CRUISING ADVENTURES AND GUNK HOLING IN SMALL SAILBOATS 9

Article By Richard Frye
Part 9 of the series: Backpacking On The Water

When I cleared the river’s mouth and well into the bay I turned her bow to the wind and stopped the motor. The mainsail was pulled then the jib, and I fell off to starboard with loose halyards, sails flapping as I arranged the sheets for my own comfort and could see that some adjustments would have to be made before the day was over and I would be getting out the tool box and hand drill! I trimmed the jib and it filled with air, and then hauled in the main sheet as she heeled to starboard steadily but gently. I felt her come to life! What a wonderful feeling when the power of nature fills the sails and pulls a sailboat with unimaginable ease! One thing for sure it that you didn’t want Mother Nature mad at you! But that was rare as she was kind most of the time!

South seemed good so I set her on a heading of 178 and slowly watch the problems of the mainland vanish behind me. Boat traffic was now gone, and the shoreline fading as I drove ahead with a steady NE wind off my port quarter. The sun was bright, the sky was mostly clear, and I sat back relaxing with a thermos of coffee in one hand and a tiller in the other. I locked the tiller in the jam cleat I had mounted on the bottom of it, and poured myself a steaming cup. Kahlua had already been added! Lots of it! What a flavor and zips up a cup of coffee to unimaginable levels who have never tried it! Not to mention a boost of encouragement

I immediately noticed the more solid feel of this “new” Sea Mistress! I didn’t spill as much coffee! In fact I didn’t spill any! Maybe I was concerned about the cost of replenishing my bar stock on the boat, and Kahlua wasn’t all that cheap when compared to the 10 bottles of Boones Farm Strawberry Hill that somebody gave me! It was super cheap but pretty to look at in a clear cup, glass or mug, but most of the time an old jelly jar was fine! But it was a beautiful pinkish color and wonderfully pleasant to look at when held up to the sunlight. The main thing was that I could drink a large tea glass of Strawberry Hill and not even get a buzz! Wonderful stuff when it’s free! That proved to be good on many occasions! Or maybe I was immune! Who knows but I did like it with a meal at times. But now the time of the day was coffee time as it was still only a few hours after dawn!

The sea was smooth with a pleasant roll in the waves at constant intervals. I even sat my coffee cup on the seat and it didn’t even slide! Wow! Now this impressed me even more as I usually had to chase it down or catch it before it hit the cockpit floor! But I had also glued some old bicycle inner tube rubber to the bottom of some of my bowls and plates, but not on the cups. I must have enjoyed watching them slide away while a chased after them! It was often a challenge to see if I could get it before it spilled over! I won this battle most of the time. I cussed a lot too! A lot of times!

The wind was a lower speed than forecast at around 8 to 10 mph, and was extra nice for me this time of the day, but I needed more breeze to give her a good shakedown. That would come later in the afternoon, when I headed back. But as the afternoon got close and time went on I didn’t turn back. I kept her headed south and in the direction of St. Augustine. I nodded and said the word out loud! “Saint Augustine!” Sounded good to me! The marina would park my vehicle, unhook and store the trailer as they had many times before at closing time. I knew everything would be fine till I got back, and I would call others when I made a landfall someplace to let them know what was going on if I could find a payphone. At the moment I wasn’t sure myself but one of those wanderlust bugs to bit me again! St. Augustine just seemed good at the moment! Yes…I decided that would be a nice trip!

Sailing overall was good for the rest of the day, even at the change of tides but the wind did pick up to about 12 mph. I smiled to myself as things began to get a little more interesting. I close hauled the main and reset the jib again! One thing I was noticed right off the bat is that she didn’t want to stay on course while hand’s off or even with my homemade tiller brake, but she would hold steady long enough for me to accomplish a quick chore. Later I discovered that if I eased off on the jib and raise the rudder slightly instead of having her hard down, she would stay on course much longer so I could actually make a sandwich, grab some snacks, and get something to drink or even have another cup of coffee and Kahlua. I did the latter! The sails didn’t really look right or did they appear properly trimmed, but it worked and I maintained good speed hands off for longer than I expected.

