are not even halfway.  I am out of wind and out of patience.  I turned GANNET around and am heading home.  Slowly.  Making 2 knots under main and jib on a broad reach with the main held down by a preventer to prevent it slamming around.  The mouth of Port Royal Sound is 443 miles, bearing 307.  Culebra is 733 miles, bearing 139.  Goodbye Culebra.

1200

27º 47’ N

073º 59’W

COG  330º  SOG 0.9 knots  

day’s run 11 miles (really no day’s run because we         reversed course this morning.  This is the distance

SSE we are from yesterday noon.)

barometer 1023

wind 0-2 knots

seas glassy with some swell from the NE

main and jib collapsing.  Set for starboard broad reach

HIlton Head Island 437 miles  bearing 307º

Sunny and hot.  Forward hatch open.  Essentially becalmed.

1710  A lovely day unless you want to go sailing.

We are under a high and there is almost no wind.  Ironically the wind display has good exposure to the sun on this course and is working, but has no wind to display.

The wind, if it can be called such, has veered to the SE, so I gybed and we are now on sort of a port broad reach.  However there is a 3’ swell from the NE that collapses the sails.  Now singular, because I have furled the jib which was more collapsed than filled and am oozing NW under main alone.  It’s boom is held stationary by main sheet, boom vang, and preventer.  We are probably making 1 knot.

I am cleaner than I have been, having wiped myself down with fresh water and shaved.  Ashore I shave daily; here every few days.  

I had two gin and tonics on deck listening to music.  I had to sit turned away from the sun which is fierce.

I have Alpine Aire Three Cheese Lasagna steeping.

I sat on deck considering my relationship to the ocean.  That I have one is I believe proven.  That it has changed is also proven.  I do not know what comes next.  A good wind angle would be appreciated.

To life, even if sometimes it lasts too long.

1736  The ocean has turned to glass.  What little wind we had has vanished.  The mainsail is still up and the tiller pilot is still able to keep us on course, but I expect  we will drift again for the third or fourth night in a row.  I have lost track.

Three Cheese Lasagna is greatly improved by a generous addition of boxed red wine.

1800  Zero wind.  Mainsail down.  Drifting.  Quite pleasant.  Great ocean view.

1819  I just stood in the companionway.  

The swell has died away and GANNET is rocking slowly on inch high ripples.

I had to search for the sliver moon which was not where I expected.  Venus, if that is what it is, is considerably more distant from the moon than when I saw it last.

Quiet and beautiful here. 

February 4, Tuesday

0700 Still becalmed.  Sails down.  We are 16 miles north west of our noon position yesterday and 14 miles west of our noon position Sunday.  Barometer 2022.

0810  Sailing.  3.5 knots close hauled port tack.  Course 325º.

1200

28º 04’ N

074º. 29’ W

COG 318º  SOG 4.8 knots

day’s run  32 miles

barometer  2022

wind 9 knots west

seas 1’

Hilton Head Island  404 miles  bearing 307º

Wind has been steady from the west but has just weakened slightly and perhaps veered.  Smooth sailing this morning close hauled port tack full sail set, sometimes making 5 and 6 knots.

I went on deck and found that the wind has veered.  Our course now is 330º and a ship is passing less than a mile north of us carrying on its deck a large catamaran sailboat.  The proper way to make a passage.

1800  Having enjoyed my freeze dry feast of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff much improved by my addition of boxed Sauvignon Blanc—I am such a chef—I have often returned to standing in the companionway sipping said Sauvignon Blanc.  The sun has set.  GANNET is sailing well.  I am surrounded by the sea and sky.  I am listening to an album PACABEL’S GREATEST HIT, consisting of eight different renditions of his Canon in D Major.  These moments redeem a lot.

I am going to resume standing in the companionway and watch the dying of the light.

February 5, Wednesday

0830  A rough night.

At around 2300 the jib backed and in going on deck to get us back on course I bumped a place on the shin of my left leg that already had a scab from an earlier bump and this started sharp stabs of pain occurring several times a minute throughout the night making it difficult to sleep.  I put some Polysporin on it and a large BandAid.  I notice the pain less this morning, but still have some twinges.

At about 0230 this morning a squall came through with heavy rain.  It only lasted about ten minutes.  I struggled into my foul weather gear and furled the sails until it passed.  It did so with a wind shift to the north.  I reset some of the jib and we sailed on a beam reach.  With daylight I unfurled the jib completely and raised the main.  We are making 5 and sometimes 6 knots on course for Hilton Head with 8-9 knots of wind on the beam.  Rolling on 3’ swells.  Sunny.  Clear sky.  A ship passed west of us an hour ago heading north.

0945  Wind continues to veer and weaken.  I have had to come up 10º in order to keep the main from blanketing the jib.  Confused 4’ seas coming from multiple directions.  Now making only about 4 knots on 320º.

1200

29º 14’ N

075º 40’ W

COG 325º  SOG 3.4 knots

day’s run   96 miles

barometer  1022

wind 6 knots E

seas  2-3’ confused

Hilton Head 313 miles  bearing 313º

Sunny and hot.  80 in Great Cabin with both hatches open.  Wind light.  GANNET being thrown around by swells.  More wallowing than sailing.  The wind has continued to veer and I just gybed from starboard to port very broad reach.  Previous course was 345º about the same speed.

1520  Clouds to the south and west may bring change and rain.

1705  The clouds to the south have dissolved.

I had furled the jib because it was flogging uselessly and let us sail under the mainsail alone.  The wind is now steadier and the ocean smoother, so I unfurled the jib and we are sailing under full sail.

February 6, Thursday

0840  I have been up a couple of hours after a floppy night.  The wind was so far aft that I was concerned about an accidental gybe of the mainsail which would have been undesirable even though the preventer would have kept the boom from swinging all the way across, so I lowered the main and sailed under the jib alone, but it kept collapsing and filling with a bang, so I had to furl it down until that stopped.  We continued through the night with GANNET being rolled about by small seas.  At first light this morning I found the wind had veered a bit and was on our beam, so I raised the main and unfurled the jib and we are having the best sailing so far, making 5.5-6.5 knots on course for Hilton Head Island which is 250 miles ahead.  If this wind holds we would be in on Saturday, but wind seldom lasts unchanged for 48 hours in these waters.

