Sometimes I feel I'm getting too old for this stuff. After a pleasant week at sea, my final day of wind, waves, noise, anxiety, and little sleep left me with a head stuffed with pain and mental cotton for days. If I had been far offshore and out of the shipping lanes, I could have heaved-to and slept through most of the storm... but I had boats around and fretted about entering St Augustine Inlet.
Why worry about an inlet? WELL.... I've had ones where I could make no headway and the standing waves made it very hard to control the boat. And the current conditions, big waves directly into the entrance, made things even more dangerous unless I rode an ingoing current I could only count on from 3am to 7am.... or 12 hours later: I either needed to do this in pitch darkness or wait hours. On top of THIS, I worried that the wind might not quite allow me to sail in on a single tack...
[>>This article has a good deal about entering inlets: https://www.boatus.com/expert-advice/expert-advice-archive/2016/january/the-ins-and-outs-of-inlets]
So, hugging the windward side of the channel, a dozen gulls I roused from sleep swirling in my light just ahead of the boat, I entered the channel around 4am on a close reach, felt the waves flatten as the current stretched them out, and swept peacefully into the protected waters. We sailed in, keeping a sharp eye out for unlit anchored boats, found my favorite spot PACKED with dark boats, dropped anchor out slightly in the main channel, left lights on to prevent anyone from running into us, and fell into bed with great relief around 4:30... getting up a couple hours later at dawn to move the boat, launch the dinghy, and row Monty to shore for a walk.
Monty loves St Augustine, being an urban extrovert. I am now pretty much back to normal. Cynthia arrived Tuesday and is catching up on her sleep... although my bed seems to hurt her back... and she and Lucy are very much enjoying walking the town with us and seeing all the amazing architecture... well, Lucy mostly just sniffs it the buildings and lamp posts with Monty.
What did I enjoy about the sailing? Amazing phosphorescence with big embers tumbling in my wake rather than sparks or glowing mist. Numerous cannonball jellyfish swirling in my wake near Jacksonville. Shooting stars leaving luminous trails. Warm days and nights, at last! And numerous visits by dolphins: Monty actually stopped trying to drive them off and just wanted to sniff them. A dolphin in the pool of light at my stern on a quiet night, "sniffing" the stern... or maybe eating little fish... or playing? The blue water of the Gulf Stream. And gliding along in light wind and no waves: perfect conditions don't happen often and we enjoy them when they do.
Monty hoping for land at sunrise...
with dolphins at sunrise..
or dolphins blowing spray..
Amazing sunrises and sunsets...
Wind and waves...
