The Great Loop: One of those days...

We have all had one of those days. You know, one of those days when fate becomes very creative on ways to drive you over the edge.

It started at 7:00 this morning when the crew had the shore power disconnected and the lines cast, except the bow line, which Jeff was holding until I got the engines fired up. These 46 year old diesels always start; except when the batteries are DEAD. Apparently the battery charging system was not functioning for who knows how long. We were able to jump the engines from the generator battery and still got on the water by 7:00 (without a working 110 volt battery charger).

We left Key West in calm seas and a great forecast. One hour into the trip down the Hawk Channel (the Atlantic Ocean side of the Keys) the waves increased to 3 to 5 feet with an occasional 7 footer to really shake us up. This old boat was creaking and we were getting beat up pretty bad. I decided to brave a following sea and cut under one of the bridges to the west side of the Keys hoping the waters would be kinder. This turned out to be a good/bad move, the water was calm, and VERY SHALLOW.

We entered the bay side at low tide and found we were in water as shallow as 4 feet (we have a 4 1/2 foot draft). I know we left several ditches plowed into the soft bottom. To make things even worse our depth sounder quit working shortly after we entered the bay area. "Boating By Braille"

We departed Key West with what we thought would be plenty of diesel, but the outgoing tide was slowing our progress and burning excessive fuel. I was not sure how excessive, because our fuel rate indicator also stopped working.

We actually arrived at Plantation Key at 4:00, just 60 miles from Miami. Within 20 minutes of docking for the night the depth sounder, battery charger, and fuel indicator were working and the wind died down. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.