1200

29º 57’N

076º 54’ W

COG 310º  SOG 5.5 knots

day’s run  110 miles

barometer  1021

wind 15 knots S

seas 4-5’

Hilton Head 236 miles bearing 305º

Fine sailing this morning on beam and broad reach.  I have twice reduced the jib because GANNET was moving too quickly for the tiller pilot to keep up and yawing.  The wind seems to have just dropped from 18 knots to 15.

GANNET takes some strength to sail, but obviously the loads are much less than on bigger boats.  What she does require is constant isometric exercise against gravity.

1750  Low cloud cover all around, but the wind has weakened slightly in the past half hour.  I will sleep in foul weather gear expecting a major shift during the night.

1830  Conditions seem less severe than they did earlier.  However, we are being setting north by the Gulf Stream.

February 7  Friday

1000  I have been awake since about 0300 when conditions became very rough and sleep impossible.

Only in the last few minutes have they moderated so that I can write.  A lot of water has found its way below.  I have pumped the bilge twice.

During the night something in the cockpit made strange sounds.  Perhaps the tiller pilot.  I will swap it out for another before sunset.

The wind has veered and weakened.  We are now close hauled making 4 knots in 14 knot wind.  During the night it was 20.  I have let out a little more jib, but 5’ waves continue to stop us and we are already heeled excessively.

I am living in my foul weather gear, though I take the parka off inside the cabin.  I can get it back on quickly.  The pants and sea boots take too long.

1200  

31º 03’ N

078º 22’W

COG 250º  SOG 3.8 knots

day’s run  101 miles

barometer  1020

wind 14 NE

seas 4’5’

Hilton Head 137 miles  bearing 300º

Wind veered dramatically a half hour ago, so I tacked.  I hope it keeps on veering.

I have not removed the reef from the main, but do have the jib almost completely unfurled.  Waiting to see what happens next.

It has already been a very long day.

1445  Wind backed and I tacked, but we are going no where, heading off around 345º.  A nice afternoon if the wind were not directly heading us.  Hopes of getting in tomorrow have vanished.

1600  Wind has backed.  I removed the reef from the mainsail and we are making 3 knots on course 310º.  Not great, but better than we were doing.

1845  Sailing smoothly close hauled port.  

I do not like to go to sleep sailing close hauled with tiller pilot steering which can easily result in a backed jib, but this is the right choice for these conditions.  I did not get much sleep last night and would like to tonight.  We will see.  A continued backing of the wind would be welcomed

Beauty here.  Half moon directly overhead.  Water passing GANNET’s hull as I look out sitting here on the port pipe berth sipping boxed sauvignon blanc and listening to the soundtrack of THE LIBERTINE.  Not the monastery of the sea, but beautiful.

February 8, Saturday

0600  Once again I have been awake since 0300.  Essentially a pleasant night with light wind that enabled us to keep sailing.  The jib backed at 0300.  I got us back on a true compass course of 290º, but when I went below and check iSailor we were making 010º.  The Gulf Stream truly has us.  I have never before known it to be this strong.  

Since then the wind has veered and headed us.  We are now on a compass course of 335º T and according to iSailor a COG of 021º.  Helpless.  The mouth of Port Royal Sound is 95 miles away, bearing 284º and becoming more distant.  I have no idea when or if we will ever get there.

0920  We are getting through.  The deflection is now only about 20º.  Making 4-5 knots in 5 -6 knot wind across smooth seas.

I got some good sleep last night between 1930 and 0300 though I was on deck several times because of changes in the wind, but I just fell asleep sitting at Central.

1200

32º 09’ N

078º 59’ W

COG 295º   SOG 4.6 knots

day’ run 70 miles

barometer  1021

wind 10 knots

seas 2’

Outer buoy Hilton Head 80 miles  bearing 268º

We are free of the Gulf Stream.  Velocitek and iSailor have the same COG.

Sunny.  Mostly smooth seas.  Close hauled port tack.  Full sail up.  

Two ships have passed several miles east of us heading north.  We are still 60 miles from the coast heading for a point about midway between Charleston and Hilton Head.  The wind backing 30º would be appreciated.  If conditions remain the same we will have to tack sometime tonight.

1400  Reef in mainsail, partially furled jib.

Ships passing to the east of us heading north.  One passing west of us heading south.

1700  We are again on soundings.  147’ 37 miles off the coast.  A little deep and rough to anchor.

1916  I further furled the jib.  We were heeled over too far for sleep to be possible.  As is usual, reducing sail did not much reduce our speed.  GANNET is simply more on her lines and pushing less water around than when she is more severely heeled.  I have found this true with all my boats except CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE, which had only 12” of draft and never pushed much water around.

I am listening to Max Richter’s THREE WORLDS, music based on the writings of Virginia Woolf, and sipping the last of the Laphroaig as the little boat sails on.  I am fortunate to have Carol and the beauty and tranquility of our home ahead of me.

February 9, Sunday

0400  Up at 0130 due to backed jib.  Spun GANNET around and got us back on course and went back to sleep, but jib backed again at about 0300 and I am awake for good.  I think this is the third night in a row I have not slept past 0300.  I have lost count.

The mouth of Port Royal Sound is only 55 miles away, but it is directly to windward.  I don’t expect we can make the slip today, but I would at least like to be at anchor in the sound tonight and will enter it after dark if necessary.  At the moment GANNET’s bow is pointing at Charleston, 60 miles up the coast.  Lights of three fishing or shrimp boats a few miles east of us.

0700  A giant red sun rising from the sea.  15 knots of wind still from the SW.  We are creatures of the light.  I always like to see it return.

0830  I stuck my head out the companionway a few minutes ago to look around.  We had not been taking water over the deck, but just as I stood a cold wave poured over me.  I did not have on my foul weather parka.  I stripped off my shirt and t-shirt, dried myself with paper towels and put on two layers of dry shirts and the foul weather parka.  Temperature in the Great Cabin 59º, so it could be worse.

0900  The wind has backed maybe 20º and dropped to 12 knots.  I took out the reef in the main and unfurled the jib.  We are now pointing at St. Helena Sound, the next one north of Port Royal, but are being set north by a current.  Perhaps tide.

