Melissa Renee's Posts - SeaKnots2024-03-19T03:29:36ZMelissa Reneehttps://seaknots.ning.com/profile/MelissaReneehttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2396358974?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1brjd07v7ipw1&xn_auth=noRhapsody in Blue Rescues overturned dinghytag:seaknots.ning.com,2011-05-30:900123:BlogPost:1642622011-05-30T19:41:24.000ZMelissa Reneehttps://seaknots.ning.com/profile/MelissaRenee
<p><b>Sunday, May 22, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas:</b> Borrowed dingy plays key role in daring rescue. </p>
<p>Just three days into an island-hopping vacation in the Bahamas, the crew of the Rhapsody in Blue was launched into an unexpected adventure that could only have been attempted using the dingy borrowed from North Carolina residents Steve and Janet Clayton.</p>
<p>Rhapsody obtained the dingy from its caretaker – the Big Bamboo – at Hope Town on Saturday for convenience in transporting the…</p>
<p><b>Sunday, May 22, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas:</b> Borrowed dingy plays key role in daring rescue. </p>
<p>Just three days into an island-hopping vacation in the Bahamas, the crew of the Rhapsody in Blue was launched into an unexpected adventure that could only have been attempted using the dingy borrowed from North Carolina residents Steve and Janet Clayton.</p>
<p>Rhapsody obtained the dingy from its caretaker – the Big Bamboo – at Hope Town on Saturday for convenience in transporting the 4-woman crew to the islands. Rhapsody’s dingy was too small to ferry more than two people at a time and it had developed a small leak. </p>
<p>The day started out as planned with the dingy bouncing along behind the Rhapsody. With an engine the same size as the one on the Rhapsody, the dingy would run circles around the sailing vessel, which crew member Jennifer Lewis proceeded to demonstrate. Wearing a sarong tied around her neck like a cape, Ms. Lewis (now Superwoman) made several trips around the sail boat before she was vanquished ahead to go get ice and bring it back for early afternoon libations. </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785374?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785374?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Rhapsody reached Great Guana Cay, ice floating in cups on board, the crew tied up to a mooring ball and took the dingy to the pier at Grabbers. The goal for the day was the pig roast at Nippers, a well-known local bar with great classic rock and dance music, two salt-water swimming pools, beach access and lots of partiers. After a couple of beers and turning into prunes in the lower pool, the crew went in search of frozen drinks at the local hangout by the pier where they anchored. Live rake and shake (island) music blared around the fresh-water pool and the mango frozen drinks were refreshing. A crowd started to gather and beautiful people started to fill the pool. Not wanting to deal with another big crowd, and also, not wanting to be late for sundowners (happy hour) on the boat, the crew climbed down the 8-foot ladder into the Clayton dingy and returned to Rhapsody.</p>
<p>The crew had just sat down on deck to have sundowners when Ms. Lewis saw a nearby dingy capsize. Captain Melissa Feinmel and Ms. Lewis immediately launched the Clayton dingy and headed toward the scene of the accident. Upon arrival they quickly provided instructions for righting the dingy that were rejected, presumably because women could not possibly know how to do that. Fortunately a neighboring boater – a man – arrived on the scene and told them how to right the upturned boat. Low and behold, that was a fabulous idea. </p>
<p>Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis offered to take the passengers to the sailboat they were traveling to before the aforementioned capsizing. The girl wouldn’t get into the dingy because she was concerned about moving away from the location where their stuff was in the water below. The guys couldn’t take a ride if the girl was staying, so Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis came back over to the Rhapsody to get snorkeling equipment.</p>
<p>Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis provided information about the location where the dingy capsized which was, once again, rejected by the dingy passengers who obviously knew nothing about current. Captain Feinmel triangulated the location perfectly, jumped in and came back up with the camera, several pairs of sunglasses and a wallet. </p>
<p>The other rescuer picked up one passenger, deposited him on the awaiting sail boat and wandered off, leaving Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis to tow and carry the rest to the sail boat. Time was of the essence because one passenger was bleeding profusely from a nasty gash in his forehead. Sharks could be a pending danger, said Ms. Lewis. A quick response could only be accomplished using the Clayton dingy, a vessel obviously designed for just this purpose. </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785568?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785568?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></p>
<br/>
<p>Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis returned to the Rhapsody to cheers from the crew, first mate Anne Moore and crewperson Liegh Elrod. About this time a man appeared in the water next to the boat. It turns out; he was the reason the dingy capsized. He explained that he was hot so he just slid off the side of the dingy to cool off (obviously not a physics major). Once again the Clayton dingy was called to duty, to carry the young man to shore.</p>
