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{{{Trip to Gulf Coast, Carrabelle}}} {Wednesday, October 6, 2004} Ron and I began our adventure to Carrabelle under partly cloudy skies but with sunny dispositions and high spirits for a unique Gulf experience in our C22. Spooky towed well and we arrived at Carrabelle around 4 PM. We put in at the Moorings and anchored down in the Carrabelle River. Ron gilled filet mingnon and with salad fixings, we had a 4-star meal. We listened to the weather forecast and to our chagrin learned of 5 foot seas inside the sound, winds 15 to 20 with gusts to 25 and in the Gulf, winds 15 to 20, gusting to 25 and 7-9 foot seas with a small craft advisory from the Coast Guard. Ron had provided me with some pills that made me sleep like a baby. He stated the flapping rigging had provided him with a restless night as well as fear of having the anchors slip. Needless to say, I was oblivious! {Thursday, October 7, 2004} We awoke to a beautiful sunrise with wind gusts beyond belief, with the boat riding well below the waterline due to my “pack-rat”. (You know what I mean…, a ton and a half more packed than was needed.) With only a 4.5 HP kicker we decided that venturing from our present mooring was risky at best and Apalachicola was as far as the moon with the windy weather conditions. We decided to remain in our present position and to make the best of our fall adventure, cool breezes, clear skies, and Jimmy Buffet. My chef rustled up a unique breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and navy coffee. As we sat in the cockpit around our cockpit table sipping our coffee, we read about the North Gulf Coast C22 Cruise around Mother’s day each year and dreamed of this sail and a larger boat. I’m sure my “Pack-rat needs more packing challenges! Since we were unable to venture into the Gulf, we planned how to make our galley kitchen and packing more efficient (did I mention that our fresh water holding tank leaked? All six gallons of water had to be dumped overboard). We were beginning to wonder whether this fall excursion was jinxed but as my cup is half full, we decided to enjoy the sunny day moored in the Carrabelle River. We both needed the R&R. Ron wet a line and I read with Jimmy Buffet as company as Spooky rocked around with flapping rigging. We were at peace for a small time. We made plans to economize our boat, as we were not ready to return home. We decided to eat lunch in the cockpit and then pull anchor. At shore we rinsed off Spooky and the trailer, secured the boat and checked into the Moorings to stay the night and try some of Julia Mae’s seafood. We had a great time in spite of not putting up a sail.

{{{Over-Night Cruise, August 28-29 2004}}} Five Boats left OSYC Saturday morning about 11 AM with great expectations for a good sail and good fellowship: -Calvin and Grayson Smith -Tommy and Katie Barker -Jimmy and Charlotte Harrell -Bill Shaw -Greg Phillips The wind did not cooperate. Some of us made it to the Narrows before a motor rope was pulled. Two of the boats went between the Island at the Narrows and the shore. Didn’t think it was deep enough. Oh well, it wasn’t long before all the boats except Bill started up the motors and motored the last part of the trip to Goat Island. Greg Phillips turned around about this time and headed home. He had company coming and could not spend the night with the group. The Harrells arrived at Goat Island first to find the pre selected landing site, a sandy beach, was already occupied. We dropped anchor near the beach, a respectable distance from the party already at the beach. Calvin and Grayson came in shortly and did the same. The bottom was muddy and not a very nice place to swim but we made the best of it. Just before the Barkers and Bill Shaw arrived, the party at the sandy beach left and we directed them to a much better landing spot. They were able to step off their boats to a sandy bottom. We swam and cooled off in the water for about an hour. We then retrieved the GPSs and clues to the hidden cache and hiked to the summit of the island. All participated in finding the cache. A few weeks earlier I had taken my grandson to look for the cache and he was disappointed at the “treasures” inside the container. He insisted that I take him back to the island where he left a container filled with treasures that a kid would like to find. So if you have little ones, take them on a treasure hunt and get Cruiser Quest credit for finding the cache. You don’t really have to have or use a GPS but it sure makes it easier to find. The group left Goat Island and arrived at the Harrells place at about 6 PM. Food orders were taken and three of us went to Paradise Barbeque to pick up rib, chicken, and pork plates. We ate our fill and sat around on the Harrells deck swapping tales until about 11 PM. The Barkers went home to sleep in their house bed, as did we. The Smiths and Bill retired to their boats that were tied up at my neighbors dock. Being an early riser, I got up about 6:15 and made coffee. Noticed that the thermometer showed outside temperature of 72 degrees, good sleeping temperature. The Smiths and Bill Shaw didn’t begin stirring around 0800. I made a fresh pot of coffee and Charlotte served cheese toast for breakfast. The Smiths had cold steak they had grilled the night before. Bill and Calvin and Grayson left for OSYC about 1000 and we got ready to go to Atlanta to attend our three year old granddaughter’s birthday party. Before leaving for Atlanta, Charlotte and I went back to back to the club to retrieve my truck. John and Sherry Davis and Howard Gregory were there. Howard had planned to go on the cruise but he was ill on Saturday. The Davises arrived at the club late on Saturday and didn’t get on the water until about 3:30 PM. They sailed in the vicinity of the club and did not make it to Goat Island. The wind was lousy but the fellowship made up for it. It sure was nice sitting on the deck in the cool of the evening and the morning swapping stories with good friends. {Jimmy Harrell}