1030  The wind veered, so I tacked to starboard 15 miles off the mouth of St. Helena Sound.  Wind 12-15 knots.  At 15 knots GANNET’s lee rail is sometimes buried.

1200

32º 09’ N

080º 28’ W

COG 275º  SOG 5.2

day’s run 74 miles (tacked and sailed farther)

barometer 1020

wind 15 knots SW

seas 3-4’

distance to mouth of Port Royal Sound 12 miles, bearing 306º

We are going to make Port Royal Sound.  I tacked again a few minutes ago.  

We cannot steer directly for the mouth of the Sound because of shoals, but I have cut the corner before and crossed over them in what the iSailor chart shows to be a minimum of 12’ of water to reach the main channel without having to go to the outer buoy of the shipping channel.  This will save more than a hour.  I expect that in some conditions waves break on the shoal but I can see they are not today.  Once we reach the main channel, the course is slightly east of north, then north and we should be reaching all the way.  The tide will be with us in Skull Creek until 1800, so we may even reach the slip.

1300  Down below briefly.  I sat in the cockpit iPhone in hand watching our progress on the iSailor app.  As has been my experience we saw more water than the apps shows.  Never less than 16’.  I crossed the main channel and with relief turned us off the wind so we were not close hauled for the first time in a long time and GANNET began making a smooth 7 knots.

I again have cell phone coverage and called Carol.  I told her I was still uncertain, but thought I would reach the slip before sunset and if not would anchor for the night in the sound and power in tomorrow morning.  I moved the Avon and slithered aft to retrieve the fenders and dock lines.  With the forepeak packed, it will be simpler to mount the outboard if I can do so easily in the sound than dig out the anchor and rode.

1500  It is iniquitous.  The wind has been SW heading us for hours, days, seemingly forever, and just as we enter the sound it immediately veers NNW and heads us again.  We are close hauled again.  Presently on port tack.  The mouth of Skull Creek is 5 miles and I don’t know how many tacks away.

1630 I don’t know the east side of the sound well.  I sail on the west side and know the shoals there.  Sitting in the cockpit iPhone in hand I followed us on the iSailor chart until we were 1000’ off a marker at the south end of Parris Island Shoal, then tacked.

When back in the middle of the sound, which is 3 miles wide, I furled the jib and lowered the main and set the tiller pilot to hold the tiller amidships and mounted the Evo on the transom.  The sound is smooth and it all went well.  I tie a line onto the Evo shaft before I lower it onto the mount, but haven’t dropped it yet.  It started as it should.  I turned it off and raised sail again and continued to the west side of the sound.  There is a marked shoal there.  I could see one of the buoys.  I glanced down and found my iPhone dead.  I had been using it to navigate since before dawn without paying attention to the charge.  It no longer mattered.  I know the rest of the way.

On that tack we could not quite reach the mouth of Skull Creek.  A half mile off I turned on the Evo, furled the jib and lowered the main and began powering at 2.4 knots with the second fully charged Evo battery in place.

A dark cloud was inland to the northwest, but it drifted north and the sun came out again.  GANNET moved levelly and smoothly.  The Evo is very quiet and for me not wearing my hearing aids while I sail even quieter.  It was quite pleasant.

1900  I am writing this back in the condo.

As we entered Skull Creek the last hour of the rising tide gave us an extra half knot.

On the sand spit on the north side of the entrance was a scoop of pelicans—I had to look that up and found there are many collectives nouns for pelicans.  I like scoop best—more than twenty.  We do not often see that many pelicans on this side of the island.  They were making a lot of pelican noise.

I went below and brought up and secured fenders and dock lines.  As we rounded the long curve on Skull Creek, condos ashore and the masts of the boats in the marina ahead glowed in the setting sun.

I slowed as we reached the marina and disengaged the tiller pilot and steered us into our slip an hour ago.  Carol had seen me coming and was there to welcome me.

I was tired.  I adjusted the dock lines and put on the mainsail cover and left the rest until tomorrow.

Once in the condo, I showered and took two aspirin and a medicinal martini before falling into a deep sleep.

  

 January 28, 2025  Tuesday

0900 Left the slip and had a fiasco.

GANNET was bow out.  Wind about 8 knots from the west, blowing up the fairway between the docks.  The tide was going out, much stronger than I expected with slack water having been only an hour and a half earlier.  Carol held GANNET.  I put the Evo in gear and attempted to make the turn to port.  I failed.  The tide took the little boat sideways and I could not clear the next dock.  Fortunately there was an open slip.  I got into it.  Carol walked around and we pushed GANNET out backwards and I went in reverse down the fairway with the tide turning us sideways at a 45º angle.  Once clear of the docks I was able to go into forward and at the first buoy marking the Intracoastal channel, set the jib and cut the Evo and then soon set the main as well.

We sailed and rode the tide at 5 knots along Skull Creek and into Port Royal Sound where I lowered the main and then the jib, turned us partway into the wind with the tiller pilot holding the tiller to leeward and was able without difficulty to remove the Evo from the transom and get it properly stowed below.  We had used 11% of the fully charged battery.

I set the jib and we continued down the sound.  I made some adjustments to the stowage on the v-berth and decided to stow the second Evo battery there tied to the four collapsible water containers.

On deck I tightened the lifelines.  I had done this a few weeks ago, but there was again slack in them.  

Near the mouth of the sound, the wind weakened for a few minutes, then returned from the SSW.  I reset the main and we were making 7 tide assisted knots.  Presently 6.4.

A sunny day.  49F outside.  55F in the Great Cabin with the companionway open.

1200

32º 10’ N   

80º 35’ W

day’s run 11 

SOG 6.0   COG  150

barometer 1018

wind 10 knots SSW

beam reach

seas 1-2’

Culebra  1170 miles  bearing 135º (distance is to a waypoint just north of the island.  The main harbor is ten miles farther.)

1500  25 miles offshore and I am still dodging between anchored ships waiting to enter Savannah.  I have lost count, but there are around 20.

The wind has picked up.  I don’t have a reading because my wind display is solar powered and the battery is dead.  I put it in the cockpit yesterday, but obviously it did not get much sun.  Enough wind to cause GANNET to yaw, so I put a reef in the mainsail.  First time I’ve done that in a while and then partially furled the jib.  All without much reducing our speed which continues at 6 knots on a beam reach.  Seas now 3’, white-capped, with a lot of water coming over the bow, and some reaching back to the companionway.  Spray hood up.

