Yikes! Flooding at Sea in the Night

 

   Why is it that most emergencies happen in the dead of night?

   It was about 3am and we had just restarted the engine about an hour earlier when the wind finally died during the night. I was at the helm for the 3-6am watch when I heard the bilge pump running. That's a danger signal as our boat takes on no water in the conditions we were sailing in. We were taking on water!

   I headed below and checked the bilge which had a few inches of water that the bilge pump had not emptied yet. Whew, at least the water was not up to the floorboards and the main bilge pump was handling the problem. Next I checked the shaft area and was happy to see no water there. So next check was the engine room which was full of water up to the bottom of the engine and more water was pumping in. We had a cooling water line break!

   We shut down the engine, which solved the incoming water issue. Next was to determine the exact problem. One of the clamps on a cooling water hose to the oil cooler had rusted and broken allowing the hose to come free of the fitting. It was a quick fix to install a new stainless clamp solving the problem. Then all that was required was an hour of pumping the water out of the engine compartment by hand (the engine sump doesn't have an automatic bilge pump to prevent you from auto pumping oily water overboard). We have hand pumps onboard and were able to clear the water from the engine sump and the main bilge.

   By 4am, crisis overcome and time to get back underway. The best news was that the wind had now come back up and was from the southeast which allowed us to complete our jibe and sail on a port tack directly towards the St Mary's Inlet at 5kts. 

   We arrived at the Inlet at 0900 and were anchored off Cumberland Island by 1100. Time to crash and nap after the 24hr transit from New Smyrna. 

Offshore Transit to Cumberland -8-9 April

    The morning winds were light and southerly, ideal conditions for exiting the Inlet. Like many East Coast inlets, this one can be quite dangerous when strong easterly winds blow against an outgoing tidal current. But our conditions were perfect. We motored up the ICW and turned east out the channel, hoping for stronger winds offshore to let us shut down the engine and sail.

   Every great sailing trip story has to have a lighthouse photo. Here is the Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse along the north shore as we exit.

   Once clear of the jetties, we turned to the north and let out the sails. For the first time since January we were a sailboat again. The winds did fill in as forecasted and we were soon sailing at 4.5kts to the north almost on course and able to shut down the engine.  The wind was just a little too far to the south to let us sail exactly on course, but it was not a problem as there were no obstacles ahead along our broad reach and we would jibe back to the west before morning directly into St Mary's Inlet. 

   We had seen tons of these jelly fish on the beaches at New Smyrna, and Sue decided to catch one and take a closer look at one not all dried out. 

   We learned they are "Cannon Ball" jelly fish and do not have the stinging tentacles that more common jelly fish have. Only a few animals eat these jelly fish and there are clearly not enough predators to gobble up the millions of jelly fish that litter the northern Florida beaches. 

   Every sailing blog trip has to also have dolphin photos. We had a pod of 6-8 dolphins come play with us off the St Augustine shoreline. Unfortunately, because a cloud cover moved over us the waters were fairly deep green instead of clear blue and the dolphins were not as easy to see as they often are.  I collected some Go-Pro videos but they are also not as great as some others I have were the water conditions are much better.

   And, every ocean passage has to have a beautiful sunset experience. One never gets tired of watching sunsets at sea. 

New Smyrna Beach 6-7 April

 

    New Smyrna is just 3 hours south of Daytona and we were there before noon on Tuesday and there was an open spot in the anchorage just off the city public landing. We got the pole position just inside the channel junction pole. 

   First stop on the list is the New Smyrna Beach Brewery, a short walk from the town docks. The perfect meeting place to join up with best friends.

   After a couple brewskis at the brewery, it was off to dinner with Tara and Carol at the local seafood hotspot on the water. Temperatures were much more enjoyable than our previous dinner in March at Cocoa Beach. 

First on the agenda Wednesday morning was a Space-X Falcon-9 launch. While not as great a location as Titusville, New Smyrna is still a good spot to watch rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. 

   It was a cloudless day and the rocket left only a short contrail streak at mid-altitude. We could watch the first stage burn all the way to engine cut-off as the rocket arcs up to the northeast towards New Smyrna. 

   After the launch, it was off to Dog Beach along the Ponce de Leon inlet, but to our surprise it was more than just dog beach. A young couple were walking their two goats along the beach along with their large dog. The young goats were quite cute and frisky, but had to be held back from trying to butt heads with the dogs they met.

   Topping off a fun day at the beach, Rivah and Piper both received a treat from Starbucks, a Pup-Cup of whipped cream. These are Rivah's favorite treats from any drive through establishment.

   As always, we had a great visit with Carol and Tara, but too soon the weather gods had lined up a good day to head on north offshore, so it was time to depart. 

   April 8th the start of the long trek back north to Yorktown.  Our next commitment at home is in mid-May so we have time for a nice leisurely transit back and intend to make several stops along the way. Our first leg is from New Smyrna to Cumberland Island, GA.

Back to Daytona Beach 1-5 April

    

   After 3 weeks at home in Yorktown to file our taxes and get our Pfizer COVID vaccines, we are now back in Daytona and onboard Tides Inn.  We have a few days to get resupplied and repacked and a couple of maintenance items completed like a bottom and prop cleaning and shaft inspection. 

  We had what sounding like a rattling in the shaft and I got a recommendation to check the engine mounts. Turned out 3 of the four mount bolts were loose. We tightened those and then had a local mechanic come check the shaft alignment which turned out okay, so we are good to depart on the 5th.

   Meanwhile, these few days in port gave us time to walk to the famous Daytona Beach a couple times. 

 We were hoping for a great sunrise on Easter Sunday but there was a large bank of clouds right in front of the sun. However, within a few minutes the mighty sun began shooting sunbeams through the cloud openings, creating a wonderful display.

   For Easter dinner we treated ourselves with a terrific dinner at Ichi-Ni-San, a Japanese restaurant along the Daytona Beach Street just up from our marina. A nice change in flavors from the standard burgers and fish sandwiches I normally order.

Daytona Beach always meets and exceeds one's expectations for a party town on the water. Hard to beat. Soon however, it was time to get moving again.

   Back on the ICW heading to New Smyrna for a final visit with Tara and Carol before heading back northward.

  Typical boaters you see along the Daytona Beach waters, if not racing on the track or beach they are racing on the ICW.