Done Deal-E-O

I finally broke down and bought one of those wireless cards from AT&T so I have internet on the boat now.

Well, the survey turned out really well and I went ahead and bought her! Closed the deal last Thursday and spent all of Friday motoring and sailing up the St. John's River in Jacksonville, FL to setup shop at a marina that I liked better than where she was at. Here's a little breakdown of Friday's adventure:

I was planning to head out at 9 am, but I like to sleep. So I ended up leaving around 10:30, making my way north up the ICW into downtown Jacksonville. The day started out cold and windy with a solid 20kn breeze right on the nose. I donned my foul weather jacket and settled into the cockpit as the spray from the waves crashed up and around the dodger, keeping me dry. Withing 15 minutes of leaving that morning, I had bottlenose dolphin breaching on the sides of the boat. I had no idea that there were dolphin this far up the river. I wished that I had my camera with me in the cockpit, but it was below and there was a lot of traffic, so no dolphin pics this time. A few hours later, the wind and waves had died down so I opened up the dodger and took off the foulies - it turned out the be a beautiful day! Sailing downtown was great! You go right past all of the downtown buildings and the stadium where the Jaguars play.
I had a little adventure with a bridge controller downtown though; I tried to hail him on the VHF but got no response. I used the airhorn with one long and one short blast, signaling I needed a opening - again no response. So I just circled back and forth around the bridge until he came out waving his arms like he didn't know what I wanted. I tried again on the VHF and he finally answered and raised the bridge.
After motorboatin all morning, I was bored and decided it was time to put up some canvas. I was a little nervous since I was alone and had never single-handed this boat before. I started out by just letting out the jib and backing down the RPM's on the diesel. By this time, I think the tide had started running with me and I was moving along at about 5kn. Still, the engine was churning and I wanted it off. I pulled the cover off the main and hoisted her up. Shut off the engine and finally relaxed. The boat is setup fairly well for one person and most of the controls are in the cockpit. It was very exciting to find out that I could handle this boat alone, at least in mild conditions.
I moved along mostly at about 4 to 5 knots, but occasionally saw 6 according to the GPS. I pulled in the marina around 5pm that evening and had a few hands waiting to help me dock. All tied up and snug, I would say the day was a great success.
I did have one small event though. In the process of raising the main, I was going forward to unfoul one of the reefing lines. Well, my ports are stainless steel and stick out a little bit. I managed to catch my pinkie toe right on the damn thing. I thought I had broken it but was still maneuverable until I got back to the cockpit and sat down. My little toe was turning black and was swelling fast. I didn't have any ice onboard so I just held a cold sandwich against it and kept it elevated when I could. Fortunately, there is a Coast Guard medic that lives on his boat in the same marina. Once I got tied up, he came over and wrapped it up, also confirming that it probably was broken.

Since then, I have been tied up in my slip. I'm just learning my way around the boat and finguring out what I want to change/add. The list keeps getting longer everytime I look at it. From what others are telling me, that will never change. BTW, I have some great neighbors. There's a couple right next to me that are outfitting to head to the USVI in a few months.

Life is great. I couldn't be happier with the boat or the decision to go forward with this thing. There's going to be some bumps and learning curves, but if everyone is as great as the people I have met so far then I will have plenty of support along the way.

Brandon
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