Saturday, 20 January 2018

A Close Call – and An Impressive Reversal!

(Written 2 days ago)

We woke up to absolutely frigid weather this morning (0 celsius), with a howling wind from the North. So we delayed our departure to let things warm up a bit, and then left for the next leg of our journey at 1:30 p.m.

A cool four hours on the water were uneventful – except for one scary moment. We were trying to motor under a lift bridge, and circling to wait for it to open. The bridge operator warned us not to come too close, because of strong currents. Just as she said it, the currents started pulling us toward the bridge – which hadn’t lifted yet!! Yikes - a dismasting was not in our plans for the day…

But my Captain saved us by skillfully reversing the boat, as he couldn’t turn it around in the wicked current. Then, thankfully, the bridge lifted and we were able to sail through – with a commendation from the bridge operator on the VHF radio, saying with a laugh – “impressive reversal”.

Suffice it to say that was enough excitement for one day – we were happy to set our anchor at Jensen Beach anchorage a couple of hours later, as the sun was setting.


By the way – the first photo below is not us – thank God! Another sad remnant of the hurricanes here last Fall.









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