David and Cheri Howard's Sailing Stories

So I have decided to post the adventures of Carpe Diem here on this here blog for all to see our trials and tribulations, warts and all. You see, Cheri and I have been sailing for about fifteen years. We took lessons in Charleston many years ago and got the bug to buy a boat and realized our dream of eventually buying our Beneteau 11.5 meter sloop. Boy, has it been an adventure. As every boater knows, when you let the lines go and are off the dock, either paradise is waiting or Sea Tow is your best friend. That said, we have thoroughly enjoyed our sailboat ownership, and we really enjoy the days we spend at the dock in and around St Marys. I would like to post our first adventure log, which I hope will not be our last and I will try and keep everyone informed as to our sailing in and around St Marys. We came down to spend Thanksgiving 2009 in St Marys. This was our first year visiting out boat+ as we normally spend it at home back in Marietta, GA with our family at one of the relative’s homes. This past year though we decided to rent a house in St.Marys and bring some of the family here to celebrate and sail. It was an incredible start as we had great weather on Thanksgiving Day and started midday with steamed oysters from the grill. Later in the day we had a glorious Thanksgiving dinner with all of the trimmings. We even sat outside for our meal since it was so nice! We ended the day at the River Dance which was a lot of fun. On Friday morning, we all headed down to the docks for a day sail out beyond the channel. As any boater in St Marys knows, exiting the dock can be the most stressful part of any trip. The current and winds can end your day before it starts. But today, with the help of a lot of family and favorable currents, I backed out just fine and moved away from the docks by 9:30 for our sail. We motored up the river to Cumberland Sound and there raised the sails to a great day of sun and wind. The wind was from the East so we had a great sail out to the sound and once we got to the channel, the whole family really learned how to tack. We tacked back and forth all the way up and down the channel. My brother, who was at the helm, decided he wanted to far beyond the breakers just to see how far we could get. So, upon exiting the channel we turned north. About an hour into our northerly turn, our guest, my sister, her husband, and nephew, began to look a bit pale with some shades of green so we nixed the northward passage and turned around to head back. By this time, it was about 1:00. We then made our way slowly back into the channel, heading to Fernandina for dinner. As we passed Fort Clinch, to our port, I heard a noise that I hope to never her again; the sound of a sail ripping. It seems that the Genoa had a small tear in it and it now turned into a very big horizontal tear, rendering the sail useless and flapping in the wind. All my sister could say is, “how expensive is that?” We immediately struggled but got the sail down quickly. We then fired up the engine to get on in for dinner, when I noticed that something wasn’t right. The water temperature was very high. I quickly killed the engine and pulled the steps away to see what the problem was, and behold, our belt was broken in two thus rendering our motor inoperable. We left the mainsail up and my son, Parker, and I began installing a new belt. Of course this should take five minutes, right? Well not with us, it took well over an hour. The whole time the boat is bobbing up and down slowly catching wind and heading into Fernandina. After we installed the new belt, we fired up the engine again and all was good. At Fernandina, before we docked for dinner, I decided to go ahead and get some fuel for the ride back to St Marys. Unfortunately the fuel dock was very crowded so we puttered around for about forty five minutes waiting our turn. Oh, did I mention, it is now about 5:30 and we are getting hungry. We dock with no problems, get our fuel, exit away, and pull into an internal slip and go have dinner at the Marina Restaurant. It was very good. When we got back to the boat, it was, of course very dark. We got out of the City Marina and headed back to St Marys under a nice full moon. By this time it was about 8:30. As we headed back, under motor, I decided to put my brother and wife in charge and I headed down below for some R&R. It had been a long day and it was very cold up top. Little did I know that the day was not over. I kept checking with the crew to make sure they were okay and they kept telling me not to worry. Okay, it is in every captain’s marrow to worry so I was never really resting. As we motored along the river, I poked my head out and saw that I could see the St Marys waterfront and knew we were close. As I lay with one eye opened and one shut, I was awakened by a sudden stop and grinding noise. I went up top and quickly realized, we had run aground, even though it seemed as though we were in the channel. We were still two hours from low tide so I knew we were going to be here for a while. It is now 10:30. I told all on board to take a nap and wait for the tide to turn. At about 1AM, I went up top, started the engine and was able to back off the sandbar that had been our home for the past few hours. We motored our last thirty minutes into the dock, which was uneventful, to which my sister informed me that her family just might not make the next day’s sail to Cumberland Island. I then told her that we were already into the next day and we could just turn around and head out for Cumberland, for which she did not reply. I don’t think she thought I was funny. So that ended our Thanksgiving trip sail. The next day we just hung around the docks, fished, and motored the dingy about. In the end, we really had a great time. What would a sailing trip be without some excitement! Until next time… Fair winds, David