Inside the cabin I moved the inflatable, food bags, and one set of foul weather gear—I am wearing the other—from the starboard pipe berth to the port one and stowed the fenders and dock lines aft of the starboard berth.  We are now in full passage mode.

Time to check that we are clearing the next ship.

1600  Now 30 miles offshore and there are still three anchored ships near.  Also a Navy tower and another Navy tower 22 miles ahead.  I think that is the last, but as I have observed before, it takes forever to get clear of this coast.

I furled the jib deeper.  Our speed has dropped below 6 knots, but sufficient water was coming over the deck to threaten the tiller pilot and with the continuing obstacles I did not yet want to go to sheet to tiller.

A couple of hours ago I crawled over the stuff on the v-berth to reach the duffle bag with my cold weather clothes and am now wearing long underwear as well as Omni-heat jacket and pants and foul weather gear.

The temperature in the Great Cabin is 58F, but the ocean is cold.  46F.  And my hands have gotten wet, so I am feeling it.  More than I recall when I sailed from Hilton Head to Panama six years ago also in January and on a colder day.  I did have then a broad reach, an easier point of sail, and less wind.

I have poured a glass of boxed red wine.  Cold at air temperature and was listening to a Bach cantata, which just ended.  Time to play other music and though early heat a freeze dry feast.  So far today I have eaten only an RX bar.

2000  We are two miles from Navy Tower R8 which appears to be the last obstacle before the open ocean.

I furled the jib completely.  We were heeled over too far and taking too much water on deck.  Under reefed main alone we continue to be making 5 and 6 knots.

I find myself wondering if it is really this rough or have I just forgotten.  However GANNET is heeling more than 20º and that is uncomfortable.

It appears that our port bow light is not working.  It was when I checked it not long ago.  A lose connection is likely.

Our masthead tri-color has not been working for a year.  I would pay a rigger to fix it, but none are available at Hilton Head I trust.  

Once past R8 I will try to get some sleep.

Dinner was Mountain House Beef Stew.  A long time favorite.  I even added a splash of boxed red wine.

2210  I retired fully dressed except for shoes to my sleeping bag on the starboard pipe berth at about 2030, but couldn’t get to sleep.  With only the reefed main up GANNET was not heeled excessively, but the ride was bumpy and we were slammed by a few waves.  At about 2130 the motion caused me to worry about an accidental gybe.  So I put on foul weather gear and the wind had indeed veered, so I set some of the jib, lowered the main, and set up the starboard running back stay.  While doing so I noticed the running lights of a ship not far away passing north of us presumably heading for Savannah.  I also found that one of the sheet bags had popped a rivet.  In the cabin I found that the leak around the compass has resumed.  I sprayed some sealant on it, but doubt that will help.  Even under a scrap of jib we continue to make 5.5 and 6 knots.  I again seek sleep.

January 29, Wednesday

0350  A rough night even with only a part of the jib set.  Not big waves, but several have slammed into us.  The tiller pilot is a new one, but I don’t know how long it can survive.  I can’t use sheet to tiller with only the jib set and I don’t want to set the main.

I got some broken sleep and finally decided to get up a half hour ago.

One thing I am not is cold.  The companionway is closed to reduce water inflow and the temperature in the Great Cabin is 65F.

0430  In the Gulf Stream.  Being set north 25º.  COG around 110º instead of the 135º we were making.

 

I will wait until dawn before considering hardening up.

0730  Sun just rising from the ocean.  

I dozed at Central.

A ship heading north a few miles east of us.

5’-6’ cresting waves.  About 20 knots of wind SSW.  We continue on a starboard broad reach.

1200

31º 02’ N

078º 39’W

day’s run   120 miles

COG 131º   SOG 5 knots

barometer  1017

wind 18 SW

broad reach

Culebra 1048 miles  bearing 136º

Wind increasing.  We seem to be beyond the Gulf Stream.  COG and compass heading about the same.  Sunny.  Warm.  GANNET moving reasonably smoothly.  No waves coming on board for a while.   I am tired.

I don’t wear my wedding ring while sailing, but just saw that I had forgotten to remove it.  My fingers have swollen.  It only came off with effort.

1445  I put the wind display and three solar cabin lights in the cockpit to charge.  The wind display now shows wind speed of 20 knots.

Relatively smooth sailing under partially furled jib.

I have taken off my long underwear.

1700  Dinner of Chicken Gumbo not a success.  This was a test.  I think Alpine Aire.  I will not buy it again.  Saved by some of my sister-in-law’s delicious fruit cake.  Thank you, Peggy.  And now a few sips of Plymouth gin accompanied by music, presently ‘Farewell to Stromness’.  

I eat early to do so before dark.

I stood in the companionway briefly.  I presently have this bit of the ocean to myself.  A dark blue white capped sea.

Today’s sailing was enjoyable, if at times a bit rough.  Not a day for spending time on deck except in foul weather gear.

If the forecasts just before I left were accurate, we are due to be headed tomorrow and Friday.

I hope I sleep better tonight.

1740   Gather your strength, old man.  Gather your strength.

1815  The sun has set.  

I stood in the companionway as GANNET  sailed on. 

January 30, Thursday

0920  The wind veered and lightened during the night.  GANNET moved smoothly and I slept well, but am still tired.

The wind is now NW at five or six knots.  We are sailing at three and four knots directly ahead of it under full jib.  The forecasts before I left were for the wind to go south this afternoon and head us.

I await developments.

1200

29º 52’ N

76º 59’ W

day’s run  110 miles

SOG 3.0   COG 130º

barometer 1022

wind 6 knots east

close hauled port tack  full jib  reefed main

seas 2’

Culebra 937 miles    bearing137º

Wind has continued to veer.  We could carry full sail, but I am waiting to see what happens before removing the reef

I took advantage of the smooth conditions this morning to change clothes.  76 in Great Cabin.  Now in t-shirt and jeans.  I also refilled the day water containers and moved extra oatmeal and protein powder into the morning duffle bag, and wiped myself down and shaved.

