CRUISING ADVENTURES AND GUNK HOLING IN SMALL SAILBOATS 15

Article By Richard Frye
Part 15 of the series: Backpacking On The Water

We gathered on the dock to discuss future matters when all of us in that group, just a few of the men, made the mad rush to our boats as a squall came down from nowhere! I was soaked and the inside of the cabin was a wet mess! That was my fault entirely for leaving the hatch open when I left Sea Mistress alone for a while. Normally I wouldn’t do that but I was only 20 yards away from her! My rule was when “Foot on the dock means hatch is locked!”…. My little rhyme was to help me keep things shipshape and prevent what had just happened! Lesson learned from not following my own simple rule! Wasn’t the first time! The hatch did not physically need locking; closing would have been sufficient and would have saved me a lot of pain an agony!

Well the damage was done and I stripped off my wet cloths and began to mop up water that was all over the inside. The wind had blown the heavy rain straight into the open hatchway from across her stern! The wind was howling and boats that were not in the mud strained their mooring lines!

I had made fast, spring-lines at starboard fore and aft and was facing the shore. This helped a little but if I had been turned 180 degrees to seaward and facing into the strong winds and rain, I would not have this horrible mess to clean up! But, in general all was getting better as the wind went away about as fast as it came! A few minutes later the sun was out brightly and steam rose in soft wispy trails from the dock, off the lines and from the decks of sailboats moored close to me. The local radio station reported that the powerful gusts that came and went in less than 5 minutes were reported to be over 58 miles per hour! I made a note in my log book, always sealed in a waterproof container unless I was writing in it!

As we recuperated from the blast of wind and rain dreary human shapes began emerging from the cockpits! A very dark almost black gray cloud was on the horizon that gave us all some concern, but seemed to be heading out to sea. That was a relief and a couple of folks were examining minor damage to their boats from being slammed into the dock. Mostly scratches on new paint or fiberglass gel coat but nothing serious!

The tide went out and two larger sloops were sitting full in the mud. I was near the end of the dock and still floated in a little over a foot of chocolate brown goo. Sundown was not far away with a partly cloudy sky and more rain was forecast for the remainder of the night, starting around 10. We all had a little time to get things in order. It was getting into late afternoon and a dinner meal was needed after I rigged a clothes line in an attempt to dry some my clothes, a blanket and pillow that got wet during the unexpected downpour!

Luckily I had plenty of dry clothing, extra dry blankets and an air pillow I picked up in a gift shop at the beach but never used. Now was a great time to try it!

Everyone cleaned up from the aftermath of the squall as grayish white smoke drifted from the hibachi grills that bore sizzling steaks, fish or some other delightful morsel! The aroma was dazzling! I too was noticing a growing appetite in my midsection! Mounting my own grill on the stern rail, I joined the group of seaside chefs! I observed that every single sailboat there in our group had their grills working! I fired mine up! And joining the “chefs”, I laid out with the precision of a surgeon….a couple of “gourmet” hotdogs from the pack of 8 that I gotten at Winn Dixie for .39 cents on sale. To add a wonderful side dish, I included some canned Amour Star chili that I heated on the side of the hibachi in a small 1 quart pot with a stub of a broken handle. The handle was almost too short to lift if the pot was full if it was hot. This is where the small Vise Grips came in handy! Anyway, I liked the ten cent little pot procured from a yard sail a few years back, and the lid that came with it! The pot always seemed to be just the right size for me when I wanted a quick meal, but if I was having shrimp then I had to use a much larger pot! An addition to my galley was my prized stock pot! It was used exclusively for crabs, but would only hold about 5 or 6 legal size blue crabs. It was just the right size for me! If I had company hungry for crabs and I had what I called a lot of crabs…say a dozen or two, then I would normally have to make two cooked batches for a dozen crabs unless I supplemented my meals with vegetables and bread…..and maybe a glass or two of Strawberry Hill! For all around use I preferred my 2 quart pot with the lid for almost everything. I have even cooked eggs and bacon in it! But for serious cooking, nothing could beat an old 10” cast iron frying pan with a lid of course! Just about anything could be cooked in cast iron! Even baked goods like biscuits and cornbread were delicious!

