We're anchored in Big Lagoon west of Pensacola waiting for the next weather window to cross the rest of the Gulf. We left Panama City Sunday afternoon, and would have rounded the delta but ran out of wind so we came back in. It's no fun being becalmed with 3-6' seas.
I got an updated weather forecast Monday night about 140nm east of the delta that called for little or no wind west and south of us for the next couple days, then building wind and seas for most of the western Gulf beginning on Friday. That didn't leave many good options in that direction, so we headed north. It turned out to be a great three day sail, so everything worked out well.
We left the Panama City Marina fuel dock at 1330, and had planned to anchor near the inlet and leave the following day. However, it was a such a good sailing day, we ended up sailing right out into the Gulf and headed south -- couldn't point any more westerly. As we approached the anchorage, I could see it was crowded with lots of power boats, so I tacked to starboard and headed toward the inlet. It's not very wide, and with the wind on the nose, I wasn't sure we could make under sail, but after the first tack, I decided to go for it.
I pulled in the jib so we could point higher and wrapped both sheets a single time around the winches and just held them without cleating them off. We had to tack back and forth 5 times through the channel, but there wasn't much traffic, so after about 20 minutes we made it through. It was the most fun sailing I've had yet.
I got an updated weather forecast Monday night about 140nm east of the delta that called for little or no wind west and south of us for the next couple days, then building wind and seas for most of the western Gulf beginning on Friday. That didn't leave many good options in that direction, so we headed north. It turned out to be a great three day sail, so everything worked out well.
We left the Panama City Marina fuel dock at 1330, and had planned to anchor near the inlet and leave the following day. However, it was a such a good sailing day, we ended up sailing right out into the Gulf and headed south -- couldn't point any more westerly. As we approached the anchorage, I could see it was crowded with lots of power boats, so I tacked to starboard and headed toward the inlet. It's not very wide, and with the wind on the nose, I wasn't sure we could make under sail, but after the first tack, I decided to go for it.
I pulled in the jib so we could point higher and wrapped both sheets a single time around the winches and just held them without cleating them off. We had to tack back and forth 5 times through the channel, but there wasn't much traffic, so after about 20 minutes we made it through. It was the most fun sailing I've had yet.
Maintenance watch:
My stuffing boxes are the type that always leak a little, but I've noticed the one for the rudder post has been leaking more and more forcing me to pump the bilge a few times a day. I had to empty the starboard cockpit locker to get to it, but once I got down there, I could see the collar connecting the post to the steering quadrant was loose and had slid down the post.
It was sitting on the stuffing box, and probably loosened it as well. I also noticed the hose clamps were loose. I slid the collar back up, cleaned the bolts and used lock tight to keep them from coming loose again, then tightened up the hose clamps and stuffing box. I also tightened up the steering cables a little to take out the slack. It still has a little give, but is no longer sloppy. That should help make the wind vane more responsive.
The next job was to resecure the batteries. I added some padding to keep them from shifting, and redid the tie downs. They might still move a little, but that's the best we can do until I get a chance to build a new battery box.
I also setup the whisker pole control lines. I'll deploy it later today to make sure it all works well and the blocks are in the right places. Luckily, I can do all of this without unfurlng the jib. Here's a link describing how it's setup:
I like this system because you don't have to pull in the pole in order to reduce sail or tack. Those are important considerations for single handers.
Finally, I hope to non-skid the side decks before I leave. There's a bit of a fly issue here, so I need to make sure I do it either early in the day or late in the evening, but since I'll be using a single part paint, it should go on easy. I'll probably just mix the sand right in the paint, and only give her a second coat if need be.
Zoe watch:
She's doing great, but when it's rough out there, she has a really hard time going on the side decks. That was another reason for coming in when we did -- it just wasn't fair to her, and could have gotten dangerous under worse conditions. I won't take her out again without non-skid if there's any chance of bad weather
No comments:
Post a Comment