Three men drove away from Bristol, TN at 7am on Saturday morning. We drove through rain, cold weather, and wind and then into sunshine, the ten, almost eleven hours to Destin, Florida. We stopped in Knoxville for a load of wonderful bagels (which helped to sustain us the next few days.) Three professors, a linguist, physicist and a mathematician; between us we could decide problems and solve riddles. We drove into Shalimar yacht Club at 5pm and the humidity and sunshine greeted us, it was going to be nice!
Walking the dock to the 30 foot Catalina sailboat, we were at the end of the quay, on a large boat and the seagulls were flying with the pelicans sitting on posts. We were ready for the adventure. The immediate goal was to unload the food, bags and all and stow them in the ship. This done, we explored or accommodations and claimed our space.
The ship was 30 feet of sailboat. It had (beginning in the bow, going around the port side, the stern and then up the starboard side to the bow again) a v-berth in the bow, a head, a dining table and settee (with cabinets and shelf space above this area), a galley with a sink, drain board, gimbaled stove (propane), refrigerator, some stowage and drawers, then the companionway with a 3 step ladder. Underneath the cockpit were a sleeping/sitting area (where I slept quite comfortably except for hitting my head each time I sat down), then the navigation table, a settee (with cabinets and shelves above this area), and a dresser across from the head. It had much area and I was impressed with the boat. We figured out the head (needing to hand pump to empty it), we made our way, around the boat and began to consider dinner.
As we stepped up from the boat to the quay, the temperature had dropped considerably since the sun had set. Clouds were thickening and it was cold. We drove to a restaurant suggested by the marina master, the Steam Bay. I got a large (very large) plate of all the various kinds of seafood I could ever desire. I ate shrimp, oysters, clams, and crab. I ate so much that I enjoyed it and then enjoyed it more. It was absolutely wonderful food. All fresh and steamed. We left to drove back to the boat full and ready to sleep.
By 10:30 Saturday evening, it was beginning to grow stormy. Lightening and thunder was heard above the water hitting the hull. There were some leaks at the portholes and the companionway as the rain poured all night. The boat rocked, water
streamed
passed the hull (I awoke hearing this water and my mind told me it was
inside the ship, I had to feel the floor to convince myself it was dry),
and all this movement gently rocked us to sleep. I felt no fear through
this, although somewhere in the night I felt a little queasy with this
movement. I slept little and the morning came but no dawn.
The movement of the boat affected each of us. We quickly got used to this movement and then on land felt the earth or room moving with the gently sway of the ship. Even as I sit here in my home (having been off the boat 24 hours) my head moves and my body feels like it is swaying with the boat. (Aside: to rent the slip there was $8 per foot, or $240 per month.)
Sunday came and we compared notes of the previous night. Winds were 25 mph (gusting to 30), waves were 2 feet at times, and we each had slept very fitfully. I smiled through the night at just the grand opportunity of finally sleeping on a sailboat on blue water and loving every minute of it!
I rose a little early and dressed, stopping at the boathouse. I took a walk down the road, enjoying the great Sunday morning. I walked to the end of the road and decided to buy coffee for my shipmates and me. We had looked all over the boat to find the bottled propane so we could turn on the stove, heat up some water and have a hot drink. But we could not discover the hiding place. So, needing morning coffee, I bought it, carried it back to the boat and surprised my companions with the waking smell of caffeine.
As we drank, the wind was singing through the halyards, tarpaulins, around the mast and off the deck. It whistles by but we were safe, dry, warm and comfortable. The pelicans glided by as we talked, woke up and considered the day. We showered (at the boathouse), dressed and cleaned up the cabin. We finally found the handbook to the boat and discovered the hiding place of the propane. Turning the knob we still did not have fire. We read, waiting for the weather to clear and the owner to stop by to show us the key elements of the boat and sign the contract.
The owner stopped by, showed us the electrical switch (marker refrigeration) to turn to begin the propane pump; thus we now had fire and hot drinks! He also showed us the sailing components and we went over the chart of the area. He left and we wanted to go out. The air temperature was 30F and the wind-chill was at the warmest, 25F. It was windy, whitecaps were on the waves and we were not confident to take the boat out for the first time in such weather. It was too cold and unruly to go out.
