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Old 03-23-2016, 08:18 PM   #20
Joint Effort
Veteran Member
 
City: Southport-ish
Vessel Name: Bad Idea
Vessel Model: 36 Albin
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 34
I'm not sure if I will complete this story today but will return in a week for I will be exploring in Amsterdam. No I'm not a pot head, the name is because I have a boat partner. This will be my first story telling experience so bare with me on grammar and run-on sentences.

The cruise to the Bahamas.

My friend Bill, a nationally renowned chef flew in from CA on a late November Monday night to Southport. Randy (Mater Sammech) and his business partner a close friend and dock Neighbor came along for the ride to Hilton Head. We left at 12am and sailed nonstop to HH. It was great having a CA friend with Mater, a well to do country boy with an awesome accent made for great conversation. I can't tell you how many times I heard... what the he'll did he just say... and I'll just have a mater Sammech, nothing fancy. By the time we reached HH everyone was comfortable and Mater was planning g a trip to CA for some Desert racing. We had dinner, I blew out a flip Flop and Randy and Howell left.

The next morning Bill and I left heading south. It was great and we wanted to make good time to Jacksonville where we will be picking up Kevin and Scott from CA. That night about 1am we are both looking at charts for an anchorage and Pow ... we hit a marker. Not too much damage and new I would hit one someday. I happen to be the poster child for ADD. Only broke the teak cap rail. The next day I'm OK with it.

We continue south. All is great with 12 hr days and a lot of wine. Anchored most nights until Jacksonville. Scott and Kevin arrive and the party really gets ramped up. We have a great time for 3 days in the keys waiting to cross. It never happened. I have been on the boat for over a week. Kris my partner showed up for a week of cruising also. We stayed in the keys for several more days until my CA friends left and Kris and I headed north. It was beautiful and I didn't mind not crossing even though I tried twice despite the weather reports. I then understood more about weather and waves. I do like to be comfortable and not tossed around. We made it to Titusville and called it. After 3 weeks on the boat it was time to go work a while.

2 months later in February I rent a car and Fat Head, my dog and I load up for Titusville. 9 hrs away was not too bad. We go shopping and the next day we are off. I was cooking 3 meals a day and was feeling confident and the sense of pride was powerful. We ran the ICW until Georgia where it got twisty and headed outside for the days. Man, I was making good time. On the 3rd day I was up earlly, Fatty was comfortable crapping on the boat and I headed outside. The weather was fairly calm but the autopilot was not keeping up. Waves were predicted to be 4-5 ft around noon. 1030 I decide to go in. It is getting rough. I was coming up on Stono inlet. The next one was a couple hours more north. I'm looking at charts and it doesn't look like the greatest inlet but I have been out of every NC inlet and the confidence was overwhelming. The last inlet marker was 3 MI out. That is where I made my left. I made it about a half a mile in and was beached in 1.5 ft of water. I rode a wave in sideways. Please don't start with the your a dumbass comments. We all start somewhere and with all the bs, scared sailors and know it all's on the dock I was just going to have to learn for myself but wish I would have called Mater Sammech.

There I was leaned over 40* on the keel and was like damn, I'm going to be here for a while. Then the waves picked up and we're coming over the stern and both sides. Oh my God I was thinking we have 30 minutes of this and this Ole Albin is going to come apart. I go out side and Plan B, my dinghy had gone under the boat and torn a foot sized gash I the front pontoon. That's cool, I go to get a stronger rope and come back and it is hull up beside the boat so I lasso the prop sticking out of the water and tie it up. It's funny because it has my boat name in big letters on the bottom spelling Bad Idea. I call tow boat us. They say they can't come u til the tide rises., I'm like, we'll by God I'll just hang out here. About an hour goes by with tow us checking on me occasionally while Fatty slides back and fourth across the galley and I get my first glimpse of shore through the fog. I drop anchor to prevent grounding any worse and run out about 60ft of chain. It will not move my bow into the waves. So I wait and wonder if the stern is going to break through or the bridge break off. I hear something... look up and it is a huge orange helicopter. Where are they going. I bet that thing is not cheap to run. Why are they stopping? Oh no. They have come for me. God damn this is going to be expensive.

"Vessel in distress" Come back... me... I'm not in distress. This seems very expensive I'll call you when I'm scared. This is the CG are you sure you don't want to abandon the vessel... me... by God I need another hour I'm not leaving yet.

The tide is coming in now and I am bouncing off the bottom. It is time to start winding chain and starting the engine. I get a lot of the chain in and go to start the boat and the battery is not strong enough. I open the engine hatches and oh my God I have 2 feet of water in the bilge splashing over the motor where did that come from? I must have dropped the anchor and the boat slammed over on it and punched the hull. I can't see any damage. No way it came through the laserett door. Oh God. I go to the bridge and it is swaying 8ft back and forth on the keel. I bring the jerry can to fill the genny for it ran dry at 9 that morning. I get a few cups of the gallons I'm pouring in and start the Ole e2000. Stand up and look around and realised I was having a yard sale 2 miles off the coast. My dinghy, gas can, other jerry can, pump and 50 glistening beers are floating around me. I think to myself, oh God this is going to be expensive. The CG is recommending I abandon while I'm making my way down stairs when I meet Fat Head coming up and sliding all over. I grab Fatty and make my way inside to start the engine and check the bilge. Both the pumps are clogged. WTH. I clean them and in 5 sec they are clogged again. With what... 40 years of hair on the sides of the bilge. I'm thinking, if I didn't have this water in here I would be floating. I cut the raw water intake and let the engine pump it out but the pre-strainer hose was too short so I had to cut the aft hose. Water is being pumped out and I am moving backwards. I just might make it. The alarm goes off. Motor is getting hot. I go back to the bilge and think. I'm not cutting this motor off and starting over. Just then I look over at the water heater and see steam. Ha. I turn all the faucets on hot and the temp drops so I continue. Mean while I have soaked 2 pairs of jeans and running around in my striped underwear and a t-shirt blind to the moronic appearance of myself. The helicopter had to go refuel and was returning and a CG boat was on the way too. I'm tired of typing now. I will finish later. If my story sucks let me know but I hope most of you get a kick out of it. I do a much better story verbally.
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