Enjoying St Josepg Bay and Port St Joe

I did manage to make it into St Joseph Bay and I was anchored up snugly in Eagle Harbor by 11pm. I took a quick hot shower and was out until daylight the next day. Eagle Harbor is a little deepwater area that was tidally carved out once upon a time that there wasn’t a land bridge connecting Cape San Blas to the CSB peninsula, so it was deep right up near shore. I hopped in the dinghy to explore CSB state park which occupies 8 or 9 miles of the peninsula.  It was a beautiful locale, with a long beach followed by immense sand dunes in hills and valleys with old growth pines and other Florida scrubs. I walked a good distance along the beach with the intent of hitching a ride back, but I met some hikers who informed me it’s 100% primitive out at the end, and they were walking back to the campsites which mark the end of the road.  It’s a good thing I talk to people, otherwise I might have given myself a long walk back.

I turned around, and overall I thoroughly enjoyed the 7 miles or so that I walked along the beach. The weather Sunday was lovely, so I returned to the boat in order to do some laundry. I knew temperatures would be getting colder, and I hadn’t the time to do laundry before I left Niceville, so I needed to ensure I had ample clean clothes. The laundry session started off warm but a high level series of clouds cooled the sun, and this was quickly followed by cool winds. I ended the evening by bringing all the clothes inside and running the generator to drive my dehumidifier all night. This was annoying, but lovely in the respect that I was able to do it.

Monday I should have really sailed back home. The winds would have been perfect to push me back, but I was having fun and wanted to enjoy a cruising week while I could. I relocated the boat to be anchored more snugly in Eagle harbor, mostly to avoid the fetch I got while further out. I did a sewing project to make a new sailing tether with elastic in the legs that keeps them retracted. I think I will enjoy this bit of sailing kit as I will hopefully trip over the jacklines and tether less, and be more safe. I also took apart the inverter to discover that all 6X30A blade fuses had failed.  I unsoldered them and noticed that 2/8 of some power transistors in a bank had failed and spurted their smoke out. I can fix the fuses and replace the transistors, but I suspect the device is toast.

I say I should have sailed home Monday, because it was a warm and lovely day with perfect winds to blow me back to Destin. As I went to sleep Monday I was ready for a bit of a storm, but I was met with a winter storm that rained heavily after midnight and all Tuesday. This was a cold, misty rain that wouldn’t let me get off the boat without receiving a soaking. As the rain fell the temperature steadily dipped and I curled up in blankets while I read copious volumes of SciFi. This was a bit of a miserable day, and I get antsy just sitting on the boat when I want to be out exploring. I also took a rather long boredom-induced nap in the middle of the day that was actually counterproductive as it precluded decent sleep Tuesday night.

I was quite happy that I had received a new sleeping bag marketed as -5F from Amazon the day before I left on this trip. While I don’t believe the marketing claims one bit, the outside weather dipped to 34F while the interior temperatures were about 10F higher. I stayed toasty inside the bag in combination with my regular sheets, so I was in no fear of actually freezing, until I woke up. Wednesday morning was damn cold, and it was hard for me to get motivated to do much but get warmer. The winds were predicted to grow very strong, up past 30 kts.  I would be sheltered by any waves but the wind would preclude a trip to shore, as would the temperature.

I’m super cheap and almost never frequent marinas, but considering I’m only eating groceries I felt I could splurge on my comfort. I knew of St Joe marina just 5 nm across the bay, and the lure of AC power and its concomitant  heat was too much. By 10AM I was raising the muddy hook to steam across the bay and get hooked up.

This marina is quite well situated, and I was so pleased that they let me borrow a 30 Amp shore power cable.  I had left mine at the dock because I foolishly believed that I wouldn’t need it because “I never stay at marinas”. After spending a few days freezing inside the boat, 111$ seemed a small price to pay for 2 days of comfort. I have the additional benefits of being able to go explore the cute little town of Port St Joe, and one musn’t ever forget how lovely a long hot shower is.

The staff at this marina is exceptional, and did I mention they are letting me borrow a 30 Amp shore power cable for free?! Every morning there’s a bit of a gathering in the ship’s store around coffee, the news and a sailor’s favorite subject, the weather. There are 3 other cruising sailboats tied at the end of the dock with me, one Pearson 385 headed to Tampa from Texas, and a Pacific Seacraft 37 and an Irwin 38 headed back to Texas from Tampa. I spoke to most of the captains and they are all nice folks, boxed in here to avoid the near record low temperatures.

Wednesday I walked the entire town after a refreshing hot, long shower and enjoyed talking to a few locals. This is a quite laid back Old Florida town that hasn’t had much going on since the paper mill disappeared 20 years ago. It’s certainly very walkable and has a nice downtown strip with a multitude of stores that cater to tourists and locals alike. I think this is a very nice town for any cruiser that passes this way, with a nice marina.

