Florida Sea Base News

The good news from yesterday was that all incoming participants were successful in getting out of the snow and arriving at the Florida Sea Base except one young man from New York.  We have 7 Coral Reef Sailing crews scheduled to arrive today.  I am very concerned that some may not be able to make it.  I will let you know tomorrow.

The staff did and INCREDIBLE job yesterday of going forward with program despite the gale force winds.  My hat is off to all of them.  What an incredible display of determination, teamwork, and professionalism.

At 14:00 yesterday we had an official wind speed of 39 knots from the Northwest.  The temperature was near 62º at the time.  It is 51º this morning (10º warmer than forecasted yesterday) with 18 knots of wind from the North.  Life on our dock is much easier with the wind shifting to the North.

With gale conditions out of the WNW yesterday we had many issues.  Many of the captains on the dock contributed time, knowledge and equipment in an attempt to keep S/V Siesta from being damaged by the dock.  This was no fault of Capt. Ed, the owner.  Our dock is currently full for the Christmas season and Siesta was docked on the outside of the T-dock head which is fully exposed to the westerly winds.  She was being bashed into the dock.  Fenders were put in place multiple times but kept shifting and popping out.  Finally one anchor was set to windward and that helped pull Siesta off the dock – but was not enough.  Later, a second anchor was added and I think that proved to be barely enough make the situation acceptable.  The bad news was that the upper lifeline on the port side was broken before the anchors were set.  I am not aware of any additional damage.

I ran into former staff members Lindsay Kuc and Dave Rumbaugh in the Chartroom last evening watching TV with Capt. Luke of S/V Lady Nell.  They seem to be happy and healthy.  They are great young adults.  I am sure they will find great success in their future.

Here we go!  The quote of the week will be, “Its high adventure”.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape (and running a little late)