Bird on me and High fives after 70 hours outside

IMPORTANT:  We changed the name on the Inreach site to include the name of the boat.  Please keep following us on the map.  The address is now:

    https://share.Garmin.com/svShawnee

We loved hearing from so many friends. We will be sending short messages of our progress on that website. You can send messages to us on the blog or email.

We left Harbor Town Marina at 4 pm with 2' to 3' waves outside, ready to take on the 500+ miles up to Morehead City, NC.  Little wavelets at the mouth of Fort Pierce Inlet.

I took the first evening watch and saw the first glorious sunset.  All land is over the horizon.  Water on all sides.

It was getting a little cool and the seas a little bigger so Drew buttoned down the dodger panel and closed the side curtains before he went to the aft cabin to get some sleep.   Mazu was already down there shaking and panting.  I took the first evening watch.

After looking about and checking the radar screen I lay down to get a little snooze as the boat auto piloted on through increasingly more turbulent seas.  Sails were up for stability.  With one eye above the seat I noticed a bird start flying around the boat and landing occasionally on the life line. Migrating birds this far off land will sometimes hitch a ride.  I opened the side curtain to see if it needed to come in and rest.  Sure enough

This is one of the coolest things I've experienced. The bird nestled down into the pile of jib line for a nap.  I offered bread crumbs and water.  It just wanted rest.  Later my son, a true birder, identified it as a warbling vireo migrating from South America. 
 I had put on a Transderm Patch that prevents seasickness, but evidently I didn't put it in exactly the right location behind my ear.  Around 10 pm at the end of my watch Drew came up to take over. Forgetting about the bird nestled down in the pile of line I immediately lurched to the side, hung my head over the ropes where the bird hid, and I barfed into the sea.  I felt terribly seasick.  I showed Drew the video and told him about our hitchhiker.  What happened to my ever reliable patch?  I retired to the aft cabin to rest.
Eventually Drew needed to pull in the jib line and adjust the sail  He said the bird flew out of the ropes into the night.

  Second day:  The next day just got more turbulent. Drew and I agreed, "This is not fun."  Fortunately when Drew suggested I try a new patch to feel better.  I moved the patch I had and put it on the bone behind my ear.  Twenty minutes later I was fine and could get to my feet again - do my watch.

 I even read on my kindle.

Clearly we rode the Gulf Stream most of the way. Here is proof on the instruments of Shawnee flying along at 11k.  That's 5 knots faster than if we were not in the stream.

Drew printed out the Gulf Stream's path before we planned the route for the trip. We put in the coordinates that matched the picture for our way points.  The Gulf Stream can vary by 50 miles or more. Its route and currents vary in intensity at different seasons and under various conditions. The key shows the speed of the Gulf Stream by color.  You can also see the currents that push boats around - the black arrows.  The Stream goes north and if the wind blows south against the Stream it can bring about some choppy large waves or swells.

We had one morning calm enough for Drew to make us a hot meal.  Scrambled eggs and coffee in the cockpit.  Otherwise eating is a grab n go affair.

 The second evening's sunset.  At night the moon is waxing to full.

 Not only is the western sky worth watching; the clouds in the east deserved a photo shot.




We continued to take turns on watch.  I had the afternoon into evening watch.   At 4:00 PM
                suddenly the auto pilot wouldn't hold. 
  I called Drew up to the helm and showed him.  He was shocked.  We've never had a problem with the auto pilot.  That meant we would have to manually steer the course using the compass - the old fashioned way - for the next 22 hours.  Rather than the auto pilot following the way points on the chart plotter we did it manually.  When at the helm we just kept eyes on a number on the compass and tried to stay right on it.  It's harder than it sounds because the waves, wind, and currents can change the boat direction constantly. In this picture we are heading 62 degrees ENE.  All this time we didn't sail just motored.  The sails helped stabilize and give us a faster ride, but the noise of the motor continued the whole time.

The third evening I was on watch again and another hitchhiker flew onto the dodger and bimini - the enclosure.  So cute on the outside of the window.

It is so cool being this close to wild birds and providing them a service.

Saturday morning's sunrise.

 We were getting closer to Morehead City.  Later that morning I turned on some music from my Itunes library on my computer, and we had a dance party.  My eyes stayed glued to the compass and one hand on the wheel.  Mazu even came up from below.  We think she smelled land.

Look closely at the horizon between the sky and sea.  We headed toward a thin line of buildings.  Nice calm seas and a beautiful day.  The biggest indicator of crossing out of the Gulf Stream is the water temperature.  It's a constant 80 degrees in the Stream all the way up to Cape Hatteras beyond our route.  As soon as we seamlessly crossed out of the Stream the water temperature dropped to 71 degrees.

We motored into Morehead City Marina and did not collapse.  I gave Mazu a shower and the boat a shower to remove caked on salt.  We had an excellent drink at 3 PM and dinner at 7 at Floyds 1921.  Dinner conversation centered around possible solutions to the auto pilot.  We would see the next day when Drew dropped into the cockpit bin and unscrewed the wooden box that held the auto pilot.  We slept like logs.

Sunday  We did take a break from the boat and used the marina's loaner car to get a Starbucks coffee and see the Fort Macon State Park. 

We drove back to Shawnee, and I emptied the locker for Drew to go in to see how to fix the problem.  Here is the whole auto pilot assembly after one panel was removed.

 Look closely and you will see the wire is not inserted into the yellow.  It's broken and corroded.  A relatively simple fix.  "OK, Deb, come up and start the auto pilot while I watch it."

This video shows the real problem that will be addressed tomorrow before we head out.  I laughed happy that it is repairable.

As I turned the wheel at the helm the screws holding the board in place slid right out of their holes.  We need bolts to hold it down.