January 25, 2007

It rained all night but this morning it cleared off as the rain moved away but it is cold enough that fog is rising off the water in the canal and the wind is out of the North. I have my Wallas heater on and it really feels good. With the heater on for warmth I thought well no better time than the present to cook my first meal. I made me a cup of coffee using the coffee press and this worked fine. Its cold so my next move was oatmeal which is so simple, how could I screw it up.
I could not find the measuring cups but I thought my eye was good enough. If my coffee cup is a cup I figured a cup of water in the pan, let it heat until it is boiling and then put the oatmeal measured in the same cup in the pan with the water, presto, oatmeal with splenda would be a cold morning banquet with the fog rising off of cold water. You know what happened, I could have fed three people with my oatmeal. After breakfast cleanup, a shower at Mikes house and I was off to the grocery store for measuring cups, no more guessing but I could swear we already had a set somewhere on the boat but I moved everything and I guess they just kept hiding in a new spot.

The rest of the day went a lot better. I have now what I consider to be my route to Tampa written down on paper but I will put it in the chartplotter as waypoints which will allow me to find my way on the Gulf of Mexico and hopefully keep me out of the thin water this area is noted for.

Tonight I asked Kenny Hum from Three Rivers Marine to go with me to try out the radar and to help me better understand what it does and how it looks compared to the chart plotter. We were out long enough to get back in that period of the evening where its not quite dark but very close. It reinforced my thinking that I must complete each leg of the journey before it gets dark and so will alter my speed accordingly as the sea conditions will alter this plan. But I need to feel confident enough that at a slow speed I can still do it with the instruments and a high powered flashlight to read the numbers. The problem is these instruments are accurate enough you can darned near hit the object before you can see it. Another help was setting the charplotter to look just like the radar screen and then overlay the radar on it because using the radar makes you the center of a 360 degree circle and so does the chartplotter but if they are not set at heads up you wind up with the chart going to the left and the radar going toward a point straight in front of you. If this makes no sense I can arrange for you to come with me for the experience of your life.

To top a night off you eventually have to bring the boat in and dock it or anchor it out. My head, my hands, and the motor behind me each have their own idea of how this should be accomplished and when this happens you just stop and have someone who understands all this take the wheel and dock it. Things always start out correctly but somehow I cannot get out of my mind that a sailboat pivots on its keel and a powerboat seems to pivot on the motor taking me and everything else with it until it wins. One of these days the motor and I will have to visit about its ability to control everything. I know more practice should help. Anyone who has been to the Caribbean knows that the anchor show happens every night. Well here in Crystal River I have the feeling I am as good as the anchoring show down there anytime. Hopefully I won't be docking in the dark too many times. Maybe anchoring and carrying a dingy is not such a bad idea but who would row??