This was noted in the new ships log at this time because she “felt” better! The helm was rock steady but yet responsive and steering seemed smoother too for some unexplained reason! It is still a mystery to this day that I’ve attempted to duplicate with other boats and without the same result. Only thing I can figure is that she was perfectly balanced for a while anyway and her performance was fantastic! Later that day I found her sweet spot again when my stomach was growling for lunch!

It was late in the afternoon I sailed inland and I dropped anchor in a quiet little creek behind a marshy island. I think it might have been Cumberland Island, and wasn’t sure because I hadn’t consulted the charts. Who cared As long as I was in a safe place for the night it didn’t really matter! I’d figure out where I was sometime the tomorrow! I ventured further into the creek to be sure I had a safe anchorage as the tide was going out. A little alcove of to the South West would be perfect if I had enough water when the water was at its lowest!

I let out another 100 feet of anchor line and dropped a Danforth over the stern and then hauled back up on the bow anchor back to where I was and secured her for the evening with about 4 hours of daylight remaining. The creek was small and would not offer a path for large or fast boats to travel. This was safe enough and the bugs would not be out for another month. Saw grass and mud were on each side with no visible solid ground in the marsh to take a stroll on, so I put out two crab traps and two hand lines. To me this just looked like a good place for crabs and fish! In an hour I had 3 nice Blue crabs and one Stone crab. I just took the largest claw and released him. I finally got a nibble and caught a nice 10” Croaker and would surely have a seafood feast tonight! Another bite! The line was taught and I finally pulled in a nice 2 pound and very nasty Toad Fish! Back into the water he went! Some people will eat them but to me there are much better fish in the sea for meals! That’s a trash fish to me but I have heard they are not bad at all and taste very much like catfish. I’ll take their word on that!

I hung the hibachi over the starboard rail so the smoke would drift away from the boat and out to sea or across the marsh when the charcoal was lit. It was a gentle land breeze that was to my benefit in some ways with a fire going and food aroma in the air. There were times when critters of all sorts would be lured in to my cooking! I did see a diamondback rattle snake about 4 feet long swim near me and disappear into the marsh further down. I need to mention that there has been a few times when these creatures will try to board your vessel if you happen to drop anchor close to the uninhabited mainland or while anchored or even fishing in a narrow creek. I reached inside the cabin and got the machete off its hook, and laid it in the cockpit. Rattlesnakes are excellent swimmers too! I had learned from many old timers when I was in the Boy Scouts that a machete was a valuable tool and weapon aboard a boat of any kind! It was also handy on any outdoor outing or camping trip. This had been proven to me so many times by fending off something or another! Or making it possible for me to dig up something!

Most of my machetes were old military surplus from a local Army Navy Surplus store that was still in pretty good shape, and a very good quality. A tough tool without a doubt. They had proven themselves in jungles all over the world and in extreme combat conditions as well! I often got irritated with such a long blade and bought several cheaper machetes and either cut or ground the blades down to experiment with something shorter while trying to find the ultimate blade length! Some blades were cut down to a mere 10 inches in length making the overall length of the machete about 15”. A good size but a big butcher knife served the same purpose! I found that my machete with a 14” blade was becoming a favorite for handling just about anything! BUT…I discovered time and time again the machete with an 18” blade is just about perfect in size for whatever is about to mess with you! It stands to reason why THEY made it that length! I also noticed on the islands that machetes used by some of the local people are also about 18” but some cane knifes were a little shorter. A good sheath is just as important as the big knife itself! The standard military issue machete with an 18” blade kept many a rattlesnake from messing with me or boarding my boat! And on a few occasions its presence made others think twice before doing something stupid! The steel was good quality with as nice carbon content, and would hold an edge sharp enough to skin out a wild pig or deer as well! This when it became another great tool known as a cleaver to chop thru bone and gristle when butchering a larger animal for the freezer! It was always with me when I made a landfall on a beach or to gather wood for a campfire, and was capable of chopping down small trees. Another advantage is that these old machetes are easily sharpened with a small file or carbon stone. The machete has many talents and would always have its place on my boat or lashed to my pack! When on a land or a beach, I wore it on my belt or usually a military pistol belt.

