Alana won her anchor at high tide this morning and rode the ebb current out of Charleston Harbor.
I can’t pass the Charleston jetties without thinking of the case of the S/V Morning Dew which, back in the late 90s, plowed into the north jetty costing all four persons aboard their lives. At a time before everyone had a GPS, I recall that Morning Dew was trying to enter Charleston in the wee hours of the morning in fog, a few days after Christmas. They thought they were between the jetties (largely submerged jetties with rocks peaking above the surface here and there), but in fact were north of the north jetty. A passing boat reported hearing cries for help and notified the Coast Guard, but could not locate the source of the yelling. The CG’s response left much to be desired and after much litigation and congressional investigation, a great many policy changes were put in place. This was one of the truly shameful events in CG history, ranking up there with the Simas Kadurka incident. I shall endeavor to keep Alana off the rocks.
With the autopilot being entirely unreliable, my plans are flexible. I’m hoping to get to Sapelo Island tomorrow, but that may be a bit ambitious if I have to hand-steer all the way. Given the northwesterly winds, I suppose I could always nose up to the beach, drop the hook and take a nap if I get tired. It is less than 300 miles to Port Canaveral, so I don’t need to kill myself to get there by Wednesday. Truth be told, Canaveral is just a goal. I can always leave Alana a bit north of Canaveral while I meet Jessica for Thanksgiving if necessary.
I can’t pass the Charleston jetties without thinking of the case of the S/V Morning Dew which, back in the late 90s, plowed into the north jetty costing all four persons aboard their lives. At a time before everyone had a GPS, I recall that Morning Dew was trying to enter Charleston in the wee hours of the morning in fog, a few days after Christmas. They thought they were between the jetties (largely submerged jetties with rocks peaking above the surface here and there), but in fact were north of the north jetty. A passing boat reported hearing cries for help and notified the Coast Guard, but could not locate the source of the yelling. The CG’s response left much to be desired and after much litigation and congressional investigation, a great many policy changes were put in place. This was one of the truly shameful events in CG history, ranking up there with the Simas Kadurka incident. I shall endeavor to keep Alana off the rocks.
With the autopilot being entirely unreliable, my plans are flexible. I’m hoping to get to Sapelo Island tomorrow, but that may be a bit ambitious if I have to hand-steer all the way. Given the northwesterly winds, I suppose I could always nose up to the beach, drop the hook and take a nap if I get tired. It is less than 300 miles to Port Canaveral, so I don’t need to kill myself to get there by Wednesday. Truth be told, Canaveral is just a goal. I can always leave Alana a bit north of Canaveral while I meet Jessica for Thanksgiving if necessary.
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