What Were We Thinking?

It's Monday, April 22, 2013.  The Captain, First Mate and Crew (good friends, Dick & Sammie Caswell) of Water's Edge look well rested and ready for our trip to Pensacola.  It was a beautiful day at Watergate and we had decided (with our sister ship, Southern Girl) to fuel up in Galveston and be on our way.  In the words of Bob Bitchin, the patron saint of cruisers, "Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure."  We, of course, were positive and certain that this would be an adventure and not an ordeal.  I have to laugh.  :)

For being a sailboat, which means you actually sail the boat, we motored across the Gulf of Mexico, but for 3 hours of good sailing.   The wind was on the nose (forever after referred to as OTN), no less than 15 knots, gusting often to 22 or 23 THE ENTIRE WAY!  For you non-sailors, the motion of the boat can best be compared to the agitation cycle of a washing machine -- or better yet, an earthquake that lasted 4 days and nights!  It is a miracle that anything works on the boat after the pounding it received.  It's a miracle that anything works on us after the trip! 

We decided to take a more northerly route than the original safety fairway.  It was fine -- not difficult to stay away from the oil platforms and traffic.  Our night watches consisted of 2 4-hour shifts, 10-2 and 2-6.  The Cap'n and I always took the first shift.  Since we were not sailing, it was a matter of holding on and making sure we didn't hit anything.  We followed Southern Girl most of the time as she had a bright stern light that was easy to see.  We managed to prepare semi-regular meals (thank you Transderm patch!) and even had virgin happy hours a couple of times.  Dick and Sammie kept us positive and the situation was so ridiculous after a while that we had a laugh.  No matter which way we went, the wind was OTN.

During all of this ruckus, I celebrated my birthday Tuesday with a cupcake and even a candle.  Thanks, Sammie!  I was even serenaded with the Canadian version of Happy Birthday. 

We got caught in a thunderstorm Wednesday, but it didn't last long.  We zipped up our new cockpit enclosure (Bob is now a believer) but the bimini leaked like a sieve around the edges.  Still, we were more comfortable than without it.  It was great against all that wind and waves coming over the bow.  We had a little excitement prior to the storm when our roller furling on the jib did not roll up properly and Dick and Bob had to go to the bow of the boat to try to fix it.  In the rocky waters they were properly life jacketed and tethered to the boat but it was nerve wracking to watch with the storm fast approaching.  We made it through OK and the boat got the salt water washed off her for a while.

Wednesday night watch was the same as ever - bounced around and windy.  However, Thursday morning we received a big jolt around 5:30 a.m. and the mattress jumped off the bed about 10 inches with Bob and I in it!  I looked out the window and it looked like we were flying and the engine was running full blast.  I managed to get out of bed and asked Bob why we were racing.  Actually, the engine was going fast, but because of the strong current of the Mississippi Delta and the wind OTN we were only moving about 2 knots.  Man, am I ever going to get off this boat and be able to walk on dry land again? 

Southern Girl decided not to fight it and instead, went sailing the other direction.  We decided to continue the punishment and stay on the rhumb line to Mobile Bay.  SG caught up with us the next day.  Our radar had quit working so we were a little nervous about being without our "beacon" to follow Thursday night, but God cleared the skies and we had a full moon to light our way.

Friday, we finally reached Mobile Bay to head up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to Gulf Shores, AL.  Our fuel was very low. We had already added the extra 8-9 gallons that we stowed on deck. Our first stop in Gulf Shores would be the fuel dock.  We had to do donuts in the ICW while SG was getting her fuel and I was scared to death that we would run out of fuel right there.  But we made it to the dock.   How embarrassing would that have been? 
 
After showers (yes, we didn't shower for 4 days) we went to Lulu's for  lunch.  Lulu is Jimmy Buffett's sister and she has a fun restaurant overlooking the ICW.  After our cheeseburgers in Paradise,  we went back to the boat for a much needed nap.  13 hours later we woke up!

The first leg of our journey to Punta Gorda (our ultimate destination) was complete.  We were alive, in one piece, bruised but not broken.  We are ready for the next piece of the journey -- to Pensacola, FL.