Things didn't quite work out!

Well, we had planned to leave Hampton, Virginia and head south to the Bahamas but the weather was not agreeing to the plan.

 

11/2/13
We motor sailed out of Hampton on Saturday night heading east past Virginia Beach with plans to stay ahead of the storm that was coming in from the northwest. Everything was going pretty good even though I had my normal bout of seasickness for the first 24hrs. It takes my body that long to adjust and then I'm usually okay.

11/3/13
Around 8am our headsail lost it's sheets and went flogging like crazy in some pretty wild winds. Tracy was out on deck trying to secure it but it was just too rough. It took the combined efforts of Tracy, Tim and Mark to finally secure the sail about 45 minutes later. After that ordeal we continued with our motor sailing.

11/4/13
 The next morning we ran low on fuel but that wasn't a problem because we had four extra 14 gallon cans of diesel.
In sailing it seems you go from smooth sailing to urgency within moments and that's what it felt like from about that point on. It really wasn't quite that bad but it sure felt like it.
As we were filling the tank with fuel Tim casually asked me what we were going to do with the main sail. I asked him what he meant and then he explained it was shredded. Sure enough, it looked as though it was a bunch of ribbons up there on the boom instead of a sail. We had it double reefed but the winds had really kicked up and blown the sail.
Tracy and Tim secured the main and we continued on our way but only for about 20 minutes.
The belt for the raw water intake was eaten up and this overheated the engine. Should not have been a problem since I had two more belts. However between the three of us guys we could not get to the pump and remove the belt. So now two of the three main propulsion systems were down. The main was useless and the motor could not be used. That left us with only our headsail. We had made it across the gulfstream but with only the one sail remaining I made the decision to head southwest to the coast where we could get the engine repaired. So off we went. We traveled all day and made it back to Cape Hatteras where I tried to call for a tow boat to bring us through the cut. This is when I found that the main vhf radio was shot. It got moisture inside of it and then the handheld radio stopped working as well. Thank goodness I bit the bullet and bought that satellite phone because that was used to call for help.
Later that evening we were told by the tow operator that the inlet was too rough to be used and we would have to anchor. Since I only had the headsail and no charted depths for the beach area I decided that we would sail through the night and then call for a tow at the next inlet.
Well I believe that idea was sound and it was working fine until I needed to tack away from the shoals at Cape Fear and the sheets again came loose and we lost control of it again. Now we are in trouble so I called for an emergency tow from Boat US. Before I did that I dropped our anchor to keep us in check. Looking at the depth gauge it was apparent that we were dragging our anchor so I dropped my second, big Bubba anchor. This stopped us but I called the Coast Guard to be safe. The winds were very strong with waves crashing over the bow. It seemed like forever before the Coast Guard arrived. They also had the chopper on scene too. We were quickly becoming the mornings news story. Luckily the boat had stopped dragging and was holding steady in some deeper water. Several moments before, we all had collected our valuables and were ready to be airlifted to safety. Thankfully this did not occur.
We were told the towboat was about 20 minutes out and the Coast Guard boat would stay and make sure all went well. After getting attached to the towboat I went up to cut the anchors away and found that the first anchor had already been lost due to the rope wearing away from the strong chaffing from the water and boat action. Big Bubba had done his job but sadly I could not get it loose and had to cut it away. We were then towed to the Beaufort inlet in North Carolina.

11/5/13
OK, we are now at the dock and sooooo happy to arrive with the boat intact and all of us sore and bruised but not injured. I found a mechanic to fix the the engine and it took him 3 hours to replace that darn belt. And I might add he did it safely tied to the dock with no wild winds and ocean swells.
we stayed at the marina for two nights to get some repairs done and get some rest.

11/7/13
Alright, I got the message. Maybe it just wasn't in the cards to make it to the Bahamas this trip. So we got on the Intercoastal waterway (ICW) and started south. The new plan was to get to Jacksonville to get Mark on a flight home. He had to fly out on the 13th to be at his daughter's wedding. Tim changed his plans and he was now flying home with Mark on the same flight.

 

11/8/13
We spent the next couple of days motor sailing into the night and just enjoying the nice weather inside the ICW. Other than a couple of soft groundings due to some rather low depths we kept on trucking.

 

This is just a sampling of Tracy's awesome talents on the boat. Banana pancakes for breakfast.

 

Oh yeah, this is sailing down the ICW in style.




11/11/13
Well, we are getting short on time so we went outside the ICW and sailed down along the coast all through the night and got into Jacksonville on the 12th.

11/17/13
Well the boat is in a marina in Jacksonville right now. I am at work at the fire station and Tracy stayed back to get the insurance claim started. Hopefully she gets things squared away and is back soon.
This is my story and I'm sticking with it. There are so many other events that occurred but I am tired of writing so this will have to suffice. I think I got the timetable pretty close but I have to admit, it all kind of blended together.

I want to thank my crew, Tracy, Mark and Tim. They stuck with me and we made it through. Mark and Tim wanted some sailing experience and boy did they get it!!!



Tracy and Tim secured the sail and then we started to motor away.