2/17/13-2/22/13: Panama City to Apalachicola: 60 NM

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I cruised the ICW today for the first time since leaving New Orleans.  It was a cool but nice day and the 54 mile cruise was nice and relaxing.  The only excitement for the day was motoring across Wimico Lake.  The channel is fairly narrow and I read there is no room for error.  The locals say if you get 6 inches out of the channel you will get stuck.  The navigation markers are far enough apart to make it interesting.

Cruising the ICW between Panama City and Apalachicola

Work boat

Dolphin far up the ICW

I keep a close eye on this screen

Apalachicola Marina...by chance found a gem....quiet, clean, and friendly and right next door to the oyster houses.

I motored into Apalachicola about 5:00 pm and started looking for my slip.  It couldn't have been a better fit for me.  I was soon tied up and heading for the shower and oyster house, the Tap Room, to celebrate.  The next couple of days were spent readying the boat for my first overnight passage and walking the town taking in the historic buildings and quaint shops.

The Tin Shed is worth a browse

Famous Boss Oyster House oysters

2/12/13-2/16/13: Lake Pontchartrain to Panama City: 250 NM

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On Tuesday February 12 I left Orleans Marina on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain at 5 am to beat heavy weather coming in.  I decided to do the ICW instead of battle the Lake.

This is the draw bridge on the Industrial Canal that almost took my mast off on my way in to New Orleans.  If it hadn't have been low tide, it would have.

I had no trouble getting through the Industrial Canal and made my way west through the ICW in light rain.  It runs along the marshes of the Mississippi's alluvial plain.  It was nice.

Along the ICW leaving New Orleans

 My plan was to make Cat Island for the night.  It was ambitious.  I raised the sails as soon as I made the bay and make good time with a brisk wind on my tail.  The wind increased through the day and by the time I made Cat Island it was dark and blowing pretty hard.  I had a very hard time finding a place to drop the hook and eventually dropped it in 4 different places before exhaustion and sea sickness took over.  I found my bunk at 3:30 am.  I was in a nasty exposed spit of water in the middle of nowhere.  I rocked and rolled all night getting no sleep at all.  It was my very personal Hell on Earth kind of night.

The next morning I woke up to an all out gale.  I had to get up and get moving before I caught the full fury of the wind.  I double reefed my main before I weighed anchor and made 7 knots speed with double reefed main only.  It was hard to control the boat in the 6 ft. chop.  I was racing for the cover of Ship Island just a few miles away.  The wind smacked me all the way to the east side of Horn Island where I had had enough.  I dropped anchor around 3 pm in another bumpy spot and cleaned the boat.  It was a disaster.

Horn Island sunset

My waypoints along this section

I was headed to Perdido Pass which was 54 miles away, another long day.  The first half of the day was nice with moderate winds and I took some cat naps as the cape horn steered the boat.  Around noon the wind died and I motored the rest of the day.  Bro Pete texted that there was a crippled Carnival Cruise ship in the area.  I soon saw it being towed into Mobile Bay.

A tug pulling in the crippled Carnival Ship

I made Perdido Pass after dark and was trying to anchor just inside the pass.  I was inching forward in the dark and grounded the boat and was stuck.  I threw her in reverse and bulled my way out but stuck the stern, full throttle forward and a swing of the tiller got me out.  It was unnerving.  So I motored out onto the beach and decided to anchor right of the beach.  There was no wind but only a slight swell.  I was going to set two anchors and was moving forward slowly while hand feeding line out to my stern anchor.  Well, the line wrapped around my wrist and the anchor set and the anchor was pulling me overboard.  I unwrapped the line just before going over the lifelines.  This was becoming a fiasco.  So in a matter of one hour I ground the boat and lose and anchor.  One anchor will have to do.  I hit the bunk feeling pretty low.

The next morning a pod of dolphins swam right up the boat.  All swam off but one small one.  She stayed and did 6 jumps just feet from the boat.  She must have sensed my mood and did all she could to cheer me up.  It worked.  Soon after and found my floating anchor line from the lost anchor and retrieved it.  Things were looking up.  I was headed for Destin, FL 57 miles away.  Another long day.  I had good sailing for half a day and then had to motor from mid afternoon on.

The wind shifted, coming from my rear.  After nightfall the wind and waves really began to build.  Soon there were breaking waves chasing me down from behind.  It was a rush.  When I made East Pass in Destin I was in some really nasty seas.  I was exhausted and could not make out the way through the pass.  I was getting punchy.  I finally got on my radio and called out for assistance.  The Coast Guard responded and tried to talk me through the pass.  They soon realized I was toast and came out to escort me through the pass.  I was very grateful.  I would have beached the boat if they hadn't come out for me.  They stayed with me until I anchored in Destin Harbor and came up to the boat to ask where I came from.  I told them Little Rock and then they told me to get some sleep.  And I did the entire next day in Destin.

I left Destin February 17 heading for Panama City.  It was 48 miles away.  The wind died after 1 hour of sailing so I motor sailed the rest of the way making over 6 knots most of the way.  I was in St. Andrews Bay by 4 pm and had a nice walk on the beach before catching up on the journal.

Anchored at St. Andrew Bay, Panama City

1/25/13-2/3/13: Little Rock, AR to Lake Ponchartrain, LA: 650 NM

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It took 9 days to get from Little Rock to Lake Ponchartrain via the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers.  It was approximately 630 river miles.  "Mary Annie" averaged around 5 mph on the Arkansas River and 11 mph on the Mississippi.  The Arkansas was "tame" compared to the Mississippi, which had strong currents, lots of debris, a lot of barge traffic, and wind and waves.  The Arkansas was relaxing and laid back.  The Mississippi was challenging.  There are two fuel options on the Miss. River, Greenville and Baton Rouge.

