Foggy Morning out. Everything is dripping in moisture - couldn't resist a shot of the lifelines hanging with the dew. There are weather advisories out for dense sea fog until later in the day. We’re starting out in the lower 40s and the water is much warmer than the air temperature so everything is draped in moisture. We headed out at 10:30am after turning on the radar and making sure that it worked. With all the fog in the area that seems to lift then settle in again, it seemed like a very prudent thing to do. We decided that if we move along at about 5 knots/hour, we should be at Fernandina Beach Florida around 10:30am tomorrow morning.
Most of the day was uneventful once we got out of the channel and went 3-4miles offshore. The waves were benign with swells in the 4-foot range with a period of about 10-11 seconds. Wayne took a Dramamine before we left. Just in case it got to be a little rocky out here. We’re in our foulies as we head into the mist.
Most of the night we were shrouded in dense sea fog. I was glad to have the radar. It made the trip possible.
When it came time to put our running lights on, we discovered that the stern light didn’t work. I put out my little land lantern – attached it to the stern lifeline. It worked well all night. Some time between 3-4 am our bow lights quit working. I’m not sure of the time but when a shrimp boat decided to aim for me and try and run me over, I knew something wasn’t right. I could see our steaming light on the mast and the back stern light but over the dink on deck and fog, I couldn’t see the bow. The Shrimper kept changing course for me and I had to finally stop dead in the water and let him cross my bow. Literally. He crossed my bow with nets out, lights on, and birds flying all over him (N31 04.451/W081 15.403). I couldn’t believe that Wayne could sleep through it but he did. Usually when one or the other is at the helm and we throttle back, it means come topside. He must have been out for the count because I was in neutral. After that I tried to see the green and red glow from the bow without going up front (yes I had my safety harness on, but didn’t want to leave the helm). I couldn’t see anything. That meant that those lights weren’t functioning. Great! NO running lights and the boat was wrapped in a cocoon of fog. Anyone without radar was not going to see us until they were right on top of us.
It’s funny. Periodically we’ll hear birds calling out in the darkness as we pass them by. You can’t see them in the dark draped fog, but as we pass them disturbing their slumber (hopefully not running them over as they float) they call out loud and angry to be woken up. They sound like loons. Don’t know what they are, but they remind me of the north country.
The fog and mist enveloped us for 90% of the night. It cleared sometime during Wayne’s watch and when I came up I could see the stars. It was so nice to see some of the constellations! Orion, Taurus, Cassiopia… and shooting stars! Then poof. Back into the fog. Sigh… Towards dawn you could almost see a bright spot on the horizon where the sun should be rising. As the sun started finally burning off the dense fog, it revealed us floating on a veil of rippled gray/green silk. Every moment in life is both a revelation and an opportunity of discovery. Looking at the water and the sunrise, this was one of those moments that took my breath away. The shrimping fleets were all heading in and out and everything just seemed to fit in its place right here in this moment. The veil of fog lifted as we started to work our way into St. Mary’s Channel, toward Fernandina Beach.
We met a dredger coming out as we headed into the channel. As soon as we entered the channel he turned and followed us up the channel as a surveyor ship kept crisscrossing in front of us. I know this pathway. We were fighting the tides coming out of the channel and slowed to 2.9 knots while running at 2000 rpms. We finally got to our designated anchoring spot around 11am and dropped the hook. Good current running at 2 knots. It’s much warmer here than it was in S. Carolina. Warm, sunny and setting a record high at 84 degrees.
As evening approached the sky started turning into beautiful hues of blues and pinks then turned from beautiful to spectacular.
Dinner time at sunset. I made some salmon sandwiches on Kaiser rolls with salad. It’s the first meal we’ve had on deck and with a beautiful sunset! I looked to see if I could see MadCap on a mooring or at the marina. I couldn’t, but figured they were in a berth at the marina. They’re flying back to Canada for the holidays.
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