Boot Key to Charleston, SC, Part 14
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Joan started the engines while I went out, took a shower, and brought in the dangling anchor. All we could do was put the bow into the wind, try to maintain our position with respect to land and ride it out.
Both sailboats regained control and did the same. Even though there was only about 3/4 of a mile of exposed water on our windward side, the wave heights easily reached 4 to 5 feet within minutes after the storm hit. Squalls don't usually last long, but they are spectacular and get your blood up. After about 30 minutes it was all over, the setting sun came out, and calm was the order of things.
In the morning, remember the vibration and bottom growth, I donned my shorty wet suit and with scraper and knife, went under the boat. The water at this location, although clean, had a visibility of only around 10 feet. Under the boat, I found plenty of barnies on the props and shafts AND about 20 feet of lobster pot rope entangled on the port prop. Clearing that and a gob of fishing line took about a half hour. Pretty damn refreshing at 6 AM.
Underway again we made an easy day. Passing Miami there are no places to anchor for around 40 miles. Promising to keep my wallet in my pants, we pulled up to the dock at favorite Hollywood City Marina. The folks there were just as nice as always.
The trip in the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway or ditch) up to within 40 miles of Charleston, SC was pleasant and uneventful. Then, there was loud exhaust noise. I looked around to see what boat was making the noise and unpleasantly discovered that it was us. The starboard engine raw water pump had failed resulting in a louder than normal exhaust noise. Quickly the faulty engine was shut down and we navigated on the port engine to a nearby creek and anchored to check out the problem.
At Boot Key, I had rebuilt both the raw water pumps with new impellers so it was an unexpected failure. After removing the bad pump, it was found that a shaft had sheared. Fortunately, there was a fish dock up the creek about a half mile, so I launched the dink and went there to make a call to American Diesel for parts. Well, the bad news was that they said our pumps were obsolete and not repairable. The good news was that they had new pumps on the shelf and would send them overnight to Charleston City Marina our next stop. B.O.A.T.