Crossing the Gulf on s/v Sound of Silence

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico on Sound of Silence, October 2015

Our dear friends Paul and Judith, our first guests aboard Nepenthe, went out and bought thier own sailboat. They purchased a 1987 Hunter Legend 37 in Pensacola Florida named Sound of Silence. It had been sitting for years and Paul got a great deal with the price and would give her the love and care she needs. The boat was near the Air Force base in Pensacola and Paul lives near us in central Florida. He found a marina he would like to keep her in called Tierra Verde, which is near Tampa. First thing after the purchase was final was he had the owners help him move it to a different marina that he could keep her in for about a month while he got her ready to move down to Tierra Verde. He did not have a survey done and has never owned a sailboat.

During that month at the marina, Paul did a lot of maintenance on the boat.  Along with his wife Judith, they made many trips up to Pensacola to get the boat ready.  He replaced the bilge pump, the shower sump, and all of the lines connected to the sails (running rigging) so she would be all set to sail on our trip.  He changed the engine oil, the coolant, and had things ready to go.

He asked Brian to help him move it across the Gulf. Of course I want to go along, what an adventure this could be. For a few weeks leading up to the trip, I oscillated between excited and nervous and scared. Brian and I have never sailed at night or overnight. We have never been off shore so far as not to see land or out of range of cell phone or VHF radio transmissions.  But all the different sayings about conquering your fears got me excited. Judith would not be joining us on this journey, it would be the three of us, Paul, Brian and I.

Let the adventure begin! On Monday, October 12, 2015, we headed to Pensacola. Our first day getting to know the boat before our trip moving Sound of Silence across the Gulf of Mexico. We took the boat out on Pensacola Bay and filled the fuel tank and filled 7 extra 5 gallon gas cans with diesel fuel. We were able to put the sails up on the Bay and see how she did. To our surprise this was the first time that Sound of Silence had been out of her slip for a test spin. (Tip- before doing any sort of journey or passage on a new boat take her for several test spins to work out her kinks and make sure all is in working order) The engine over heated at a higher RPM so once we were back at the marina Paul discussed the issue with a Yanmar engine mechanic and completed a little engine maintenance. He tightened the belt for the water pump, as it was loose, and that should help the engine stay cool.  It would have been nice to take her out again and see if the little tweaks took care of the problem but there was no time.  We were set to leave in the morning.

Taking the boat out for a spin on Pensacola Bay.

We went to the grocery store to provision. Paul had rented a car that the three of us drove from central Florida to Pensacola so we returned the car and took a cab back to the boat. Everything seemed fine and in order for the following morning’s departure.

Tuesday October 13, 2015. We had been watching the weather for a week and it was looking good, weather forecasted for no rain, calm seas at 1-2 feet. We head out at 6 am through Pensacola Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Leaving in the dark, under a bridge and across Pensacola Bay.

First Light, the sun begins to rise and there is a peacefulness like no other.

Sunrise on Pensacola Bay, and the excitement on the crew’s faces, the crew of Sound of Silence.

We are out of the bay, on on the Gulf of Mexico, how exciting.

Once out on the Gulf the seas are rough and relentless. after about 5 hours or so we are all feeling a little sea sick. So much for that weather forecast, wrong! Paul came prepared with a sea sickness bracelet and puts it on. He put one on each wrist for extra protection and it worked he did not get sick, Brian and I however had a different fate. I began puking over the side of the boat, deja vu from our trip moving Nepenthe. Brian puked once felt better and then was fine, why can’t I be like that, once I start puking I continue and don’t stop until conditions are better. We are heading south east in the Gulf and are having trouble with the auto pilot, it’s not working. Small yellow pieces of the autopilot belt were appearing on the cockpit floor.  We decide to turn north east and head to Destin to get reprieve from the rough seas and try to fix the auto pilot before continuing the journey. We had our first dolphin experience. An entire pod of dolphins surrounded the boat jumping and playing, it was awesome.

Pulling into the inlet at Destin Florida about 5pm the chatter on the radio from boats around us is about how wrong the forecast was and how rough the seas are. There are lots of people coming into the inlet for reprieve.

We see lots of boats along the inlet and in Destin Harbor. There was also a boardwalk with lots of shops and restaurants.  At this point we are off of the rough water and I am feeling better and excited about pulling into somewhere that we have never been. A little nervous as well because you don’t know what to do or where to go but that is all part of the fun. We first stop for fuel and fill the gas tank, we only needed 9 gallons after running the motor (no sailing due to winds and surf) for 11 hours. We call around to find somewhere to dock. We see boats anchored and know that is an option for free but we have no motor for the dinghy and we wanted to try to make it somewhere on land to fix the autopilot. We negotiated with a fuel dock and paid them to spend the night there. However since it was a fuel dock we had leave before they opened in the morning. We parked Sound Of Silence there, right next to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.