After 20 minutes the charcoal had produced nice hot coals for cooking. I put a small pot on the grill and secured it with metal hooks I had made. These hooks fastened to holes in the grill that I had drilled so a pot wouldn’t fall overboard even if rocked by the wake of a larger vessel. As the water boiled I dropped in the big claw and two of the crabs. No more room in the small pot. Two crabs, a nice claw and a good fish would be enough for the evening meal. I threw the other feisty crab back overboard after she pinched my middle finger! My fault! I cussed while I looked for a Band-Aid, and raised my mason jar of Strawberry Hill! I toasted the crab and watched over the rim of my glass jar as she skidded sideways and splashed back into the murky water! The big female crab could thank me later! At least that was a nice way of thinking! Most crabs have an attitude problem anyway!

I refilled the Mason jar! Oh what a beautiful pink color when the jar was held up to the sun! The crabs would be ready in a few minutes so I set up my cleaning board to fillet the fish, and plopped both fillets in a little hot olive oil into the old 8”cast iron frying pan after I had rolled the fillets in a mixture of an egg, and little flower with crushed pecans! Didn’t take it long either! I found some Minute Rice and cooked half a cup also using the same amount of the crab water that was natural sea water I had bucketed while sailing in the bay, in much cleaner water. I like to have it for cooking to save my fresh water for drinking, making coffee and sometimes just to bath or rinse off salt spray! Sea water gives the rice a tad more flavor than just plain ole water and it was ready in about 5 minutes! As I might have mentioned before, shrimp and crab cooked in sea water always tasted better for some reason.

I checked my stores and that’s all I had ready to cook at the moment. But I did find some cornbread in the cooler that was still good from a couple of days before! Love that Tupperware! Cornbread and biscuits was something I tried to keep made all the time because it was good filler with almost anything! But I needed to buy some beans, beets and other canned vegetables when I made port at some time down the ICW. I always enjoyed going to the smaller markets for a better selection of food. Marina stores were ok but there prices were doubled! A trip to town was worth the effort when food was needed!

I prided myself on learning how to make biscuits from scratch because I had finally mastered the art of making homemade biscuits as well as a good pawn of cornbread! But I had to do the biscuit and cornbread making at home because I didn’t have an oven on the boat. I was going to try making both breads in a Dutch oven sometime while camped out on a beach for a few days!

I trashed out at least 200 pounds of flour and at least 5 different brands of flour before my first edible biscuit was born! Most of them could have been used for wicked ammo for a cannon or hockey pucks. I got angry one time when my patience had run thin, and threw one against the wall. It bounced off the wall, with no apparent damage to this thing that was supposed to be soft bread! I had to spackle a place on the sheet rock wall and repaint it so I would not get charged for damage it did if I decided to move! That would be hard to explain! Damaging a wall with a biscuit? Well?…. Frustration sets in! It can happen!

The fish was done and I smeared on some tartar sauce from packets I had obtained from a local fish and chips place a few weeks before. Condiments were rarely purchased if I could find them in packets. Honey, jelly, mustard, ketchup and pickle relish were fairly easy to find if I was in a larger city. So when I was in or very a larger city, I stocked up! Sometimes I had to ask for 6 or 8 packs because the waitress hid them behind a counter! When I explained that I wanted them for my boat a manager or waitress would often say to take a half dozen of each or help yourself! I thanked them most graciously and added 6 to 8 more packs to the 6 or 8 that was already in my shirt pocket! There was always a fist full of salt and pepper packets added to the quartermaster supply too! If I purchased large bottles or containers of the above mentioned, it would go bad before I got a chance to use it! On one occasion, some mayonnaise that had spoiled in the pack made me deathly ill and grounded me to the quarter berth for a few days, and close to the potty bucket, so I’m very careful with that now! I was alone in a desolate place when that happened and it sure wasn’t fun!

Now I was having a very nice meal in a beautiful place and would be enjoying an evening looking at the stars and sipping a glass or uh jar of wine to relax! I watched the sun set and lit my small lantern and hauled it up the mast but I was in a place where it really wasn’t needed. But it was maritime law and safer. I have to admit that there are times I just won’t do that at night for fear of being noticed a little too much unless I’m in a safe haven with other boats at anchor with people on board!

I listened to the weather report on a local radio station on the AM setting of my new transistor radio while raising my freshly filled jar to the setting sun. I gave a salute to the sea and all its beauty as the giant red ball disappeared behind the saw grass over a golden marsh!