We drove to Destin, FL and explored some dock area, the bridge we would have to go under to go into open water, and the bay we were planning on sailing in. We returned to the boat for lunch (hoping the weather had changed, it had, having gotten much worse.) We went to a move (Godsford Park). We joked about driving 11 hours to Florida, paying an expensive price for a boat, just to go to a movie!
Throughout the weekend the physicist and the mathematician would have wonderful conversations about the areas of study. I listened to most of this, fascinated at what they were saying. I seemed to understand little, but it was very interesting to grasp some their dialogues on science, math questions, problems in physics and areas of thought I never consider. I was not intimidated, and I truly enjoyed branching out from my language background.
We drove into Niceville and had wonderful pecan covered Grouper. We read as the evening passed and slowly got sleepy. We did not want to go to bed too early as we would awake early and the wind would still be cold. All night, this second night, the wind blew, it got down to 19F, and the water slipped arou8nd the hull. The boat heeled (tilted) some and we had to walk on a slant. We hoped earnestly for sailing the next day, our final day full day.
We awoke and it was so cozy in my mummy sleeping bag. Outside was a storm of wind, waves, and cold. I awoke at 4 am to a fierce wind blowing the boat around. I listened to the 6am news and it was a cold wind-chill of 19, with hope of clearing skies and warmer air by noon. We drank coffee, ate bagels and Ray went to take a shower. He ran quickly back saying it was too cold and no way was he going to shower in this. So we dressed. We read some but the boat was cold (the little ceramic heater would not warm us sufficiently). We decided to go to Denny’s for warmth, to read and eat some. We drove there, ran in and sat for a few hours. We talked, read, drank coffee and had a nice breakfast. We knew this was our final day to sail and we were definite that we would at least motor out and get the boat out of the slip before we left.
By mid-morning it was still cold and we explored the Air Force Museum at Eglin Air Force Base to waste some time and wait for the promised (according to the news) warmer weather to come. We returned to the boat about noon and decided although it was still below freezing, we would go out.
The adventure had been great thus far. I was enjoying it. I was getting the opportunity to live aboard a nice sailboat and check out if this was what I really desired to do. I had thought a 30’ boat would be too big for me to handle, but I learned through these days, that I could handle her and there was plenty of room on board for one or two to actually live quite comfortably. I discovered I was not seasick at all, but enjoying the swaying of the boat.
We dressed in all our clothes, unhooked the power cord (and thus the electric heater) and cast off. We motored out into the bay. It was lovely. Cold, yes, but we were doing (almost) what we wanted to do. We were taking this 30-foot boat out under our control and knowledge. The wind was intense (25 knots), so we did not raise sail, but got the feel of the boat and found out how she handled. We were out for 75 minutes. Turning around the come home, we were in the wind and I was at the helm. It was very cold. I steered through whitecaps and kept her on course. Some dolphins were out and the ever present gulls. We were excited that we could “really” do this and although cold, we were happy. Getting really cold going in some thoughts crossed my mind that we should just get a hotel room and get warm! There was concern about how to tie up, but this went well, the power was attached, the heater on, and we congratulated each other. Success! We ate sandwiches and watched the sky finally clear of clouds, the winds die some and the temperatures rose. We were ready to go out again, but to sail this time.
For three hours we were out sailing. We sailed about 4 miles, doing figure eights, sailing with a reefed main and a half furled jib. We were in control and happy. We each took turns at the helm, took pictures, laughed, enjoyed and then walked into the cabin to get out of the wind (a nice change). We saw dolphins, loons (even heard a loon call for the very first time in my life!), pelicans, and gulls. I stood at the mast and felt the power and pleasure of the boat. I lay on the bow and watched the bow wave as we surged through the water. I sat amidships feeling the ship, wind, power and ocean. I steered, watching the wind direction, wind in the sails, daymarks and depth. I was below decks as we turned and it was so strange to see the world go by outside of a porthole. We took photos. We returned as the sun was going down. We lassoed the pilings, tied up and had some neighbors take some photos of us. We were gloriously happy! We cleaned up, as it was warm enough to take showers. We went out for dinner and one more night of seafood.
Walking back to the boat from the car, the stars were bright; I named some. The water was calm, even glassy. We slept the final night on the boat and the sleep was deep and earned. Up, the sun was shining warm. We left the boat (reluctantly) at 8:30 and drove to Tallahassee, FL. We then drove the eleven hours home to Bristol; I arrived home at 11pm. I was tired, my head still moving with the swaying of the boat, but OH, so happy!
