Sail into civilization to anchor away from it all

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I’m a bit exhausted, but I’ll post just to keep up the habit. Last night I anchored off the south end of the Marquesas in a nice little cove amidst very skinny water, but the nearby shoals substantially cut down the waves which made for an easy night. It was a bit of hell to get my anchor to seat in the hard rock bottom.  After 3 attempts at a set I figured I might as well try to just drag the anchor by motoring backwards. Every other time it just skipped across the bottom. This proved to be a useful tactic, although stopping a boat moving 2 kts in reverse may have strained my snubber a bit.

I joined Pete and Jill for a lovely dinner. I had prepared some ham and cheese mashed potatoes that were once again delicious, and they had caught an Atlantic bonita, a small tuna, which they prepared by searing so the center was still very raw. We had a salad to boot and some fiery wasabi, and the meal and company were terrific.  Our Gulf Bonita aren’t fit to feed dogs, but this fish, even though superficially resembling its cousin, was superb. After dinner I bid adieu, I was very tired from the motoring all day, and I headed back to the boat.

One thing that has freaked me out consistently on this trip is just how dark it is away from civilization. When I got into the dinghy, Pete had turned on his LED spreader lights to help me out. Unfortunately, this killed my night vision, and my boat’s anchor light became just one of the stars in the sky. To the south of me, nothing at all until Cuba. I briefly pondered what if I should lose my boat entirely in the dark, and be forced to cling to Pete’s vessel! Thankfully, the Star of Tardis was slightly unlike its bretheren in that it moved in an oscillation unlike those of standard celestial bodies, so I had a general vector of approach. However it wasn’t until I was very close that it appeared like a ghost out of the gloom, sending shivers up my spine with worry about losing my precious home. As I docked the dinghy and raised it I thought also of the consequence of losing my runabout, but at least all was well.

Although I set my alarm for 6, My cell phone’s time was off by an hour meaning I wasn’t roused until 7. I had been so tired that I went to sleep at 9:30, so with the sun I made coffee and breakfast quickly, and I was about a mile behind Pete pulling away. Mercifully, the winds were sailable, so I hoisted everything and killed the noisy rumble-bucket. Today I wasn’t feeling 100%, the game of dodge the lobster traps had mentally worn upon me, so I was elated to stop playing while I sailed. After traversing 40 statute miles and inevitably running over many of the dastardly things, none chose to join me on my trip for which I was quite thankful.

As with long sailing trips, it was uneventful to the reader but it kept me incessantly occupied either trimming sails, washing the deck, talking on the radio, or stuffing my face to avoid wasting away in light of so much running around. I was worn out by noon, but I did catch two Spanish mackerel, one of them almost 2’ long. I wasn’t into going through a bloody mess and cleanup for a mediocre fish, so I granted them a reprieve. The other thing of significance was my phone coming into cell range for the first time in a week, which unfortunately reminded me of junk mail and Facebook.

After a long day’s sail Pete had been ahead of me but he decided to bail out into Boca Chita harbor, but I had plenty of companionship the past few days and I was ready for a secluded spot. Derek had informed me of a marginal but possible niche of an anchorage called Saddlebunch harbor.  Most of the harbor is really only suitable for kayaks, but I fit myself into a tight hole and anchored bow and stern to accommodate the shifting tides. As soon as that was settled I took a hot shower and all became right with the world.

Tomorrow?  What will I do? I’m thinking chill out. I’ve been in sail jail for 2 days now and I want to maybe just sit here all day and read, or perhaps go fishing. I’m only 12 miles from my intended destination of a harbor near Big Pine and Ramrod keys, maybe I’ll sail there. Maybe I’ll sleep until noon and play video games? One way or another I need a bit of R&R, because Dry Tortugas is REALLY far away from the Keys. If you consider, I sailed 425 nm from Destin to the Tortugas, but from there to where I’m currently anchored is about 90 nm.