1300  Fixed the sheet bag, replacing the broken snap fastener with a screw and washer.

1600  Making 5 to 6 knots close hauled port tack with full jib and still reefed main in 7 or 8 knots of wind.  A few whitecaps, but more swells than waves.  Pleasant sailing accompanied by a gin and tonic with even a slice of lime and music, presently a favorites playlist with a Portuguese group, Madredias, singing ‘O Sonho’.

To life.

1730  The sun is close to the southwestern horizon.  Pleasant sailing, but I doubt it will continue unchanged throughout the night.  The wind continues to veer slowly and close hauled with tiller pilot steering likely means a backed jib.

My hands are swollen and hurt.  My shoulders hurt.  I am not sure why.  Maybe sailing GANNET is harder than I remember.

Dinner was Mountain House Chicken and Rice.  Another standard.  I note on the package they call them ‘Adventure Meals’.  I eat them anyway.

I have gybed the Avon and food bags and will sleep tonight on the port pipe berth.

January 31, Friday

0815  We are presently sailing close hauled on starboard tack under reefed main and deeply furled jib with the tiller tied down, making 4 knots on a course of around 120º.

Last night after getting up twice when the jib backed, I left it backed and hove to.  However that caused us to be blown SSW at 2 knots.  The Bahamas are 180 miles south of us.  Finally just after midnight I went on deck and got us sailing as we are on starboard tack with the tiller pilot steering.  A few minutes ago I went up and set us steering with the tiller tied down.  We could carry more sail, but I don’t want to unnecessarily to beat up GANNET or myself.  If the wind continues to veer we will follow it around until when our desired course of around 135º becomes a reach I will try sheet to tiller or reengage the tiller pilot which I have brought below.

I am not sure of the wind strength.  Somewhere in the teens.  The wind display is seldom exposed to direct sunlight on this course.  I put it on the cockpit sole yesterday afternoon and it got some charge, but not enough and is no longer working.

1200

29º 07’N

076º 08’W

day’s run 63 miles

COG 092º   SOG 3.7 knots

barometer 1022

wind 16-18 knots SE

seas 5’

close hauled starboard reefed main deeply furled jib, tiller tied down

Culebra  874 miles bearing 137º

Sunny.  Warm.  Not all that rough, but we are slamming into and off of waves.  Some water making it back to the companionway.  And we aren’t getting anywhere.  Every movement has to be timed and planned.  As always since we left I am tired.

When I was making my oatmeal this morning, a box of raisins went flying and broke open.  Raisins everywhere.  I will still be finding them months from now.

1630  I am sipping boxed red wine and listening to the soundtrack of the movie, THE HOSTILES, while my feast of freeze dry Spicy Sausage Pasta steeps and GANNET hops off waves.

It is not quite sunset, but close enough for me to look around and consider the night.  I expect there will be changes in the wind.  I expect I will be on deck responding to them.  That is my job.  One of my jobs.  

And you didn’t think I had one.

2045  The wind increased and GANNET began leaping off waves and slamming into troughs.  I lowered all sail and have let us lie ahull.  We are drifting NE.  Not the way toward Culebra.  I am considering not going there, but turning this into a voyage to no where.  Instead of suffering, putting GANNET on enjoyable points of sail, where I might even be able to spend some time on deck as thus far I haven’t.  As I write we are rocking to and fro, but I can probably get some sleep.

February 1, Saturday

0825   Very rough.  Wind 20-25.  GANNET leaping off waves, but the wind veered during the night and we are making 4.5 knots on course for Culebra under reefed main and a scrap of jib with the tiller tied down.  I hope the wind continues to veer and will decrease.  If not I will have to heave to or lie ahull again tonight.  I could not possibly sleep with GANNET leaping about like this.

I had to pump the bilge.

Difficult to write wedged here at Central.

1200  

29º 08’ N

074º 51’ W

COG 134º  SOG 3.5 knots

day’s run   67 miles

barometer 1020

wind 17 knots SW

seas 5-6’

beam reach under partially furled jib

Culebra 828 miles bearing 141º

A prodigious leap off a wave mid-morning caused GANNET to gybe.  When I went on deck to get us turned around I realized that the wind had continued to veer and we need no longer be close hauled.  The wind was still strong, so I lowered the mainsail, went below to bring up the tiller pilot, engaged it, set us on a course of 135º and let out a little more jib.  I may set more sail, but we are moving smoothly and little water is coming over the deck.

We are on almost the same latitude as yesterday noon, but 50 miles closer to Culebra which isn’t bad considering we lay ahull all night.

1430  Wind has dropped to 12-15 knots.  Still on the beam.  I raised the still reefed main and went to sheet to tiller steering for a while, but the wind strength is varying too much, so back to the tiller pilot.

I’ve changed into shorts and t-shirt.  78 in the Great Cabin.  Some hazy clouds.

1610  Pleasant sailing.  We have not had much so far.  I have spent little time on deck except when handling sails.  I’ve just come below from standing in the companionway sipping a glass of boxed sauvignon blanc.  Now listening to music and then to prepare a freeze dry meal.  It would be very nice if this wind lasted for a while.

1710  Louisiana beans and rice for dinner.

Ahead of us all clear, but an ominous solid cloud bank coming toward us from the west.  I have put on foul weather gear and am waiting.

1930  The line of clouds reached us with total darkness and a 180º wind shift.  We went almost instantly from a starboard beam reach to a port beam reach.  I activated the Velocitek so I could see our course and used a flashlight to illuminate the masthead Windex.  Light rain began to fall and is falling still.  The wind is light. We are making maybe 2 knots in the right direction according to the iSailor readouts on my iPhone.  Quite a difference from navigating as I did fifty years ago with a sextant.

February 2, Sunday

0847  We are making about 4.5 knots on a close reach about course 145º under partially furled jib and still reefed mainsail.

I slept in my foul weather gear until 0115 as we continued to sail at a couple of knots in very light wind.  At 0115 I went on deck and completely unfurled the jib and removed my foul weather gear before returning to the pipe berth.  A little after 0400 the jib begin slatting and I thought might back.  On deck I found that the wind had died almost completely.  I furled the jib, set the tiller amidship and the tiller pilot to standby and went back to the pipe berth.  When I woke an hour later light wind had returned and we were sailing east at 2 knots.  I put us back on course of 140 and unfurled the jib.  We continue, though I have partially furled the jib to reduce our angle of heel.  Doing so did not reduce our speed.  Some clouds to the north.  The barometer remains high.

