LOG Marathon to Norfolk

2010 Spring Trip Marathon to Norfolk

Tues ... 03/30/10 Flew ORF to FLL on Southwest w/ Di Roberts, (British Navy) who will crew with me, and drove down to Marathon. arrived ~10:30PM. went to sleep.

Wed 03/31/10 .. Boat in good condition. 06:00, breakfast at the "Pig" (Marathon,) then, 07:00 .. provisioned at Publix; and Di took rental car back to airport.

UW from Marathon at 09:00... thru Sisters Creek. Winds NE 15, sunny. Water temp 70-71. Motor sailed E

13:00 Boat feels sluggish from bottom growth, so, stopped boat in Hawk Channel, drifted. We got into water (70deg) w/ wetsuits. . Die cleaned water line and I cleaned keel, rudder, etc. , prop & shaft. 1/2 hr. UW again ~ 13:30. Boat running better now.

Calm winds in afternoon, evening. Out of Hawk Channel thru "Angelfish Cut" (Pennycamp) looking for Gulf Stream at 19:30. ... But,

found a (not) nice 1/2kt COUNTERcurrent instead. :( … Motoring at 2300rpm

I came on watch at 00:30, 7mi off Miami, and still not in stream, 02:30, now 12mi off N Miami, still not in stream, Busy night with shipping; AIS very helpful.

Thurs .. 04/01/10 ... 08:00 ... nice bacon & eggs breakfast, 8.5mi off Lake Worth... ~ 1kt current push, but water temp (72) indicates not in main axis of stream, but don't want to waste any more time going further East to find stronger current..

09:30... added 16gals diesel from 3 jerry cans to main tank. Wind continues from NW 15-18. Motorsailing hard on the wind, but now w/ nice gulf stream push ~ 1.5kts

17:00 Wind NNW (dead on the nose), 10 kts. Sunny, 40mi from Port Canaveral. Motoring into long ocean rollers. Fatigued from little sleep last night

23:00 Enter Port Canaveral ... 23:30 Tied up Cape Marina. Slept well.

ENGINE HRS ...38.5HRS ...Cum 3371hrs ... SLFF 38.5 (w/ thisAM fill ..0 ) . SLOC . 43hrs.

(SLFF = Since Last Fuel Fill …. SLOC = Since Last Oil Change)

Fri ... 04/02/10 07:30 Took on water and 65.58 gal diesel @$2.80 + tax = $194.64 ...

used ~ 64gal / 38.5hrs = 1.66gals/hr from Marathon to Canaveral ! !

UW from Port Canaveral at 08:00. Sunny, winds NW 5-10 (forecast E), sea calm, air temp low 70's...

Excellent weather window... We will attempt to run to Morehead City offshore. Call and leave float plan w/ several people.

13:30 ... ~30mi offshore; Winds now WNW 15; motor sailing/beating into 2' seas... 7kts... (weather forecast is for S, SE winds 5-10 :)…. ?? doubtful

15:30 crossed W wall of Gulf Stream, (line of sargasso weed and chop on water). boat speed now up to 8.6 even w/ throttling back to 1900rpm... winds W ~15, sunny, water temp only about 70...

~16:15 Wind just shifted from NW 10-15 to NE 10., in a matter of minutes during a cloudless, beautiful afternoon ???

~17:00... Winds NE ~8-10. Motoring at ~ 6 kts (thru the water) at 1800rpm w/ 3+ kts of current... current GPS SOG... 9.2kts

18:00 dinner : Bombay Sapphire & tonic w/ Key Limes; avocado salad, "Leslie" spaghetti sauce over linguini w/ garlic bread ...

aboard a painted (uh, gelcoated) ship (doing 9+kts) upon a (beautiful, sunny, tranquil) painted sea. Pinch me..... this is rare

~19:20 ... Sunset, no green flash, but beautiful. wind now ENE 15-18, throttle back to 1600rpm for 9+sog.

Sat 04/03/10 ... 01:00 ... watch change. beautiful night. wind died back to E 10-12, still 9+sog. clear sky, moon up. slept good

~ 02:00 .. condts same .. picking up AIS contacts as (impossibly) far as 100+ miles ! ! A,mazing skip?? ( See the photo I took of the chart plotter)

04:00 .... winds E <10, jib barely drawing. rpm 1800, SOG 8.8

08:00 .. ( 24hrs since leaving Canaveral) Sunny, winds SE 10, close reaching 1700rpm

Position ~ 31 16 N, 079 00 W, ~ 100nm off the coast of Ga/SC; ~ 235nm to Morehead City, NC and ~ 200nm from Canaveral (for a ~200 mile run in 24hrs) SOG 9.5

10:30 wind still ~ E10, but long ocean swell from the NE is opposing the Stream and causing a confused and uncomfortable sea. SOG now down to ~8.5 as we crab to maintain course of 038M against the eastward flowing stream. Looks like we may be crossing back over ill defined “western “edge” .

