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We were up at 3:30 AM and underway a few minutes before 4:00 AM. I like leaving early and in the dark. Its a bit spooky, but it just feels good. Tide Hiker has such purpose in the dark. The engines are rumbling, the nav is booting, the radar is warming up, the coffee is brewing, the radio is swarking, and Deidre and I are running around with flashlights stowing gear and dropping lines.
Its really dark on the water, except for all the lights that just seem to blind you. The back lit instruments are all tuned way down so I have to use a flashlight to see what I am doing. The windshield in the wheelhouse is totally back. There is no way to "see" anything so I rely totally on the radar and chart plotter. As we leave I transmit on the radio: "Security. Security. Motor vessel Tide Hiker departing Ocean Petroleum, outbound" A few minutes later I get a response - from an inbound tug pulling a large barge, inbound. I navigate the boat from the fly bridge while Deidre watches the radar in the wheelhouse and we talk using a cheap pair of walkie talkies. It took us 90 minutes to get out of the harbor and into the channel. We never saw the tug and barge.
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| Just pre dawn |
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| Real dawn |
The sun was up by about 7 AM. The wind was a bit brisk after sun rise, but was basically on our stern, and Tide Hiker is comfortable in those conditions. We spent the day eating and listening to a "book on tape" that we had downloaded using the wifi in St. Augustine. We completely bi-passed Georgia and arrived at the Port Royal bouy about 4 M. the tide was with us and so ran up the river at a brisk 8 or 9 knots. A very good days work - xx NM in 14 hours.
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| "Give way to the right" |
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