I attempted to bake a cake once from a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix that I bought on sale. I did get cooked eventually and it was truly delicious! I was proud that it was also the first time I had ever eaten a cake of any kind with a spoon and from a bowl! I made a mental note to work on cake baking! My wonderful cake totally disintegrated as I tried to get it out of the pan. Still don’t know what I did wrong! The cornbread was no problem and always came out perfect most of the time but once it a while it would crumble too but not this bad! My favorite way to make cornbread was in an oven or with the pan in hot coals from a campfire. I didn’t care for fried cornbread because it was just too greasy for my system. It was alright once in a while if I smothered it with butter and honey to kill the taste of the grease. I had to work on that too! Either way, oven or campfire coals worked great in that respect, so I decided next time I wanted to bake another cake; it would have to be on a beach where I could have that nice fire with hot coals and not be bothered! I would make plans for that action since it would also enable me to restock my cornbread that would last several days if kept in a sealed container or wrapped tightly in aluminum foil or Saran Wrap! It would last much longer if I had the old metal Coleman cooIer full of ice! At the moment, I had just enough ice for my glass of Strawberry Hill!

I would seriously plan to do some all-day cooking just for replenishing my baked goods! Occasionally I would cut the cornbread into rectangles so it would slide into a wide-mouth quart size Mason jar after it cooled completely, then I would pad the jars with strips of cardboard tied with cotton cooking twine to keep the cardboard in place. It actually worked very well to keep glass jars from breaking. I do that to everything now including wine that I store for a trip!

A wonderful jar of orange blossom honey was the culprit for the mess of a magnitude that would reign for at least 500 years! The jar broke during some heavy pounding in 6 foot waves as I was trying to make it into a safe haven from offshore when I sailed north from Daytona! Took a week to clean that one up! And I discovered little black ants in the bilge too! Ain’t figured that one out yet!

An old fisherman from Gloucester, Mass that had taken up residence in Virginia after he married, then moved to my area when I was a kid of about 12 years old gave me the tip about the cardboard when he lived aboard his sailboat called Brenda B, after his wife that had passed away. He kept her moored in the river only a block from my house! Technically you could call the river area my official playground!

I can remember my first time looking at this beautiful “pirate ship”. Now this was strictly from a child’s point of view! A typical inquisitive boy that full of imagination was amazed at how large she appeared at that time in history, and I was lucky that the old captain invited me aboard one day when I was playing down by the river catching fiddler crabs for fish bait! I had planned on catching a few sheepshead fish for mom! It is a beautiful fish with black and silver vertical stripes that ate fiddler crabs and barnacles from the pilings that supported the docks. They have some viciously tough teeth that can break rocks! Fingers too it they happen to be in the way!

He had seen me along the wharf often admiring his sailboat! I always set my box and pyramid crab traps off the old dock of what used to be a warehouse where fishermen and shrimpers unloaded their catch, but only on the weekends during school or most anytime during the summer vacation months! Mom was always glad to get a fresh batch of crabs which she prepared the meat and put into the freezer for later use. It was usually for some delicious seafood dish she would conjure up!

I can remember her crab and cream cheese sandwiches that were always a special treat when the ladies from her bridge club came over every Thursday afternoon and played into early evening. I was always treated with a couple of these mouthwatering morsels to get me out of the house and out of their way! Those delightful sandwiches full of crab meat and cream cheese were so much better than hanging around a bunch of women playing cards! Unfortunately it was still a school day so I jumped on my red Schwinn bike and headed to the river. Sitting on the dock near the shore, I observed the mysterious “pirate ship” while feasting on my special snack!

It was this Thursday when the captain of the ship peered over the cabin hatch and invited me to come aboard to look at his boat and right out of the blue he asked me if I wanted to sail with him on Saturday. I can explain the overwhelming excitement that took over me! But in a calm stuttering voice I explained that I dad to check with mom first. Well I asked when I got home and she said ok! I didn’t expect that! I was filled with excitement and distressed my by lack of patience because Saturday wouldn’t hurry up and get here! I didn’t think it would ever come!

Finally the big day arrived when I would board a “pirate ship” and sail off to an adventure with an old captain I didn’t even know!

His name was Ike and to this day I can’t remember his last name. I’m sure he told me! I helped hoist the mainsail and set the little one forward he called a jib, as he manned the tiller and messed with a small sail at the rear end! He set the small sail and looked earnestly toward the sea where the sky meets the water!

