Treacherous Seas Force Us to Turn Around!

Treacherous Seas Force Us to Turn Around!

Thank you so much for all the warm wishes, and for all the toothache stories you shared with me after my missive last week. I’m feeling much better! I only needed pain meds for two days after the extraction and the doc also let me stop taking those massive antibiotics after a couple of days, too. They were wreaking havoc on my stomach.

WritersWeekly’s Managing Editor (and BookLocker’s Operations Manager), Brian , is leaving for a one-month solo sailing trip this week.

This was before we entered the rough waters of the open bay.

Yes, he still has to work while he’s gone. He’ll be using a wifi card during his travels. We were invited to accompany him on his first day on the water today. We woke up to temperatures in the low 50’s and 11-knot winds. Not bad, huh? Once we hit Tampa Bay, however, it got really rough, really fast. Brian got to test out his safety harness. It worked! If he hadn’t had it on, he’d have taken a dive while working on the sails.

It was SO cold! Even with our rough weather gear on, our teeth were chattering and our noses were running. As we got closer to the Skyway Bridge, conditions quickly deteriorated. The forecast was updated to 5-7 foot seas offshore, with 20-knot winds. Although Brian has sailed in similar weather before, he decided it was safer to turn around, and we were pretty bummed about that. We’re going to try again on Friday. It’ll be 70 degrees then and the winds will be lighter.

On the marine radio, the coast guard was asking all mariners to keep an eye out for two men who went overboard yesterday. Seems some college students chartered a large boat and, while it was anchored, five of them decided to go swimming. The water was very rough and one of them didn’t make it back to the boat. The heroic first mate jumped in to try to save him and he’s now missing, too. Neither one was wearing a life vest.

What tempted anyone to swim in this weather is beyond me. It was in the 50’s and the winds were gusting very high yesterday as well. They couldn’t swim against the fast current. Florida’s beautiful blue waters and sunny skies can be tempting but there are several drowning deaths in Florida each year. And, in most cases, the swimmers made a very bad decision. When children are involved, it’s the parents who erred, with fatal consequences.

So, we are always careful. Just because it’s sunny out doesn’t mean it’s good weather for swimming. Pretty blue water in and around Tampa Bay looks serene but even the sturdiest of swimmers can’t fight those currents when conditions are bad. We’re feeling very badly for the families of those two young men today. 🙁

THIS WEEK’S MASONISM:

I told Max and Mason to make a small list of items they thought they absolutely could NOT do without if we take a sailing cruise for several days. Their important items must fit in a small duffel bag.
Here’s Mason’s list:
computer
my Tomy trains
my Thomas trains
food and water


Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.

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5 Responses to "Treacherous Seas Force Us to Turn Around!"

  1. Peter garland  March 21, 2017 at 12:05 am

    Glad you made it. Can’t imagine what impels college-age students to go swimming. Really? Enough of that.
    All the best,

    West Coast

  2. pamelaallegretto  March 17, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    Oops, I forgot to mention that I’m happy to know your dental “situation” is resolved, and you are pain free. Cheers!

  3. pamelaallegretto  March 17, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Those seas sound scary to me. Tell Brian I wish him a safe trip. I also wish you all calm seas for this weekend’s sail. Boun viaggio!

  4. Robert DeFilippis  March 16, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    I’ve sailed the waters of the Gulf from Ft. Myers to the Keys. Beautiful experiences with a few hours of sheer terror. All night sail toward the Keys, about 50 miles out to sea and storm with 20-30 knot winds, seas 8-10 feet and nowhere to go but the Keys. Good decision to turn back. Not very much fun standing at the helm all night waiting for the sun to come up.

  5. papagino65Gene  March 16, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    I am a long time ‘blue water’ sailor and thought that Brian might like to down load my novel, The Devil to Pay, most of which takes place aboard a yacht in the sea he’s sailing.
    see: http://www.smashwords.com/book/view/13845/Devil