July 9th We left St. Augustine

So with the repair made, we were better rested, and fed and left St. Augustine light behind us at 1100.

It was the first open ocean exposure for Miss Bonnie, Britney, and Nick and my first time "on the outside" with BRITNICK. (she is a fine sailing boat by the way)

The seas were wonderful, the wind out of the south, a clear sky and a good weather forecast.

The course from the St.Augustine sea buoy to St. Mary's Inlet GA is nearly due north, and with the south wind it should have been an easy sail.

There were some large thunder storms far to the south, and while we were not getting any of the wind, or rain, we were getting some confusing wave patterns, and in the light winds caused the boat to pitch and roll in some very awkward rhythms.

The rolly-polly motion sent poor Nick to the rail in short order, where he remained most of the next 10 hours or so.

Britney's runs for the rail were less frequent but still enough to make for a tough day. She seemed to have a little better time of it.

Miss Bonnie seemed un-phased, and I will have to admit there were a few times where I felt a little twinge of queezyness.

We sailed all day, then the afternoon t-storms began to build. We were very lucky that they seemed to move around us, but the flukey winds, and confused seas made the ride unfriendly.

Finally the wind died, though the seas retained a slight chop. We had to fire up the engine in order to make way.

They engine started very awkwardly (should have been a clue) and it never did run up to snuff the rest of the evening, and gave off more offensive exhaust fumes. The engine was weak as if only running on maybe 2 cylinders out of 4.

Once again due to my fear of the sour exhaust fumes I made everyone remain on deck. It was not a popular decision but I just could not figure out how to explain how I had let the whole crew die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Finally about 0045 on the 10th we left the open ocean, and entered the ICW again. I was very pleased with myself that after the issues of sick crew, fluky winds, confused seas, and engine issues, we had arrived only about 1/2 mile form the St.Mary's Inlet sea buoy. Not bad for being off the water for the last 20 years.

Then it gets a little interesting. See the next post.