- Local News for Southern Sailors - October 2002 Next Story
EAST COAST RACING
Port Everglades to Bimini (and the trip back)
By Dave Ottaviani
I was just sitting there, minding my own business when the phone rang. It was my friend, Chris Woolsey from the Catalina Fleet 38 calling to see if I would like to race with him August 30-31 in the Gulfstream Sailing Club's annual Race to Bimini. I had not been offshore in a while, and Chris was sailing a really fast boat, a Hobie 33 called Risky Business, so after thinking for a millisecond, I agreed. I do not usually like to race on holiday weekends, but this sounded too good to pass up, so the deal was made. I was confident in Chris' sailing ability and mine, so anyone else coming would be a plus. Gene Cochran, Catalina 22 Florida Touring Champion, was on board as well as Eddie Lewis, a well known Gulf Stream and South Florida sailor, so the four of us were locked in and ready to kick some butt.
The race started on Friday evening at 1905 with the committee boat just off Port Everglades. After some furious boat preparation, we made it out with about 15 minutes to spare. The other boats were in ready position and with a port start favored line, we went for it. We ducked only one boat on the start, Hawkeye, a Palmer Johnson 53 skippered by Mike Rush, and we were off. Other boats on the line were Santana, a Farr 40 skippered by Berry Kiljoen, Blue Highway, a Moody 42 skippered by Mike Limugi and Marylyn Momano, and committee boat and Gulfstream Sailing Club's offshore race chairman, Ross Hunton, with wife Astrid (the race committee starts 5 minutes after the gun and gets 5 minutes off the other end).
With a prevailing southeast wind at about 10 knots, we were comfortably moving south with plenty of boat speed. It looked like a typical race to Bimini; go south to Government Cut off Miami, check the wind and the Gulfstream, go east to Bimini, or if the wind is light or the stream is very strong, go south another hour and check again. You want the Gulf Stream working for you on the way over, not against. I said this was the usual strategy, but as time would tell us, it was not the best on this night. We kept going south, thinking that we would flip over on starboard around Fowey Rocks. After a while all the other boats had moved offshore, and we began to second guess ourselves. We talked it over, decided to stick with our original strategy; go south deep, and tack, then blast into Bimini on starboard just a bit off the wind. We had a fast boat and good skipper and crew. What we did not have was the sailing gods with us on this one. When we finally tacked over near Triumph Reef, all seemed great. Just about midnight, the wind went light, then slack. For an hour we were becalmed in what I call convergence, the meeting of two weather patterns. While the weather patterns were deciding which one was going to be dominant, we sat and sat and sat. Finally, the breeze filled in with a squall and rain from the worst possible direction for our strategy, the northeast! In late August! Just about unheard of around here and we were now back on port tack, pushing against the Gulf Stream. To make matters worse, at around 3:00 a.m. the wind clocked around to the east, and the rest of the night we had to tack back and forth to make the finish.
When dawn broke, we scanned the horizon for boats. No sails were in sight but we knew Hawkeye would not be out of sight if we passed her, only if she were ahead. We finished at 11:26 a.m. All the other boats had headed straight over on starboard tack, and when the wind came in from the northeast, they just kept on in the same direction, now on port tack. Our strategy had not paid off and we finished, tired and in poor position. The upside of all this was we had a great time sailing together, learned a lot about Hobie 33s, and we all got to know each other a lot better, and I am sure we will be better friends for it. No one got upset all night, no second guessing. We all made a decision and stuck with it, and this time it did not pay off, but I do not think that is the last time you will hear from Risky Business. She is a very hot boat with great boat speed.
Once in Bimini and after some much needed rest, we hit all the hot spots. It was somewhat crowded with divers and sport fishing boats because of Labor Day weekend, but that just added to the festive atmosphere. The End of the World, Weech's, The Absolute Angler, and The Red Lion were all visited. Then some more much needed rest.