Captain Ike and I sailed down the river and out of the bay into open water! My first time this far out in any boat! This was the best feeling I had ever had as her sharp bow sliced through the waves! I was in a fantasy world and I wanted to sail to the Caribbean Islands and look for buried treasure! It was then and there when I turned my head from the endless sea ahead and eyed Captain Ike at the tiller with such a relaxing expression! From that moment on I wanted more than anything to learn how to sail a boat like this! Better yet….I wanted a boat like this!

It wasn’t long before I was at the helm steering the ship myself as the old sailor lit his pipe and glanced at me now and then with a faint smile! He knew I was in heaven!

A smile came to my own unshaven face as I chased down the last bite from the second hotdog with a big slug of Strawberry Hill! I had gone back in time for a few minutes that seemed like time stood still and relived a wonderful memory!

After dinner we as a group began to meander onto the old dock and talk about future events. At dark we were all aboard our own boats and the rain came early. It was a steady rain that only got severe a couple of times. The rest would be a patter to put anyone to sleep! Around 5:30 the rain had stopped but most of us slept in later than normal! About 7 am I opened the hatch with sleepy eyes and the tide was coming in but still not at the highest level. I saw the others preparing to move out now that the water was high enough in this creek! With motors warming up, I saw the largest boat with the deepest draft move down the creek with a motor humming. The old British Seagull was blowing gray smoke all over the place while I made my coffee. It was an older British Seagull and a great motor but very noisy, and I think someone had too much oil in the gas! I too would be leaving soon and kept the lead boat in sight. I cast all lines but one and started my old Evinrude. She purred like a kitten without that entire ruckus I had witnessed and she barely smoked at all! Ha! I said to myself! Now that’s a proper motor!

We met in the bay and another boat took the lead as we hoist sails and headed offshore and then south once more. Winds were steady and from the north-north east and sailing would be pleasant today with gentle swells. Today we were to put at least 25 miles under the keel as we headed to a barrier island down the coast.

It was now late afternoon and the lead boat spotted our landing area and hove to! I thought it was our signal to prepare to do the same. Turned to be, it was a signal to tell all of us when we got into hailing distant to sail around to the other side of the island and anchor near the western shore and wait for further instructions. Since this barrier island was a state wildlife refuge we had to be careful where we anchored. We could anchor there for 24 hours if in a designated anchorage and did not set foot on the island. Had to be a certain distance from any land!

With plenty of daylight left we anchored very close and some even rafted together so as not to drift away in the narrow inlet. Everyone was having a toddy for the body and enjoying the beautiful view and some of the inquisitive wildlife that came to the water’s edge to check on the invaders to their domain!

Grills were fired up, but some of the group had cold cuts or sandwiches, and I decided on a big bowl of pinto beans with some fresh finely chopped onion, garnished with sea salt and fresh ground pepper! I was out of cornbread so saltine crackers would be the compliment with a little added Tabasco sauce to give my meager meal some zip! Wow….it did! Cause I put way too much! I suffered and quickly ate that part as steam poured out of my ears, nose and eyes! The remainder of my beans was free from hot sauce! Didn’t need any more zip!

The sunset was nothing other than glorious! Very beautiful and serene in this tranquil setting! It was like something out of a novel when my arm was suddenly on fire! A huge horsefly the size of a seagull had bitten me! I had a whelp on my forearm the size of a quarter! Damn that hurt! I rubbed some 612 on all exposed areas after I cleaned the tiny bloody hole with alcohol that devil drilled in my skin!

Hum mm…this was not a good sign! As the sun dropped behind the horizon a squadron of mosquitoes…the insect not the airplane of World War II surrounded my ship! Horrible thoughts entered my mind! These things were the size of turkeys! I quickly got out the net and draped it over the boom and closed hatch way before they dive-bombed me. I wanted to be sure that none of these demons were inside the cabin with me when I retired for the evening! It was hot but this had to be done, and the air got cooler as the sun disappeared! Stars were out but there were still a few clouds hanging around. I poured a small glass of the red stuff and lit my pipe to relax and read until I got sleepy. My glass of red stuff was a small glass but I had refilled it at least 5 times! By 10pm only a short time after dark most cabin lights for the sailboats were out! I could make out some cussing going on across the water! “Where did these GD friggin things come from?” I guess he didn’t have a mosquito net!

So with that red stuff taking affect, I put my book aside, and made a sleepy glance through the netting at a star studded sky!