| Time | Lat.(N) | Long.(W) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 1344 | 30°16' | 081°43' |
| Last | 2348 | 30°38' | 08°59' |
| Boat | Wind | Position | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Hdng | Spd | Helm | Sky | Dir. | Spd | Baro. | Lat.(N) | Long.(W) | Remarks |
| 1344 | Gregg | 30.28 | 30°16' | 081°43' | Depart Sadler Point | |||||
| 1412 | Stef | 30.28 | 30°17 | 081°40 | None | |||||
| 1424 | Tony | Autopilot failed - no motor response | ||||||||
| 1745 | Tony | Nav. concludes JC2 waypoint is duff | ||||||||
| 1750 | Tony | Autopilot failed again... | ||||||||
| 1845 | Refuel (5 gals.) Mayport | |||||||||
| 1857 | 067° | Gregg | ||||||||
| 1940 | Neil | Sailing | ||||||||
| 2041 | 055° | Neil | 30.28 | Cooking tortellini & mush. sauce | ||||||
| 2152 | 067° | Neil | 120° | 10 | 30.28 | 30°32' | 081°07' | Sail adjustment - back on course | ||
| 2335 | Gregg | SouthEast squall at 25 knots - jib down | ||||||||
| 2348 | 045° | Gregg | 30.30 | 30°38' | 080°59' | Running off | ||||
Autopilot failure is caused by a wire twisting off motor - still haven't been able to fix this permanenetly, or maybe it is a design flaw...); soldered by Stef, but fails again several hours later.
Steaming down the St. John's River, a great egret perches on the pulpit rail, endowing Womble with a beautiful figurehead, albeit briefly. Reminiscent of our feathered hitch-hikers on the way down, and taken as a good omen by the crew.
Plotting the waypoints from Jenifer Clark, it looks like the second (JC2) is too far South; too late to check with her, so navigator ponders correction...
Diesel fill at Mayport tops off the tank to the limit. We do this by removing the gauge and judging the limit by eye; requires a still boat...
With the tide going out and the wind ENE, the waves in the narrow river mouth are steep and deep - makes for a bouncy entrance to the Atlantic; this is deemed the culprit for Stef succumbing to sea-sickness.
The waves breaking over the bow claim another victim - going forward to set jack lines, it is noted that the windlass has tightened up on the anchor chain; disconnected from battery and left inoperative. The system had checked out fine, but suspect a short in the foredeck switch caused a burnt-out solenoid - G squirms into chain locker and opens windlass control box to confirm magic smoke has escaped...
Officially at sea about 1910 hrs.; crew on deck soaked by spray breaking over the bow as they raise the mainsail. Further soaking as we remove the anchor to facilitate setting the sea-anchor if necessary; removing the anchor under sail is not the easiest of tasks, but we felt it prudent to retain it until we gained sea room.
Encounter thunderstorm squall at 2330 hrs. - "all hands on deck" to furl jib, ready mainsheet
for quick release and provide general moral fibre for the helmsman. An anticlimax, but boy,
are we prepared... Flippancy notwithstanding, although inured to the fear of lightning
strikes, the squalls produced by the leading edge of a thunderstorm are still a genuine
cause for concern.
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