Monday, April 5th. We were up bright and early -- 6:12 a.m. to be exact -- to catch the shuttle launch. We had a great view of the shuttle streaking across the sky, leaving one of its booster rockets to hang in the morning sky like a gigantic firework display.
Since the sail down to Cumberland Island can take 10 hrs, we wanted to get underway at first light. However, by that time, it became obvious that the bilge pump was not having a good morning. Ordinarily, the bilge pump runs on infrequent occasions to pump accumulated water from the bottom of the boat (like after we fill the water tanks and some runs over into the boat). Ordinarily, the pump goes on, runs a bit, and then there's a "swoosh" of water being pumped out the back. Not today though. Today, the pump would go on and run and run and run and run w/o any comforting "swoosh" of water to reinforce why you have an automatic bildge pump on a boat.
Can't start a journey with a funky bilge pump, so the morning was spent with our heads hanging down through hatches under the back berths, investigating the inner workings of the bilge system. Captn Dan discovered the root of the problem (naturally) and was able to repair the broken part on the bilge strainer that was triggering the errorous signals that turned on the pump. During that process, though, we discussed the need to have a replacement bilge pump on board since our current back-up pump is quite old and small. This will be Dan's first shopping trip to West Marine by bike ... and he made it to the end of the parking lot where another boater volunteered the use of his car. Thanks Lynn!
It always seems there is "one more chore" that needs to get done before leaving the dock ... Here is Dan trying to replace a shackle (kinda like a removable bolt) on the front of the boat, part of the anchoring system. He has made two trips to West Marine to get the right size shackle, but they never seem to quite fit when he is stetched out over the dock trying to get it assesmbled!
Always with a smile on his face!
Better late than never, we finally left the dock around 3pm. It was too late to head towards Cumberland Island, so we motored the channel and found a place to anchor for the night. It takes 3-4 hours to motor out the channel to the Atlantic Ocean, so this will help us get a head start on the sail to Cumberland on Tuesday. The wind is from the South at 10-15 knots which means that we'll be heading into the wind the entire day; it could be a rocky/rolly voyage with seas expected at 3-4 ft.
Tuesday, April 6th.
It was a beautiful morning for heading offshore.
It's not easy making headway when sailing into the wind, but we enjoyed the sail anyway! A lot of cruisers always motor/sail so they can make the best time on the shortest course. We prefer the sound of wind over the noise of the diesel, so we opted to sail as long as possible. Robert got a chance to suntan on the bow of the boat, and I got a chance to see how our possessions in the cabin travelled while under sail and dealing with ocean swells. And Dan got to relax a bit, courtsey of the autopilot!
After about 6 hours of sailing, we had to change course and turn the motor on so we could arrive at the anchorage at Cumberland Island in the daylight. Now the boat was taking the rolling swells from the side, which meant about a 4-hr ride of long, slow rolling from side-to-side, until we turned into St Marys Inlet, where the swells were now behind us, giving us more of a rollar-coaster effect ... up and down, up and down!
Ft. Clinch on Amelia Island, as we approached Cumberland Island.
Motoring in a channel is all about watching your depth and green and red buoys ... signs that the boat is in the right place.
We motored down the St Mary's Inlet to Cumberland Island. Where we dropped anchor just as the sun was setting. Whew!
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