Key West to Newfound Harbor Channel

Day 20:  March 19, 2013

Today was a traveling day.  We got up around 7:00 and did a bacon/egg/strawberry blob muffin breakfast, bought ice and were underway by 8:30.  I was concerned about leaving at that time because the tide was nearing low tide and our grounding as we entered the slip several days back was still on my mind.  If all were optimal, we would be leaving on high tide, however, we had a ways to travel before we could find a suitable anchorage so getting underway early was imperative.  As it turned out, we only lightly touched the bottom as we motored away from the slip.

A rainy morning as we left Garrison Bite

It had rained all night and it was cool and dreary as we moved out of Garrison Bite into the mooring field to the north of Key West.  There was little wind and the waves were truly minimal.  It soon began to rain, however  we have great rain gear called Frogg Toggs and we were both quite comfortable in the rain. 

I must add here that we have made a significant change in our plans.  We originally planned to travel to the Dry Tortugas but that plan has been scrapped.  There are several reasons for the change.  First, the trip out to those islands is around 70 miles, around 50 of which is open waters of the Gulf.  That distance is more than we can handle in one day.  I have known that all along, however, when it came time to take off, that factor weighed in on our decision.  The second reason is that the open ocean is different than traveling in the coastal water.  The waves are a factor that needs to be considered and waves of 5 and 6 feet are common place.  This little 26 foot boat rides those waves like a cork.  It wasn’t made for that.  Third, the prevailing winds are from the East in this area and that means that we would have a nice ride out, but the ride back would either be a motor trip or we would have to hang around the Tortugas until favorable weather arrived and that could be weeks.  We are about 2 weeks from the end of our trip and we want to make it to the Keys that are near the tip of Florida and also spend some time in Miami with our kids and grandkids.  Finally, the Tortugas have absolutely no supplies to provide tourists.  That means no additional water, fuel and especially ice.  We need ice every 2 days or so and at a minimum, the trip would take 4 to 6 days. So we are not going.

Mallory Square from the water

As we passed south through the channel between Wisteria Island and Key West, we enjoyed picking out the places like the aquarium, Mallory Square, and Fort Taylor that we had visited while in Key West.  Also, we slid by close and personal to a cruise liner that had come in during the night or early morning.  The ride through the channel was fast and easy due to the current that we had bucked on our inbound passage.  When we passed the tip of the Key and headed out towards Hawk Channel, the reality of a southerly breeze coming across the Atlantic waters came to be.  For the next 5 hours we rolled around as we first motor sailed and then sailed for 26 miles to Newfound Harbor Channel where we spent the night.  We were sailing parallel to the waves so the boat rocked violently at times as some occasional 6 footers rolled under our keel.  One particular fellow crested and broke against the side of the boat, violently slamming her over causing dishes and all sorts of other gear to come crashing to the cabin floor.  But we made it and were really never in real danger.  When I first raised the sails, we put a double reef in the main sail and only unfurled a small amount of  jib.  As the day progressed, the winds began to drop so I first shook out one reef, then added more jib, and finally took out all reefs and completely opened the Genoa for some exhilarating sailing.

As the day progressed, the wind shifted from the south to the west and for those who sail, the jib became a crazy useless undecided wild thing.  I decided that I needed to put the whisker pole on and sail “wing and wing” but that meant going onto the fore deck in a wildly bucking craft.  We had been wearing our safety harnesses so forward I went.  I must say it as a challenge getting the pole set on a fully unfurled Genoa jib on a bouncing deck.  But it happened and the jib was brought into line.

We had our cruising noon ration of Spam and PBJ and cooked the last of our burgers on our grill for out evening dining.  After a hard day of sailing, the Yuengling in the cockpit was most appreciated. 

Our lonely wide open anchorage in Newfound Harbor

One thing that I have neglected to mention is that we have on a number of occasions been escorted by a dolphin or two.  At one point, on our trip to Key West, I was up on the cabin roof doing something and Janine pointed out a single guy coming up from behind.  I watched him come under the rear port side of the boat and leave on the starboard bow.  They are neat and always an exciting phenomenon when we see them.  We watched another beautiful sunset as we sat anchored probably a mile off shore in this wide open bay.  The wind was light and the waves calm.