So anyway, on to the current leg of the Great Loop Adventure. We had the false start on January 13, refer to the previous post Stuck in the Mud. Carol and Steve spent a couple of nights on the boat and we had a great time touring Mobile. But, we couldn’t cast off because to the low water in the bay and marina. I decided to go back home and finish up a couple of projects while I waited for the water to return to the bay.
On Monday, January 22 I returned to the boat and was able to shove off the next morning and head toward Perdido Key, FL. I made it to Perdido Key and pulled into the dock with no problems. “Sigh”, what a relief, I still remember how to handle Lesson Plan after being away from navigating with her for 12 weeks (I did spend a week on her in December, but that was repairing the rudder and stepping the mast).
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| Lesson Plan at Perdido Key |
The next morning, I rose early to get a start on the day. I would be “going outside” from Pensacola to Destin, since I cannot get under the bridges in the Intra-coastal Waterway (ICW) between Pensacola and Destin. I had my course charted, but I didn’t notice that I plotted right through a “Restricted Area”, until I got close enough and it showed up on the chart plotter. Hmm, I wander what the restriction is? A little searching and I find that it is missile test range. Well they usually announce on the VHF if the area is off-limits, I haven’t heard anything. And then it happened, over the VHF radio came an announcement that the Eglin Missile range would be “hot for missile testing” between 1 pm and 4:30 pm today and all marine traffic should stay clear. Hmm, it’s 8 miles across, it’s 11:33, and I am traveling, 7.5 MPH. To close for comfort, I turned and stayed on the perimeter of the test zone. Shouldn’t they be doing this testing out in the middle of the gulf? I made it to Destin and got into a slip about 4:00. A nice second day, although is was cold and windy out there.
That night in Destin, Lesson Plan and I had some visitors. Steve and Carol came bearing pizza. Their son, Matthew, and his girlfriend, Meagan, and her 3-year old son, Ayden, also came for the visit. I enjoyed getting to show them the boat. Ayden was a little apprehensive about getting on the boat. But he warmed up to it after a little after he got to operate the remote control for the cockpit lights. We all gathered around the salon table and enjoyed pizza. Ayden stayed pretty close to mom during the visit.
I hoped to make it from Destin to Port St. Joe on Thursday, so I was up before dawn. The plan was to make a go/no go decision when I got to Panama City. I would have 5 more hours to go once I go to the Panama City ship channel, so I threw off the lines at about 5:45 am and headed out. It was still dark, but I had my track on the plotter from coming in to follow out. If I follow that line out I should be ok, right. Well I found out that I was only about 20 feet from bumping the bottom on the way in. I was following the line loosely. I was only just an 1/8 inch off the line, when I felt the keel rub on the bottom. But Lesson Plan took the little sandbar in stride and we went right on through it. I immediately turned to the port side and got exactly on the line.
Another day on the outside. I got out on my track to Panama City. The wind direction was perfect, about 60 degrees on the port side. I put out the sail and Lesson Plan was flying along at 8.5 mph, once I even saw 9. This is going to be an awesome day, but the temperature was in the low 40s when I started out and it stayed cloudy all day, brrrrrrr. The go/no go time to be at the Panama City ship channel was 12:00. I passed it at 11:25. I messaged cousin Sally Sanders to see if she could see me from their condo as I passed the ship channel, but I was too far past them for her to see me.
Another day, another missile test range. As I am approaching the missile test range near Tyndale Air Force Base I hear another announcement about the missile range is off limits today. I was going to skirt the outside of this one, but they required an additional 1-mile buffer, so I hit 10 degrees to the starboard (right) on Otto. 10 minutes later I hear the same announcement, now I hadn’t heard this announcement even one time until I started getting close to the range, so I pushed in another 10 degrees. Five minutes later I hear the same announcement again, hmm maybe that is really directed at me. I hit the button three times for another 30 degrees, now I am heading almost directly parallel to the range line away from shore. I guess that satisfied them, I didn’t hear the announcement again, I think they were talking to me. I have AIS on the boat that should tell them the boat name. You would think with all that sophisticated equipment they have, they could add AIS to their RADAR display, so they could just say: “Hey Lesson Plan, you are too close to the range, move out a bit.” When I was taking flying lessons, I was on a solo trip and flew too close to Ft Campbell Army Base. I thought I was right on the line of their air space, but the tower called up my tail number and said, “you see that road below you, you need to be on the south side of that road not over the top of it”. Now that I have switched to boats, the military needs to keep up with its technology. They probably have my name in a database somewhere under violated airspace, and now under violated water space.
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| Lesson Plan in Port St. Joe |
I made it to Port St Joe and no one from the Air Force was there to greet me. I took that as a good sign.
By the way, it may be the cold. Friday in Port St. Joe, FL in mid 60s temps. My feet are finally warm, and I am feeling much better about things. But I still dislike the fact that I can get down so far and then have to turn around and come back. But, I have good reasons for this madness, I ‘ll explain later.
Lesson Learned:
Just plot your course around the restricted area, it will just be easier all the way around.
There is a lot of calculating required for this sailing stuff, can I make across the missile range in time. At this speed can I make it to Port St. Joe before sunset at this speed with this amount of time left. If I have to go around this missile range how much distance/time is that going to add to the trip? Teachers, tell them kids they will need that math when they least expect it.
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