[Rhodes22-list] Trip Day 4

[Wally Buck]

Day 4 - Monday

Early morning we used Satellite phone to get updated forecast. The afternoon 
winds were supposed to increase to 25 plus and shift to the NE followed by 
more of the same for the next few days. We decided to work our way into 
Jacksonville inlet. Brian pulled out chart and we entered new waypoints for 
Jacksonville. We put a reef in the main and furled genny a little. We were 
making a steady 9 plus knots over ground topping out at 10.2 knots. The Gulf 
Stream was really pushing us along. We saw a few cargo ships but marine 
traffic was very light. As the wind picked up and moved more to the North 
the waves increased in size and started to stack up. I am guessing they were 
around 10 – 12 feet or so.

It became harder to stay on course while picking way through the waves. The 
ride was getting rougher. We decided to add a second reef to calm things 
down. Hornblower was heeling 25 plus degrees and the decks were constantly 
awash. Brian and I donned suspenders and secured ourselves to jack line. We 
went forward to put the second reef in while Jenny tried to hold the boat 
into the wind. Easier said then done! She could not keep us in the wind and 
we were having trouble with reef. I went back to cockpit and held boat in 
wind while Brian finished reefing. It got a little exciting but all in all 
we handled things ok. Thankfully it wasn’t raining. We had a good dodger and 
were staying mostly dry. We had fruit and cereal for breakfast and peanut 
butter & jelly sandwiches for lunch.

We spent the whole day sailing towards Jacksonville. I lived on the Naval 
Base right inside the Jacksonville inlet in the late 60s. I used to fish and 
crab off the south jetty and I was looking forward to sailing by this area. 
Around 4 PM we picked up the buoy’s marking the inlet into Jacksonville. We 
had a Pilot Guide for all of the Atlantic inlets and the warnings for this 
inlet had us a little nervous. It advised maintaining 13 knots when entering 
during NE winds and ebbing tide due to high surf. Well we had NE winds but 
according to tide charts and my GPS low tide was several hours past. As we 
got nearer to land we could see 5 foot partially breaking waves ripping 
across the inlet and crashing into the jetty. Brian took us through the 
waves with several anxious moments but we made it in just fine. As we got in 
the inlet we noticed that the tide was still flowing out! I guess the NE 
winds had delayed tide. Having come in that inlet once under those 
conditions I am not sure I would do it again.

We passed Mayport Naval Station to our left and entered the St. John’s 
River. We motored up the river and headed north on Sister’s Creek, waited on 
a bridge, passed and headed up the ICW. I managed to find shallow water at 
the edge of the channel and we more momentarily grounded. I tried reverse 
and we did not move. As we discussed what to do the wind picked up and we 
were pushed free. We passed inside Fort George Island and then Long Island.

This area varied from scenic to industrial and we continued up the ICW 
towards Amelia Island. We were tired and opted to pull into a marina on 
Amelia Island for the night. I can’t remember the name of the marina but it 
was not the one at Fernandina Beach. Hot showers at the marina and a steak 
dinner on board hit the spot. There was plenty of breeze and we had wind 
scoop in hatch. We also had screens for hatches and companionway. We never 
really had a bug problem most likely due to the strong winds we had the 
entire trip. After 2 nights and three days on the ocean we were beat. A few 
cold beers had me zonked out early.  No 4 AM – 8 AM shift tonight!

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