The lovely quantity of heat allowed me to have decent sleep, although I had to wake at 1AM to retie some lines as the wind had shifted. However by 7AM when I woke, the boat was no longer moving but was instead well stuck in the oyster mud bottom. At least I wasn’t alone, two other sailboats were on the bottom. At least I was reasonably upright, the Pearson 385 next to me exhibited an uncomfortable 15 deg list. Given the barometric pressure rise as well as the tide charts, it might be difficult to get out of here Friday.  I’m paying careful attention today at which point I should start floating again.

In the mean time I’ll enjoy the heat and probably go trekking through town in the afternoon.

Reroute after coming to my senses

I have come to my senses. Let me tell you my previous plan, you can call me crazy, and I’ll agree. So my plan was to sail from Destin to St. Petersburg. The winds are stiff and are forecasted to get stronger. At the rate I’ve been going I would be anchored up by Monday afternoon. However, I’m running from an oncoming cold front, so Tuesday and Wed in St Pete it is forecast to be overcast with some rain.  Last I saw it was like .15” each day which isn’t much. My plan was to somehow explore during those rainy days, and then leave to sail back Thursday. I’m not sure what the winds will do later on in next week, but today’s SailFlow forecast had 35’ winds out of the SW by Saturday, so basically I had better get my butt into Destin before then or I’ll be in trouble. 

That’s right, I was going to beat myself up to get to a place where it will rain and then I’d have to turn around. I’m also not feeling super after a stomach unhappiness stemming from overindulgence in a Chinese buffet earlier in the week. So I decided to chicken out.  I’m currently headed north up into St. Joseph bay. It’s been years since I was here and I want to check out the park Sunday.  I then have in mind that I’ll head back towards Panama City via the ICW, that portion of which I’ve never travelled.  If I have to motor for several hours I don’t mind if I’m heading into a cold front, although I do wish I had some remote method of controlling the autopilot.

I think I’ll be a bit happier with this decision. On one hand I wanted to use my leave to go on an epic journey and prove my sailor skills by spending so much time offshore.  But I’m not feeling it. All today I’ve had major anxiety like what gripped me at the beginning of my Dry Tortugas trip, and it has been difficult to mitigate.  At first I tried typing but I couldn’t take it. Then I cooked which kept me busy but right after I ate I felt quite sick to my stomach. I’m not sure if it was the food or psychosomatic. Prior to my Tortugas trip I had spent many days in fevered excitement but also made sure that I got adequate exercise and good meals. I can’t say I’ve done either this week. At work it has been quick PBJ’s for lunch in between a madness of meetings which left me feeling like nothing was accomplished, and this left no time to exercise as I was pushing to get the boat ready for another offshore adventure.

I see once again that the boat is ready, fully equipped to cross oceans. However the human element is lacking in both experience and mental fortitude to handle it.  At least right now. Right now I don’t feel like I can handle days and days of 5’ seas or worse. Right now I just want a quiet night at anchor. So I have changed my plan, and I just have to slog my way into St Joseph bay.  At least I know that I should be anchored by midnight, and tomorrow a shoreside adventure awaits.

Taking off on a new trip East!

Today I took off on a new trip, with an intended destination of St. Petersburg. It’s about 275 nm from Destin, of which I’ve already crossed 55 nm or so traveling at lovely speeds from 6-7 kts. This morning I had a spate of failures, part of the reason I would perform a trip like this anyway. First thing, the sun cover wouldn’t come loose from my depth finder as I prepared the boat. No worries, it was cold so I grabbed a hair dryer and heated it up.  Just a little bit of extra force to remove the cover and SNAP! The front bezel of the fishfinder broke where 3 of the 4 screws attached. The thing still works, but now the case is much less waterproof. I fixed things with a little bit of butyl tape, and I wonder how long it will last. I really like having a working depthfinder so perhaps I will replace it at my next haulout.

No worries there I think, so as I’m cruising across the bay I am switching the boat into cruising mode. I plug in my inverter and switch it on to be rewarded by sparks filling the device followed by a copious amount of smoke. I had just installed the thing in October in anticipation of my December Dry Tortugas trip, and it is so like cheap modern electronics to fail so quickly. As I sailed on I disassembled the device and noted that it had blown multiple fuses. I have the fuses, but it’s fine work to unsolder them and I just can’t do it with the boat jumping around. It will have to wait until I have some more time and the boat is still.

About this time I’m a bit annoyed, and it’s cold outside so I zip up my new jacket which Chiung had just bought me for 8$ the night before. It’s a fantastic jacket, but the zipper is missing a tooth up near my neck so as I zipped up the zipper head became free, and the thing unzipped myself to my belly button. My thoughts revealed my comedy at the situation.

I am feeling a bit ill and can’t type any more.  I’m going to go topside and ease my head.

Next Trip?

Next week is President's day, and that Friday is off for me.  That means it's time for a trip! I've taken down the radar and have performed numerous upgrades.  To name a few, all LED lights onboard.