<p>Noting that the motor on the now righted dingy probably wasn’t working, Captain Feinmel and Ms. Lewis then motored over to the remaining passengers on the sail boat and offered to take them into shore. Captain Feinmel gave the dingy owner a few tips on drying out the motor, which were probably ignored, and they left.</p>
<p>Back on the Rhapsody after a day of good citizenship, the crew rinsed the blood out of the dingy and finished out the day with cold beer and rum. A toast was raised to the Clayton dingy for its role in saving sunglasses, wallets, a camera and some ungrateful drunks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Girls Retreattag:seaknots.ning.com,2010-03-18:900123:BlogPost:1279082010-03-18T22:00:00.000ZMelissa Reneehttps://seaknots.ning.com/profile/MelissaRenee
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539796913?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721"></img></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">This is the adventure of 4 women for a week on my boat.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Saturday Girls Afloat – My best friends Jennifer, Leigh and Anne came down to Miami for a week of a girls retreat for some sailing fun. And what fun we had! Jennifer and Leigh both have sailed with me before on a charter boat in the Chesapeake cruise 2 years ago. Anne has never set foot on a sailboat. She is about to be hook on the…</p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img width="721" alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539796913?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">This is the adventure of 4 women for a week on my boat.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Saturday Girls Afloat – My best friends Jennifer, Leigh and Anne came down to Miami for a week of a girls retreat for some sailing fun. And what fun we had! Jennifer and Leigh both have sailed with me before on a charter boat in the Chesapeake cruise 2 years ago. Anne has never set foot on a sailboat. She is about to be hook on the sailing drug. The girls arrived in the afternoon and settled into Rhapsody in Blue nicely. We went over all the safety equipment and pre-departure checklist. After an exhausting briefing the sun was starting to set. Of course that only means one thing,”Sundowners”! My dockmates Edgardo and Graciela came over to celebrate.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Next thing I know Edgardo says lets go out into the bay for a sunset cruise. Since I haven't sailed in over 2 months, he didn't have to twist my arm very hard. My thoughts were, we would just go out into the bay, motoring, and watch the sunset. Plus, the girls weren't up to speed on sailing just yet. Once out into the bay, Edgardo wanted to raise sails. The wind was perfect for a sunset cruise of around 10 knots. Next thing I know the girls are securing the cabin and cockpit for a leisure sail on Key Biscayne. In quick fashion the sails were set for a nice downwind sail. Ed and I set the whisker pole on the jib. Rhapsody was flying across the bay a 6.5 knots in 10 knots of wind. We toasted the end of the day and asked for fair winds and following seas for the next week.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Coming back into port was a nice reaching tack . What a way to break the girls into sailing again and introduce Anne to my sailing world. Everyone had a great time. Since, I am still recovering from my shoulder surgery, the crew won't let me do much. Nice to just command from my “Chair of doing nothing”! With a full crew, docking was easy peasy!</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Sunday Training Session – We launched out into the bay once again to reacquaint Jenn and Leigh to sailing and teach Anne how to manage the sails. Jenn and Leigh remember most items after two years of not sailing. These girls rock! Still the best crew a captain can ask for. Anne took to sailing like a duck to water. Very attentive to all that was presented. We went through all the drills on all points of sail. Lunch was served on a nice downwind sail. Dolphins were spotted! It was fun watching the girls get excited about the sea life. Life was grand on Rhapsody in Blue. The boat was happy with all the attention the girls were giving her. What boat wouldn't!!!! The last two hours the sun was out and tans were required. I set up the boat for a easy sail, so relaxing on the foredeck can be had by all. Heading back to port, required a tacking duel. This made the girls work a little getting the sync of tacking the boat together. Good training had by all. I gave my shoulder a small workout grinding too. It handled the task with little difficulty. I have to admit it was sore later than night. Note to self, go easy on the right shoulder.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Back at port, we cook dinner of steaks, potatoes, salad and chocolate cheesecake. I won't say what was the best part!