Crewing to Annapolis: The Journey Begins

How about another voyage north?

Wayne, the new owner of the 63, which, by the way, still bears the name Guided Discovery, invited me to join him and his crew on a voyage to Annapolis Maryland. What a deal. I get to do the my favorite activity, long distance cruising without the expense (which over the years averaged about $8,000 per trip from back and forth to Hingham). Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

Note: The 63's new name is Calypso.

Wayne is an very experienced sailor with a number of long distance cruises under his belt. Additionally, following the boat's sale I spent the better part of a week helping him master the 63's systems and operation. Given that we had worked well together, I jumped at the chance of joining him and his crew on this adventure. I also saw it as an opportunity to help him with any issue where he might still have questions.

Other crew members include Wayne's brother David, who I met during the ownership transition, along with Brad Mahood and his wife Sarah. David has extensive sailing experience as do Brad and Sarah. Incidentally, Brad and Sarah are very adventurous. They had just returned from a cruise to Tonga (in the South Pacific for those of you, who like me, didn't have a clue as to where Tonga is). They also snow ski, cross country ski and kayak. To give you a sense of their adventurous nature, they have multiple pairs of skis and at least 15 kayaks.

Departure was scheduled for Monday March 25 and I joined the crew promptly at 9:00 AM. Upon arrival, I determined that Wayne had things well in hand. The boat was provisioned and ready to go - well not quite. Wayne had the presence of mind to check with Marina Jack Services to verify that they had cleaned the bottom. They hadn't. No problem, Joe Campbell, Marina Jack's Service Manager expedited a bottom cleaning and in 60 minutes we were ready to go.

Turns out we were not in a hurry. We had previously decided to depart around 11:00 AM to reach the Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon in the early morning on Tuesday. The last 10 miles before you reach the bridge is riddled with low water and shoals. Arriving in the early morning allowed us to traverse the area close to high tide.

So, at 10:32 AM we departed Marina Jack with a "sparkling" clean bottom. Wayne had wisely chosen to depart Sarasota via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) to Venice rather than "braving" the shallow water at Big Pass.

Approaching the Blackburn Point Swing Bridge

The weather was absolutely beautiful and the run down the GICW was scenic and uneventful. We arrived at the Venice inlet at 12:54 PM and made our way into the Gulf of Mexico.

The sea conditions in the Gulf were perfect with a light northerly wind and seas of less than one foot.

At mid afternoon we performed our first engine room check and discovered two issues, uneven readings on the fuel tank site gauges and water in the forward engine room bilge. With regard to the latter, we surmised that Ring Power had used the fresh water wash-down hose to clean up after replacing the oil pan seal on the port engine. Historically (i.e., for the last 5 years) I have never had any water in the engine room bilge unless there was a problem. So we vacuumed up the water and several hours we rechecked the bilge. It was dry.

The uneven fuel level on the main tanks was more of a puzzle. We found the port tank site gauge indicating full after 7 hours of running. It should have indicated a reduction of 30 gallons (as each engine burns 3.5 gallon per hour at our normal cruise of 8.4 knots).  The starboard gauge showed 60 gallons used. We checked the fuel manifold levers and determined the both engines were pulling fuel from their respective tanks, which therefore ruled out the possibility that Ring Power had changed the fuel source. That at best was a remote possibility.

We problem solved this one by reviewing what had occurred during the previous day's refueling project. Turns out the port tank had overflowed (yes it spilled some fuel BUT NOT IN THE WATER. Fuel overflow goes onto the deck). The starboard tank had not overflowed and we suspected that the person doing the fueling on the port side (full disclosure here - it was Wayne) had not heard the gurgling that occurs seconds before the fuel overflows. To Wayne's defense, fueling the 63 can be tricky.

Explanatory Note: As readers know, I am a bit OCD when it comes to fueling. I always wanted to head north or south with absolutely full tanks. Over the years, and due to my long distance runs, We have run the tanks close to empty on several occasions.

Later in the day, we were able to confidently conclude that the port tank had been "filled to the brim" and that the starboard tank was short approximately 30 gallons.

The lovely cruising weather continued through the night and we arrived at the Seven Mile Bridge at 8:49 AM on Tuesday morning. Next decision. Run the Hawk Channel or venture out into the Gulf and pick up the Gulf Stream. We chose the later and ventured out beyond the reef (which is appropriate given the fact that we were on a "Outer Reef.")

Approaching the Seven Mile Bridge

Here's a first. We stopped at Alligator Reef and all of the crew, including yours truly, went snorkeling. It was great fun. The stop lasted about three hours and after a casual lunch we got on our way.

Another beautiful evening, which included being on flat calm water at for several hours with zero wind. At a point we picked up the Gulf Stream and watched our speed increase dramatically.

Departing Alligator Reef and headed for deep water to pick up the Gulf Stream

We passed Miami at 10:31 PM on Tuesday and continued north eventually stopping in Fort Pierce. We had covered 402 nautical miles when we arrived at the Fort Pierce City Marina at 10:25 AM on Wednesday.

Those of you who have followed my blog may have noticed that I have not spoken much about the weather except to say that it was beautiful. Well, there is clearly a story here. Stay tuned.

We are in calm seas as head for Miami - but there's big weather ahead

Written by Les.