FL 120 "Full" Report

[crazycarl]

I'll start by reporting my Compac 19 hadn't seen the water since CLR 2019 and the move from northern IL to eastern NC and the building of our house has been priority, so Miss Adventure was in need of a lot of TLC.  Also the handling of my late mother's estate, landscaping, helping our daughter move from Montana to Virginia and me not marking moving boxes properly made getting the boat ready in time almost impossible. Did I mention 19 garage cabinets were delivered weeks earlier than expected as I was preparing to move the boat indoors? I mention this because a lot of my troubles on the trip could have been avoided had I properly prepared and brought the right equipment. Now, on to the trip...

Google maps 1st choice was to travel through Atlanta. I picked a route that would take me through Jacksonville and then west via 10. Alas Google maps F'd me once again and changed the route so for 2 hours I was on roads with limits of 35 and 45 mph.  At one point I found myself driving through neighborhoods. After 15+ hours of driving I finally met up with Chris at a hotel in Pensacola. Wednesday while driving to our launch site, Chris noticed my left trailer light was out. Then while raising the mast, a shroud caught the starboard winch and broke the top off. After rigging and launching our boats, we motored through the harbor to a blustery bay and set off on a 10.5 mile westerly direction. Wow! What a sail it was. There were many times we came close to putting the rail in the water. The new sails performed great and soon I was far ahead of Chris. I stopped just off a beach and dropped the hook for lunch while watching a small shark hunt for food. Sailing on we found ourselves in the middle of the practice area for the Blue Angels and we watched as they roared just above us. Chris was ahead of me now and he made shooting the gap look easy, but as I arrived a large barge was approaching from the west followed by several large fishing charter boats. The gap quickly became a washing tub and I and 2 other sailors were being thrown about. The Bayfield 25 with us started their engine and powered through, I decided to do the same. When I arrived at Fort McRee Chris was already anchored on the beach and relaxing in his chair. Other participants came over and helped me by taking the anchor and securing it in the beach.  I climbed of the stern ladder and plummeted beneath the water. Wow, what a drop off! The bow was sitting on the beach and at the stern I couldn't feel the bottom. Someone brought hamburgers and all the fixin's, someone else supplied all the beer, and the whole group gathered 'round for a great evening of talk and camaraderie. The main topic, the weather. A storm was coming and decisions needed to made. Those who lived close by decided to head home in the morning and those with no common sense decided to proceed with the trip. I didn't get much sleep as the no-see-ums were biting me, then I remembered I had brought a large piece of no-see-um netting and used it as a sheet cover. Thursday morning had very little wind, but low humidity and another right on top of us showing of the Blue Angels. After the show, Chris and I decided to motor until the wind picked up and we had another glorious sail. After going under the Pensacola Beach Toll Bridge, we turned to port and headed into the Santa Rosa Marina where they filled our coolers with ice for free. From there we continued East to Big Sabine Point. However, I can't just sail in without some kind of incident, so I decided to cut too close to the point and show everyone how to clean the growth off the bottom of your keel using mother nature's abrasives and ran Miss Adventure aground. Walking around her I found deep water about 20' out so I started pushing. I had moved her a good 10' when Jim in his home built motor craft came along and towed me out. This time I anchored stern to shore and it made it much easier to get in and out of the boat. I had brought hamburgers for this night so again it was dinner. A small fire was lit and we sat around while a guitar was played and most sang along. Then the topic of weather was discussed again. According to some, the wind would be 15-18mph S/W or S/E depending on the weather service you used. Then someone showed me his phone showing winds 35-50 mph expected. YIKES! I decided to move Miss Adventure into deeper water and dropped the hook at 9' with 30' of 5/16" chain and 60' of rode out. I had made sure my sails were fully secure, but hadn't taken the bimini down. A couple in their Suncat did the same along with another couple in a Catalina 22. When the storm did hit, the boat was shuddering and the howling trough the rigging was deafening. The wind was blowing hard from the north, making the shore to our lee. At one point I stood in the cockpit yelling "You were supposed to be from the southwest or east"! The wind was constantly changing from N/W to N/E, testing the anchors. Every 1/2 hour I would go topside to check my position and all looked good until about 3am when I found myself within 2' of the Catalina and the Suncat nowhere to be seen. Both the Catalina and I had dragged about 150 yards south east. The hard driving rain made vision almost impossible and the Catalina sailor and I both agreed it was best to handle what ever came next in the daylight, so we set out bumpers and went back to sleep. At 4am I felt the thud, thud, thud of the keel pounding the sand. At this point I could have dropped the motor and pulled way, but it looked as if our anchor lines had crossed, and the northeast wind would surely drive me into the Catalina. Within 30 minutes we were hard aground. With sunrise the wind subsided and the rain lightened. Everyone gathered on the beach and surveyed the damage. Tents were flattened. One boat had been "capsized" on the beach, boat tents were knocked down, and everything was wet. The Catalina was in a bad situation. It drew 4 1/2' with a wing keel that was now buried 2'+ in the sand. He called Towboat US and was told since it was on the beach, it wasn't a priority and most likely a salvage job. Miss Adventure was beached and sitting on her port side. Using the head on a 45* angle was a challenge in itself. I couldn't find my waterproof camera as everything inside was tossed about, and I didn't want to risk ruining my phone to get a picture. I'm hoping someone from the group took some and will share. Chris's Suncat was sitting level but it's keel was completely buried in the beach. A MacGregor was beached, but was rocking so not too bad. The other Suncat had dragged back and forth until ending up short of the shallows 300 yards west of us. We decided on a plan to self rescue our boats and pivoted the Catalina back and forth until we dug out a hole under her. The wife stayed aboard at the stern and within 15 minutes we had maneuvered it into deeper water where she anchored. For Miss Adventure, one man pulled the main halyard to list her to her rail while we surprisingly, easily pushed her out into deeper water where I anchored. Next was Chris's Suncat. I missed how they accomplished removing her from the beach as I was in the process of anchoring. The wind was still quite fierce so I decided to sail by reefed genny. The wind was coming from behind and I soon let the reef out and sailed the 15 miles back to Mahogany Mills ramp on the same tack. Again the Blue Angels were out and I had to cover both ears as they roared above me. As I approached the inlet to the marina, the water became confused and the wind swirling. My rudder was stuck in a 5* raised position making steering difficult. The o/b too was sitting at an angle making pulling the starting rope impossible. I was fighting to get the genny in while the wind was spinning the boat around. I was finally able to lower the motor and bring in the genny. Motoring to the ramp, I called Chris on the VHF and warned him of the conditions. Arriving at the ramp I was tired, thirsty, my hands where blistered and swollen and I didn't care the wind wouldn't let me dock where I wanted and I let it push me into the farthest dock from the ramp. The sun was out now and it was hot. As I broke down the boat, I kept an eye out for Chris and when the fire department and Coast Guard arrived with  boats I ran to the ramp to ask why. The fireman said he didn't have specifics, only that a call was placed for assistance. I began to worry only to see Chris and Second Wind tied up at the dock, it's mast already down.  We readied our boats for the trip home thankful the predicted all day storm hadn't arrived yet and headed to a hotel. Neither of us felt like driving around with a boat in tow so we ate across the street at a DQ and had...hamburgers. Again. Walking back to the hotel Chris reminded me of the tail light. We diagnosed a burnt out bulb and I dropped the trailer and picked a set up. With 10 hours of sleep I headed home only to hit a rain so hard traffic slowed to 35 mph. This continued off and on through Florida and Alabama. Once in Georgia the traffic was light and the weather overcast but mostly dry. In South Carolina I was once again hit with downpours and slow traffic. Entering North Carolina lifted my spirits until the rains caught up with me. I watched my arrival time move later and later as I stopped too often for fuel and traffic slowed to a crawl. I normally average 17.9 mpg, but towing the boat drops it to 10.4.

