Get There Itis

Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach, SC

 

Several readers wrote to express relief that we sought shelter rather than face this storm while out at sea. We too are glad, although I'm bugged that we could have been in Beaufort NC before the storm reached us. That is frustrating.

 

The emotion I'm feeling is called get-there-itis. I'm reminded of that because one of the people sending emails is a pilot. Pilots are thourougly trained on get-there-itis. That includes me, back in the days when I was flying. The disease has caused countless fatal accidents.

 

Here is the scenario. Unsafe conditions are approaching. Prudence dictates that one stay put in a safe place and wait for it to pass. However, you are bugged by the thought, "I want to get there first." That leads to unrealistic optimistic estimates of how you can beat the storm by getting to your destination first.

 

It is a powerful emotional tug on your brain. I'm feeling it right now, more than 24 hours after making our decision to play it safe. That is a symtom of a serious disease; if you feel bad about making the right choice.

 

Let's have it. All together now. Three cheers for training.

Back Inside

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
33 40.862 79 02.512 W

We're back in from the sea, tied up at Osprey Marina for two days.

Things were very gentle on The Atlantic this trip.  We had to motor 30 of the 40 hours that we were out.  But now comes the frustration.   The forecast for tonight and the next two days were for southerly winds 20-25 knots.  Ideal for continuing up to Beaufort NC.  But the same forecast also calls for a severe front with thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  We would not want Murphy to catch up with us with a severe storm just as we were crossing Frying Pan Shoals.  So we chickened out.

Why here?  Because our arrival time at the mouth of the river coincided with slack tide before flood.  Bucking outgoing tides in these rivers can be tough.

Another reason for coming in, 48 hours at sea seems to be our limit nowadays.   Too long out with too little sleep and fatigue creeps in while judgement creeps out.

By the way, we had a bit of unnecessary drama this morning.  For two days, we have been hearing the Coast Guard give warnings about a hazard at the entrance to Winyah Bay. It said, "Buoy 8 is off station.  It is stuck in the channel between buoys 5A and 6A and underwater."  Well, that's pretty scary.  How do you avoid hitting it if it is in the channel and hidden?    So in we came, dead slow speed and with Libby posted in the bow as a lookout as we approached 5A and 6A.   Nothing seen, no problem, and another 100 yards beyond, there was buoy 8 on-station right where it is supposed to be.  The whole hazard report must have been bogus.  I called the Coast Guard and told them.

By the way, 24 hours after departing Mayport, Libby calculated that we bypassed 360 miles of ICW.  That is 7 days at 50 miles per day.   Our rule of thumb that one day's sailing on the outside makes the same progress as one week on the inside on the ICW seems to be accurate.

Just passed Charleston

Heading for Winyah bay.

 

We bypassed 360 miles of ICW in the past 30 hours.

Nautical Ettiquette

At Sea, Monday morning

32 03.658 N 080 26.312 W

 

This is shaping up to be a strange passage. The wind is on again/off again, so we have been motoring half the tmie. The wind promises to get better starting Tuesday night but it wil bring potentially severe thunderstorms with it. Most strange, the weather info talks about flooding in all North Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina rivers. There must have been a really big rain event to the west that we didn't hear about.

 

When we do come in from the sea, it will be to a river. Flooding is a concern. I decided to continue until Tuesday morning, then decide what to do from there.

 

But today we are busybodies. The AIS allows us to snoop on the activities of other vessels. We've been doing that this morning. A big container ship, The New Delhi Express, came out of the Savannah River and passed close to us heading east 093 at 9.9 knots. No problem. I figured he was heading for India.

 

About a half hour later, we heard the New Delhi Express call the Charleston Pilot. I changed to channel 14 to eavesdrop., They made an appointment for the ship to arrive in Charleston four hours from now. We are heading towards Charleston, it is NE, bearing 052 at 60 nautical miles. To make the appointment, the ship woult have to turn left to 052 and increast speed to 15 knots.

 

But he didn't turn left, he turned right, heading directly away from Charleston. Strange. After 15 mintues of that, he stopped dead. Double strange. After sitting a helf hour or so, he resumed course 093 at 9.9 knots. What? That won't get him to his appointment. Finally, he increased speed to 17 knots but at 085 rather than 052. That will put him 35 miles east of Charleston at the appointed hour.

 

It would be a serious breach of nautical ettiquette to call him on the radio and ask if he is lost. There are numerous possible rational reasons for his actions other than being lost. He could have techical problems with the ship. He could be training a helmsman. Our role is to keep our noses out of his business, but it is sure hard to not speculate and also hard to not blog about it.

 

By the way. We have a new birdie num num. That's what we call the tiny land birds that land on Tarwathie as life saving refuge. We believe that they flew out to sea by mistake, and that they would perish if they didn't find us. It seems to always be a kind of small bird with yellow on his belly (Goldfinch?). If he is smart, he'll ride with us until we approachg shore. The same thing has happened a half dozen times in the past. Poor little birds. A lot of them must die.

Going Out To Sea, Whee

Mayport, Florida

30 18.916 N 081 25.771 W

 

We think that our window is about to appear. A window about 60 hours long. At the end of the 60 hours on Wednesday, a front with nasty thunderstorms will pass. We don't want to be out there then.

 

So, we'll take our chances. In 24 hours we can reach Port Royal Sound and Beaufort, SC. In 48 hours we can reach Charlestown, or the Wacamaw river, or maybe Cape Fear.

 

No promises as to whether I can post new blogs while out at sea. Maybe.