s/vYOLO Swab"s log Blog 0011 Day 175 Heading Out.

s/vYOLO - You Only Live Once

Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date  Monday November 18, 2013 Old Cove Marina,

Palm Beach Fl. Slip 103 

Sunday November 17, 2013

Blog Entry 0011 Sailing Seniors Adventure Day 175

Subject: Heading Out.

We had a very enjoyable dinner (as usual) with Linda and Jimmy on Saturday and after spending most of the day preparing for our sailing venture to Palm Beach via the Stuart cut to the ocean!  Every time we checked the weather our anticipation grew – the weather was to be perfect!

Sunday we dropped the mooring lines at the Sunset Marina and Anchorage, (http://www.sunsetbaymarinaandanchorage.com/ ) and were under way just after sunrise, along with 2 other sailboats from the marina, s/vValencia and s/vSeabiscuit.  As we threaded our way through the shallows and shoals and the bridges of the Okeechobee waterway to the Inter Coastal Waterway (about 8 miles), we were last in line.  Last is a good place to be in situations like this, but no necessary for us, we kept  a good quarter mile from boat 2 s/vSeabisquit we were able to know where the obstacles were by the route s/vValencia and s/vSeabisquit took and when you draw 6 (meaning keel is 6 feet deep) there was a lot of course corrections and thumping along the bottom by the other 2 sailboats.   We didn’t have any problems, since we were able to note were the other sailboats were having a problem, we could also follow our original rout into the harbor and also have the advantage of forward looking sonar which most sailboats do not.  The forward looking sonar is similar to what submarines use.  When Captain Steve said that he wanted the sonar, I objected since it is very expensive.  I said these toys are expensive – the name of the boat is not Captains Steve’s Toy Chest!  I kept asking do we really need that, to which he always replied with a resounding, ‘Yes if it keeps us out of trouble once it is worth the money.’ well ladies and gentlemen I will not only admit that he was right but I am putting it in writing that he was right! (In this case.)  I am sure with all the trouble the other sailboats were getting into in the channel they wished they had the sonar.  We felt bad that we were last and that there was not enough deep water for us to pass the other 2 sailboats so we could lead them out, but unfortunately it was not possible.  So we hung back prepared to offer assistance if one ran aground.

Thankfully we made the slow arduous trip with out running aground.  As we crossed the ICW s/vSeabisquit turned to starboard (right) and headed south and we followed s/vValence to the east towards the ocean cut.

Sea u later!  Next stop Atlantic Ocean!