I found boxes of apple juice in my morning food bag.  They were marked ‘Best used by June 30 2021.’  I don’t know what can happen to apple juice, but I declined and opened one of the boxes I bought for this sail.

1200  

28º 07’ N

74º 08’W

SOG 3.0 knots  COG 177º

day’s run 72 miles

barometer 1022

wind 4-5 knots ESE

seas 1-2’

close hauled port tack partially furled jib, reefed main

Culebra  759 miles

In the last a half hour the wind has gone light and headed us.  Waiting possible change.  I expect to unreef main and unfurl jib.

1220 Sailing under full main and jib.  Not going any faster but pointing higher.  COG 153.  And it looks better.  

1330  Becalmed.  I furled the jib and have left the main up.  Tiller pilot standby.  Tiller amidships.  Rolling slightly.

1420  Sailing again at 3.5 knots, but iSailor and the Velocitek show our COG with 30-40º difference.  I have tacked several times.  On port tack, the Velocitek shows 80-90º. iSailor 40-50º.  On starboard which we are now on, Velocitek shows 165º.  iSailor 195º.  We should be far from the Gulf Stream.  

1848  A very pleasant evening.  Sailing smoothly close hauled.  Starry sky.  Early sliver of moon.  Music.  Sipping Laphroaig.  

I found myself trying to connect that solitary boy in a small suburban house in Missouri seven ago with this old man sailing a small boat in the Atlantic Ocean.  So much has happened in between, it is almost impossible and certainly improbable.

So where do I go from here?

That few 83 year old even consider the question is irrelevant. 

I don’t know where I go from here, other than Culebra, a most arbitrary destination and I hope one that brings enjoyment.

So I am going to have to redefine myself or just wait as most do for time and chance to kill me.

That seems grim.  Well end of life is, but this is in fact a moment of joy, GANNET sailing well and I alone with perhaps no other of our species within a hundred miles.

February 3, Monday

0700  Another becalmed night.  I had the sails furled by midnight.

I woke an hour ago to very light headwind.  We have made 16 miles since noon yesterday.  This is our sixth day out and we are not even halfway.  I am out of wind and out of patience.  I turned GANNET around and am heading home.  Slowly.  Making 2 knots under main and jib on a broad reach with the main held down by a preventer to prevent it slamming around.  The mouth of Port Royal Sound is 443 miles, bearing 307.  Culebra is 733 miles, bearing 139.  Goodbye Culebra.

1200

27º 47’ N

073º 59’W

COG  330º  SOG 0.9 knots  

day’s run 11 miles (really no day’s run because we         reversed course this morning.  This is the distance

SSE we are from yesterday noon.)

barometer 1023

wind 0-2 knots

seas glassy with some swell from the NE

main and jib collapsing.  Set for starboard broad reach

HIlton Head Island 437 miles  bearing 307º

Sunny and hot.  Forward hatch open.  Essentially becalmed.

1710  A lovely day unless you want to go sailing.

We are under a high and there is almost no wind.  Ironically the wind display has good exposure to the sun on this course and is working, but has no wind to display.

The wind, if it can be called such, has veered to the SE, so I gybed and we are now on sort of a port broad reach.  However there is a 3’ swell from the NE that collapses the sails.  Now singular, because I have furled the jib which was more collapsed than filled and am oozing NW under main alone.  It’s boom is held stationary by main sheet, boom vang, and preventer.  We are probably making 1 knot.

I am cleaner than I have been, having wiped myself down with fresh water and shaved.  Ashore I shave daily; here every few days.  

I had two gin and tonics on deck listening to music.  I had to sit turned away from the sun which is fierce.

I have Alpine Aire Three Cheese Lasagna steeping.

I sat on deck considering my relationship to the ocean.  That I have one is I believe proven.  That it has changed is also proven.  I do not know what comes next.  A good wind angle would be appreciated.

To life, even if sometimes it lasts too long.

1736  The ocean has turned to glass.  What little wind we had has vanished.  The mainsail is still up and the tiller pilot is still able to keep us on course, but I expect  we will drift again for the third or fourth night in a row.  I have lost track.

Three Cheese Lasagna is greatly improved by a generous addition of boxed red wine.

1800  Zero wind.  Mainsail down.  Drifting.  Quite pleasant.  Great ocean view.

1819  I just stood in the companionway.  

The swell has died away and GANNET is rocking slowly on inch high ripples.

I had to search for the sliver moon which was not where I expected.  Venus, if that is what it is, is considerably more distant from the moon than when I saw it last.

Quiet and beautiful here. 

February 4, Tuesday

0700 Still becalmed.  Sails down.  We are 16 miles north west of our noon position yesterday and 14 miles west of our noon position Sunday.  Barometer 2022.

0810  Sailing.  3.5 knots close hauled port tack.  Course 325º.

1200

28º 04’ N

074º. 29’ W

COG 318º  SOG 4.8 knots

day’s run  32 miles

barometer  2022

wind 9 knots west

seas 1’

Hilton Head Island  404 miles  bearing 307º

Wind has been steady from the west but has just weakened slightly and perhaps veered.  Smooth sailing this morning close hauled port tack full sail set, sometimes making 5 and 6 knots.

I went on deck and found that the wind has veered.  Our course now is 330º and a ship is passing less than a mile north of us carrying on its deck a large catamaran sailboat.  The proper way to make a passage.

1800  Having enjoyed my freeze dry feast of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff much improved by my addition of boxed Sauvignon Blanc—I am such a chef—I have often returned to standing in the companionway sipping said Sauvignon Blanc.  The sun has set.  GANNET is sailing well.  I am surrounded by the sea and sky.  I am listening to an album PACABEL’S GREATEST HIT, consisting of eight different renditions of his Canon in D Major.  These moments redeem a lot.

I am going to resume standing in the companionway and watch the dying of the light.

February 5, Wednesday

0830  A rough night.

At around 2300 the jib backed and in going on deck to get us back on course I bumped a place on the shin of my left leg that already had a scab from an earlier bump and this started sharp stabs of pain occurring several times a minute throughout the night making it difficult to sleep.  I put some Polysporin on it and a large BandAid.  I notice the pain less this morning, but still have some twinges.

