Cruisers have only a few basic rules and one of the most
basic is “Do not have a schedule,” forging ahead into situations on the water where you should not
go.
Predictable patterns of rains in FL have begun and this
morning around 4:30 we were awaked to the daily downpour. Well protected just north of Rodrigous Key
nine monohulls were safely anchored through the two-hour thunderstorm without
incident. Glad that it passed earlier
rather than later, we were again under sail by 7:15.
Our initial intent was a 30 mile short day to "No Name Harbor" in Biscayne
Bay south of Miami, but when we began having difficulty with our autopilot, we
opted instead for the 70 mile longer day to Ft. Lauderdale and the world’s
largest West Marine, running the iron jenny around 7 knots.
Even after seeing storms to the west moving northeast, we
set our heading north, putting ourselves in the path of a red and yellow band
of thunderstorms; a big mistake! The
problem was not the undulating waters nor the torrential downpour, but the
frequent lightning strikes and duration of the storm. The lashing began around 1:30 and subsided at
3:00. When it was through, we were
soaked, shivering…and without electronics.
But more important, very lucky for the captain to still be in command of
our ship. Each time we saw a flash, he
would immediately pull his hands back from the wheel, and the last one, only
one or two seconds away, hit the water closeby.
Immediately the instruments went blank. Soooo not good!
But Captain perservered through the last vestiges of the storm until the
clouds began to part and blue skies once again appeared.
First Visual Assessment:
1.
Captain,
First Mate and Fritz fully functional and without injury.
2. Chart
plotter rebooted, without radar
3.
Depth, wind,
knot meters not functioning
4.
Engine
and oil temperature gauges zeroed out
5.
No VHF Radio
6.
And you
know that new antennae Dennis went up the mast several times to replace…nowhere in
sight.
Checking down below I could smell a faint burned odor around the
instrument panel, but no apparent fire.
Our first attempt to revive the precious electronics was to
flip the thrown breakers, resurrecting the depth and knot meters. So we’re thinking maybe this isn’t so bad
after all. But there’s still no radio,
wind meter or engine gauges and more assessment would just have to wait. Lena Bea and Aurora making the 17th Street Bridge at 5:30 was a cause for celebration after having to slow for an enormous Princess cruise ship departing the Port Everglades channel. Luckily, at Wayne’s suggestions before the storm hit we had made reservations at the Los Olas marina in Ft. Lauderdale for the next two nights, so we limped on in afraid even to make our planned stop for fuel, not wanting to turn off the engine. Dennis went immediately down below to for a second assessment of the damage.
Second Assessment:
1. No Electrical AC power because the battery charger is history
2.
Still no radio
3.
Outside visual assessment of the mast showed
where there once had been antennae, now only a black glob.
After this assessment Dennis commented, “This could be the
end of our trip.” Nodding I agreed. With our group of 5 boats ready to depart on early
Monday, there was no way we could follow.
Ironically we had decided to call about extending our insurance coverage
to the Bahamas in the morning. When the
agent finally called again, we told her to call us back in another hour and
that we might actually have a claim instead of needing the extra coverage.
At 7:00 and with nothing to eat since early this morning, Michele called and asked if we wanted to go out to dinner, so with not much else Dennis could do we joined them at Bubba Gump’s. After a margarita and gumbo, everything seemed a little better.
So here we are in Ft. Lauderdale, Los Olas Marina,
definitely without that schedule mentioned earlier, and definitely not Bahama
bound, but blessed again to be fully functional, and very lucky cruisers.
Glad you are safe! Steve &Marsha
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