SAILING VESSEL  AD~ASTRA

Ft. Myers Beach to Key West —March 2001

Part 1

 I arrived nearly on time after a fairly uneventful flight.  Unfortunately the Hawks were trailing Illinois in the sweet sixteen late in the game.  I waited a little over an hour for David at the National rental car place at Ft. Myers airport.  We got a cab and arrived on Ad Astra a little after 3:00 AM .  We talked for a while and went to bed.  About 8:00 I got up and unpacked.  We borrowed a car and drove to the Split Rail for a delicious if not nutritious breakfast and then on to Winn Dixie supermarket for some light provisioning.

 It took a couple of hours to unpack, inflate the dinghy, and stow everything as well as assemble the huge Edson manual emergency bilge pump.  It was just before noon when we started the engine and backed out of the travel lift slip.  We worked our way out of Ft. Myers Beach under the Matanzas River bridge and out into the Gulf of Mexico .  Traffic was moderate and the winds light.  The waves were barely 2 feet.  Soon we were on course to Key West .  The afternoon onshore sea breeze freshened and we raised the main and unfurled the Genoa .  Soon the apparent wind was up to 15 knots.  By falling off to a close reach we were able to make 5.5 to 6 knots in a freshening breeze.  We kept that pace for the rest of the afternoon. 

 The trip was pleasant and uneventful.  The temperature was a delightful 75 degrees.  As the flaming red sun slowly sunk into the Gulf, I started the rice and beans.  The solenoid (a switch the controls the propane tank for the stove) must have been on its last leg as I could only get a full flame for a few minutes by giving it a solid whack with the winch handle.  Since that caused large chunks of rust to fall off, I only administered the treatment a couple of times and was just barely able to get the rice to boil.  Still it tasted pretty good with a little picante sauce and some corn chips.

David and I took two hour shifts.  During the day traffic was pretty light. After dark, things picked up a little.  On my first watch a sailboat showing a masthead tricolor and lower running lights but no steaming light appeared on my port bow.  The wind was quite light so I assumed he was motoring. He failed to yield so I altered course to avoid a collision.  He flashed a light on his sails as he went by. I had always interpreted the rules as though you should show lower or masthead running lights but not both.  Capt. Bill McClure on the trip form Miami to Norfolk said it was OK to show both since the ideas was to be seen.

On my next watch, another sailboat showing lower running lights and a steaming light.  Again he was on my port bow on a collision course.  Clearly I had the right of way but altered course to port to avoid him. Again he shone a flashlight on his sail as we passed.  A couple of minutes later he called me on the VHF to chat.  He was coming from Key West to Tampa and wanted to know what the weather up ahead was like.  I wanted to ask him why he hadn’t altered course but didn’t get around to it. 

On my next watch, lights began appearing on the horizon, two, five, eight, twelve, then FIFTEEN!  They were strung out on the horizon like a string of Christmas lights.  As I approached it became apparent that we where sailing through a fleet of shrimp boats dragging nets.  Fortunately they were slow moving and had some spaces between.  Since they were fishing they had the right of way.  I didn’t know how far the nets trailed behind the boats so I wanted to give them a wide berth.  I didn’t have to alter course more than a couple of times. 

One boat was all lit up but I saw no running lights.  I thought maybe he was anchored.  Finally the green light on the port side appeared.   The red light was out. I crossed his bow a few seconds later with about 4 boat lengths to spare. Like I said, it was good that he was moving fairly slowly. 

What a glorious starry night.  It was crystal clear and the stars were out in force.  I’m still amazed at how many stars you can see once you leave the bright lights of civilization. Later a kind of haze settled on the horizon.  It wasn’t actually a fog and didn’t affect visibility.  The temperature was quite pleasant.  The rotund rental car service guy had warned us it was cold out on the water when he found out we were sailing overnight to Key West .  He was wrong.  It was wonderful out there.

I was able to sleep some while off watch. Since David has very little sailing experience and this was his first overnight passage, I didn’t want to leave him without backup. I told him to wake me if there was any question. Fortunately all the excitement seemed to happen on my watches.  We didn’t get to bed until 0400 the night before and got out by 0800 so we were both a little tired. We both took short naps in the late afternoon. 

The sun made its return visit as a flaming red ball.  Less than an hour later we arrived at the entrance to the Northwest Channel.  It was wide open and only slightly confusing. In addition to the red/green channel markers there are range markers for larger ships and buoys marking a mostly submerged breakwater (that would break many things besides water if you hit it. 

Half way through the channel I called the marina.  They informed me that the slip was still occupied but the people were in the process of checking out.  It was about 0930 and check in was 1100.  Shortly before first light the wind picked up enough that I was able to raise the main. We motorsailed into the harbor and took a pass by the marina.  I then cruised the waterfront called Mallory Square where most of the town gathers to watch the sunset and the street theater.  I called again and was told the slip was vacant so we drove on in.  Landing was fairly smooth in spite of the fact that the dockhand was late getting there. Fortunately a couple of people were there to take the lines.