{{{Full Moon Night Race, July 31, 2004}}} The evening started with a fantastic grilled chicken dinner organized by Dick and Arlene and we owe them our thanks for expertly predicting how many people would show beyond those that signed up in advance. Even without the race, the dinner alone would certainly qualify as a huge success. All evening, before, during and after dinner, there was much debate about exactly how we should arrange the upcoming race. Various proposals were floated and discussed and revised. Finally Bill Shaw gathered a crew and headed out to drop some marks in the lake. The skipper’s meeting was another ad-hoc affair as we made up and changed the rules as we went. But everyone seemed to take the chaos in stride and we finally settled on the following: 1) we would start at 8:30pm, 2) we would race up to five laps around a two-mark course, 3) at 10pm each boat would finish their current lap and cross the finish line between the no-wake buoy and the club dock, and 4) each racer would record their own finish time, as we didn’t have a race committee to handle the finish. In hindsight, it would have been nice to have a race committee, but we managed well anyway. Meanwhile, my family was dealing with our own internal logistics. Right up until the very last minute I didn’t know who would be sailing with me or even if I would get to go out at all. Such it is with two little kids. In the end, 4.5 year-old Joseph decided he wanted to sail and as a result participated in his very first sailboat race! After much scurrying about, we pushed away from the dock just as Dick blew the six-minute pre-warning horn. We barely had time to raise the sails, sail to the starting line, make one turn to get lined up and head for the line. My watch said we started at exactly 8:32pm and Joseph said “I’m going to blow my whistle because I’m having so much fun.” The first lap was easy. Joseph “helped” trim the jib and kept us informed about the progress of the setting sun and two other boats that kept getting closer until they passed us by. The sun set right on schedule, but reflections off the clouds on the horizon kept some light on the lake for a good while afterwards. Unfortunately, those same clouds kept the moon hidden for about 30 minutes past it’s scheduled arrival time. By the time the moonlight was plentiful, it had been good and dark for half an hour. Now, there are several ways to find race marks after dark: you can take compass readings for each leg of the course, you can mark the locations with your GPS, you can use a powerful flashlight to scan the water, you can look for landmarks to line up with the marks, or you can watch the boats ahead and hope they get it right. I saw examples of all of these approaches that night, but on my boat we had no compass, no GPS, no flashlight, and took limited notice of landmarks. So we watched other boats and squinted into the darkness. Note to self, it’s about impossible to find a starting line flag in the dark – next time we’ll use a big buoy. This time we just crossed our fingers and sailed towards the club lights following the Griffins until it seemed the wind direction would be about right if we turned upwind. So we turned figuring there was no way we would ever know if we were actually inside the mark. But less than 50 yards later, Joseph said, “There’s the flag Daddy” as if it was no big deal. I looked over and saw the flag not more than 10 feet away slipping past us in the darkness. And then he said, “Daddy, I want to sail all night. Because I’m having so much fun.” Okay Joseph, we’ll keep sailing. At the windward mark we were starting to get moonlight but we had to sail past the mark to see the light on its face and make our turn. Heading down the back stretch now, we spotted a large group of boats still heading to the lee-mark. I shrewdly calculated that they certainly were close enough to see the mark in the moonlight and I headed exactly where they were headed. Turns out I was wrong, as all at once the white stern lights ahead turned to reveal green bow lights and all the boats, in unison, headed to the right. It was pretty to watch, but a bit disconcerting as an indicator of the mark location. After rounding the mark I gazed into the moonlight reflecting on the water and it revealed to us a secret path around the calm spot that had enveloped the boats ahead, so we headed off in what appeared to be the wrong direction to avoid the glassy water between us and the finish line. As we silently ghosted along in the peaceful moonlight and in the close company of friends in other boats, it was one of those nearly perfect sailing moments. Right up until Joseph looked over at a nearby boat and asked, loud enough to be heard and in all seriousness, “Daddy, why are they going backwards?” Softly I explained, “They aren’t, we’re all just moving very slowly.” We reached the dock shortly after 10pm, behind Bill Shaw who finished first and Ken and Jennifer Griffin who finished second. The rest of the fleet was back by about 10:30pm, with some finishing three laps and others finishing two. The multi-lap format appeared to work very well by allowing all of us to sail and finish close together. The short course worked well too by keeping us all within sight of each other the whole night which made for some nice views of sails against moonlight and red and green nav lights crossing in the dark. And finally Joseph was tired enough to admit, “Daddy, I’m ready to go home now.”

{{{ {{Goat Island Hidden Cache}} }}} The Cache has been hidden on Goat Island. The coordinates are N33 degrees 12.971 minutes, W 83 degrees 15.485 minutes. For all of you who are really adept at using your GPS, this is all you need. For all of us who need some help, look at the clues below. I went out today, April 6 2004, and hid the cache. It is a semi permanent Glad container about the size that will hold two sandwiches. It is hidden under some leaves under a log. Inside the Glad container is several small trinkets and an index card for you to record your finding the cache. You are welcome to take one of the “treasures” and are requested to leave one of your trinkets. Record on the card what you took and what you left. Here’s what you do: Using your GPS head out in your sailboat and plot a course for Goat Island (up the Oconee channel from Rooty Creek). Make landfall on the island and using the coordinates above, try to locate the cache. If you must, use the clues. Open the container, record your name and date and what you take and leave. When you finish, hide the container in the same place for the next seeker. You get 20 credit points for finding the cache, plus the points for a cruise to Goat Island. You also get 5 points for finding a goat. I have added 5 additional points for seeing a goose egg. There are numerous Canada Geese nesting on the island. They are very protective of the nest and it may not be safe to get too close. We did however find a nest that was unattended and there was an egg. {{{Clues}}} The cache is hidden near the highest point on the island. Look NNE from a position at the summit and find twin trees (two trunks coming from the same base). There is or was a rock about 8 inches across near the base of the tree. Look NNE of the double tree about three feet and find one larger fallen tree and two smaller tree sections next to it. Move the middle tree section and the cache is a few inches under the leaves. Jimmy Harrell {{{Pictures}}}