After two days of waking up to cloudy conditions with the threat of (and realization of) rain, we were jubilant to be waking up to clear skies, even if it was a bit chilly. We had coffee and discussed possible anchorages for tonight. After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, Robin and Charlie released my lines. The wind was calm and there was no current, so I let Lesson Plan drift away from The Lower Place. I turned to the starboard (right) and started to head out of the cove. I very quickly came to a stop. Oh crap, I have run aground. No problem, I ‘ll just back off, I was just idling along. I put it in reverse. When I start backing up, I can feel the rudder digging into the mud. I couldn’t go forward I couldn’t go back. What the heck, how could I be in a hole?
Thankfully, The Lower Place had not pulled up the anchor. I called Charlie. He answered the phone saying: “Did you run aground?” With much chagrin, I had to admit that I had. He said he would let out extra anchor line and throw me a line. They backed to within 20 years of me. Charlie had a line on the back of his boat that had a ball attached to it. He put out several feet of line and heaved the line like he was in the Olympics hammer throw. The ball landed less than 10’ from my boat. I reached out with a boat hook and snagged it. He cleated the line and I began pulling, hand over hand. By this time, I had zoomed in the chart and saw I was against a shelf. I felt that if I could pull the boat sideways, I could pull myself right off the shelf. Keep in mind the boat weighs 5 tons. Slowly Lesson Plan started to move toward The Lower Place. I couldn’t tell which boat was moving. Robin was at the helm and Charlie told her to put the port engine in reverse, so they could move The Lower Place away from Lesson Plan (it is all happening so close to the boat, Robin would have a hard time judging distances). She got The Lower Place pulling against the anchor and backing away from me (and Lesson Plan, she takes no blame for us being in this predicament). Then, all of the sudden I was moving toward them faster than I should be. I knew I was pulling hard, hand over hand but I was still gaining on them. The momentum I created with that last big pull was too much. I jumped into the cockpit to put Lesson Plan in reverse and realized I had left the shifter in forward (at idle speed). I shifted to neutral and moved the wheel slightly to the port so that I would glide just past the stern of The Lower Place. I thanked them profusely as I tossed out the rope and they pulled it back onto their boat. It’s good to have friends in The Lower Place(s). If I had not had Charlie and Robin there, I would have had to put my anchor in the dinghy and take it out so I could pull myself off the shelf. What a pain that would have been. As Eric Stone says, If you Ain't Run Aground, You Ain't Been Around.
Technical sidebar: When I zoomed the chart in, I saw the problem. There is underwater shelf that is 2’ below the water. When your keel extends to 4.5’ below the waterline, that doesn’t work out well. When you back a single prop boat, it tends to pull the boat to the port side. The shelf was on the port side of the boat. As I tried to back off the shelf, the back of the boat just kept trying to pull itself into the mud. Later that night Charlie and I discussed the incident and wondered if I could have cut the wheel to the port side and used prop wash on the ruder to get the boat turned enough to get the back away from the mud shelf enough to back it off. I would have probably just ended up more stuck.
As it has been for the previous two days, I had about a 20-minute head start on The Lower Place. After about 2 hours they catch and pass me. On, the trip across the East Pass on to Apalachicola we saw more destruction from Hurricane Michael. Trees were down, snapped off at all different heights above the ground. A few more boats washed up on shore.
We didn’t go into Port St. Joe (it would have been about a 16-mile detour), but I saw pictures of the marina there. There was little left. Last year when I came trough this area, I stayed at a dock in White City, FL. I fully expected to find the little floating dock at White City to be gone. But as we passed by, there it was. It may be a wobbly little dock, but it is a tough one. As the saying goes, it hung in there like a hair in a biscuit. I wished I could have stopped to talk with Denis (a chap I met when I stayed at White City previously)
We were heading to Saul Creek, an anchorage about 4 miles from Apalachicola. As I happened las night, The Lower Place arrived before me and set anchor. They again invited me to raft up with them. Another enjoyable night of being rafted up with The Lower Place. We had dinner together (Robin had a casserole made so I toasted bread in my oven and took over). I am starting to worry that I forget how to anchor on my own.
Travel Log 2018-12-04
The next morning, Robin and Charlie le my lines loose, and Charlie reminded me to watch for shallow spots, I guess he just could help himself. But I had my charts up and zoomed in this time.
It was a brisk ride to Carrabelle, How am I supposed to get in an Island State of Mind with these temperatures
I will wait for a weather window to cross the Big Bend. Deja vu all over again..
Charlie and Robin will go straight to Tarpon Springs. I will have to cross to Steinhatchee, to Cedar Key, to Tarpon. So I will loose my traveling companion here. I am looking forward to being where there are coconut trees.
The lighted boat parade is Saturday (12/8) in Carrabelle. I'll try to get some pictures.
Travel Log 2018-12-05
Lesson Learned: Always, always, always get your navigation charts pulled up and zoomed in before you pull out of the anchorage.
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| I am astonished how the leaves were still stripped from the trees. |
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| This was Monday morning. Tuesday morning was even colder. |
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| Finally got to roll our the sail. |
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