Movin’ On Up....or Down

Pete’s Pier

 The trip south to all our “fun” spots is a good day (8 hours).  We put out a request on some different forums for anyone looking to rent out their slip for awhile. We made contact with a boat owner in Tampa who was leaving for 6 months to head north. We emailed back & forth and decided, “let’s go for it!”.

The slip is in Old Tampa Bay at the Westshore Yacht Club. It looked really cool. We spent the next month and a half getting Pau Hana ready for the new location.

Westshore Yacht Club

The predicted tide at our departure time was very low so we left the day before & spent the night on the hook in King’s Bay, that way we didn’t have to worry about hitting bottom. Little did I know.

We had an awesome night & we were greeted by a fantastic sunrise.  We made some coffee & a quick breakfast, did our checks & motored out.

Remnants from a Canaveral launch?

I had a lot of confidence in a new route allowing me to cut in a little closer & shave some time off that long ride South.  Mistake...we chugged along fine in 7’ of water. At about 10 am I looked over to the port and saw a brown shadow...”crack!” We struck a rather large rock that was easily 4’ tall. I pulled the boat out of gear & reduced the throttle to minimum. After a few seconds of shock, I engaged the throttle & eased up the RPM’s. No vibration, good, now let’s get the heck out of here. I turned SW to my old route. I should have used my known route. Had I loaded my “rock fishing” points on Pau Hana’s GPS, I would have known to avoid this area. The rocks around Crystal River & Homosassa are brutal & vary rarely do you get away without a “whipping”. We seemed good & I was thankful for a single protected prop. At the next haul out it will be back to the shop to make & install a new stainless sand shoe.

Crunch Time

The rest of the day was uneventful and the diesel chugged along perfectly for the entire trip into Dunedin Municipal.  My docking skills were fair considering the wind & we backed into our slip, tied up, hooked up & popped a beer.

Must have been an angel looking out for us today for sure

The next day we made our way South down the Intercoastal toward Tampa Bay. The wind was a steady 20 - 25kts out of the South. Since we were in the inside, the waves weren’t bad except for a few wide open areas like John’s Pass. Once we went under 275 & into Boca Ciega Bay & Tampa Bay it was a little “Sporty” to say the least. With wind from the South we had the waves on our Starboard side, it still wasn’t bad but not great. The real fun came as we turned North into Tampa Bay. We had a pretty stiff wind & following seas which made steering tough. I had to take over from the autopilot steering us as even with the waves as I could. A time or two we got a little side sea & my 1st Mate was not happy. Fearful was more like it as she felt the boat might capsize. We were nowhere near that sort of a situation but it was a new sensation for her & she didn’t like it. Once the seas were square on my stern I was able to surf the boat from wave to wave which would take our 8 - 9 mph and slide us forward up to 12+ Mph!

Tampa Bay Ship

By the time we got to the Interbay Peninsula & Port Tampa, we could see a large ship and 2 tugs coming out. I eased out of the shipping channel to give them plenty of berth. Even at this distance the first tug threw a sizable wake for us to ride over. Once the ship, it’s 2 tugs & Coastguard escort passed us by, we were just south of the Gandy Bridge and just off Picnic Island Park and could see quite a few Kite Surfers. The wind & waves were perfect for them. A few sailed just off our starboard, really neat!

Kite Surfers

Now the waves had subsided some but the wind continued strong. The approach to Westshore Yacht Club was well marked & easy to get into. I hailed the dock Hoping to get a location for our slip but got no answer. We moved in slowly to the yacht basin and decided to tie up to an end pier to see if someone could give us some info about where our slip was. With the wind on our Port, pulling parallel to the dock on our Port side was damn near impossible. A guy in a boat nearby helped us with our lines but it was still tough. We left Pau Hana’s engine running & walked down the dock to locate the appropriate slip. Once back onboard we devised a plan to get into our space. We would need to back in with our starboard side on the floating dock. With the wind on our Port at least that would help. 

Westshore Yacht Club

My plan was to move into the fairway and run up past our slip, get the bow turned & let the wind help blow us in. Attempt 1, fail. By the time I got the bow around our stern missed the slip. I tried continuously to get turned back around but couldn’t.  Damn single engine. The rudder is useless in reverse. I headed back out to the main basin, turned around & headed back up the fairway. Pete, a nice dude on a nearby boat waited at the slip to help with lines. With our failed attempts, I think he was getting bored & was anxious to get back to his party, but he waited. Pete yelled “quit using the steering wheel!” He was right, I placed the wheel center & got more forceful with the throttle. The bow thruster helped some but the wind was way too stiff. I finally got the stern in some & swung the bow enough to catch the wind and bring the bow around. Thank God for extra dock hands! 

Surly Deck Hand

When we got tied up Pete said “Next time have a beer or two first, that’ll calm you down, that’s what I do.” Not sure that would have helped. I made up an excuse about only having 1 engine “What? I thought you had 2?” “No” I replied, “Awe hell, then you did really well!” I didn’t feel like it but we did get in & we didn’t crash into anything. I certainly appreciated my 1st mate “Don’t feel bad, it was the wind” she said. OK, I’ll take it.

The New Home

Tied up, hooked up, I strolled down the dock to thank Pete for his patience. They were having a birthday party on the dock for a friend. Sad side note, later that night, one of the folks on the boat missed their step getting in, hit their head & fell unconscious into the night water & drowned under the boat. We’re not sure about all the circumstances that led to the event but A lesson for all, boating can be dangerous.

We explored the area some and found a few cool spots within walking/biking distance. This area is an eclectic mix between very commercial waterfront and high end luxury residential. We met a couple Todd & Alicia from North Carolina that keep their boat here. We exchanged a few stories about ourselves & contact information. They had all the inside “scoop” info & will be fun to hang out with when we are here.

Salt Shack

We rode our bikes to Hula Bay, had a drink & walked down the dock. After that we went to the end of that street saw some sites & had dinner at the Salt Shack. Day 3 done.

A little Reggae please