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American Spirit II - Day 479; Almost There & Thank You Log Readers for Your Emails; Thursday, April 30, 2015



One year ago today:

I can't find that log in my archives, so there's nothing to report 'one year ago today.'

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Up at 7:42 AM. Its cloudy and windy. The forecast, according to Joel, is for winds from the northwest at 15-25 knots. How's that for a forecast? What a big wind spread. There is a free Herald Tribune newspaper in our cockpit. Nice touch Marina Jack.

Joel gets up at 8:30 AM.

Breakfast is at 10:00 AM. Bacon, 3 eggs, cut up and spiced potato, non-chilled pineapple slices and the last of our cinnamon bread. Darlene has one slice of brown bread with mayonnaise and bacon.

At 10:55 AM I send out a log and one email. The Wifi is very, very fast. Amazing.

We depart Marina Jack at 11:22 AM. I'm concerned when we leave that the wind will blow us into a piling at the rear, starboard side of the boat. The cross wind is blowing 20 knots. However, after Joel drops the last line and jumps aboard we back out with no problem.

Our noon position is 27 degrees, 23 minutes north; 82 degrees, 35 minutes west; and we're 22 miles as the crow flies from the Boca Ciega Yacht Club.

At 12:08 PM the wind is 18 knots and we're motoring at 6.2 knots thru the water and 6.6 knots over the land. Its now partly cloudy instead of mostly cloudy; and the wind is dead on our bow with 1-3 foot waves that are only separated by about 15 feet. The bow is throwing up a lot of spray, with an occasional wave splash throwing water into and over the dodger. Isn't this fun?!

People may be wondering why we're only traveling a few hours each day; and why we're taking our time getting home. The reason is that when we left the BVI we had to build in some delay time for weather and mechanical problems. For example, if the front we're in now had crossed into the Gulf Stream just before we got to it when we were along Cuba's north coast, we would have had to wait for 2-3 days for it to pass at the islands in the Cal Sal Bank. Right now, for example, Folie a Deux is holed up in the Bahamas waiting for a weather window so they can cross the Gulf Stream and head home to Philadelphia. They're waiting for a gale to pass. Also, we had to build in some time to deal with a mechanical or rigging problem to be dealt with should one arise. When we got to the BVI the engine's impeller broke into many pieces, so we couldn't use the engine until we installed a new impeller. Joel was able to do that in under an hour while we were still sailing the boat. However, if the engine problem had been greater than that, it might have taken a week to get the part we needed and get it installed. And we didn't want to be late to our own homecoming party.

As we traveled north thru Sarasota Bay ocean going race boats drove by us at great speed practicing for races to be held this weekend. These boats blew by us at 40-60 knots; maybe even faster.

At 12:19 PM a 3 foot in diameter Loggerhead turtle poked its head up 20 feet in front of the port bow.

At 1:12 PM 2 dolphins were swimming towards our starboard aft quarter.

As we exited Sarasota Bay the channel took us by Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant, a location that Janet and I had visited many times in the past 35 years.

Our next bridge was the Cortez Bridge, a timed bridge that opens on the half hour and hour. The 2 bridge spans opened at 1:30 PM after we called the bridge tender on VHF channel 09 to request an opening.

At 1:45 PM I saw a large ray splash 30 degrees off the port bow and very close to it. It landed on its back so all I saw was its white or light colored underside when it landed. I only saw it when it splashed, not when it went vertical out of the water first.

At 2:00 PM we passed thru the timed Anna Maria bridge, our last bridge for today; and at 2:24 PM we exited the Intercoastal Waterway and entered Tampa Bay. The waves were 3-4 feet and spaced every 15 feet. We took a lot of water across the foredeck and into the dodger, and rocked and rolled a little in the 20 knots breeze. Twenty knots, by the way, is a wind level that the US Coast Guard calls 'small craft advisory.'

At 2:45 PM I saw one dolphin swimming towards our starboard, aft quarter.

By 3:18 PM we had crossed Tampa Bay and were back in the Intercoastal Waterway just west and north of the Sunshine Skyway. The entrance to the channel was very shallow. My depth gauge read 5 feet and the boat draws just a little over 5 feet. We passed a sailboat named Polaris and they called us up on VHF channel 16 and Joel and the captain on that boat talked for a while on channel 71. Joel was asked where we were going and he mentioned that we had just completed a circumnavigation and were almost home. Needless to say, Polaris was impressed and offered their congratulations to us.

Around 4:00 PM we were on the outskirts of the marina we are staying in for the night, the Magnuson Hotel Marina. As we entered the channel into the marina the depth gauge again read 5 feet. Its very, very shallow. We tied up at a dock at 4:10 PM. This will be the last marina we stay in on our trip as tomorrow night we'll be anchoring out. Unfortunately, because a fishing tournament is being held at the marina tomorrow, we have to vacate our dock space by 9:00 AM. Bummer.

We visited an elevated hotel bar overlooking Tampa BAy at 5:00 PM; then went to the marina's hotel restaurant where we ordered ribs, garlic rolls, baked potato and for the last time, at least for me, ice cream.

After dinner we met Rich and Terry at the boat, where Joel gave Rich something for our welcome home party. I can't say what it is because if it 'doesn't work' then no one will know and we won't look like fools.

Joel and Darlene are in bed, reading, by 10:30 PM. I'm in bed by 1145 PM.

Since I put my land based internet email address ([email protected]) in a log 3 days ago, I've received some nice emails from log readers; people I've never met and didn't know before my trip. So thank you Kathleen and Marc from Toronto, Canada; Thomas from Land of Lakes, Florida; and Gloria from Chicago, Illinois for your kind comments. When I started writing my log I had no idea that I'd pick up readers from around the world, even as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom. As you know, my logs are really a daily journal. (You're probably as tired reading what I had for breakfast as I am in writing it). I wanted to write a daily journal for myself, but I thought there could be people out there who might want to 'vicariously' travel around the world with American Spirit II; and to feel our highs and lows as we traveled along. I guess I was right.

As for the name of the boat, American Spirit II, the original American Spirit was a Catalina 320 that I bought 2 months after the 9/11 attacks on New York City. So that boat got a patriotic name in remembrance of those who died on that fateful September morning. And I think that Joel and I and our revolving crew have hopefully represented the 'American Spirit' well as we've visited 19 countries around the world.

Since I'm short of material for this log, I might as well continue on with more information that has nothing to do with our travels today; what Joel refers to as 'Brian's World.' In 'Brian's World' you can sail around the world in 10-15 knots of wind with no waves (instead of winds up to 42 knots and waves up to 21 feet), no rain and in a boat where nothing breaks. Whenever I tell Joel that I'm hoping the next leg will have no wind over 20 knots and that we'll never have to put in a reef, he tells me that those sort of things only occur in 'Brian's World.' The best example of 'Brian's World' becoming a reality, however, was our 3,900 nautical mile trip across the South Atlantic Ocean from Cape town to Salvador, Brazil. I don't think we ever did put a reef in a sail, or if we did, it was rare and short lived; and we sailed with our light air, asymmetrical spinnaker maybe have the time. That's what 'Brian's World' is like.

Lastly, even though our trip is 483 days my logs will stop at 481 days until I can 'fix' the date chronology. Somewhere along the way I got the number of days messed up. I don't know how that can happen on a rock and rolly boat with a tired half the time writer. Go figure.

This is my 3rd to last log.

Brian Fox



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