Day Three
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 07:42AM Day Three
Wednesday January 16, 2008
Location: On the Intracoastal Waterway, south of Amelia Island, Florida
Log: 2748
Total trip Distance: 109
This trip is eerily reminiscent of my trip with my son Daniel and his friend Rob to the Exumas in 2004. We started that trip from The Ford Plantation in bitter cold weather. Seas were rough and we were forced to stay inside on the Intracoastal Waterway for the first three days. We anchored south of Savannah the first night, made it to Amelia Island the second night, and on to St. Augustine the third night.
This time, its also cold, although not nearly as bad as then. We anchored south of Savannah the first night, made it to Fernandina on Amelia Island by last night, and we’re headed for St. Augustine today.
The big difference is that we had a glorious day at sea yesterday. Winds were from the northwest, seas were two to three feet, and it was a perfect day for cruising, and for sailing for the crew of Snowhawk. After fighting off an early challenge, we stayed comfortably in the lead all day and made it into the Fernandina Marina about an hour ahead of Snowhawk, covering 72 nautical miles for the day. We had a fine dinner, courtesy of Dr. Duck, with good and raucous conversation among the six slightly crazy guys who enjoy this kind of journey.
At dinner, the conversation turned to the weather, which is turning nasty. While we have the option of cruising in the waterway, for Snowhawk it’s either go or no go. Her mast is over 70 feet tall, meaning she cannot pass under the fixed bridges of the waterway. The forecast for today and tonight is a follows:
ST AUGUSTINE TO FLAGLER BEACH FL OUT 20 NM- 216 AM EST WED JAN 16 2008 …SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON… .TODAY…NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING EAST 20 TO 25 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. RAIN DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. .TONIGHT…SOUTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
We had pretty much decided by dinner last night to proceed on the waterway today. This morning, I awoke to find all four captains on Snowhawk huddled in deep deliberations as to whether to depart or not. Among the four of them, I heard at least six different strategies. Soon enough, however, they were casting off, with the idea that if the seas were too rough, they could turn in at Jacksonville, about 20 miles to the south. So we’ll either see them at St. Augustine tonight or possibly run into them as we pass through Jacksonville in a few hours.
I am fully aware that this trip blog is somewhat boring so far. Readers love catastrophe, and relish the stupid mistakes I sometimes make on these trips. Never fear, I am sure things will be more eventful ahead. However, we are having a great time so far. We’ll keep you posted.
Reader Comments (1)
You're better off than us. Ice is predicted here for tomorrow morning with the high being 32 - and we're scheduled to leave the following morning.