</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Monday Pumpkin Key – The float plan for the this week was head down to Key Largo area. First stop was Pumpkin Key, a small island off of northern Key Largo on the bay side. Docklines were slipped at 10am for leisure sail down the ICW. The winds were a beam reach all the way down. Perfect winds. The weather has been a little cool getting up to the low 70's during the day and down to the low 60's at night. While not perfect wx for tans and swimming, good sailing weather nevertheless. The girls did get out on the deck for some sun and reading. When going through all the cuts through Card Sound the depth alarm was sounding it tune. At times less than a ½ of foot below the keel. We squeak through all the them. The mangroves were beautiful but lack the water fowl normally seen here. Not sure the season was here for bird watching. We found Pumpkin Key and anchored on the southwest side of the small island. There was about 5 other boats with us to enjoy the beautiful surrounding. Jenn and I launched the dinghy to explore the island only to find out it is a private island with nice houses on it. The new dinghy motor lift worked as advertise. The motor did spill the knot I put on it as I was lowering it. My bad, on a poor hitch. Lucky it landed in the dink and on Jenn's leg. No injury to report except my pride. We launch out into the dink and got about half way to the island when I noticed we didn't have any oars onboard. Talk about be up the creek without a paddle. We return post haste back to the boat to retrieve the oars. After the brief detour, we explored the island via the dink. I noticed one the boats at anchor here was another Hunter so a quick visit was in order. It was a charter boat out of Florida Yacht charters with two Germans on the boat. After a nice visit, we return to the boat in time for Sundowers! A glorious sunset and dinner was the order of the night. The early part of the evening the winds died down to nothing. The bay was smooth as glass. The stars reflect off the bay waters like a mirror. Very romantic. The nights entertainment was a dice game called gin rummy. Never played it before but the girls have. Somehow, Jenn won all the games. She was also the scorekeeper. Umm something sounds awfully fishy here. As Jenn said, “ A poor scorekeeper is one that doesn't win”!</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Tuesday; The next morning, the crew rose early to meet the day. Three of us are coffee drinkers. Yesterday, we made coffee buy pouring hot water a little at a time through my little 4 cup coffee maker. A slow process. I had bought a old fashion percolator a year ago. The one time I tried to use it, it failed to work. Well, Jenn the magician she is, got it to work. So fresh perk coffee was had by all. Being a huge coffee drinker, the captain was very happy. A happy Captain is a happy boat. Jenn cooked up eggs and bacon. A perfect way to start the day's sail. We raise anchor and headed south. They next anchorage was south Key Largo in front of a sailing club my girlfriend Dianne just spent last week at. It was a motor-sail mostly. I had to charge the batteries and the ICW channel was narrow and low. Once again my depth alarm was singing a lot. We made it to Sunset Cove with no causalities. They bay here is very very shallow averaging around 6 feet ( I draw 5 feet). After circling around I found a nice spot to drop the anchor in 6.5 feet of water. The hook set the first time. The crew informed me we were running out of beer. Mutiny was planned. I tried to call and hail the sailing club to see if there was a store nearby. The harbormaster didn't pick up the phone or mic. The wind started picking up to 15 knots. Rhapsody was anchored out about a ½ mile from shore. I thought we would just dinghy in and see if we could find a store on our own but the crew felt the wet ride wasn't worth it.. We saw the Catalina 22's from the sailing club, sailing around until sunset. Some catamaran with tourist came by us to check us out. It was a little to close for me and I wasn't happy sailorette by the poor seamanship the skipper showed. With sundowners in hand and another great meal prepared a great day of sailing was fading into the sunset. We had the bay to ourselves the whole night. The winds were gusting all night to 18 knots. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well as Rhapsody swung about the anchor. I was up every 2 hours checking out that we didn't drag even though I set the anchor alarm on the chartplotter and hand held GPS. It did go off once during the night as the wind shifted 180 degrees. While the boat didn't drag, I was up for 2 hours on anchor watch. Not sure I will ever get used to being on the hook and trusting the anchor considering my previous nights on the hook.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Wednesday Bump and Aground! The crew got up early and we got an early start for the trip back north. A major cold front was forecast to come through tonight and the next 2 days. Winds were forecast to be in the 20 knot range with gust over 25 knots. With the winds out of the west, the bay side of the keys, the low tide gets extreme as the wind pushes the water out into the ocean. It was going to be an interesting ride back home. The original plan was to head to Boca Chita (Ragged Key) to anchor out for the night. Since this anchorage is exposed to a west wind that was out of the question. So my choices were to head back to home or No Name Harbor. Time will tell and the 3 pm weather forecast.