The inside route is in fairly protected waters an the seas are forecast to be a moderate chop (that means less than one foot). The inside route from Key West to Marathon is longer because there are a lot of the Florida Keys 1,700 islands in this area. Most of these islands are little more than a sandbar with mangroves growing in the shallow sand. The water is to shallow to pick your way between the islands, so you have to go out about 12 miles to get in water deep enough to cruise without worry of running aground. And then there are the crab pots (which are probably really lobster traps in the Keys). They are strewn throughout the shallow water of the Keys.
The outside route, through Hawk Channel, is shorter, but the waves are generally a little larger on that side. The waves in Hawk Channel is somewhat lessened by the reef that runs from Miami almost to Key West. A typical forecast for the area may be seas outside the reef 3 to 5 ft, seas inside the reef 2 to 3. This was the forecast for Friday, the day I was to leave. The warning is always given by the NOAA forecasters goes something like this: “mariners are reminded that wave heights are given as the average height of the highest one-third waves, however individual waves could reach twice this height”.
If I can go on the outside and make good time, I can make it to Ft. Lauderdale in three days, if I go on the inside it will likely take four days. There is a northeast wind predicted for Monday. A north wind blowing against the Gulf Stream, which is very close to shore at Miami, creates rough seas. The forecast for Monday off the Miami coast is 5 to 7 foot seas. So either way I need to be in Biscayne Bay by Sunday night. I plotted out both inside and outside courses for tomorrow and went to bed.
I dropped the lines about 7:15 on Friday morning. The trip around Fleming Key was smooth, seas were a light chop. As I approached the main ship channel, it looked like the forecast was spot on. The wave action was more like 1 to 2 with an occasional 3. I looked forward to a nice ride. With a little luck, I may even get to put the sail up. The wind is forecast to become more southerly as the day goes on. I am hoping to make 75 miles today.
The day started out great. The ride was good, very few waves that splashed the deck. The ride continued like that the rest of the day. However, the wind continued to blow right on the nose of Lesson Plan. There was no option for sailing. Poor Jenny was down there working as hard as she could, but we could barely maintain 6 MPH all day.
One of the issues with going on the outside is a lack of anchorages. With my slow pace I will not make it to my planned anchorage before dark. So time to start looking at my alternate stops, I always try to have contingency plans. It looks like Marathon is going to be as far as I can get today. I will be stopping a little early (4:30), but the next protected anchorage is 2.5 hours away. The best laid plans ......
NEBO Log for Friday
I start checking the weather forecast for tomorrow as I get close to Marathon, I am seeing conflicting reports. One says the wind and waves are picking up tomorrow (20 knot wind and 4’ seas) and the other says the same as last night (wind 10 to 12 and seas 2 to 3). I can cross over to the inside route here, but I would rather avoid the shallow water of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW), if I can. But being the careful planner I am, I planned an insider and outside course for Saturday.
I pulled out of Boot Key Harbor and headed toward the Seven-Mile Bridge cut. I had decided last night the pace on the outside was just to slow. I would take a chance on the inside and its shallow water and hope for a better pace. As I headed toward the cut, the seas seemed to be less than three and the wind was blowing in the right direction for a sail up to Key Largo. I turned and headed out to Hawk Channel for a trip up the channel. I was cruising at 7.5 MPH. This is going to be great, so I thought. As soon as I got out of the cove and started into the Hawk Channel, conditions were more like the revised forecast called for. I kept trying to convince myself, if I could get out a little further it would be better. It wasn’t. After about 30 minutes I realized it was going to be another slow day if I continued on this route, so I turned back and headed for the bridge cut. You can see my NEBO log here
The seas on the inside were as promised, a light to moderate chop. I followed another sailboat, Seven Cs, for a while. I talked to him on the radio. He said his draft is 4’10” (mine is 4’6”) and he has been traveling this route for 40 years and has never had an issue. I felt a little more comfortable. He did tell me that the water gets a little skinny up around Tavernier. I made it to the south side of Tavernier by 5:00. Time to anchor and get a fresh start tomorrow.
Lesson Learned: Trust your instruments. In this case it was the weather forecaster's instruments. I could have saved myself some time leaving Marathon had I of trusted the NOAA forecast and headed straight to the inside route. Also don't be to proud to turn around.
No comments:
Post a Comment