It had been our intention to limp Aquarius north to Wikanders Yacht Yard in Allen, MD for July Fourth back in 2002, but ended up taking her into Summerfields Boat Works for more extensive repairs then first planned.
It was now the summer of 2003, and Mikhail and I drove down to Lang's Marina in St Mary's, GA a week ahead of the rest of the family in June of 2003. His brothers were all visiting Seattle with thier mother, and would meet us in St Mary's on July 1st. There was a lot of work for us to do before we could set sail north with her for over a week at sea. We had to clean the boat, stock the boat, and rig mast steps. We had to bail and repair the dinghy.
We took time out for a side trip to Summerfield's in Ft Lauderdale, stopping at Fish Island Marina in St Augustine on the way down. Hugh wasn't happy with the owners new girl and her moves to clean up the yard at Fish Island. She had removed the beer coolers and recycle cans and replaced them with potted flowers. Boatyard blasphemy !
It was great visiting Alan and the rest of the folks at Summerfield's. I had to borrow a mizzen sail from Captain Karen Hill again. The rigging shack looked like it had been hit by the girl from Fish Island, too, as it had flowers all about ! Mikhail got to revisit the rope swing on the New River he had enjoyed so much the summer before.
Alan joined Mikhail and I as we went out hunting boaters yard sales that Saturday morning, and did our shopping at Sailorman. I picked up a new safety harness, two stainless cleats, a bag of fiberglass mat, and couple of flush mount blocks, all for under $20.
We headed back to Georgia and the boat that afternoon. I spent the morning updating our log book while Mikhail did the dishes, took out the garbage, and cleaned up the boat. A trip to Wal Mart got Miki a new crab trap as well as what supplies we could afford. Mikhail spent most of the day Sunday catching crabs with his new trap, and made me a wonderful crab dinner.
Monday the 30th of June waqs spent much the same as the day before. Miki went fishing and I continued to work on the boat, building new stay ladders to the lower spreaders on the mizzen. We finished off our day with a late night walk down to the showers.
We were woken up at 6am Tuesday morning by banging on the hull of the boat brought by the arrival of Mikhails brothers along with their mom and Diane. Although Diane had been driving all night long to get there from my Dad's place in Arkansas she immediately pulled out gear and started fishing off the boat. The kids all shared stories of their adventures apart for the past two weeks. We went to Wal Mart again and purchased large ammounts of stores. Eugene cleaned out the rotten potatoes from the stowage and put away all the fresh stores, with help from his mother. The day finished off with BBQ on the deck with a beautiful sunset on the river.
Diane woke up the boat at 7am, heading up on deck to start fishing for the day again. I headed up the main mast to finish the new ladder steps and free up the main halyard. We ground and fiberglass patched the dinghy. BBQ dinner and showers for all to end the day again.
Thursday, July 3rd was sailing day. High tide was expected at 1300hrs. We did last minute fix ups before launching the dinghy and went out for last minute shopping. We set the staysail to blow us away from the dock and started up the engine before Diane cast off our lines just before 1400hrs. The current, wind, and engine quickly took us downstream as we raised sail and hailed Lang's for a radio check. Eugene had the wheel as we headed around the last bend in the St Mary's River headed out to Cumberland Sound at 1530 when he cut the bend too close to the bouy and ran aground. We called Tow Boat US right away, and then tried to take action on our own while we waited for the tow boat. The current was strong on the river with the falling tide, and pushed us up against the bank of the river. Fortunately the Cumberland Island ferry came by and their wake rocked us just enough to gain some way through the muck, almost freeing us. Tow Boat US showed up soon after, and was able to clear us easily with a bow pull. Not a great way to start our trip north. By 1800 we were clear of the jetty and headed out to sea. Peter and Nico started feeling a little sick at the first rocking of 2-3 foot swell, but tried fishing off the deck and made the best of it. I stood the first watch of the evening as we sailed offshore, turning over the wheel to Eugene after midnight.
Friday, July 4th was going to be our first full day at sea. Eugene woke me at 0230 to identify a flashing range light, which turned out to be the 'G' marker off of St Simmons. He woke me again at 0500 to take the morning watch along with Mikhail. We raised the Yankee jib at 0630 to make good use of the light SW winds. I stayed with him for a few hours before returning to bed at 0800. Miki woke Eugene to join him on deck at 0830 and they let me sleep through 1000 when I was woken up to mind an encounter with a sea tug and barge. Our noon site put us at N31 09 W80 35, about 56nm NE of St Mary's. Not a spectacular run, but not bad given that we had to navigate our way out the river. Going continued to be slow as we did 3-4 knots on a 5-10 knot wind from the SW throughout the afternoon and evening. It was very hot all day, with temperature and humidity in the 90s. Mikhail started feeling very bad with extreme stomach pain in the afternoon, worsening in the evening. Eugene and I considered our options including turning in for harbor and making a 'pan-pan' call for medical assistance. It seems to have been heat that got to him. As the sun set and he drank more liquid and ate some hot dogs he felt better. When Eugene started pulling out the fireworks at 2100, Miki started feeling much better. Peter went below to sleep early, but Mikhail gave all the rest of us a wonderfull fireworks display at sea to celebrate the holiday. We had bottle rockets, sparkers, roman candles, and waterproof firecrackers. We said the Pledge of Allegiance, and I sang 'Age of Aquarius' while dancing with a sparkler at the wheel. I took the first watch of the night as the boys headed below.
Saturday, July 5th started with doing an engine run-up just after midnight, motor sailing for about 20 minutes to charge the batteries after topping off the engine fluids. I woke Eugene up to take a watch at 0100 and I turned in for some much needed sleep. He had an uneventfull shift, continuing to make 3-4 knots to the NE on the gentle SW winds. He woke me to take the watch back from him at 0500. Nicolai woke up early and joined me in the cockpit for a beautiful sunrise at sea. We still hadn't found the gulf stream, though we were over 50 miles off shore.
(c)Copyright 2003 by Eugene Kashpureff