A New Dawn

Not everything is going to go your way. Sometimes you feel like something is a sure thing, meant to be, and then it falls apart in your hands despite your best efforts. Sometimes you meet the woman of your dreams, go to radical lengths to make it work (ie. move 1100 miles to a new city to be closer), and find yourself single within a week. Sometimes you move into a room off of Craigslist, only to find out that the other people in the house are psychopaths with no discernible sleep schedule.

All you can do is suck it up and keep moving forward. Realize that nothing is permanent, and you've already made it through dozens of bad situations before this. There's always tomorrow, and if there's not, then at least you don't have to worry about it anymore.

It's time to move on. Accepting the things I cannot change, and working towards my goals. I've started the process of applying for the July start at the New York Film Academy, found a new job as a security guard in Manhattan, and have begun convincing myself that being single in New York City definitely has it's advantages.

Here's to new beginnings. Cheers.

New Direction

Well, seeing as I no longer have a boat. I guess this blog can no longer be about my sailing experiences. So, instead. It will now be a chronicle of my experiences as I assimilate to New York City. Stay tuned for updates.

Saying 'Goodbye'

Looks like tomorrow I'll be selling Justus. It's a melancholy affair, but necessary. I'm glad she'll be going to a captain that will enjoy her as much as I have.

Tough, but necessary decision...

So, I've decided to put Justus up for sale. My current situation doesn't really afford me the luxury of owning a boat. So, somebody is going to make out like a bandit on this one. I'm offering the boat up for only $3000. If anybody is interested, send me a message. Currently, it's docked in Palm Coast, FL.

On the Hard for a week...

Well, aside from a brief trip back to Justus to do some cleaning and pick up some stuff I had left on board, I've been on the hard at my Mom's house for a week now. It's been nice, having extra space, and running water, etc... but I'll admit, I do miss being on the boat. Tomorrow, I'll be heading back up to Savannah for the night, to see The Collective Face's production of "Salome".

Finally done... pretty much.

Well, I've made it home. I pulled into Palm Coast marina in Palm Coast, FL on Wednesday, and my mom picked me up to head back to her house. I'm still planning on moving Justus a bit further down the coast, but for now, I'm happy to be done the trip.

"Kestler? Chrestman? Kastor?... Green Sailboat!"

I finally made it to Florida today. I left Savannah four days ago, and have anchored out every night since. It's been pretty lousy weather the whole time, overcast and chilly. One thing I discovered on this recent leg of the trip, is that I despise the Georgia section of the ICW. I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad in fair weather, but crossing all of the sounds in high winds and flood tides is no fun. Sapelo Sound was the first bad one, with pretty high winds, the current going against me for the majority of the time, and rough waves. I felt some relief when I reached the other side and dropped anchor for the night. The next day, I had to cross three more sounds, the two that were the worst were St. Simons and St. Andrews. St. Simons was pretty easy going for the first section, the wind and current were with me, and I was cruising along at around 7.4 knots. When I turned to starboard to complete the sound, that's where things got interesting. The waves picked up pretty fast, and the wind was relentless. Since my boat doesn't have a functioning centerboard, and only displaces 6600 lbs, it doesn't handle rough seas very well, so I was struggling to make it through the sound. I finally reached the other side, and briefly considered dropping anchor near Jekyll Island for the evening, but it was only around 2:30, and I still had three hours of daylight left. I decided to press on and tackle the next sound, St. Andrews. Again, not too bad heading out, almost no waves, and I was getting pretty good speed. Looking at the chart, I realized that the route would take me almost out to the Atlantic, and I have a shallow enough draft that I could just cut right across and shave almost an hour off my crossing. Good idea. Just as I turned to cross the sound, I heard someone come over the VHF, "Kestler? Chrestman? Kastor?... Green Sailboat!" I responded, "This is the Kestrel, send it" what came back over the radio both made me laugh and worry, "Conditions in the St. Andrews Sound are extremely rough, recommend you stay in Jekyll Island for the night" Too late. Around that time was when the conditions took a turn for the worst. The thing about sounds is, a lot of the time, the waves don't really come from the same direction, they just kind of pop up out of nowhere, like a kid thrashing around in a bathtub. I'm the rubber duckie. I fought through the rest of the sound, and made it into the river on the other side, when a Catamaran, the Cadenza came over the radio asking if I was looking for an anchorage for the night, and recommended a good spot near them. I dropped anchor for the night, drank my last beer, and went to sleep.
        This morning, I woke to high winds again, but, since I had timed my departure with the rising tide, didn't think that the Cumberland sound would be that bad. I was wrong. Before I had even made it out to the sound, still in the river inlet, I was experiencing three foot waves and high winds, tossing me all over the place. At one point, I went to gibe, and lost control of my jibsheet, the jib went flailing in the wind violently, and popped the shackle off the block. I furled the jib, and quickly went forward to repair the block, there was no way I could cross this sound without my jib. I fixed the shackle, unfurled my jib, and took off at about 6.5 knots. Again, I ignored the marked channel, and cut straight across. Until today, I had never buried my rails while just using my jib, but in 25-30kt winds with 4-5 foot waves, it happens. I came out the other side of the sound, and made my way to Amelia Island Yacht Basin. I was very excited to finally be secured to a dock again, and have some shelter from the wind. My excitement was premature, as I still had to deal with the entrance channel to the marina. To get here, I had to run perpendicular to the wind, which was still blowing at around 21kts. My little outboard couldn't fight the wind at such an angle, and I was blown out of the channel and ran aground a few meters away from some railroad tracks. After a significant amount of trouble trying to get ahold of Towboat U.S. I was hauled out of there. Now I get to sit back and relax for a day or two, until this wind dies down and the sun comes back out. I've had it with nasty weather for a while. That's why I came to Florida after all, sun and sand.

Morton Salt, eat your heart out.

Crossing St. Simons