12:00 Seas have calmed down markedly, wind has decreased and we are out of the stream because SOG is 7kts at 2100rpm.

We , therefore, enjoyed the Gulf Stream "push" of up to 3+ kts for only about 17hrs, instead of perhaps as many as 36hrs had the axis of the stream been further West as it more normally is.

13:30 Added 32 (of ~35)gals of diesel from jerry cans to (fill up and replace what we had burned since 08:00 Yesterday) main fuel tank.

32gals / ~30hrs = ~ 1.06gals/hr (for this segment of the trip)

18:00 Dinner... Fish, rice, veggies, red wine . Scuddy clouds, Winds almost calm... finally comming out of apparent south setting eddy that had been slowing us down by as much as 1kt.

A bla, frustrating, day with light, shifting winds and an unkind Gulf Stream that seems to have taken its nice north setting current much further East than usual.

Easter Sunday 04/04/10 .... 01:00 ... Watch change.. Rolly, not so great night. wind has clocked more to the South ~10kts. Jib luffing. bring sail in; motoring at 7kts.

02:00 Dodging container ships … numerous AIS contacts moving N & S

07:00 Rolly night. 68 nm to Morehead City. Motoring at 7kts (2250rpm), winds S ~5.. sunny, but cool (low 60's)... condensation on enclosure panals...

12:00 Sunny, pleasant day, light SW winds. Motoring all morning

14:00 ~ 20 mi offshore came upon several big turtles w/ barnacles and growth on their shells, sunning themselves… Logerheads??

17:00 into Beaufort channel entrance; tied up at Beaufort Docks Marina 17:30 .. 57.5hrs ( and ~432nm ) of motorsailing and motoring since leaving Port Canaveral ... (average SOG .. ~7.6kts)

Took on 43 gals diesel @ 2.99gal = $138.96 43gal / 28hrs (since filling tank from jerry cans offshore) = 43/28 = 1.53gals/hr

Friends Bob and Shirley Cunningham, and Carl and Debbie Isbrantson ( on their new H45 ) were also tied up there, having recently returned from the Bahamas. Nice to see them

ENGINE HOURS ... 57.5 HRS (Since Marathon .. 96hrs) .. Cum 3428.5 hrs ... SLFF 57.5 hrs ... SLOC 100.5 hrs

Mon 04/05/10 Changed out 1 gal of engine oil (not filter) ... UW at 08:30.. Sunny, winds SW 10-15, warm. nice day to run up the waterway.

18:30 Anchored in "Pur" Creek, ~5 mi North of Belhaven; just off ICW near entrance to AP Canal... 10 hrs Nice night, good sleep.

Tues 04/06/10 UW from anchorage at just before 07:00. Sunny, light SW winds. Motoring at 2300 rpm (7kts) into AP canal.

Out of AP canal at 10:00... motoring N on Alligator R... nice boring day... very few other boats in ICW.

We have decided to call this the PineSol cruise. Since Beaufort, we have been covered with a fine green coating of pollen powder. Looking fwd to a good wash down in Coinjock, (which we did).

12:30 Alligator R Bridge ... motoring, SW winds pick up as we cross Albemarle S and we have great sail

15:30 Coming into North R. had to get behind large tug pushing gravel barge. this added a half hr to getting into Coinjock.

Arrived Coinjock at 17:00 ... 10hrs Nice dinner

Took on 29gal diesel at ~$2.99gal. 29gal / 20hrs = 1.45gals hr

Wed 04/07/10 UW 06:30 from Coinjock. .. winds gusting to SW 25+ on Currituck Sound. Nice sail. 10:00 .. Centerville Turnpike Br. Thru Gr Bridge bridge at noon, Steel Br at 13:00. Railroad Bridge #7 (at Gilmerton Br.) closed as we approached and we waited for ~ 30 min for train before it to reopen.

14:00 Approaching the old, closed Jordan bridge (center section now removed), the adjoining CSX railroad bridge is also closed with a train sitting on it... ! ! I've never seen this bridge closed ! ! Waited another 20mins.

Off Hospital Pt (Mile marker 0) at 14:45 ... Ft Wool 16:10

Arrive Lt Crk Entrance 17:145... Tied up 17:30 ... 11hrs...

TOTAL trip time from Marathon ... ~ 7days, 9hrs

ENGINE HRS (Since Beaufort) .. 31 HRS ... Cum ... 3459.5 hrs ... SLFF 11hrs .... SLOC ... 132hrs ...

We enjoyed an extremely lucky weather window to bring the boat back to ORF this week... High pressure system with Sunny skys, Lt offshore winds and S-SW winds from Beaufort North thru N.C. ICW. Tomorrow’s (Thurs evening) forecast is for winds in Eastern N.C and Hampton Roads to gust to 35+ kts with approaching cold front that will then shift winds along East Coast to NE for a few days...