Southern Blvd Bridge

The ICW in Florida is notorious for all of it's draw bridges. Some of them open on demand when hailed on CH9, others open on a schedule. This bridge does not open.

The Southern Blvd Bridge in West Palm Beach has been under construction for some time and has not been opening. 

The first opening after a long time was on April 17, 2018 at 7:30am. We anchored near it the day before the opening so that we wouldn't miss the opening and miss our chance to make it further North. 

We were not the only ones who had this idea, and we were among many other boats that had anchored right by the bridge.  

Early in the morning, we got the anchor up and joined the fleet in a holding pattern as we waited for the bridge to open for the first time in a long time! 

There were 4 southbound vessels and 15 northbound vessels at the bridge and it would appear that courtesy had been forgotten. 

Right of way in this situation pertains to the current. The yacht that is moving down current has right of way over the vessel moving up current. The reason is simple, the vessel moving downstream can not stop. Should they stop moving, they will drift into obstacles in the river. The vessel moving upcurrent can stop and avoid obstacles as the current will bring them backwards. 

As the bridge was opening, a very large yacht (over 100 feet in length) decided that he would go first, rules be damned. He positioned himself right in the middle of the bridge as the bascule was opening. On the other side of the bridge was an old motor sailor (a gorgeous wooden boat of similar size) that had been told by the bridge tender that he was to be the first to pass through. It took some stern words from the bridge tender to get the pushy powerboater to stand down and allow the boats to pass through in an orderly and safe manner. 

Beating or Heaving To

Optimal weather to exit an inlet isn't always optimal weather to make it to your destination. When we left the Fort Pierce Inlet, the winds were light and we were able to slip out with the current. Once out there, the winds were blowing from the South, directly where we wanted to go.

That night, the winds were forecasted to switch and start blowing out of the North, allowing us to run towards our destination.

We started out tacking close to the shore, but the Gulf Stream is pretty close to shore in this area, so we were forced to hang out near the shoreline. Short tacking proved pointless, as we were working hard to make any windward progress and still in sight of the inlet from which we started. This is the little zig zag that we did when we first exited.

So instead of fighting the wind, we just hove to and let it drift us along to the North. We made dinner, relaxed, and took it easy as we drifted through the water. When the winds shifted, we covered all the miles we had lost in about an hour! This means that we could have fought and started the voyage tired when the winds arrived, or relax and wait for the right winds to take us where we need to go. 

Sail Balance when Running

The goal with sail balance is to have your sails steer the boat, and the rudder simply help hold the course. 

In balanced sails will pull the yacht hard upwind or down, meaning that if the sails are not set to the course, your rudder will have to fight them the whole way there. 

When running, it feels pretty tempting to ease the mainsail all the way out. This will present the most sail area to the wind, pushing you downwind, but it also does something unwanted.  

The mainsail will become a large area of sail to one side of the boat, and will try to act as a lever arm, pushing the boat to turn in the opposite direction. If the main is on the port side, the boat will try to turn to starboard. If the main is to starboard, the boat will twist to port. 

This problem is called weather helm, and usually corrected by easing the main, or reducing its area. Since the main has been eased as much as possible at this point, the only option left is to reduce its area.  

As the main comes down, the desire for the yacht to veer upwind will minimize and the downwind pull of the headsail will keep the yacht right on course.  

Yes, this yacht could go faster if it were also flying the mainsail, but it would have to work on keeping the helm straight as it traveled. Sometimes, slowing down and reducing sail area will make the entire journey easier and more pleasant. 

Next time you are setting your sails, consider which direction you want to go and set the sails that would be most advantageous in reaching that goal, strike any sail that will make your life harder and enjoy your voyage! 

Heaving To (For Convenience)

There are many reasons to heave to, usually all related to stopping the boat to fix something that has gone wrong.  

It could be that the weather has become too powerful to safely navigate, or that your gear broke and you need to stop and tend to repairs. It could also be that someone fell overboard and you need to recover them! 

All of these situations involve something that is not good happening, and heaving to to let you fix it.  

There is one pleasant reason to heave to: because you want to. 

If you are granted a weather window to leave an inlet but are faced with an upwind destination, you could either tack forever and work like a dog; or heave to and wait for the right winds. 

Heaving to will pretty much stop you in the water, making you slowly slip sideways through the sea. This means that you will move slower than if you ran, or lay a hull (which would be the equivalent of running under bare poles). 

Heaving to also keeps your sails ready should you drift into something and need to get away from it. If you were laying a hull, you would need to hoist the sails and set them, whereas heaving to would only require that you set the sails. 

Once the weather you want comes around, you will then scoot right along without having to work very hard. This will put you further along and makeup for the day you sat waiting still in the water. 

Waiting for Wind

Sometimes the best wind to get to your next destination is not the same wind that you need to get out of your anchorage. We were very happily moored in Fort Pierce, FL. ​

We were on a mooring ball and the conditions were comfortable, even in foul weather. But, we want to get to Miami, which lays about 120 miles south of Fort Pierce. ​

To get to Miami, we really need the Northerly winds brought down by a cold front. These systems will bring powerful winds that will blast you towards your destination with very little sail flying. We have sailed this way successfully since Charleston, SC, flying only the storm jib and trysail.​

To safely leave the Fort Pierce inlet, we needed a nice calm day when we could ride out gently with the current. So, we slipped out of the inlet and out into the Atlantic Ocean, where we were met with a gentle southerly breeze. We tried tacking a bit to make some miles south as we wait for the cold front that will arrive tomorrow., but to no avail. We tacked for over 2 hours, and only moved a few miles from the inlet. The palm trees that line the inlet are still very clearly visible and the work seems to be in vain. ​

So, here we sit, on a gorgeous day, hove to. three yachts are dialing past us, flying only their massive genoas, as they ride the downwind passage to their northern destination. We, on the other hand, must wait for tomorrow to make our miles!​