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">We started out motor-sailing again to charge the batteries and low water through the channel. As I cleared the Barnes Sound channel with the Red Buoy on the starboard side, for the first time, Rhapsody in Blue ran aground hard. Confused is an understatement. I was in the middle of the channel, on the track from the previous day and here I was aground. The charts show 7 feet of water here. The current was running hard and the boat was 50 yards from the buoy. I was scared, very scary the current was going to crash me into the Red buoy. Jennifer launched the dinghy off the forepeak, while I got the motor lift ready. Quick as a bunny, the crew had the dinghy ready to go. I lowered the anchor into the dinghy with all the chain and rode; 200 feet. Having never did this before, nor ever seen it done before, I was going off what I have read about skedging off the shoal with an anchor. It took us a few tries to figure out how to dump the anchor chain out of the dinghy while moving backwards. Jenn figured it out and soon we had the anchor 150 feet behind us. Going forward, left or right was out of the question. With Anne at the helm and me on the windlass, we pulled the boat off the shoal in quick fashion. With the boat free of the shoal, the current started to take us closer to the Red buoy. I ran back to the helm to straighten out the boat, gave instruction to the crew to retrieve the anchor. Like a well oiled team, we got safely on the other side of the channel and into deep water. I need a drink, a big one! Grog for all hands the Captain declared!</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">As a side note; as I was skedging off the shoal, a couple from an anchor sailboat nearby, launched their dinghy to assist us. While we didn't need their help this time, it was comfortable to know that sailboat cruisers look after each other. We never got their names but thank you and fair winds.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">After clearing the red buoy this bay is known for very shallow water with a extremely narrow channel. I didn't want to stop to pick up Jenn at this time so she followed us through the bay in the dinghy. Once cleared the bay, we entered Sexton bay where deeper water (7 feet) was found. We stopped off to pick up Jennifer and the dinghy. It was here that I need to check the rudder and keel to see if any damage was done. I wasn't looking forward to this at all. With the water temp at 68 degrees and the air temp the same, it was going to be a cold swim. So, with snorkel gear on, in I went. Oh that water was cold! Reminds me of the time when the spinnaker halyard broke to wrap itself around the prop. A quick inspection of rudder and keel found all to be in good order. Thank god!. After a quick hot shower ( the first in 2 days) to warm up, the sails were raised. The winds were averaging 15 knots. With reefed sails on a 110 degree wind we were flying up north. It was here, the crew threaten mutiny again if we didn't stop for beer and ice. We stopped at a fuel stop at the Key Largo Bridge for fuel, water, beer and ice. The boat and crew were now happy! The owner of the fuel stop was a savor character from the 60's. Not sure what he was thinking with a boat full of women but one can guess. After launching out again, sails set, we were flying back up north at 7+ knots. I have never seen the boat perform so well for so long. Impressed I was. The winds were starting to gust up to 24 knots as the afternoon progressed. I listen to the 3pm forecast. Rain and wind were forecast tomorrow. The night forecast was 10-15 knots of wind out of the west. We took a vote on where to go tonight and No Name Harbor was voted on.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">We arrived there about 5pm an 1.5 hours before sunset. Upon arrival, we found the harbor a bit crowded with cruisers waiting out the wx for a crossing to the Bahamas. We set the anchor the first time, but I wasn't happy with the location; to close to the rocky mangrove shore. We reset the anchor to only to be closer to two boats. I wasn't happy with again. So being a conscience sailor, we re-upped the anchor one more time and found another place set the hook for the night. While a little embarrassment on my part as all the boaters watched the show, I tried to show some seamanship and courtesy. The anchor set the third time, still a little to close to one boat for me but doable. I can see another night on anchor watch. Another great night of sundowners and dinner. As promised, the winds came up at 2am. I sat in the cockpit all night on anchor watch. Max wind gust recorded at 25 knots. We never moved.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">The crew. I would be amiss if I didn't say a few words about the crew. At times we sailors have the pleasure of being a crew on other peoples boats or having crew on our respective boat. With 4 women on this boat, the dynamics of having an all women crew or just any crew can be a challenge for any captain to make sure everyone is having a good time, being safe, and getting along. Human nature as it is can make situations uncomfortable at times for one or all. In any group setting we have all seen this. However, with this crew, we got along every second, everyone pitched in without being asked, jobs were done automatically without fuss or orders and everyone had a great time. There was no yelling or harsh words spoken ever! To Jennifer, Leigh and Anne you are all the best friends a person can ask for and one hell of a group of sailors. Please come sail with me anytime.