On April 10, Jason and I woke up at 5am to get an early start. We left the Emerald Harbor Marina in Watson Bayou, Panama City at 5:30 a.m. before sun was up. There was almost no wind and the waters were calm. It took about 1.5 hours to motor to where St. Andrew Bay exits into the gulf. Because the winds were so light (as expected for the morning), we motored. Meanwhile, around 8:30 (and of course this started while Jason was on a work call), the motor began spontaneously dethrottling. Every few minutes, then longer, then closer again. By 10:30 we decided we better turn off the motor before things got worse. Jason suspects the fuel filter may need to be replaced. We have one on board, but not the tool needed to remove the old one!! Ugh!
Meanwhile and while still under motor, we were visited by by two different pairs of dolphins who swam along the boat with us. In the clear water, we could see them so well! Amazing! Video on Insta.
When we killed the motor and put up the main sail, we bobbed around for at least an hour because there was NO WIND. The Gulf itself had become like glass. Then we started to get a little blow, and before you know it, we were getting around 8 knots of wind and making about 3.5-4.5 knots speed over ground, close hauled (nearly into the wind) but without much heel. Now that is sailing I enjoy.
We were glad the wind kicked up earlier than expected because bobbing is no fun (especially when you were expecting a 10 hour trip best case scenario), but I wondered--would this mean it would build earlier than forecast as well? If I'd already published my article about the weather you would know the answer is YES!
Before long the winds picked up to over 12 knots. Sailing close hauled means we were heeling pretty significantly. And eventually with the increased wind, the waves began picking up. Not my comfort zone.
Before things got too sporty, though, we had a spectacular visit by a pod of 15 or more dolphins (more on that in another article)!
As we got closer to Destin, the waves continued to build. We think we were getting 5-6 foot waves on occasion. We ran into two back-to-back and dove the bow into the second. Boarding seas for the first time. Marguerite was thrilled, but I didn't enjoy it. Later we discovered the forward hatch had been cracked open and water poured inside--mostly into the head (i.e., bathroom) which has a draining floor; but we found some water splashed along the forward berth floor and into the salon!
The winds were building also, so we reefed in the jib. We were continuing close hauled, so we could to avoid a tack (which would send off in the wrong direction). But this headed us just a little north (and towards shore) of where we needed to go. By the time we decided to furl in the jib and tack, we had gotten pretty close to the beach. Suddenly we were in 18 feet of water, and because of the waves pushing us towards the shore, we were having a hard time turning away. We quickly turned on the motor (thank goodness it started) to get some power to make the turn, and were able to head into deeper water. We checked the depth and we had gotten to 11 feet! Yikes. Close call.
Since we had the motor on and it was running, we figured we would take down the main sail and motor in. But we were going quite a bit slower. We watched enviously as a local sail boat (with reefed jib and mainsail) coasted in much faster than us. It was a long thirty minutes waiting to get to the inlet as we weathered the waves and wind.
As we turned to north to enter the inlet, though, the waves started to hit us broad side. And the entrance to the inlet was busy with motor boats, jet skis, and even a sailboat sailing its way out. Before long, we were in the trough of one of those big waves and we rolled side to side. It was so scary, I thought we'd all fall off the boat. All the lines and the hose we had coiled up on the deck under the boom tossed to the side deck (caught by the life lines and toe rail). I watched Jason's laptop and tablet slide around on the salon table down below--fortunately there is a raised ledge which makes wiping it down a pain but certainly came in handy today because the electronics did not tumble down. Books and a fan came off the bookshelf though, and other loose items slid around. We had a short break and then, just as I grabbed a line from the side deck and threw it into the cockpit and dove back in there myself, another big wave rolled us side to side. Ugh. Terrifying. And just then I noticed that sailboat headed in our direction seem to turn directly towards us. They seemed to be so close and a jetty close to our port side, and motor boats and jet skis on the right. But the sailboat was turning around (maybe it saw the waves and decided tonight was not the night for a sunset cruise) and quickly got out of our way. Jason said it was not as close as it seemed to me; thank goodness he was at the helm.
Before we left we thought the hard part would be avoiding all the shallow spots in the Destin inlet, but following our previous track that turned out to be no problem. Once in past the jetties, the waters were calm and we made our way back into the harbor into the anchorage. We were settled in around 6pm. Fortunately I had premade our dinner yesterday, so getting food on the table was easy after an exhausting day. The winds are gusting 16 to 17 knots now, which has us swinging around. But the waters are pretty calm so I hope we have a good night. And just now at 9pm, we were surprised by a fireworks show over the water!