Captains Log 01/06/07
Departure Point / Start Time Cape Canaveral, FL 8AM
Arrival Point / End Time Ft. Pierce, FL 2AM
Distance Traveled 71 NM
What was supposed to be a one-day event, turned out to be a lot more. Because the wind was on the nose it took us a lot more to get to Ft. Pierce. Ft. Pierce is a commercial inlet and coming in at night under clear sky, full moon and 10-15kts out of SE was not a big deal. Unfortunately we ripped the big genoa again! Luckily at the end, 3 miles before the inlet. Other that this, and the fact that we were beating all day, the day was great. There was only a 2-3 foot chop and the boat was sailing fast in SE 10-15knot breeze. Actually my wind instrument is not reliable. This is because the knot meter paddlewheel was suck due to all the weed and algae growth form St. Augustine. So the entire time we were showing apparent wind, and not the true wind. But one great thing we discovered was the white sandy beaches long the coast, and the localized effect it has on the prevailing winds in FL. In the winter FL has SE prevailing winds. Florida coast, north of West Palm Beach is actually extending slightly to the south-east. So more like S-SE. With the winds coming from SE our course is head into the wind. Unless we get closer to the shoreline. Local effect of the sun warming the white sands creates a windshift. Enough to make the wind blow onshore near the beach. Few places without the shoals we actually verified this. It was great. Crystal liked checking out all the condos, houses, and people on the beach. The morale was up and I liked making fast progress towards our destination, Ft. Pierce inlet. But then we ran into some shoally area and we had to tack. On Starboard tack we were heading due East and into the gulf stream which was now only about 15 miles from the coast. So we stayed about 5-10 miles from the coast. After the sun went down the sea breeze effect died and we were back to motorsailing. I used the engine time to fill up water tanks. Unfortunately because the waves picked up a bit in the evening, I wasn’t paying close attention to the salinity meter and filled the tanks with a bit salty water. Barely noticeable but after we arrived I verified that the salinity of our water in the tanks was about 700PPM. Not as much as salt water but not as low as necessary to be pure drinking water, less than 200PPM. But we are using the water for showers. So it was ok.
Arrival Point / End Time Ft. Pierce, FL 2AM
Distance Traveled 71 NM
What was supposed to be a one-day event, turned out to be a lot more. Because the wind was on the nose it took us a lot more to get to Ft. Pierce. Ft. Pierce is a commercial inlet and coming in at night under clear sky, full moon and 10-15kts out of SE was not a big deal. Unfortunately we ripped the big genoa again! Luckily at the end, 3 miles before the inlet. Other that this, and the fact that we were beating all day, the day was great. There was only a 2-3 foot chop and the boat was sailing fast in SE 10-15knot breeze. Actually my wind instrument is not reliable. This is because the knot meter paddlewheel was suck due to all the weed and algae growth form St. Augustine. So the entire time we were showing apparent wind, and not the true wind. But one great thing we discovered was the white sandy beaches long the coast, and the localized effect it has on the prevailing winds in FL. In the winter FL has SE prevailing winds. Florida coast, north of West Palm Beach is actually extending slightly to the south-east. So more like S-SE. With the winds coming from SE our course is head into the wind. Unless we get closer to the shoreline. Local effect of the sun warming the white sands creates a windshift. Enough to make the wind blow onshore near the beach. Few places without the shoals we actually verified this. It was great. Crystal liked checking out all the condos, houses, and people on the beach. The morale was up and I liked making fast progress towards our destination, Ft. Pierce inlet. But then we ran into some shoally area and we had to tack. On Starboard tack we were heading due East and into the gulf stream which was now only about 15 miles from the coast. So we stayed about 5-10 miles from the coast. After the sun went down the sea breeze effect died and we were back to motorsailing. I used the engine time to fill up water tanks. Unfortunately because the waves picked up a bit in the evening, I wasn’t paying close attention to the salinity meter and filled the tanks with a bit salty water. Barely noticeable but after we arrived I verified that the salinity of our water in the tanks was about 700PPM. Not as much as salt water but not as low as necessary to be pure drinking water, less than 200PPM. But we are using the water for showers. So it was ok.
posted by sundowner-cruise at 10:18 AM
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