Stormy Adventure

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Winter Solstice Storm

What were you doing on the morning of the winter solstice, Dec 21^st, 2021?  We were on Terrapin lounging in our PJ’s sipping our coffee after a good night’s sleep at anchor.  Our anchor set well last night in one of our favorite anchorages near Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda.  We’ve been here many times and like our “spot” on the outer edge of the anchorage, positioning ourselves in relation to the double masted Freedom and our previous marks on our chart plotter.  The holding has always been good here and we don’t mind the longer dinghy ride to shore.  Although we knew today’s dinghy ride was going to wait until after the weather had passed.  What we didn’t know was how big of a weather event was in store for us!  A winter solstice storm!

Winds Increasing

As the wind increased into the 30’s and then into the 40’s, we were holding fine.  Some of the boats anchored between us and the shore started dragging.  We watch their path in the water and start our engine in case it will help us avoid a collision.  One sailboat slides uncomfortably close to the trawler anchored off our starboard side, then another sailboat drifts by on our port side.  We try to guess which vessels are occupied and which are vacant by watching to see if heads pop up out of the companionway.  A few boaters looked like they just got out of bed, what a way to wake up!

As the wind speed increases, more sailboats are dragging or drifting.  One sailboat is out in the bay and drifting towards the bridge, its bow appears to be pitching up and down at a 45% angle.  Wouldn’t want to go out on that bow!

There’s a lot of activity on the VHF radio.

Anchor Still Holding During The Storm, Then Not

Our anchor holds us steady as the winds climb into the upper 40’s.  And we’re still holding strong at 55. 

Sometime between 55-60+ winds, we joined the parade of dragging boats.  As we drift by the double masted Freedom, Tony smiles and waves to the owner sitting in his cockpit.  Guys, this isn’t a parade!   

We hope our anchor will re-set when we reach shallow water. We keep trying to point our bow into the wind but usually, get pushed back horizontal to the waves.  I busied myself below shutting all the ports and stowing and securing anything I could see as a potential flying object.  “We still have our anchor” Tony would report every now and then after checking to see the rode off our bow into the water.

The waves and wind set our dinghy a flight a few times, up and over, it’s upside down in the water, then up like a kite, then it’s righted in the water, then it’s up again and lands on top of our rudder, the tubes rip on some metal, we lost our dinghy.    

Helming During The Storm

In the cockpit unwilling to let go of his handhold or the tiller, counterbalanced I guess, Tony leans slightly towards me in the companionway and I slip a warm hat onto his head.  Later, I hold a water bottle straw out for him to take a sip. 

Finally, he agrees to let me give him a break at the tiller and he goes below to warm up and get a raincoat on.  This wasn’t due to rain, we were wet from all the waves making their way into the cockpit.   

Change of Hands

Before the switch of hands on the tiller, we make a plan.  “Do not stand up, crouch, and stay low as you get seated in the cockpit floor.  This wind could knock you over” Tony instructs.  “And sit in front of the tiller, hold it with your arm at a slight angle, in case it comes swinging so you don’t get pinned between the tiller and the seat”.  “Got it, thanks!”.  We both are holding the tiller and then he lets go and stays long enough to see if I’m comfortable.  “I’m fine, go get changed.” 

Some moments I’m just astonished at the weather happening around us, the big waves that have formed in the bay with spray blowing off the tops of them.  It’s fascinating! 

Then sometimes a little fear creeps in and I tell myself “stay calm”, “I can do this”, and “swim like a duck”. 

“Swim like a duck” came from a book I was reading the night before, Psychology of Sailing by Michael Stadler, about how ducks are able to swim the shortest distance from point A to B.   “Ducks make allowances for current by aligning their bodies in an upstream direction with the result that they cross the river at right angles and in the shortest way possible” (Pg 13).  I wanted to steer Terrapin away from the bridge, and away from the resort concrete wall, in the straightest course I could.  Therefore, I was trying to “swim like a duck”.  I think it helped to have a strategy to focus on to keep my feelings of fear in check. 

In the cockpit, I often found myself sitting in a bathtub full of dirty, muddy water. I watched the water level to ensure it was draining.  If it didn’t drain, I would check with my hand to see if something was obstructing the scuppers.         

Tony came back in the cockpit, warmer now with his raincoat under his life vest, ready to relieve me at the tiller.  I moved into the companionway and we discussed our options and brainstorm for a strategy of what to try next.  Due to the wind, it was hard to hear each other even though we were close to one another.  We are drifting towards the bridge and at the end of the bridge, a resort is under construction with an ominous concrete wall at the water’s edge.   “We may lose the boat” Tony states the obvious.  (I’ve already packed an evacuation dry bag with wallet, purse, passports, and phones just in case).  

