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Trip
map days 5-11 |
Saturday, July 22nd
Having decided to be up and out
early, we set the alarm for 6:45 am.
We had our gear ready to load on the boat by 7:15 am and ended
up eating breakfast with the wrong shift.
We hauled our gear out to the boat and got it stowed below
decks and were on the parade ground for flags at 7:50, right on time
… and ahead of the other two outbound crews.
Right after flags, we were first to have our crew photo taken,
and then gathered and loaded our provisions and ice onto the boat
under the Captain’s direction.
After doing final checks around the boat, taking off our shirts
and shoes and saying so long to Emily and Mr. Rogers., we were first to
leave the docks and head to sea.
About a mile out, Capt. Harman
kills the engine and gathers us on the aft deck to go over the rest of
the rules: anchor watch, man overboard drills, were to hang wet
clothes, where not to be with wet clothes on (never below decks), to
not eat anything below because crumbs can foul bilge pumps and lots
more. His safety and
procedures talk took a little more than an hour.
Capt. Harman started up the
engines and we headed for the open water, going through Channel Number
5 into the Atlantic. About
a mile past the Channel #5 bridge, he asked for a volunteer to steer
and BA jumped right in. Then he set the jib crew to work and taught them how to
raise the jib and who does what.
Paco, David, Blake and Mark handled the sheets while
Chris cranked the winch and BA was at the helm.
That done, Capt. Harman explained that from now on, everyone
would do the same job every time the jib went up.
No sooner than the jib was up
and everyone had settled in for the ride, we spotted our first
waterspout about a half-mile away.
In the next thirty minutes, we see two more.
One of the Scouts asked Capt. Harman if we could put up the
main sail and he said “Not wit dees here waterspouts dancin’ all
about.” (Captain Harman is of Dutch descent).
During that same period, we had our first three bottlenose
dolphins join us to play in Dutch Love's bow wave.
None of us considered how cautious they are. When we all
rushed forward to see, the dolphins looked up at us and
disappeared. From then
on, we snuck up to the bow and peeked over the edge so we wouldn't spook
them.
After a couple hours
motor-sailing southwest, we dropped the jib and arrived at our first
snorkel site: Coffins Patch. Capt.
Harman handled the anchoring this first time so we wouldn’t injure
the coral reefs. Within minutes, everyone was in the water while the Capt. was
on watch. After the scuba
diving, six of the crew missed getting up close and personal with the
marine critters, but the cool water was welcome relief to the heat and
the underwater beauty was no less.
Once we got back on the boat
and dried off, it was time to begin a litany we followed from then on:
the sun block bath. Looking
back on the week, we put on a LOT of sun block … first thing in the
morning and then after each snorkel dive.
Capt. Harman raised the anchor; we raised the jib and motored
on. Chris and David
both get too much sun because they didn’t get someone to put lotion
on their backs, but both are minor sunburns.
We dumped the jib sail and pulled into our first anchorage at
Newfound Harbor off Little Palm Island and Munson Island at 7:00 pm.
Once at anchor, the crew starts dinner, which we eat on the aft
deck (no food eaten below decks).
Everyone
but the Captain and Mr. Luff sleep on deck where there’s a nice,
cool breeze. The
Captain's
cabin has a huge hatch so he stays cool.
Mr. Luff gets to sleep in a tiny bunk next to the engine room
so his snoring won’t bother the crew. He
swelters all night.
NEXT:
Day 6
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