Murray Lock, Little Rock

Amy, my wonderful river runner and wife

Locking through

Arkansas River Sunset

The White meets the Mississippi

Concentrating on the Mississippi

Navigating through a fog bank

Darryl at the helm

Barge traffic on the Mississippi

Dodging debris on the Mississippi

Lower Mississippi River sunset

A tug against the atomic sky

Sunrise is even better than the sunset

A barge works close to our boat against the blood red sky

Our first glimpse of New Orleans

Coast Guard boards Mary Annie in front of French Quarter

Caught at night in the Industrial Canal

We arrive at Orleans Marina after 14 hrs of motoring and 106 miles

Sailing Mary Annie for the first time on Lake Ponchartrain

The Route

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When google maps loads, you won't see the entire route unless you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the next page.  As of  now, there are two pages to this map.

December 2012

October 2007 - December 2012        The Rebuild is Complete
After a five year rebuild of the 1974 Hallberg Rassy Rasmus 35 hull number 337, I prepare for my long awaited and planned cruise. Some dreams don't come easy and this is no exception. I will admit that I tend to take the hard route in many of the endevours I undertake. The rebuild was a journey in itself, a grueling marathon, but one that left me with a huge sense of accomplishment. This web page allowed me to interact with other Rasmus owners around the world keeping me motivated and inspired. But now it is time to turn the page and embark on another journey. Hopefully one in which Mary Annie will take care of me.
December 15, 2012         Mary Annie gets broken in FAST
Mary Annie is docked at the Little Rock Yacht Club on the Arkansas River. She looks mighty small with the large motor yachts docked next to her. We took the boat out on the Arkansas River last Saturday for the first time. We motored up about three miles and then back down another 5 miles. Everything seemed to be going well, EXCEPT, the steering was pulling to port, almost like a car with a low tire pressure. Also, the hydraulic steering was "slipping". I think that may be remedied by bleeding the lines again. But the pulling to port has me a bit puzzled. I will unhook the hydraulics and steer by tiller to see if it is the hydraulic steering causing the problem. And then, I grounded my baby the FIRST day out. I hadn't gone 6 miles and I go aground. That is really typical of me. I didn't slam to a stop so I was hopeful the damage was minimal. All the yachties at the club could then say, "Welcome to the Club".
December 16, 2012       Almost Made the Darwin Awards
The next day I wanted to check the damage. I got my scuba gear out and checked my tanks for air. I was pretty much empty in both scuba tanks but one had about 50 lbs in it. Hell, I was just going to go 6 feet deep and check the damage so I decided to hook it up and give it a go. The water was a chilly 54 degrees and visibility of about 12 inches.   As soon as I got to the bottom of the keel, I couldn't get a teaspoon of air in my lungs. The cold water had turned that 50 lbs of air to zero. So I shot to the surface and came up under the dock, banging my head, still under water. I thinking, shit Pat, this isn't going to be the way I die, it's just too embarrasing. I mananged to fight my way out from under the dock and finally get some much needed air.
Well, I thought it wise to fill up my tanks and try again. Which I did and found a 2 foot long x 3/8 wide x 1/4 inch deep gouge. Minor damage but I thought I would pull the boat and fix it while I was at a nice spot to do it.
The repair took about 4 hours total and Mary Annie is back in the water and happy. It just needed a little bit of epoxy sealing, Marine Tex, and bottom paint is all.
December  2012      LIving on Mary Annie

I have been living on the boat  for the most part.  It is very quiet in the marina if the weather is calm..  That is a surprise.  I thought there would be a lot of noise coming off the docked boats, you know, clangs, and bangs.  LIfe is pretty simple on this small boat.  I play a little light music in the evening, read a book, and get to bed much ealier without the TV in my face. In the mornings I make some green tea or coffee.  I play Stings' Soul Cages or other light music and sip on my hot drink and watch the sun rise.  

December 25, 2012               Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Everyone wishes for white Christmas.  Living in Arkansas, we wish for one every year but haven't had one in over 80 years.  That changed this year.  We were on national news for our white Christmas.  First, icy rain fell and covered the trees bending them over a bit, then the snow came, 10-12 inches of heavy, wet snow that stuck to everything it touched.  The trees kept bending until they broke.  It sounded like a war outside all Christmas night long.  The power lines fell along with the trees.  At least 200,000 homes went cold and dark.  Our power outage lasted for 6 days in 17-30 degree weather.   The morning of Dec. 26th I opened the door and just wanted to cry.  It looked like a bomb went off.  No tree or shrub was left untouched.  There was a lot of work to be done and this was going to put some added pressure on me to leave on time.  Then, wouldn't you know it, I caught the flu.  In a dark cold house with the flu is no fun at all.  I will be looking into alternate power in the near future.  I did get out to the boat before I got sick and took some pics of it covered in snow and ice.  Does the name Endurance come to mind.  Below are pictures of our big blizzard.  

My Mom Hits a Home Run

My mom has been worried about this upcoming cruise.  She has been saying things like, "you know, finishing the boat was a great accomplishment, if that's all you do you can be proud, even if you don't go on your trip."  and  "Are you sure you want to be out on that big ocean in that small boat?" and "Pat, you are so tired, when are you going to have time to rest before you leave?" etc. etc.  She hasn't accepted the fact that I'm am going to do this thing.  Then, during Christmas, things changed for her.  She told me she thought long and hard for a gift that would be there for me when I am out alone on the big blue ocean.  Something I could rely on when I am in need.  She brought out a large wrapped present and handed it to me.  I was thinking a heavy duty jacket or wool sweater to keep me warm on those cold damp nights.  I unwrapped the gift and realized my mom was all in and oh did we laugh.  Thanks mom.  It is perfect.

My Very Own Wilson