At Least It Didn't Snow! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Last night the wind blew something fierce. I got up today to hear NOAA say that we had wind gusts "of gale force" last night. They were enough to heel the boat significantly and enough to make me get up out of a warm bunk and go on deck and run another 1/2 inch line through the eye in the mooring pennant. It wasn't that cold when I went to bed but I could feel the temperature dropping as the night went on. My nose got cold !

I'll say one thing, everything sounds and feels worse at night. I doubt that the wind was really any stronger last night than during the day but the sound of it and the heeling sure made it seem worse. I heard all sorts of squeaks and rattles and tapping and all sorts of other noises that I had to identify. I had to know what they were or I just would not have fallen asleep and that took long enough as it was. I was really, REALLY glad that I hadn't succumb to the sunshine and warmth of the morning and made a dash down the ICW. It would have been really awful on a hook last night. I probably would have spent the night in front of the GPS watching the little sailboat go round and round and watching the depth sounder too. Having done that a couple of times, I can tell you it is no way to spend a night. Not that I want to experience it again, but I really didn't feel the boat dragging that time back in Thoroughfare Creek. Despite her size, ABISAHG moves fairly sprightly and it is tough for me to pick up any dragging though everyone says that you will know it when it happens. It is an experience I do not wish to repeat . . . like grounding.

I really feel sorry for some of the travelers on the ICW these cold nights. I wonder how many are adequately prepare3d. I got a semi-late start and so have a lot of cold weather clothes aboard but I wonder about the others. And when it rains, everything gets damp and never really dries out and that makes the cold even worse. I really felt for those swinging on a hook anywhere last night.

I got a call from a couple whose relatives I know. The live in Palm Coast about 25 miles south of St. Augustin e. They invited me in for dinner tomorrow and will even pick up the tab for dock the boat at the local marina. Free food and warmth. How can I pass that up?

The NOAA weather forecast this morning said that the cold front would move off out of the area Thursday. It is expected to head SOUTH!!!!!!! There has got to be some warm weather somewhere in this state . .. probably on the west coast!