Sunset in Destin

 

Diagnosing the problem with the auto pilot revealed it needed a new belt, the existing belt was shredded. By that time West Marine was closed. We walked around a bit exploring and having my feet on solid ground you would not have known I was sick just hours earlier. It is funny how that works with sea sickness. We had desert and I have to admit I had a Margarita of course at Margaritaville. Once again the chatter from other boaters in Destin was about the mistaken weather forecast and how rough the seas were that day. That evening our plan was to try to find somewhere else to dock the boat first thing the next morning until stores opened and we could fix the auto pilot.

The morning arrives, beautiful and calm. Wednesday October 14, 2015, and the weather forecast is checked and looks good, once again no rain in forecast and 1-2 foot seas, but do we trust it? The decision is made not to wait untill West Marine is open later in the morning but to go ahead and leave at 6am. Now our plan it to sail on to Panama City and fix the auto pilot there. We figured that it would be about a six hour sail, no problem manual steering that leg of the journey. Before we left the boat slip, the store at the fuel dock had Motioneaze, an oil that you put behind your ear to prevent sea sickness.  After yesterday, I wanted something, and the girl in the store said she tried it and it works. I put it behind both ears every few hours as I did not want to take any chances. The weather forecast was correct with 1-2 foot waves and beautiful weather.  We put the sails up and sailed on toward Panama City.

Leaving Destin at first light

Sunrise leaving Destin

Once we were close enough to Panama City Paul made some phone calls and no one had the auto pilot belt in stock. At that point we discussed our options. We could park the boat in Panama City and move it to Tampa on another trip.  Or we could keep going without auto pilot and over the next couple days take shifts steering. It was such a great weather day and awesome sailing at 6-7 knots that we decided to keep going for the rest of the 200 miles. (Tip- When faced with option to postpone or continue without auto pilot, you should postpone.)  Brian, I have to say, was not on board with this decision, he wanted to stop in Panama City. Now that the trip is over I think if we had it to choose over we all would choose to park it in Panama City till a later date.

Mid day sailing, this is what is all about

We very much enjoyed the day, sandwiches for lunch, we attempted to grill a pizza on the propane grill for dinner but that did not turn out good. We enjoyed some Jimmy Buffet music and the sunset with just a sliver of a moon.

Paul at sunset

Once it got dark I was in absolute awe of the stars, so many and just gorgeous. The three of us took turns driving and decided during the night one would sleep while one drove and one on lookout for other boats. If the auto pilot was working the person driving could also be on lookout while two slept, but we did not have that luxury.

About 1-2am the calm seas went away and it got rough. When it came time to sleep both Paul and Brian went down in the cabin and slept a little, when it was my turn, I stayed in the cockpit and cat napped at best. I should have been more diligent and tried to really sleep, mistake for the next day and night when sleep deprivation hit me. The stars were gorgeous but I did not like sailing at night, it got too rough and the wind really picked up and I felt blind. We had the main sail up and it really needed to be reefed. We were not familiar with how to reef the sails on Sound of Silence and conditions were too bad to go up on deck in the dark to do that. (Tip- know how to perform all duties upon a boat before embarking on a long passage or journey).

It was when Brian was downstairs sleeping that it got rough and you always feel it more down in the cabin. It was not long after he woke up and came back up to the cockpit that he began to feel nauseous. This time for Brian it was not one puke and he felt better, he continued to be sick and was down for the count for about 24 hours.

Thursday October 15, Rough overnight sail with high winds and rough surf. I am glad I picked up the motion sickness oil. I continue to put it behind my ears every few hours all day long and never got sick, so it worked as it was intended. After sunrise we pulled down the sail due to high winds. The seas, I kid you not, were like 8-10 feet before noon with occasion 12 footers from about mid morning to mid afternoon then about 5-6 foot seas the rest of the day. It was not pleasant and I have to admit I was fearful. The winds and rough seas continued all day. We would only go down into the cabin when necessary, and even with my sea sickness oil it had to be short trips down for bathroom breaks or to grab bottles of water. Anything longer the oil would not have done its job. When down in the cabin you get tossed around like a rag doll. My many bruises are a testament to that. None of us ate anything to speak of all that day. Eating required you to go get the food and none of us were having any of that. Plus on the chance of getting sick the less in your stomach the better.

That day I did not take any pictures, it was just too rough to get and to hold on to the camera. Everything felt very salty including us. Because of the rough seas many times we were getting sprayed and the boat was getting bathed in sea salt. The railings were coated in salt and our faces and ears felt like it too. I wish I had a picture or video at its worst but all I was concerned about was holding on. I was not even interested in the sunset that evening.