I will be compiling a check list for future outings of items to bring. The 22# storm anchor I left at home is at the top. The tool box I left sitting next to the garage door. Also I need to sail her more so not to forget things like the anchor alarm on my chart plotter that would have awaken me when the anchor dragged.
 
The boat sits in the drive still attached to the truck. I'm bruised, sunburnt, and tired. I'll be spending the day on the couch. I may even have a beer or 6.

Chris has a story of his own and maybe with some encouragement he will share it here.

If I can obtain pictures on the event I'll post the in tis thread.

[kickingbug2]

well, like i predicted you did indeed have an adventure{miss?}.the good news is you made it home will little or no boat damage. i have never trailered the catalina 18 any farther that 18 miles however i have been on fishing trips {one to door county} where things did not go smoothly. at my age and lack of patience short trips are better. i sure dont need a third stroke. two was enough. i tip my hat to the adventurers carl and chris, sailors without equal

[Cruzin]

Wow what an adventure for sure! Glad you and the boat are okay! I have had days like that too and sometimes it can be a bit scary!
Dale

[5monkeys]

Great Adventure! Thanks for Sharing.

[crazycarl]

Downloaded this pic from the Trailer Sailor site. Miss Adventure is on the right

[Christopher]

That's me in the post/photo above looking at Carl's boat and Carl.  I was wondering what Carl was doing out there.  I have a Suncat and it was beached to the left of the photo above.

I had an exciting situation sailing from Big Sabine back to the Mahogany Mills boat ramp.  I was reefed.  I have just one reef point on my sail.  I wish I had two because I needed it.  The boat was overpowered once I got into Pensacola Bay.  Also, I use a golf tee to hold my rudder down in position.  (someone posted the use of a golf tee on the Compac Yacht website a while ago). I didn't realize it at the time until I got back to the boat ramp but the golf tee must have broken and fallen out because I had to use significant force on the tiller.  I hadn't realized my rudder must have been riding up.
 Well, I was just about back to the inlet to the boat ramp when my forestay failed and my mast and sail fell into the water.  The Suncat has a hinged mast for those that didn't know that.  So, the upper part of the mast fell along with the gaff and sail.  I was able to retrieve and strap everything except for forestay.  It was completely gone.  I would have thought one end would still be attached to the boat.  But it wasn't.  I motored to the ramp without incident.
When I pulled into the boat ramp the fire department was preparing to launch a rescue boat.  A fireman walked by me and I asked him if they were going to rescue me.  He replied by asking me if I had another person with me which I replied no.  He told me the report was there are two people in the water.  I said OK thanks and I went about my business.  a few minutes later John Churchill (I believe that is his last name) pulled into the ramp.  He was the one that reported the incident.  He did call about my boat after all.  From his position he saw a sail suddenly disappear which would indicate a boat had capsized.  I don't know where the 2 people in the water came from?  But all is well . 
I contacted Compac Yachts to order replacement parts so I will be delayed for a while before I'm back to sailing again.
Regardless I had a good time and I hope I can make it back down there again soon.  Oh and I got some lessons learned as well!

[brackish]

curious about what primary anchor you did have when you drug.  I ran into a similar storm in the same area during one of the BEER cruises.  I had always been worried about my anchor being too small for my 23.  I have a 15 lb CQR forged anchor that is listed good for boats up to 22'.  It came with the boat when I bought it.I was anchored stern to the beach about twenty feet off when that storm hit.  Didn't drag an inch, and I was about the only one who didn't. The storm was just as severe as you describe but shorter in duration, less than an hour total. Gave me a lot of confidence in the CQR.

[crazycarl]

I was using a Danforth. I had left my 22lb Bruce storm