Pavilion Key Trip -- Questionable weather but always good friends. Our little adventure into the teeth of a storm.Excellent trip report, Don. Those seas off Rabbit Key look down-right mean! I checked out your pictures and videos on Google. I found a few more that I thought were especially worth posting.
The following pictures are Don’s. This one shows the seas off the western tip of Rabbit Key as Don and Dianne approach.
Their colorful Pavilion Key camp on the morning after.
And look at this cactus and all the buds. Don got this picture on Mar 28. We are going back to PAV on Apr 13, and I’m going to check this cactus out. I hope the buds will be in full bloom.
Sunrise over Pavilion.
Also, I received emails from Don, Royd, and the Joey’s (Joey Cianciolo & Joe Slama) regarding their experiences on this difficult but rewarding trip.
As Don noted, I did try to give everyone a chance to cancel because a strong front was passing through the first day, when everyone would be on the water. The forecast was for headwinds on the order of 15-25 mph, 60% chance of thunder storms and heavy rain late afternoon. The forecast was spot on.
At the launch in Chokoloskee, Royd was loaded and left first. Don & Dianne were next. It was Joey’s first AI trip and first sail. Don helped Joey get a feel for it as I finished up loading my boat. Joey had problems right away—a fin came off his drive. We fixed it and continued. It was a tough trip down the bay for Joey, because of the headwinds. For a first timer, headwinds and tacking can be a bit of a mystery—you make great time heading off the wind, but, of course, your VMG (velocity made good) is awful. All this took some time and winds were building. As we progressed generally southwest towards the Gulf, winds became noticeably stronger. Joey was making progress, but it was slow. Royd was well on his way to Pavilion. Toby Nipper in his Kruger canoe had left early in the day and was probably on Pavilion. But, for Don, Dianne, Joey, and myself, progress was slow. Don & Dianne had reached the Gulf, and I could see them heading south towards Rabbit Key—Pavilion is 4 mi further. About that time, Joey radioed that his fin had come off his drive—in fact, he had lost one fin. Hmmm, things were getting complicated. I headed back and met Joey, who was becoming increasingly nervous about the winds and weather in the Gulf. With the problems he was having, I couldn’t blame him.
The choice was pretty simple: attempt to buck the winds and waves on the Gulf with a beginner having boat problems or head back. If we headed back, the winds we were fighting would become our friend. Joey would not need to use his Mirage Drive while running before the wind. It was a no brainer. We turned around and had a pleasant sail back to the launch. The weather, however, was not done with us. At the launch, the Black Wall of Doom came through and dumped buckets of rain on us as we loaded our boats onto the trailer and gear into my SUV. I think Joey was happy to be on land.
Here are some emails I received from Don, Royd, Joey, and Joe Slama. The first is from Don sent from his IPhone on Pavilion Key. The last is from Joe Slama after he arrived back in Miami. Joe has a colorful way of describing his adventures.
From Don:
Hey Keith n Joe,
Sorry to have left you two behind with troubles... We were already well out in the gulf and heading south when heard on the VHF from Keith that Joey was having issues again with the drive.
We realized that there was no time left to get out to Pavilion if we did not go right then but not wanting to leave you guys behind I thought maybe we should turn around to assist... we tried to raise someone on the VHF but no response although we could hear Keith's side of the conversation with Joey and since the conversation did not seem dire we decided to continue on. I knew Keith would be able to handle the situation and make the right decisions.
It was a wild ride... Had to reef twice as the winds came up... Waves running 4 to 5 feet with an occasional 6 or 7 footer slapping us around. Made it to Pavilion just before the storm front hit and barely got the tent erected in time which is where we stayed for the night.
I and Dianne, Royd and Toby are all who made it out and not expecting anyone else.
Beautiful day today though... Missing everyone else but glad to hear everyone who attempted the trip but returned are safe.
Thanks,
Don HaynesI asked Don how his 2015 Tandem had performed and how first-timer Dianne enjoyed the adventure.
From Don:
Hey Keith,
The Tandem performed nearly flawlessly! Although I had to run reefed most of the time, I had much more sail out than I could have had with my AI. One caveat though, on my AI I put the cooler right behind my seat and this works well with only an occasional interference with the main sheet… But on the TI there is no room behind the front seat and there is a much smaller space behind the rear seat. So I put the cooler behind the rear seat but it interfered with the main sheet when tacking almost every time especially when close hauled. Dianne was in the back seat and constantly grumbled about having to free up the main sheet on every tack. I will need to remedy this somehow…
I was very apprehensive about taking Dianne out on this trip due to the predicted wind and waves which, unfortunately, turned out to be fairly correctly predicted as, once out in the Gulf, we experienced constant 4 to 5 foot waves with an occasional 6 or even 7 footer along with a brisker than normal/comfortable wind. By reacting kinda slowly (I probably was intently looking at the GPS) I badly buried the port Ama heading out the channel once, so much so, it nearly threw her out of her seat… that scared her quite a bit… and then I did it a second time, not quite so badly, scaring her again. Each time I reefed a little more and eventually I had the sail trimmed where the TI handled easily in the wind gusts and she calmed down… just as we turned out in the open gulf and then hit those waves! But she took the waves and subsequent sprays of water well once she got used to getting hit by the constant barrage. In fact, when we were working on going around Rabbit Key she saw the surf and said “hey, let’s take a short cut through that”, much to my surprise! I warned her that that could be a bit dangerous but she insisted, so I cut through the surf, probably a little too close, and consequentially we have some interesting video that Dianne took to post somehow/somewhere (hopefully soon)… The waves and wind slowly built in intensity and “frequency” as we progressed from Rabbit to Pavilion and we were both glad when Toby’s Red Shelter was clearly visible in the distance and there was safe harbor on the back side of Pavilion in sight.
