Sailing Last Mango

3-25-17     Today is the day weather forecasts said should best for crossing. The forecast was even more important due to the fact that Fracas had an exhaust mixing elbow issue and we were unsure how long the tin can and duct tape repair would last. The thought was to make the trip almost exclusively under sail to minimize engine use. Entering into Fort Pierce would require at least an hour worth of motoring so we knew that would be required. Greg does have unlimited towing but who wants to be known as the boat that got towed in. I don’t think Karen or I slept particularly good the night before. I was excited to be back on the road again sailing and loving the thought of sailing the whole way. Karen being apprehensive and excited at the thought of being back in the states with unlimited phone and internet. The plan was to have anchors up and leave by 5 PM sailing at roughly a 5.5 knot pace. This would put us arriving at the entrance to Fort Pierce channel at a...

3-16-17     The last several days have passed by quickly without much to speak of other than wind. The wind hasn’t been as bad as I thought, but has been out of the northwest which has caused the waves to slap the stern while at dock . Each slap of the waves on Mango’s stern alerts us to the building or dying of the wind and waves. If I’d been smarter I would’ve backed Mango in to the slip and let the bow take the waves. Two days ago I put the hatch boards in to keep the splashes from the stern from entering the cabin, last night we had the hatch boards in to stay warm. The low was forecast to be 59 degrees but with the addition of a 20 plus knot wind it was chilly. Karen and I made a somewhat early night and watched movies. Wednesday I did several boat chores including de-frosting the freezer only to have the freezer hiccup and not want to stay cool. While I was getting a bit pissed off at myself, Karen smartly went grocery shopping with ML. I starting reading the ...

3-7-17     Sometime last night the wind dropped below 20 knots and Mango seemed to calm with the wind. I was awaken this morning at 2:46 AM to the anchor alarm sounding for some reason, once my eyes focused I saw that the GPS lost its signal. I investigated further and found that I had neglected to plug the “Bad Elf” GPS to power and who knew that the batteries don’t last forever without being plugged in every couple of days. Anyhow after a bit of searching in the dark I found the proper cable and plugged into the USB port near my head. I was sure that we hadn’t lost our anchor since the sounds of Mango had quieted so much. No longer did I hear the lumping of the anchor bridal, the howling of the wind or the slapping of nearby halyards against metal masts. I played a “Moth” podcast trying to fall back to sleep and it worked after a half hour or so. This whole time Karen was fast asleep in the rear quarter berth where she’s been sleeping since Friday the 3rd. The ster...