Oh, The Stars

At Sea
38 00.12 N 075 03.33 W

We had great wind leaving the Chesapeake Bay yesterday afternoon. Tarwathie was very happy and we were making 7 knots. By evening it became OK wind. By early morning it became almost no wind, so since 0400 this morning we are motoring. We hate motoring at sea, but we're hopeful that the wind will resume sometime today.

For once we had an encounter with a tug and barge that did not result in evasive action. Around 0300, I saw the lights of a tug boat overtaking us from the rear. I tracked him on radar. He was 2 miles away and heading straight for us. I hailed the tug on the VHF radio. He answered! The captain and I had a nice chat. He said that he could see us, and that we should just maintain course and speed. He turned slightly to the left and passed 3/4 mile away. I just wish all encounters at sea would work that way.

The good news last night was the sky. The stars were exceptionally bright and the milky way stood out as plain as your face.

The bad news last night is that our electronic autopilot lost its brain and broke. We can't steer with Monitor wind vane either because there's no wind. So we're stuck steering manually. Today my task is to attempt to repair the autopilot. I never took it apart before, so I have no idea if it is repairable or not.

By the way, boaters should beware the Ocean Cruising Center fuel dock in Portsmouth, Virginia. It is a convenient place to stop by the ICW and their fuel prices are good. We stopped there yesterday. I called ahead on the VHF to tell them we were coming for diesel fuel. When we got there, the attendent said, "Fuel?" I replied, "Yes. Diesel" He handed me the nozzle. I just started to fuel when I got suspicious. I squirted some of the fuel on my hand. GASOLINE! "What the hell!" I yelled at the guy, "I said diesel." "Sorry," he said, "you said fuel." I replied, "I said diesel fuel. They're both fuel." He said, "Here in Virginia fuel means gas." I looked at the pump. It said DIESEL FUEL in two inch letters. The attendant was an idiot. Lucky for us I checked. I got only 0.4 gallons of gasoline into a 20 gallon diesel fuel tank. That's not enough to cause trouble (I hope). Once before, in Fort Meyers Beach I put in 0.5 gallons of gasoline by mistake, and nothing bad resulted. The moral? Always double check yourself. Best is to sniff the nozzle before pumping anything.