At about 0230 this morning a squall came through with heavy rain.  It only lasted about ten minutes.  I struggled into my foul weather gear and furled the sails until it passed.  It did so with a wind shift to the north.  I reset some of the jib and we sailed on a beam reach.  With daylight I unfurled the jib completely and raised the main.  We are making 5 and sometimes 6 knots on course for Hilton Head with 8-9 knots of wind on the beam.  Rolling on 3’ swells.  Sunny.  Clear sky.  A ship passed west of us an hour ago heading north.

0945  Wind continues to veer and weaken.  I have had to come up 10º in order to keep the main from blanketing the jib.  Confused 4’ seas coming from multiple directions.  Now making only about 4 knots on 320º.

1200

29º 14’ N

075º 40’ W

COG 325º  SOG 3.4 knots

day’s run   96 miles

barometer  1022

wind 6 knots E

seas  2-3’ confused

Hilton Head 313 miles  bearing 313º

Sunny and hot.  80 in Great Cabin with both hatches open.  Wind light.  GANNET being thrown around by swells.  More wallowing than sailing.  The wind has continued to veer and I just gybed from starboard to port very broad reach.  Previous course was 345º about the same speed.

1520  Clouds to the south and west may bring change and rain.

1705  The clouds to the south have dissolved.

I had furled the jib because it was flogging uselessly and let us sail under the mainsail alone.  The wind is now steadier and the ocean smoother, so I unfurled the jib and we are sailing under full sail.

February 6, Thursday

0840  I have been up a couple of hours after a floppy night.  The wind was so far aft that I was concerned about an accidental gybe of the mainsail which would have been undesirable even though the preventer would have kept the boom from swinging all the way across, so I lowered the main and sailed under the jib alone, but it kept collapsing and filling with a bang, so I had to furl it down until that stopped.  We continued through the night with GANNET being rolled about by small seas.  At first light this morning I found the wind had veered a bit and was on our beam, so I raised the main and unfurled the jib and we are having the best sailing so far, making 5.5-6.5 knots on course for Hilton Head Island which is 250 miles ahead.  If this wind holds we would be in on Saturday, but wind seldom lasts unchanged for 48 hours in these waters.

1200

29º 57’N

076º 54’ W

COG 310º  SOG 5.5 knots

day’s run  110 miles

barometer  1021

wind 15 knots S

seas 4-5’

Hilton Head 236 miles bearing 305º

Fine sailing this morning on beam and broad reach.  I have twice reduced the jib because GANNET was moving too quickly for the tiller pilot to keep up and yawing.  The wind seems to have just dropped from 18 knots to 15.

GANNET takes some strength to sail, but obviously the loads are much less than on bigger boats.  What she does require is constant isometric exercise against gravity.

1750  Low cloud cover all around, but the wind has weakened slightly in the past half hour.  I will sleep in foul weather gear expecting a major shift during the night.

1830  Conditions seem less severe than they did earlier.  However, we are being setting north by the Gulf Stream.

February 7  Friday

1000  I have been awake since about 0300 when conditions became very rough and sleep impossible.

Only in the last few minutes have they moderated so that I can write.  A lot of water has found its way below.  I have pumped the bilge twice.

During the night something in the cockpit made strange sounds.  Perhaps the tiller pilot.  I will swap it out for another before sunset.

The wind has veered and weakened.  We are now close hauled making 4 knots in 14 knot wind.  During the night it was 20.  I have let out a little more jib, but 5’ waves continue to stop us and we are already heeled excessively.

I am living in my foul weather gear, though I take the parka off inside the cabin.  I can get it back on quickly.  The pants and sea boots take too long.

1200  

31º 03’ N

078º 22’W

COG 250º  SOG 3.8 knots

day’s run  101 miles

barometer  1020

wind 14 NE

seas 4’5’

Hilton Head 137 miles  bearing 300º

Wind veered dramatically a half hour ago, so I tacked.  I hope it keeps on veering.

I have not removed the reef from the main, but do have the jib almost completely unfurled.  Waiting to see what happens next.

It has already been a very long day.

1445  Wind backed and I tacked, but we are going no where, heading off around 345º.  A nice afternoon if the wind were not directly heading us.  Hopes of getting in tomorrow have vanished.

1600  Wind has backed.  I removed the reef from the mainsail and we are making 3 knots on course 310º.  Not great, but better than we were doing.

1845  Sailing smoothly close hauled port.  

I do not like to go to sleep sailing close hauled with tiller pilot steering which can easily result in a backed jib, but this is the right choice for these conditions.  I did not get much sleep last night and would like to tonight.  We will see.  A continued backing of the wind would be welcomed

Beauty here.  Half moon directly overhead.  Water passing GANNET’s hull as I look out sitting here on the port pipe berth sipping boxed sauvignon blanc and listening to the soundtrack of THE LIBERTINE.  Not the monastery of the sea, but beautiful.

February 8, Saturday

0600  Once again I have been awake since 0300.  Essentially a pleasant night with light wind that enabled us to keep sailing.  The jib backed at 0300.  I got us back on a true compass course of 290º, but when I went below and check iSailor we were making 010º.  The Gulf Stream truly has us.  I have never before known it to be this strong.  

Since then the wind has veered and headed us.  We are now on a compass course of 335º T and according to iSailor a COG of 021º.  Helpless.  The mouth of Port Royal Sound is 95 miles away, bearing 284º and becoming more distant.  I have no idea when or if we will ever get there.

0920  We are getting through.  The deflection is now only about 20º.  Making 4-5 knots in 5 -6 knot wind across smooth seas.

I got some good sleep last night between 1930 and 0300 though I was on deck several times because of changes in the wind, but I just fell asleep sitting at Central.

1200

32º 09’ N

078º 59’ W

COG 295º   SOG 4.6 knots

day’ run 70 miles

barometer  1021

wind 10 knots

seas 2’

Outer buoy Hilton Head 80 miles  bearing 268º

We are free of the Gulf Stream.  Velocitek and iSailor have the same COG.

Sunny.  Mostly smooth seas.  Close hauled port tack.  Full sail up.  