In the end, surprisingly, Dianne finished the trip with a smile on her face although she was a bit surly when we arrived on Pavilion with just seconds to spare in erecting the tent before the first squall hit us! She really was looking forward to setting up camp and relaxing but instead we were wet and harried and just jumped in the tent were we stayed all night.
She is looking forward to the next trip and that is all that is important!
Take Care,
Don Haynes
Tampa, FloridaI talked to Royd by phone while they were on Pavilion. He sent the following note from his place near Tampa.
From Royd:
Keith, I am back in St. Pete. Toby left Pavilion around 6am. Don, Dianne and I left about 9am. We had a lively sail back in. Tacked all the way up the pass. Good times. RoydJoey, for all his troubles, enjoyed the trip.
From Joey:
Well, regardless of not making it to Pavilion Key, I still had a great time, and a valuable learning experience sailing the AI. Once I got past the initial phase of learning basic maneuvering, I opened up the sail and began to fly across the water shouting "WOO-HOO!" No wonder you guys are addicted to sailing. I wish I could have kept going but my inexperience led me to turn around and take the safer route back to shore. I do have to admit that I did feel a little better about my decision once that storm cell reached us on land. Also, I heard some of the waves offshore were 5+ feet high. I am looking forward to the next outing in a few weeks. Hopefully by then I'll have my own AI. The weather will be beautiful. And I'll make it all the way. Thanks to all of you for your patience and advice. I will be looking forward to every sailing adventure for the rest of my life.
JoeyJoe Slama was late to Chokoloskee. As Joey and I were returning, Joe was just south of Chokoloskee Island in the bay but fighting a very strong headwind plus huge incoming tidal current. Impossible odds as Joe discovered. “PainenDias” is Joe’s WaterTribe name.
From Joe Slama
I got a late start out of Chokoloskee in my 18 foot canoe. Stopped at the Ranger station to check tides and was informed I missed high tide by 3 hours, the wind was 15 to 20 and a storm was coming and they expected rains and wind up to 28. Perfect PainenDias weather for canoeing. Everybody knows the weather is usually wrong, so off I Went from the CP2 beach. Dang, they really nailed the weather perfectly with winds on the nose from the SW. Tough paddling, but I channeled my IronBob mantra and my inner ninja told me I could make those two mangrove islands on the right of the channel leading to Rabbit Key Pass. I stroked my way confidently to within 100 feet of the islands but realized that thinking I am IronBob does not make me IronBob! I tossed out the anchor for a rest. Drank and ate and felt somewhat rested, so yanked up the hook and resumed my powerful cadence into the teeth of the wind. Now the tide was pumping, and I am going back fast! Threw out the anchor again to regroup. Keith and Joey came flying out of the channel and arced around to the east to stay in deep water. I blew my whistle, but they ignored me! Never heard it. And I thought it was a good whistle. Wind and tide conspired to undermine my resolve and when the anchor began dragging due to the waves (and no chain and short scope). Now I am in the dragon's teeth on the east of the channel. Looked over my shoulder and saw a solid black wall ripping down the coast from the north, and that is all it took to convince me to get paddling and get to shore. I actually got that overloaded pig of a canoe surfing and made it to the exposed shore and then around the east side of Chokoloskee Island into the lee by the motorhome camp. Ah, safe!
Just about this time a black wall of rain and a blast of wind spun my canoe away from shore and now I am heading into the mangroves east across Chokoloskee Bay. I suddenly lost all taste for camping! Unable to turn or maneuver in any way, I contemplate a short trip to the boonies. Maybe try the anchor again! Maybe just sink since there is no spray skirt! Necessity is a mother! Something. But this particular pig is 18 feet long, and I spin around in my seat and faced the rudder, which is up. Vacationers are waving and cheering. Maybe they have never seen a WaterTriber paddling rudder-first before, or perhaps they just finished a watching a rerun of the movie "Titanic!" Despite the wind, rain, and cheering spectators I found the nearest ramp to be quite a comforting place. Tom and Sue and their friend from Rockford, Ill. invited me to get out of the rain in their 37 foot double pop-out motorhome and then gave me a ride back to the Jeep. Then they let me back into the property and helped me load the pig on top of the Jeep in the rain. Happy birthday, Tom! You deserve a little party and I hope I made the day a bit more interesting. Tom is going to look up the WaterTribe, and we exchanged e-mail addresses. Tom is a power-boat guy and loves boats. Really nice people, and a lot of fun. Got my butt back to Miami in the rain while the canoe was shaking the top of the Jeep! Maybe sail Biscayne Bay this weekend. Chok was fun, and I miss the people out on Pavilion Key. Now just watch the weather out at Pavilion for the next 3 days! I bet it is PERFECT!
Joe SlamaFinally, Don and Dianne visited the Smallwood Store Museum—this is a 100-plus year building which was the original Smallwood Store on Chokoloskee Island. It is definitely worth a stop. Here are a couple pictures from inside.
Another happy ending to a little adventure.
Keith