Bringing Her Home Tomorrow

[SVNeko]

I thought you were making pickles...

[pilotdave]

Well, I made it. Left Savannah 1030am Friday. Forecast was perfect (foreshadowing here). Motored out the Savannah making 9mph sog. Went 15 miles offshore, checking forecast which was for diminishing winds overnight. I had enough diesel to motor up the coast, no problem. Gonna be a milkrun (cue scary music...) for my first solo offshore sail and first trip in my new to me boat.
But the forecast was wrong. Very Very wrong. Winds started piping up about 10pm. Hmm, this can't be. Forecast was for dying wind. I'll wait to reef cuz the winds must be about to die. By midnight the winds were 25 - 30 knots seas 6-8 ft. Running downwind under a reefed Jib only still over powered. Moon down about 11pm. DARK. Every 5 minutes or so a waterfall would approach from behind. Try to round up the boat and heel her 20 degrees either way and pitch her 15 degrees up and down. By dawn I was cramping up from steering and hallucinating, seeing buildings and boats around me, talking for friends, Weird. Boat looked like a bomb went off. Drawers opened, salon table broke, Nexus 7 shattered, sun cover on jib in tatters. To pull into the bay I had to motor into 40 knot headwinds. The boat was pitching so violently that the prop cavitated. Wow, what a ride. What an adventure, can't stop thinking about it.
Stuff I'll improve on next time. A good autopilot. A storm Jib I can deploy from cockpit. A sea anchor that I can deploy/retrieve from cockpit. Stuff that was great, MX Mariner on the tablet, backed up on the smart phone. I'm gonna a a Garmin Handheld at the helm also. Paper charts would have impossible. Now I will go about restoring the boat.
Whew, thank God I don't get seasick...

[SkiprJohn]

Glad you are safe in port and your engine worked well for you. Sorry about the boat damage. Those weather predictions certainly can go wrong.

kind regards,

[Gelfling]

Likewise, I am glad you made it safely to port. Even more glad you can have a sense of humor about it!

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by pilotdave

My first thread other than meet and greet...

Bought a S2 9.2c. Finishing deal tomorrow am. Been shopping hard for all the "stuff" lately. Plan is to meet broker early. Install a new second bilge pump and autopilot in morning. Cast off from Isle of hope in Savannah Ga noonish. Motor the ICW to Beaufort SC and decide whether to head offshore or anchor out that evening. Hopefully offshore and head northeast along coast overnight toward ultimate destination, Myrtle Beach SC. Weather looks perfect. Winds starting off west at 20+ then shifting north. Solo.

Plan B is to anchor/dock and continue under power up ICW. But what fun is that? If anything is gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there...

Extra anchors, radios, Boat US, liferafts, using MX Mariner on my phone and a Nexus 7, heater, bucket, cigars, flask of whiskey for courage. Arrr

You must be taking her out of a freshwater lake or stream into saltwater. Or was that a typo in the title?