By evening, we are all wishing we would have stopped in Panama City. We feel with no auto pilot, even with three drivers its exhausting fighting with the wheel to stay on course. Our speed just continually slowed all day and steering got harder and harder. The estimated time for us to reach our destination just kept getting longer and longer. Throughout the day with the slow movement we added more than 12 hours to our previous estimate. Paul had the extra gas cans bungeed to the side rail. (Tip- secure extra gas cans with rope not with bungees.) With the boat going side to side at a constant 40 degrees, the gas cans would slide back and forth slamming into the side rail. At one point one of the cans cracked from this pressure and there was a stream of diesel fuel flowing along the side of the boat down the deck drain next to the cockpit. Then of course the smell of the diesel.  Going into overnight hours I was downright scared and then things started to really go wrong, from bad to worse.

Friday October 16, 2015, overnight was horrible with high winds and high surf.  I began to really feel sleep deprived. I was hearing things. I could swear that the sound of the engine was a radio playing some of my favorite songs. I would hear voices and turn my head abruptly to see who it was but looked over the rail of the boat into the darkness and no one was there. I was driving my shift in the middle of the night and looking down at the compass.  There is a bolt in the middle and it turned into a car and it started driving across the compass. I felt like I was losing it. Thank goodness Brian was feeling better and took a shift driving, he had been puking and out of it for the last 24 hours.

The steering in the middle of the night began to be a big problem. It was not responding properly, and at about 4:30 am, I knew something was terribly wrong. It would not allow me to turn the boat into the direction we needed to go to keep on course and head for land. Our speed was about 2 knots per hour at that rate it was painfully adding hours and hours to this trip. The engine kept over heating and we had to continually slow it down till the warning lights went out and then try to resume speed only to have the over heating get worse at lower speeds. (Tip-Don’t go on long journey with an overheating engine, make sure it is fixed first.) Then it was noticed that the alternator light was on, and as a result the batteries were not charging. Paul got out the emergency tiller to see if that gave us any better steering capability but to no avail we had the same problem. The boat would not turn to the degree required to reach land.

With the engine overheating and with the steering not cooperating we are not able to steer toward land, instead heading south.  We together made the decision that we would try to call for help. We were too far out to reach the coast guard via our VHF radio so we called on the radio to any vessel within ear shot to contact the coast guard for us and gave our coordinates. We did not get any response on the radio but every few minuets made this distress call. Then we shot off a flare. The first flare that Paul tried was a dud and did not go off, reason to have extra’s on board. Our fear was that with no ability to control steering we were heading into the Gulf and would just be adrift. Our plan at that point was to watch for boats and if any were seen to set off another flare and continually call for help on the radio. Then we began to discuss our issues and problems, we figured out that it must be the propeller that is not working causing the engine to overheat and inability to steer while under motor. At this point, a mental light bulb went off. We do have another source of power to get us where we need to go and that is the wind and our sails! By now its after sunrise and we raise the sails, difficult in the conditions but it had to be done. Under sail we are able to steer just fine telling us that is the issue is the propeller and not with steering. We resumed our course and we were under sail going 5-6 knots. Under sail and at that speed it did not feel as rough, we were slicing through the waves and more steady. When you are motoring and going at a snails pace you bob around and it feels worse. Some how the alternator begins to work again and batteries are recharging.

Then appears a Helicopter and a call on the radio, its the Coast Guard. They have been notified that we called for help and someone saw our flare. We advise of our issues and let them know we are able to sail the boat back but will need a tow into the marina since under motor we do not have steering capability. They asked us many questions, how many on board, where we were coming from, where we are heading and about the flares we had set off. They advised us that they had reports of four flares going off in that area. We assured them only one was ours and we did not see any others. They flew off to look for other vessels that may be in distress. We are impressed that the emergency procedures have worked and the coast guard was there. Paul arranged the tow boat and after 8 hours of sailing that morning we meet up with the boat from Tow BoatUS. Sound of Silence gets hooked up and we are being towed. At that point we are all more comfortable and are able to relax a bit. We change our shirts to the crew shirts we made and get pulled into the inlet and into the slip in the marina that Sound of Silence will call home.

Brian is feeling better

It’s mid afternoon and we are all glad it is over and we step foot on solid ground. We were an entire day later than originally planned. After stopping over in Destin we advised Paul’s wife, Judith that we should be in Thursday night and to meet us at the marina on Friday morning and we will go for breakfast. She arrived Friday morning, but of course we were not there, she asked at the office of the marina and was told about our call to the Coast Guard and that our new arrival time to be that afternoon. Judith was there to drive us all home. Once we had Sound of Silence snug in her slip we all securely placed our feet on solid ground and headed out to lunch for some much needed food, and then home.  Wow, what an adventure.

Here is the path we took across the Gulf of Mexico moving Sound of Silence.