INNER COASTAL TRIP: FLORIDA AND GEORGIA SEA ISLANDS, SUMMER 2005

Here is another attempt to document a past adventure.

After the Algonquin trip, my brother Doug asked me to help him sail a boat he planned to aquire from Florida to North Carolina. This was to be quite an adventure for both of us. Doug and I both have considerable sailing experience, but mostly with small boats. At that point neither of us new much about sailing in the ocean or in costal waters.

Dougs plan was to find a run down old yacht which he could purchase cheaply, sail it on the ocean to NC where he was living, and fix it up to live aboard. In order to prepare for the trip, i read some natuical books and talked to some of my friends who were wiser than we in the ways of the sea. They all seemed to agree on one thing. Taking a dilapitated boat in the open ocean with a crew that did not know the sea durring huricane season would be suicide.

We totaly went anyway. It turned out to be a good experience for both of us.

The boat Doug had planned on getting origionaly turned out to be a dud. When the water was pumped out of the blige, we discovered the ribs were too rotten for the boat to be even remotely seaworthy. The mast had termites. After some scrambling, Doug settled on a much smaller but much more structuraly sound boat. I kind of regret advising him to buy it. The good thing about it was that it was seaworthy enough to sail to NC, unlike all the other boats we saw. The bad thing about it was that it was small and NOT really what doug had wanted. I still regret that i did not help him find a larger boat. I think he may have been much happier. On the other hand, if we had gotten a larger boat, it would have ended up lying on its side in the muck the first night and we would have never gotten out of the saint johns river in the first place. So it goes.

We set out under motor from Mandarin FL, about Top: on Atlantic, Doug at the helm
50 m from the atlantic. We motored all day down river Bottom: Us at Jacksonville
then prepared to drop anchor for the night. It was here
That we first ran into trouble. The place where we chose to anchor for the night turned out to be a little shallow. Any by a little, I mean that when low tide came round we found ourselves sitting high and dry on land. DOH! DIDINT THE CHART SAY IT WAS DEEP HERE? SON OF A #%&@! If we had been in a larger boat with a fixed keel, i am pretty sure we would have ended up lying on our side when the tide came in. That means the boat almost certainly would have filled with water and sunk. Fortunately, our little boat had a flattish bottom and a swing keel, so it took the grounding fairly well. When the tide came in, we motored on.

Up river there was a ship yard. It was nuts to be in a little sail boat when an ocean liner went by. The decks of some of the liners were taller than out mast. As we passed a shipyard, we spotted some coasties in runnabouts. We stopped the boat to figure out what to do, as they appeared to be blocking the channel. As soon as we stopped the engine, the coast guard charged up. "HEY, WHY ARE YOU STOPPING! THIS ZONE IS RESTRICTED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS. NO STOPPING ALOUD!".

Wierd, eh?

For the next two days, a coast guard helocopter followed us wherever we went.

We stopped at the mouth of the st. George to pick up a few luxury items we had overlooked, like a gps, weather radio, and of course the nautical charts of the coast. Then, for the first time, we entered the Atlantic.

The sea was calm and the breeze was crisp. For the first time, we set the sails. For the next five hours, there was nothing but the sea, the wind, and the sun.

When it came time to reenter the intercoastal for the night, we ran into trouble. We nearly ran into a submerged breakwall, barely escaping the crush of the sea and the sharp rocks. Thus we learned a valuable lesson. READ the charts.

Next, we anchored for the night and went to sleep.

Five hours later, the boat resting solidly on dry land. SHIT!!! After much scrambling and cursing, we said fuck it and went to sleep.

We sailed on the ocean when we could, but it was storm season. Every afternoon, violent thunderstorms would roll. Rain would fall in sheets, and lightening splintered the sky. For fear of being caught at sea, we motored in the inner coastal waters alot. More than we would have liked.

Doug was not happy because our travel speed was slower than anticipated. Much slower. It was hot. Gas was expensive.

But there were good things too. Some days, dolphins would come and swim along side us. We saw alligaors, sharks, flamingos, birds i had never even imagined. One day we got to make them pull up a draw bridge so we could go under. Another time we saw a real shipwreck, a fishing boat lying on its side in the shallows, its ribs showing in some places. That was awsome. We would motor and sail all day in the intense florida heat, and anchor every night in some remote sheltered spot.

Day after day we would take turns sitting at the helm and napping. On the water you eventualy enter a zen state. You forget about everything except where you are and what you are doing. You sit and watch and just be.

We had a good time, and doug and i had time to really talk.

Unfortunately, the boat never made it to north carolina. The boat was moving to slowly, and our money ran out. We pulled into svannah on day seven or eight. We walked to an amazing resturant by the savannah river and ate on the second floor of the deck, a sort of tree house and dining room in one. A huge oak came up through the center of the floor and fanned out overhead. A man played sad songs on a guitar and we contemplated what to do next.

"well it seems like there is only one thing to do" said Doug "I am tired of living aboard and this is taking forever and costing too much. I am going to have to sell the boat".

We sat for a long time at the resturant. Then, quietly, walked back to the boat.

That night i sat on the deck of the marina and looked at the moon. The marina was named bahia, after the famous brazilian city from which capoeira sprang. There was only one thing to do. I started to play. Kicking and dancing and flipping in the moonlight. The cool night air felt so good.

It was months ago now, but now and again i still think about what it was like, on a small boat on a big ocean, just my brother and me and the sea and the sky.