Saturday, all the crews were meeting at Honeymoon Harbor for a raft-up and beach BBQ. On the way, we stopped at the concrete ship (an old WWII British transport ship sunk as a reef) and anchored for a swim. The crew of Hawkeye stopped with us, and everyone floated in the water tied to Risky for a time, and visited. Our boat valet Gene made sure all were treated well without having to leave the water. Thanks, Gene. Many boats were seen pulling up and diving around the ship, with lots of people climbing up to jump off. Our compliments to the crew of Moretail for showing us much more than we could have expected. Then it was off to the BBQ where all the boats were anchored, and the crew was relaxing on the beach. Sausage, hotdogs, and pickings were had by all as well as a great time. What a beautiful place to anchor, looking out over the Atlantic, but in the lee of a small island. We were sailing so we could not stay long. We had to get back to shore before dark. The entrance to Bimini is very shallow and tricky. If you do not line up the shore targets almost exactly, you will be aground. Then you have to pick your way north to the harbor in North Bimini by staying so close to the beach that it looks like you can jump off on to it.
It was dark when we got back, and it was such a beautiful night we did not want to turn on the engine, so we drifted in with the big yellow asymmetrical spinnaker up, and with Eddie's sharp eyes, made it back to the dock under sail alone. We pulled up to the Customs dock on North Bimini, jibed over to port, then headed for the slip at Weech's. The current was strong, so as we dropped the main, we were still too hot to go straight in. We did a quick 180 degree turn and with stern first, the current pushed us right into our slip. It looked so slick, no one would believe that it happened by accident. Oh well, sometimes you win one. We just had to go make sure that all the nice people that work at the End of the World, The Angler and The Red Lion were all okay and that they had enough of our money to last until next year before we turned in. Then our job was done.
We headed back Monday morning around 9:30 a.m. with very light winds. One of the other boats, Anticipation, a Beneteau Fiesta 38 with Mike Phelan, had left about 30 minutes ahead of us, so a little friendly competition was under way. Two sailboats always constitute a race, even if one does not know it. We put up the radial spinnaker and with the wind back in the southeast where it belongs, we took off. Making about five to six knots under sail, we figured we would be back in about eight hours, but as our luck would have it, the wind died to almost nothing. We waited for a while, but when the wind did not come back up, we decided to start the outboard. It was a 5 hp Nissan and did not look like it was very new, but it had worked when needed, so I did not think anything about it. After about 45 minutes, it began to sputter a bit, and after an hour died completely. Oh well, after all that had happened already, I was not surprised, or worried. We were well provisioned, and if we drifted north far enough, I could get off in Stuart and not have the long drive from Fort Lauderdale. We put the big asymmetrical back up and with all of us working every puff and wind line, we eventually made Port Everglades by 2030 hours. Just as we came up on the sea buoy, after almost 12 hours of sailing, guess what? The wind filled in and we screamed into the channel, past the cruise ships with the spinnaker up. It must have been a great picture for them. All that I could think of was too little to late. With a little fancy footwork, we managed to sail under the bridge and head back to the slip. We had to scull up the canal to the dock (would you expect anything less?), and 12 hours after we left, we were finished.
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Not everything went our way, but I think all would agree, a bad day on the water beats any kind of day anywhere else. Thanks to the Gulfstream Sailing Club (www.gulfstreamsailingclub.org), and to the skipper and crew of Risky Business for taking me along. You sure know how to show a sailor a good time. Look on their Web site for the sailing schedule and information about the big Gulfstream Regatta happening this February. It is just after Key West race week so if you are heading north from there, put it on your schedule.
GSC OFFSHORE SERIES 2002 BIMINI RACE, 29 AUGUST, 2002 FLEET: PHRF CLASS: A, START TIME: 19:05 COURSE LENGTH: 48.0 Miles Mariah, Pope DNF: PHRF CLASS: P; corrected times 1; Hawkeye, Rush; rating 33;7:41:24 2; Commotion, Hunton; rating 129; 9:15:40 3; Risky Business, Reed, rating 93 1:11:26: DNF; Santana, Viljoen; rating 102  Crew of Hawkeye and Risky Business from front left and going clockwise; Eddie Lewis, Tracy Dougherty, Morgan Sambel, Dave Ottaviani, April Holmes, Bob Anglin, Pete Ackerman, Chris Woolsey.  Crew of Commotion from left; Ross Hunton, Astrid Hunton, Teres Johnson, Chris Erichsen, Becky Erichsen, Chuck Emery.  Crew of Hawkeye from left; Pete Ackerman, Charlie Baumgartner, Tracy Dougherty, Morgan Sambel, Bob Auglin.  Eddie Lewis and Gene Cochran  |