Day's log for Saturday, August 25th, 2001 - Three Rooker Bar, Anclote Keys, FL

Investigated the broken pull off control. The wire had broken just inside the tube. I rerigged it to the galley just below the sink. This is the most direct way to run the wire. Noted that the wire was originally wrapped around the coolant tube. Why?

I then rowed the dinghy ashore ...

... and walked on the beach.

This island is a bird sanctuary. Many people were on the shoreline but there were signs saying not to go past the sand.

1145 - position (at anchor) N 28 deg 7.6' W 082 49.9'

1210 - raised anchor and headed toward the channel

1220 - headed 270

1245 - changed course 345

1245 - position N 28 deg 8.7' W 082 deg 52.1' speed GPS 5.4 knotmeter 5.06 course GPS 345 autohelm 350 compass 005

1313 - position N 28 deg 11.0' W 082 deg 52.7' speed GPS 4.7 knotmeter 4.92 course GPS 341 autohelm 350 compass 006

1400 - position N 28 deg 14.7' W 082 deg 53.7' speed gps 4.3 knotmeter 4.7 course gps 351 autohelm 350 compass 006

1405 - changed course to 340

1500 - position N 28 deg 19.0' W 082 deg 55.4' speed gps 4.0 knotmeter 4.1 course gps 347 autohelm 340 compass 359

1505 - altered course to 335. This was based on a decision to shoot straight across the Gulf at this point. I was making fairly scant headway on my north course. I would have been in deep water at nightfall. This new course would still have me in deep water but further away from land, bouys and shipwrecks. The plan was to shut down the motor and just drift until morning.

1538 - stopped for 10 min to fill raw water side of heat exchanger with water

1547 - started engine. Engine running cooler now.

1600 - position N 28 deg 22.5' W 082 deg 56.9' speed gps 4.7 knotmeter - not working course gps 346 autohelm 340 compass 359

1610 - noted alternator output. It was 1A backward. Stopped to investigate. Restarted. Ok now.

1620 - resumed course and speed

1700 - position N 28 deg 26.4' W 082 deg 58.2' course gps 336 autohelm 340 compass 000 speed gps 4.5 knotmeter - still not working

1728 - stopped motor, filled raw water side of heat exchanger with water.

1735 - resumed course and speed

1820 - position N 28 deg 31.3' W 082 deg 59.7' gps speed 4.1 course gps 340 autohelm 340 compass 000A

1900 position N 28 deg 33.5' W 083 deg 0.5' speed gps 3.5 course gps 343 autohelm 340 compass 357

1915 - stopped motor and raised sails

2045 - started motor with the sails up on course 290

2103 - position N 28 deg 33.1' W 083 deg 6.8'

2130 - secured motor, lowered jib

2140 - position N 28 deg 35.7' W 083 deg 14.4'

2200 - position N 28 deg 34.6' W 083 deg 11.7'

This first passage night I had some really intense dreams about Andrea Lynn going through canals of every fantastic description. Some were city canals, there were canals in the country, concrete canals and other types. All of this while I was below not watching where I was going. There was an underlying fear that I would hit something and wreck the boat - a fear not altogether ungrounded. In real life steel freight boxes sometimes fall off of container ships and lurk just below the surface of the water where you cannot see them. Hitting one of these at speed usually knocks a hole in the hull.