Day 91, Year 11: Passage to FL, Day 2—Happy Birthday to Sam
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, High 50’s, Low upper 40’s F; Wind NE 10-12
Latitude: 31 43.414 N
Longitude: 080 58.525 W
Location: Sailing ~3 Miles Off
Miles Traveled: 187 nautical miles
Nine years ago, our first grandchild, Samuel Ellery Goldstone, was born on a snowy Cape Cod morning. We had sailed Windbird across the Pacific Ocean and left her in New Zealand to come home for Sam’s birth. Holding that first grandchild for the very first time is a beautiful memory. And Sam has developed into a beautiful, bright, spirited nine year-old boy. He has been a natural sailor since he first set foot on Windbird in Thailand when he was not yet two and he quickly earned the title of co-captain aboard Windbird. His little brothers have followed suite and are co-captains as well. But as Sam would remind us, he was first. And as this photo shows, he was right by Captain Granddad’s side giving directions.
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| 160121 Day 91a Passage to Florida–Day 2, Happy Birthday Sam |
And writing in the log.
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| 160121 Day 91b Passage to Florida–Day 2, Happy Birthday Sam |
Happy Birthday, first Co-captain!
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| 160121 Day 91c Passage to Florida–Day 2, Happy Birthday Sam |
Last night was warmer than expected and we didn’t need to fire up the Mr. Heather. We wore long underwear, wool sweaters, our winter coats, and Mark wore his winter hat. But with all this on, we didn’t even need a blanket. Today has been mostly cloudy, but there has been enough sunshine to keep us warm. At one point it was so hot in the cockpit we had to open up. We had up to 14 knots of wind against us last night and it seemed that we had current against us all night as well. Today, however, we have had current with us and wind behind us. We had one little scare this morning. The engine overheating alarm went off and indeed the engine was overheated. Mark checked all the possible causes—fan belt, water filter, thru-hull, impeller, and heat exchanger. Everything checked out fine, so he poured some anti-freeze in the overflow container and the engine has been running cool ever since. So either we were low on anti-freeze or something was blocking a line and was released when Mark took off the hoses to check things. Whatever it was, it is fine now. We are making good progress and are on schedule to arrive at the entrance to the St. Mary’s River on the Florida/Georgia border early in the morning. After that, the weather will determine our next move. If it is not as bad as predicted, we might motor on past Fernandina Beach and anchor just north of Jacksonville tomorrow night. But we do think we will go inland into the Intracoastal Waterway instead of traveling on down the coast. It takes longer, but at this point the weather outside doesn’t look good. Florida is a very long state and it takes three days and nights outside to get from the border to West Palm Beach. From what we are seeing, there is no three day window in the next week. If that forecast remains, then inside it will be.
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| 160121 Day 91d Passage to Florida–Day 2, Wool Sweater Weather |