Two ships have passed several miles east of us heading north.  We are still 60 miles from the coast heading for a point about midway between Charleston and Hilton Head.  The wind backing 30º would be appreciated.  If conditions remain the same we will have to tack sometime tonight.

1400  Reef in mainsail, partially furled jib.

Ships passing to the east of us heading north.  One passing west of us heading south.

1700  We are again on soundings.  147’ 37 miles off the coast.  A little deep and rough to anchor.

1916  I further furled the jib.  We were heeled over too far for sleep to be possible.  As is usual, reducing sail did not much reduce our speed.  GANNET is simply more on her lines and pushing less water around than when she is more severely heeled.  I have found this true with all my boats except CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE, which had only 12” of draft and never pushed much water around.

I am listening to Max Richter’s THREE WORLDS, music based on the writings of Virginia Woolf, and sipping the last of the Laphroaig as the little boat sails on.  I am fortunate to have Carol and the beauty and tranquility of our home ahead of me.

February 9, Sunday

0400  Up at 0130 due to backed jib.  Spun GANNET around and got us back on course and went back to sleep, but jib backed again at about 0300 and I am awake for good.  I think this is the third night in a row I have not slept past 0300.  I have lost count.

The mouth of Port Royal Sound is only 55 miles away, but it is directly to windward.  I don’t expect we can make the slip today, but I would at least like to be at anchor in the sound tonight and will enter it after dark if necessary.  At the moment GANNET’s bow is pointing at Charleston, 60 miles up the coast.  Lights of three fishing or shrimp boats a few miles east of us.

0700  A giant red sun rising from the sea.  15 knots of wind still from the SW.  We are creatures of the light.  I always like to see it return.

0830  I stuck my head out the companionway a few minutes ago to look around.  We had not been taking water over the deck, but just as I stood a cold wave poured over me.  I did not have on my foul weather parka.  I stripped off my shirt and t-shirt, dried myself with paper towels and put on two layers of dry shirts and the foul weather parka.  Temperature in the Great Cabin 59º, so it could be worse.

0900  The wind has backed maybe 20º and dropped to 12 knots.  I took out the reef in the main and unfurled the jib.  We are now pointing at St. Helena Sound, the next one north of Port Royal, but are being set north by a current.  Perhaps tide.

1030  The wind veered, so I tacked to starboard 15 miles off the mouth of St. Helena Sound.  Wind 12-15 knots.  At 15 knots GANNET’s lee rail is sometimes buried.

1200

32º 09’ N

080º 28’ W

COG 275º  SOG 5.2

day’s run 74 miles (tacked and sailed farther)

barometer 1020

wind 15 knots SW

seas 3-4’

distance to mouth of Port Royal Sound 12 miles, bearing 306º

We are going to make Port Royal Sound.  I tacked again a few minutes ago.  

We cannot steer directly for the mouth of the Sound because of shoals, but I have cut the corner before and crossed over them in what the iSailor chart shows to be a minimum of 12’ of water to reach the main channel without having to go to the outer buoy of the shipping channel.  This will save more than a hour.  I expect that in some conditions waves break on the shoal but I can see they are not today.  Once we reach the main channel, the course is slightly east of north, then north and we should be reaching all the way.  The tide will be with us in Skull Creek until 1800, so we may even reach the slip.

1300  Down below briefly.  I sat in the cockpit iPhone in hand watching our progress on the iSailor app.  As has been my experience we saw more water than the apps shows.  Never less than 16’.  I crossed the main channel and with relief turned us off the wind so we were not close hauled for the first time in a long time and GANNET began making a smooth 7 knots.

I again have cell phone coverage and called Carol.  I told her I was still uncertain, but thought I would reach the slip before sunset and if not would anchor for the night in the sound and power in tomorrow morning.  I moved the Avon and slithered aft to retrieve the fenders and dock lines.  With the forepeak packed, it will be simpler to mount the outboard if I can do so easily in the sound than dig out the anchor and rode.

1500  It is iniquitous.  The wind has been SW heading us for hours, days, seemingly forever, and just as we enter the sound it immediately veers NNW and heads us again.  We are close hauled again.  Presently on port tack.  The mouth of Skull Creek is 5 miles and I don’t know how many tacks away.

1630 I don’t know the east side of the sound well.  I sail on the west side and know the shoals there.  Sitting in the cockpit iPhone in hand I followed us on the iSailor chart until we were 1000’ off a marker at the south end of Parris Island Shoal, then tacked.

When back in the middle of the sound, which is 3 miles wide, I furled the jib and lowered the main and set the tiller pilot to hold the tiller amidships and mounted the Evo on the transom.  The sound is smooth and it all went well.  I tie a line onto the Evo shaft before I lower it onto the mount, but haven’t dropped it yet.  It started as it should.  I turned it off and raised sail again and continued to the west side of the sound.  There is a marked shoal there.  I could see one of the buoys.  I glanced down and found my iPhone dead.  I had been using it to navigate since before dawn without paying attention to the charge.  It no longer mattered.  I know the rest of the way.

On that tack we could not quite reach the mouth of Skull Creek.  A half mile off I turned on the Evo, furled the jib and lowered the main and began powering at 2.4 knots with the second fully charged Evo battery in place.

A dark cloud was inland to the northwest, but it drifted north and the sun came out again.  GANNET moved levelly and smoothly.  The Evo is very quiet and for me not wearing my hearing aids while I sail even quieter.  It was quite pleasant.

1900  I am writing this back in the condo.

As we entered Skull Creek the last hour of the rising tide gave us an extra half knot.

On the sand spit on the north side of the entrance was a scoop of pelicans—I had to look that up and found there are many collectives nouns for pelicans.  I like scoop best—more than twenty.  We do not often see that many pelicans on this side of the island.  They were making a lot of pelican noise.

I went below and brought up and secured fenders and dock lines.  As we rounded the long curve on Skull Creek, condos ashore and the masts of the boats in the marina ahead glowed in the setting sun.

I slowed as we reached the marina and disengaged the tiller pilot and steered us into our slip an hour ago.  Carol had seen me coming and was there to welcome me.

I was tired.  I adjusted the dock lines and put on the mainsail cover and left the rest until tomorrow.

Once in the condo, I showered and took two aspirin and a medicinal martini before falling into a deep sleep.