March 2 Log Entry

02 Mar 2009 1405 hrs GMT (mid mid morning) 0905 hrs local
Lat 24º 34.95' N Long 81º 48.21' W
At anchor Key West Florida
Wind 23.8 knots W by NW
Sea State -2' to 3' with some white caps - Beaufort
Air Temp 60.6ºF Barometer 30.13 rising
low broken cloud cover

A long night on anchor watch. Winds to full storm strength, excess of 50 knots. Second Star performed flawlessly. She rode her anchor well. Things seem to be calming down now, the winds are for the most part under 30 knots and the whitecaps are mostly gone from Man O' War Harbor.

An interesting and somewhat perplexing event happened just after 0500 hrs local. I was snuggling with Eve on the couch listening to the the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos chants. It is pitch black outside with the just the wind and the waves and the radar echoes. Suddenly the starboard side of Second Star is illuminated with a bright white light, that floods the salon. My first thought was “damn those monks really know how to chant”, my next thought was either I or someone else is adrift in the anchorage and trying to warn me of an imminent collision. I jump up and checked the radar and we hadn't moved. Neither had any of the boats moved in relationship to me. Just a small target moving up on starboard.

Using the binoculars I could observe a low vessel motoring up to the Freedom 40 cat rigged ketch off my starboard beam. The ketch was unattended as I hadn't observed anyone aboard during our stay her, but she was well moored and was riding the storm well. In the illumination of the spotlight now trained on the ketch I could clearly see her waterline well above the waves. So she wasn'r sinking.

There were two men aboard the motor vessel. While the helmsman held along the port side, the second man leap aboard the ketch amidships and moved very swiftly to the bow carrying what appeared to be a tow hawser. He passed the hawser around the pulpit and I am assuming secured it to a cleat. Meanwhile the helmsman moved the towboat forward and I could read the name Marine Assist on her hull sides. She had an orange hull with a small vertical house well aft and very low freeboard. She was taking waves over the bow and down the decks. Marine Assist then moved forward of the ketch and took up the slack in the hawser. Slowly the ketch inched towards her mooring ball. I couldn't see how the ketch became unattached from the mooring, but the tow moved forward towards the NW then turned 180º to port and towed the ketch back towards Key West.

As I pondered this event, I couldn't understand why someone would wait until this late in a storm to move a vessel to safety. It was apparent and well broadcast that this front would arrive mid afternoon yesterday and bring some severe weather with it. If you did have a panicky owner why not wait another hour until daylight. It certainly appeared to me that she was riding well and high, with no evidence of a slipped mooring. Now she may have been equipped with watch system that reported water in the bilge or some other condition aboard and had alerted Marine Assist to respond.

I put the thoughts away until just after dawn Marine Assist was back and cruising around in the anchorage idling up towards one boat after another. Someone on a schooner aft of Second Star came out on deck and spoke with the crew of Marine Assist which then proceeded wandering south through the anchorage then across the channel to the West.

Very odd behavior when taken as a whole. I think I will have a chat with Coast Guard when I get in the Marina. Key West was founded by wreckers who would lure ships onto the reefs using false lights then plunder their victims.

Going to take a shower and get a nap since the wind appears to be subsiding.

0140 hrs GMT
Winds 22.7 knots WNW Barometer 30.15 in hg ↑
Sea State 1 to 2' out of the West
Bed time. It has been a long 36 hrs. This afternoon I lowered the dingy and rode into Key West. The harbor is still pretty lumpy; with only one person aboard it was a boisterous but dry ride. I tied up at the Turtle Kraal and walked to the Cubanista's hardware store to look for some ceramic inserts for the guides on one of my rods. No joy, but it is always pleasant to wander around an old fashioned marine hardware store.

Afterwards I walked on down the street to the Coffee Plantation which has WiFi for the price of a cup of coffee. I looked at my e-mail, perused the BBC news, made a couple of comments on Facebook and sent off my logs to Jeni for posting on the web site. By then it was time to meet Commander Mike who had graciously volunteered to drive me to Home Depot to get the boost pump for the water maker. Harry had located the pump in the Ft. Myers Home Depot. After looking and then inquiring it seems that Home Depot Key West doesn't stock the same inventory as Ft. Myers. They can special order it and have it in 7 to 10 days. Aeon is coming home on the ferry tomorrow and she can bring one from Ft. Myers and barring any other surprises we will have fresh water from the sea by tomorrow afternoon.

The winds seem to be holding below 30 knots so I can sleep in my bed tonight. It is amazing that on our second night here I spent the night on anchor watch because the wind was blowing 25 knots. Now I am going to bed because the wind is blowing 25 knots. Experience is the thing you get right after you need it.