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American Spirit II - Day 477; 'Dolphin Day,' We Get Wet as a Front Crashes Thru, & We Make It To Venice; Tuesday, April 28, 2015



One year ago today:

"Day 115; Sailed from Tahiti to Moorea in Bumpy Seas; Monday, April 28, 2014. We departed the marina at 9:30 AM and sailed under jib only, and a reefed jib at that, the 10 miles to Moorea. Along the way we encountered winds up to 28 knots and seas of 3 to 5 feet. 'Bad' weather is coming. Too bad. We averaged between 6 and 7.3 knots. One of the galley cabinets wasn't properly locked so its contents went flying out and all over the floor. Paul's Kindle also went flying, but because he had just bought a rubber cover, it wasn't destroyed."

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Up at 7:00 AM. At 8:00 AM I checked us out of South Seas marina.

At 8:13 AM we left the dock and after departing the marina area headed south, following the channel until we could head east and then get into the Intercostal Waterway and head north.

We're motoring today, no sails. Its overcast and we're expecting a big front to blow thru late this afternoon. The same 'front' that hit Mobile, Alabama that resulted in the deaths of 3 people during a yacht race.

At 8:22 AM we sight our first of many dolphin, a few of them swimming off our bow.

At 9:03 AM we passed by Captiva Pass to our port.

At 9:14 AM we had 3-4 dolphins swim with the boat.

At 9:20 AM I saw another dolphin feeding; diving down in the water and coming up again.

At 9:33 AM we had 2 dolphins swim and jump out of the water along our port cockpit for a few minutes. They were looking up at us as they tagged along.

At 9:35 AM I saw another single dolphin feeding. When the tide is running, dolphins feed. The tide is running. That's why fishermen fish during tide changes.

At 9:36 AM we had another dolphin to starboard.

At 9:46 AM another 3 dolphin were feeding.

At 9:47 we passed by 2 more dolphins, who then swam by the starboard cockpit looking up at me as they jumped along the boat.

We passed Boca Grande Pass to our port at 9:52 AM.

At 9:59 AM the wind is 10 knots and we're motoring at 7.4 knots thru the water and 8.7 knots over the land. The engine is set at 2,300 RPM's, 80% of our maximum RPM.

At 11:00 AM we go thru the Boca Grande wing bridge, which swings open to allow us passage.

At 11:21 AM I sight another dolphin.

At 11:40 AM the front hits us with lots of rain and winds up to 28 knots. Visibility is diminished and thunder is heard to our left out in the gulf. Joel and I are soaked to the core, so we put on our foul weather pants and jackets. At least we're not cold anymore. Darlene is taking it easy reading down below.

At 12:05 the Tom Adams bridge, a 'demand' bridge, opens for us. A 'demand' bridge has to open when you request it; most of the bridges in the Intercostal Waterway are timed bridges. Many of these timed bridges are being replaced with bridges that are 65 feet high so most sailboats can go under them without waiting for the bridge to open. The mast height on American Spirit II is 58 feet above the waterline.

After passing thru the Tom Adams bridge we were looking for an anchorage to drop a hook in to wait out the storm, as visibility was limiting the number of channel markers that we could see to only 1 or 2; and if the wind kept building we needed a respite. However, no sooner had we started looking for an anchorage that the rain lessoned and the wind dropped down to 15-18 knots; and finally 11/12 knots. So we kept on.

At 12:35 PM we are visited by another dolphin, this one swimming along the cockpit on the port side. It is no coincidence that these mammals are swimming beside our cockpit. They are doing so because they can see us and like to look at humans and have us look at them. A few years ago I had one swim alongside the cockpit on the port side while I had my youngest daughter's weimaraner dog with me. The dog was leaning thru the port life line looking at the dolphin, and the dolphin was loving it. It jumped a number of times, sending water across the cockpit to the starboard side of the boat, soaking me. It was amazing.

At 1:00 PM we motored by red triangular marker number 46 that was so covered with twigs for an osprey nest that it, the marker, was almost invisible. Three adult ospreys or two adult ospreys and one large juvenile were standing on top of the nest waiting out the storm. They are a majestic bird, a fish hawk really.

The wind is 11 knots and we're motoring at 7.5 knots thru the water and 8.0 knots over the land.

At 1:27 PM we come upon the Circus Bridge, another demand bridge. Its called the Circus Bridge because the Barnum & Bailey Circus winters in the area. And at 1:50 PM we come upon the Venice Avenue Bridge, with opens at 10, 30 and 50 minutes after the hour. Next we go thru the Hatchett Creek timed bridge at 2:00 PM. It is located a quarter mile past the Venice Avenue Bridge.

At 2:21 PM we're tied up at the Crow's Nest Marina.

For the trip from South Seas to Venice I end up seeing 9 different dolphin contacts, individually and in multiples. Its the most dolphin I've ever seen in a day.

One we're secured and have power to the boat and AC units, I nap from 3:00 PM to 4:45 PM; and Joel naps from 3:00 PM to 5:40 PM. Darlene reads in the cockpit during this time period.

Once I get up I continue reading the book about the Bounty sinking, and Joel is back at his computer dealing with pictures. A little while later I walk down the dock and talk with the couple in the Hunter 37.5 sailboat 'At Last' tied up to the dock right in front of us. The couple are from Gulf Breeze, Florida; where Janet and I used to keep our first sailboat in 1978/79. What a small world.

I shower at 7:05 PM at the marina shower, bathroom and laundry facility. Its a good facility. Joel also heads out to the showers after me.

At 8:00 PM we head to the Crow's Nest Restaurant as we have a 8:30 PM dinner reservation. I made the reservation at 8:30 PM because we were going to watch the sun set at 8:13 PM, then head to the restaurant. However, it was too cloudy to watch the sunset. Go figure. Dinner is good, but the service is a little slow. Joel and Darlene have sea food bisque and scallops. I have escargot and shrimp scampi. For dessert we have key lime pie, vanilla ice cream and bread pudding. We're back on the boat at around 9:45 PM.

Finally, for those of you whom I don't know or haven't met; or for those I do know but you don't have my email address; I'm going to now list my land based (versus ship based) email address: [email protected]. If you have any thoughts you want to share or send to me; or questions, fire away. Who knows, some of them might end up in my final logs this week. Go figure.

Brian Fox




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