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Thursday Heading Home – When the sun came up the winds were still howling with overcast skies. Rhapsody was swinging wildly on her anchor as she normally does. After coffee was made, the boat was readied for the sail home. Upping the anchor was going to be tricky, with two boats close by; one behind and one to the port and a seawall on the starboard side. I set up a the women on the deck so commands can be relayed from me at the helm to Jennifer raising the anchor. We raised anchor with no problems, making it look easy like we are veteran cruisers. Got to love this crew!. After motoring out of the harbor, we set the mainsail and jib with a reef in it. Rhapsody was doing 6.5 knots in 18-22 knots of wind at 40 degrees off the bow on the ride home. The bay had moderate chop in it. Rhapsody's nose got wet a few times. We sailed around the bay for a bit before we called it quits for the day. After docking the boat in a nasty crosswind we put the boat to bed. I took the most wonderful 3 hour nap that afternoon.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">After everyone had showers, we went to check out South Miami Beach for shopping, dinner and some tourist stuff for the girls. Spring break was in full force here. Not my cup of tea at all but we made the best of it. After an expensive dinner on Collins Blvd we retired back to the boat.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">The next day it was a lousy weather day with rain, high winds and cooler temperatures. The boat got a bath by all and I treated the crew to a movie Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was a sad night as two of the girls packed for their flight back home. Anne decided to stay with me on the boat until Monday.</p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><br/></p>
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Sunday Anne's Day – The wind has been blowing for the past 3 days over 20 knots and today it was suppose to die down to around 15 knots. Since it was Anne's last full day here, we decided to take out the boat one last time before she had to leave back home tomorrow morning. Anne is a new sailorette. She really shined this past week learning each day the ins and outs of sailing. We got off the dock with no problems considering the still nasty crosswind. We only set the mainsail with a reef in, for a causal sail in Biscayne Bay. I let her helm the boat most of the day. With the gusting winds, Rhapsody can be a handful. But Anne did great controlling the helm. A quick learner. I have had other new people on my boats and when the boats get difficult to handle most have given up the helm, back to me (one let go and walked away). Anne was a trouper in controlling Rhapsody sometime wayward ways. It was a great sail with a great crew member. I think I convert Anne to the sailing drug.</p>Challenging Sail down to Rodriguez Keytag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-09-19:900123:BlogPost:1104852009-09-19T10:00:00.000ZMelissa Reneehttps://seaknots.ning.com/profile/MelissaRenee
Challenging Sail.<br />
1.Today was the start of a few days down in the keys. The forecast wasn't the best with 40% chance of thunderstorms. I launched out at 6am from the slip with of course a cup of Joe in hand. It was a motor-sail the first 3 hours with winds 1-3 knots. There were thunderstorms all around and I had to thread a needle through them. At 7 am the boat got a washing. The weather was going to dictate which route down to Key Largo I was going to take: the inside route ICW or the outside…
Challenging Sail.<br />
1.Today was the start of a few days down in the keys. The forecast wasn't the best with 40% chance of thunderstorms. I launched out at 6am from the slip with of course a cup of Joe in hand. It was a motor-sail the first 3 hours with winds 1-3 knots. There were thunderstorms all around and I had to thread a needle through them. At 7 am the boat got a washing. The weather was going to dictate which route down to Key Largo I was going to take: the inside route ICW or the outside route down Hawk Channel. There are couple of options to get to Hawk Chanel from Key Biscayne: Florida Lighthouse (my usual way), Broad Creek, and Angelfish Creek. Both creeks require high tide and slack tide to get through them in a sailboat because both entrances and exits are only 5' deep (I draw 4'11”). With a careful eye towards the sky going through Broad Creek was looking good. Having not been through before, the sails were rolled in. Broad Creek channel is well marked. My charts did not show this. So that was some relief. Going dead slow I enter the creek with a foot of water under the keel to spare. It was a beautiful run of 3 miles through the mangrove islands. Once out in Hawk Channel the winds were good enough to sail at least. With an average speed of 5 knots it was one of the few comfortable sails down the channel. There were still thunderstorms on each side of me but none threatening. My plan in sailing down was to try to get the downdrafts from the cumulus clouds. It worked out very well, at times seeing 7 knots of boat speed. Of course the wind as always was were I was going so tacking was required every hour or so.<br />
