Miami Passage - Day 6, October 7

[skipgundlach]

Miami Passage - Day 6, October 7

Hello from Charleston Harbor, opposite MegaDock!

As we left you last night, we'd just released a sailfish and
changed over to wing and wing in order to get south enough to
make our mark at the Charleston channel breakwaters. It's not a
fish story per se, but right after we made that sail change, we
dug into some more of the Mahi-Mahi in the refrigerator, grilling
it for dinner, with a salad accompaniment. Absolutely
scrumptious - and the lost lures and rods aside, nearly free!

A discussion ensued about whether I'd prefer fish right out of
the ocean, or steak, or chicken, or pork, all prepared as I'm
reasonably good at (in burning dead animals, so to speak; I'm not
all that handy with pots and pans, despite having been a
record-setter in the cookware sales biz as my first "job"). It's
a tough choice, but I can't imagine ever complaining if
fresh-caught fish were all I had available in the animal protein
department, as long as we could cook it to our taste.

Right after dinner, Lydia went down for her sleep, and I put the
main over to go on an extremely broad reach - slightly higher
than before we went wing and wing - and we headed to Charleston.
Unfortunately for us, the wind's dying, making for more rolly
conditions, and delaying our arrival to an as-yet unknown time.
It will still be before this gets sent out, but probably we won't
make our midnight forecast of yesterday.

The sunset was stunning, again - we keep looking for the green
flash, but so far have not had the pleasure. I've seen reports
from cruisers who find them nearly routine, along with the even
rarer other-color flashes which happen at sunset or sunrise, if
conditions are right. I'm sure the time will come that we see
one, too, but not yet :{))

About 8PM the wind shifted and rose again, making it look, again,
as though we might make it before midnight. By 9 the rock and
roll was severe enough to cause the genoa to luff and flap and
crash as it filled again, and it had shifted so much east that I
headed slightly downwind and pulled the main over. In 7-11 knots
of wind, with occasional 2-second bursts of 15-18 knots, we were
making well over 6 knots, touching 7 several times. Despite our
having to cut back upwind further than planned once we get to the
channel, this will put us back on track, timewise. We're not
racers, but we do enjoy getting the most possible out of Flying
Pig!

And, the end of this passage portion did, indeed, have us in the
channel before midnight. It was a gas to be charging up the
Charleston channel at close to 8 knots, being a beam reach after
all that downwind stuff. The winds died as we got inside, so we
managed only 4-6 knots on the way to the MegaDock, where we'll
fuel.

One last piece of excitement was that the head of the sail's
shackle fouled on the topping lift, and wouldn't drop. A few up
and downs, and releasing (good thing I had way more line than we
usually use!) the topping lift got it down in short order, and I
nestled Flying Pig alongside the dock in contrary wind and tide
current.

Lydia's washing the boat, Portia's off exploring (she's been on
this dock before), and I'm trying to do a bit of internet cleanup
after a week away. Later today (this is written at 3 AM) we'll
do laundry, fuel, and do some stuff in Charleston, like shopping
for minor foodstuffs, a run to West Marine and WalMart, some
electronics repair, and perhaps a small touristy bit. The
weather for the next few days isn't very good to go down on the
remainder of our trip, so it's just as well. Besides, we always
enjoy being with Larry, and he's been incalculably helpful to us
in the past, in too many ways to count.

So, since it's not part of the passage, I'll finish this report
here, and pick up again, with day 7, when we leave. SPOT will be
turned off until we leave, so don't panic, if you've been
following us...

Stay tuned!

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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(and)
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