Strategy

The force of the wind and waves were keeping us mostly horizontal, why can’t we seem to get our bow pointed into the waves?  Was there a maneuver that might help us point into the wind or would it be counter-productive and send us to shore faster or we’d be hurt in the process?  We put the depth sounder on again, but it still appears to be misreading the stirred-up bottom and not the real depth. 

After the storm, one friend mentioned maybe we were plowing through a muddy bottom and moving a little whenever the waves lifted us up out of the mud.  Another friend asked if we tried going in reverse.  We didn’t think of that at the time. Maybe it would have helped us adjust our angle to the wind.  And why were we dragging in the first place? We have a good anchor and it set well the night before. I’m sure we’ll continue to evaluate and learn from this experience for a while. Back to the story…

Buried The Windspeed Needle, and Our Rail

“This is unreal!” “What is the wind speed?”  “60”, I report, not adding the detail that our windspeed gauge doesn’t read more than 60”.   “It’s like what you see in a movie!”  We buried our needle at 60 for a while so I decided to snap a picture.  (It’s a blurry picture, I must have been shaking a bit at the time, wonder why?)

The windspeed needle isn’t the only thing that is buried, our starboard rail is in the water much of the time.

Tony mentions wanting to change into different shorts since his drenched PJ bottoms are about to slip right off.  He doesn’t want to be on the evening news being rescued with no pants on!  So, I take the tiller again. 

Progress

We realize we’re making slow, very slow, distance along the shore.  Slow progress in the right direction is better than no progress!  We keep at it until we are abreast to a park onshore.  With the tiller, I’ve been making a gentle rhythmic motion in response to the waves.  Point up and then ease off just a little, point up and then ease off just a little.  It seems to be working.

Thinking that this would be as good as a spot as any if we’re going to run aground, we discuss how to try to set our secondary anchor here.  Somewhere along our ride across the bay, our rode had chafed through and so we’d lost our primary anchor, chain, and rode.

Not long before this time, we had listened in to a conversation between a coast guard helicopter with a different vessel that was adrift.  The Coast Guard was very clear that it was the captain’s decision; “If you are comfortable with the current sea state and with your seamanship skills, you could try to set an anchor”.  In their case, they preferred to stay adrift for a while (we assume they weren’t close to any shore or shallows at the time). 

Deploying Our Secondary Anchor

Back to our cockpit conversation; “how are you going to do this without losing fingers or your hand?” I ask.  “I’m very aware and won’t risk my hands” he assures me. “Good, remember safety first!”. 

“What happens if you go overboard?” is my next question. “I’ll be fine, I’ll just float to shore” he points at how close it is.   For a brief moment I think about riding those waves to shore (looks fun except for the dirty, muddy water and maybe the landing).  Hmm, that’s great that he’ll be fine floating to shore, do I jump in and join him or continue to helm Terrapin? 

Can’t ask since he’s already crawling up the port side deck towards the bow.  At one point, I can’t see his red foul weather jacket so I reposition myself from sitting on my bottom to kneeling on my knees.  Later, I learn he saw a big wave coming and got as low as possible on deck between our cabin top while the wave dumped on him.  

I’m doing my best to keep us pointed into the wind to improve the chances of the anchor setting once it is down and I’m keeping an eye on Tony’s red jacket.  The anchor went down and Tony is still on board, things are going well so far.  Anchor catches and holds, yeah!   

Tony returns to the cockpit just in time to hear an alarm sound, what now?!  It’s the engine, quickly shut it off!  We can’t believe the fortunate timing that our anchor is down and holding just minutes before our engine trouble. 

Move According to Tides

We check our current depth and the tide table.  Depth sounder says 6.3, charts say depths of 5-6, the tide has just slightly risen from low tide.  We’ll be good in this depth for a while so we take a deep breath.  Tony glances at the clock and exclaims “Is that right! Is it only noon?!”  It seemed we’ve been at it much longer than that.  Tony needs a power nap while I update our kids and friends that knew we were in this storm.  The winds have calmed to between 20-30 knots, it seems so calm and relaxed at this moment. 

Onshore, we see children swinging at the playground.  It brings a sense of playfulness to our serious mindset.  Glancing towards the bridge, we see a boat up on the rocks and sailboat masts in the water and we’re swung back to sobering thoughts.

What Just Happened?

