Wednesday, November 20, 2013

s/vYOLO Swab's Log Blog 0012 Day 176 Great Sailing Weather?

s/vYOLO - You Only Live Once
Swab’s Log Blog
Posting Date:  Wednesday November 20, 2013 Sands Resort and Marina, Pompano Beach Fl  Slip lucky 13  
Sunday November 17, 2013
Blog Entry 0012 Sailing Seniors Adventure Day 176

Subject:  Great sailing weather?

Well we followed s/vValencia through the outlet channel and thought it was a little strange that since it was a beautiful Sunday morning there were not many boats headed out.  So we kept following s/vValencia out to the breakwaters.  It looked kinda rough, but we thought it would calm down once we got to the deeper water of 35feet, which according to the charts is about a mile off shore.    When the waves hit the shallows the water is more turbulent, therefore as the water gets deeper the water should be calmer.  The weather reports are never wrong – Right? 
The waves were hitting us directly on the nose (bow).  The height and force of the waves were more than either of us ever imagined.  Waves were a constant 5 to 8 feet with troughs (spaces) of 4 to 5 seconds.  Captain Steve didn’t say till later but he thought some were 10 to 12 feet high.  We were grateful for the hard dodger.  Well we were out in it for less than 5 minutes when s/vValencia suddenly turned to port (left).  It was so bad we thought they caught a wave broadside and was being pushed to port.   But when s/vValancia headed directly for the channel, we realized that they turned around.  We were surprised since, when we talked to them at the marina they seemed to be pretty seasoned sailors – having sailed to the Caribbean a few times.  Yes! it was that bad. 
But we were convinced it would calm down; so we pushed forward full throttle.  The water was a beautiful turquoise but I didn’t look at it much.  I mostly looked skyward – I could feel the boat as the old timers say, fall and rise but I didn’t want to see it too.  It was amazing though just as the bow of the boat was pointed skyward, it seemed to hover or be suspended in mid air, knowing that there was no water under the boat to support it and bracing myself for the inevitable – the bow would come crashing down.  As a side note:  Since we have been sailing s/vYOLO, I have been measuring how long it takes to complete a task such as pulling into slips; going under bridges etc. by the number of Hail Mary’s I say until the task is completed.  8 foot waves crashing over the bow at crashing over the bow at 4 to 5 second intervals is a quarter of a Hail Mary of 4 waves per Hail Mary!
Captain Steve has nerves of steel I’m the whimp!  In my feeble attempt to lighten our mood I said we should install seat belts and that Disney World doesn’t have anything to compare to this.  Captain Steve did not respond – he didn’t even look at me – he just ignored me, he was totally focused on steering the boat and keeping it under control.    

We were out there for less than an hour or so when…

Sea you later!  OMG what’s that in the water?

 


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