2.I reached Rodriguez Key at 4 pm, the south part of Key Largo. I dropped both anchors; Ronca and Danforth in grassy bottom. This anchorage is known for poor holding. After settling in I dove both anchors to make sure they were set. They weren't in the very very slick grass. So I dug them in by hand, pushing them as deep into the grassy sand as best as I could. Swimming around I saw a few fish and some jellyfish which were kind of cool. There were only two boats anchored here; a mega zillion dollar yacht and me. So nice and quiet. My new dinghy and I got acquainted with each other. Got used to steering her and just generally having fun. I hope Rhapsody isn't jealous of the new addition to the family. BBQ steak, salad and rum was the order of the night along with a good book. By nightfall the berth was calling. At first I tried to sleep in the v-berth but it was 90 degrees in the boat and the fan wasn't helping. I finally ended up in the cockpit where a nice breeze was blowing, the stars were out and about 15 degrees cooler.<br />
3.Captains Log: 1am (All hell breaks lose, the heavens open up)<br />
I was in a semi-state of sleep, when I first felt it: boat moving more than normal, wind on my face a little stronger, distant rumble in the background. . Than Ding,Ding Ding Ding coming from the chartplotter. Like a shot of lightning (no pun intended) I rose to be met by an approaching thunderstorm from the east. When I looked at the instruments, the wind was blowing at 18-20 knots, and I had dragged 100 feet into the shore. Not a good thing! Normally this would require a call of “All Hands on Deck!” but my crew of stuff animals are worthless in this situation. Actually they are worthless in most situations unless food is involved. LOL.. There a million things to do to save the boat: start engine ( saying more than one prayer covering all religions for the engine to start), raise anchor, batten down all hatches, get foulies on, clear the deck and cockpit of lose items, electronic gadgets, secure dinghy to name a few. . Having about 1 minute to do all this is near impossible with crew and fat chance solo. They heavens opened up 1 minute after awaking with winds at 30 knots and gusting, rain so hard no visibility and me in PJ's to boot! The engine started after frantic attempts to get the key in. I put the boat in gear to try to hold the nose into the wind. With the autopilot on, I went forward to put the two hatches down and see where the anchor rode was. It was 90 degrees from the bow due to the boat sideways to the wind. Note: I need to know where it was so I didn't run over it with the prop and foul the prop in a full blow emergency. Running back to the cockpit., Banging the toes, shine and elbows along the way, I tried my best to hold the boat in place during this blow. I marked the spot on the chartplotter to have some reference of where I was. It was the smartest thing I did.. With no one to raise the anchor nor keep an eye on it at the bow I only had the chartplotter to keep me in position and nose pointed in the right direction. It took full power on the engine at times to keep the nose pointed in the right direction. She fell off the wind so easily it was frightening. I was scared. The shore and/or shallow water was only about 500 yards away. It took all my fiber to keep the boat in position. The rain was hitting my face so hard I could barely see. I know why some sailors carry sky mask when sailing. I saw a HUGE blue arrow on the chartplotter I have never seen before. It filled the entire screen covering up my spot. Not sure if it is the wind arrow or current arrow. When the stormed passed 30 minutes later it was dead calm. I was so high on adrenaline I was shaking. The anchors were raised to try and rested them in pitch black sea. When I got to the Danforth, it was gone. Tore off the rode. I was heartsick and now really scared for my Ronca anchor won't dig in the grass without the Danforth in series. I motored to another spot, further way from land and real shallow water to drop the anchor again. I set the anchor and she seem to be holding. I let out 120 feet of scope in 9 feet of water. The mega zillion boat also dragged so I didn't feel so bad and also reposition too close by. It was a comfort to know that someone else is out there. After cleaning myself and the boat up, I went to bed.<br />
4.Captains Log: 3am.... Ding Ding Ding. Another storm hits.<br />
I felt like a player on a sports team when the coach is pissed off. Terrible things happen when the coach doesn't like the way you have played or work out. He makes you do it over again. This time I grabbed my foul weather jacket, batten down all the hatches as I made my way topside. Started the engine, again covering all the bases with prayers from every religion, marked my position and repeated the same process I just went through. Only this time I was dry, no wet T-shirt contest or looking like a drown rat and diving goggles in on my face. One for the home team. Now I am so tired after two adrenaline rushes, I can sleep through a nuclear war. Out like a light at 3:45am<br />
5.Captains Log 4:30am.. Ding Ding Ding Bang Bang Bang<br />
OK coach, what did I do wrong last time. Nothing, get out there and do it again. Practice makes perfect. Yes sir!!<br />
I don't know what scared me the most the lighting or the Bang Bang Bang. I figure out the bang part pretty quick; it was the rudder banging back and forth as I grabbed the wheel. Captain Dumbshit forgot to tighten down the wheel before tucker herself into slumber land. This one wasn't so bad as the last two. It only lasted 15 minutes. I only dragged about 75 feet this time. Getting better at it. OK coach you think I got it this time. Get to bed young lady. Yes sir!