That evening, we check the local news to learn more about the storm.  Two sailboats sunk at the bridge and a third is grounded on the rocks at the base of the bridge.   One man was rescued from the water. The other boats were vacant at the time of the storm.  A friend sent me updates from Fishville marina that boaters saw waterspouts and winds in the upper 70’s with gusts into the 80’s.  From The Sun News, “Police in Punta Gorda asked drivers to stay off roads in the area after a small tornado was reported on Tuesday morning.”  Punta Gorda Charlotte County airport recorded wind of 77 mph, the highest recorded wind here in 2021.

A weather report from Tampa explained the storm was “an atypical, but not an unheard-of event that had significant impacts across West Central and Southwest Florida. One tornado, multiple tropical storms to hurricane-force wind reports, and hazardous marine conditions occurred. This makes the event a memorable one for many residents and visitors alike who experienced it.”  Yes, it was memorable for us! 

Now What?

For now, we’ll be fine anchored here on our secondary anchor. The winds should clock around and come off this shore during the night.  We conclude it is probably best to rest and then move tomorrow.  “I don’t trust this anchor and rode for more than a few nights of low winds” Tony adds to the equation.  “And we don’t have a dinghy to get us to and from shore”.  “We could swim to shore” I joke.  Not sure he appreciated my humor. 

I call a couple of the area marinas to see about arranging a slip for a week or two while we re-group and re-equip.  Left a message at one marina.  The next one, after explaining we were just in the storm and lost our primary anchoring system and our dinghy and we’re looking for dockage, they said, “we’re full until January, most people plan ahead”.  How do I respond to that?!  “I’m sorry I didn’t plan to be in tornadic winds today and lose our anchoring gear”.  No, instead I was MN nice and said I’d call back if we wanted dockage in Jan. 

We aren’t far from our boatyard and although it is their busy time, maybe they have room at the dock.  I call and they say we can come on back.  We joke with them about missing each other. (We’ve been gone for 6 days).  Thankful there is room at the inn (at the boatyard), we make our plan to move there according to the tides.  Leave here early the next morning before the tide drops, move and anchor outside the locks to wait until the tide rises, then go through the locks, through the canal system, and to Safe Cove.

Back At Dock

After making our way back to Safe Cove docks, we start the process of re-equipping.  With delays in shipping and many places closed for holidays, it’s taking longer than “normal”.  But what is normal anyway?  “Normal is just a setting on your dryer” quote by Patsy Clairmont. We are excited to get back out sailing but trying our best to keep things in perspective and enjoy each day regardless of our circumstances. I guess it’s a chance to work on more projects while we wait for our replacement gear. Daily life in the boatyard has its own unique charm!

Merry Christmas!

For Christmas eve, we went to an outdoor church service by Deep Creek Community Church at Laishley Park.  It was the perfect place to celebrate Christmas.  We were “on location” overlooking the bay where we had experienced the storm a few days prior.  The message even alluded to the unexpected storm in the context of a Hallmark movie about FL. 

“…. But make no mistake, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, it will interrupt your life and turn everything upside down for you—in the best possible way. That messes with a lot of people. So many get the idea that life should follow a perfect script, and they should be in charge of that script. Like a Hallmark Christmas movie. Everything wraps up neatly and turns out perfect in the end.  I kinda want to write a letter: Dear Hallmark producers, could you please make your Christmas movies a little more realistic? Maybe even set one in Florida? “

“He meets her after she hires him to help hang up Christmas lights on the palm trees. He’s a little taken back when her hair falls flat in the Florida humidity but pursues her nonetheless. While enjoying a glass of Publix sweet tea, they get involved in a serious conversation, which is interrupted by tropical-storm-force winds that come out of nowhere on Christmas week. They chase their decorations down the street, only to come home to no power. They are stuck inside, but can’t bear to cozy up by the fireplace because they are sweating profusely. Sincerely, Floridians everywhere.  I don’t know, it just sounds more realistic to me. We all know Hallmark can’t do that. We all want to escape reality and watch a perfect storyline.” 

Our Hallmark Script

Here’s our boating version of a Hallmark movie script for Dec 21^st  – In the morning while sipping coffee in the cockpit, tropical-storm-force winds start the boats in the anchorage dancing and drifting…we join the parade and end up on the other side of the bay. That evening while sipping chamomile tea in the cockpit, we reflect on how wonderful it is to be “living the dream!”.   “Just another day in paradise!”.

Some adventures are picture perfect like the days preceeding the storm.

And some adventures are quite stormy. 

Everyday is a new adventure!

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