FL 120 2K26 Pt 1 of 2 . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

He that will not sail till all dangers are over, must never put to sea.
--- Thomas Fuller

Wednesday:
Hey! What's a Brennan Trip, without a Trailer-Sailor, Trailer-Failure?!? 
Left bright and early Wednesday morning to drive to Pensacola, Florida, for the Florida 120, first time in 2 years. 
Very little traffic and very good weather, with not a care in the world! 
Made my usual 100 mile stop (that coincides with the built-in automatic Aged Kidney Timer!)    and inspected the trailer and discovered I was missing a Bearing Buddy hub cover! 
"Good thing I carry spares for everything!"    I thought, perhaps a little too smugly.
All the tools and spares necessary to service trailer hubs on the road, are kept full-time in a large tote bin in the truck so in minutes, I was on my way again.

Next 100 miles, while getting the kidneys drained and the fuel tank refilled, I checked the trailer again  . . . . . .
 . . . . . . . . . . (now, don't everybody get ahead of me!) . . . . . . because this time, BOTH hub covers were missing!! 
DOHHH!!!! 
Man, that's a lot of expensive Bearing Buddies, scattered along the road. 
Seeing my hub assembly looking all exposed and naked like that, made me vaguely queasy and I stopped at the first boat dealership I saw (Hey! This is Florida! There's lots of them!)    and paid retail, (VERY Retail!)    for a set of Bearing Buddies.
Was about to pop them in, when I realized how futile that exercise would be. 
Trailer hub dust covers rely on metal displacement, where the dust cap literally shears away microscopic layers of hub metal to force a friction fit.
When hubs get too old and have had dust caps pounded in and out of them too many times, for too many years, the hub metal is so worn that there is not enough friction to hold a dust cap firmly in place.
I had acquired this trailer (well!) used and had rebuilt it and at the time, judged the hub friction fit as adequate.
I had 2 trips to Cedar Key (100 miles round trip, per trip) and a trip to Lake Weir (120 miles round trip), so I had well over 300 miles on the trailer, without any issues.
UNTIL, I tried to go to Pensacola! 

I still had two ordinary dust caps in the spares box and figured I'd sacrifice those, instead of the brand-new much more expensive Bearing Buddies.
Bent the dust caps slightly out of round with a hammer, to force a tighter fit in the hubs, then jacked up the axle on each side, and listened for any abnormal bearing noise and checked side-to-side play and it all sounded good.
I always check hub temps when I stop, expecting 10 - 15 degrees above ambient temps (i.e. on a 70ºF day, hubs will be 80 - 85ºF) and the hubs were running cool, so I decided to just go for it.
Back on the road!! 
MAN!!    Am I EVER going to get to go on a long road trip with a trailer, where I don't have my heart in my throat and my stomach tied up in knots?!? 
("Not a Brennan, who is eternally damn'ed!" Snickered, the gods.) 

On arrival at Big Lagoon State Park, sure enough I was back to naked hubs, again. 
Well, heck with it, I was eager to launch and figured I'd deal with the trailer upon my return
MUCH easier to launch the newer, smaller boat! 
So where's the pics, Charles? 
A little farther into the report, you'll learn how I dunked my phone/camera, killing it and then you'll understand why this report is going to be more words, than pics. (Sorry!) 
I am being reduced to pilfering pics off the FL120 FB group, for illustrative purposes and those pitiful few pics I posted, before the phone died. 

As bad as my trailer problems were, I didn't have it nearly as bad as this guy with his trailer woes, just south of Atlanta, upon his return home.
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Big Lagoon to Fort McRee, 5 miles:
Surprise!! I got the 5 miles from Big Lagoon State Park to Fort McRee, in the daylight, this year!!    That almost NEVER happens! 
I was averaging around 3 to 3½ knots, the whole way there. 
On Wednesday, every year they have a hamburger cookout for anyone who shows up and I invariably get there in the dark, 30 minutes after the last hamburger. 
Not this year! I got TWO!! 
It was the usual crowd.
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Long-time Beer Cruisers may recognize Steve Gully, at center, in the aqua shirt.

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Guy sitting next to me took this pic, so this is exactly what I saw, when I set up my own chair.
Retrieved the FL120 Burgee, I had previously ordered, while I was there.

Along about sunset, I rushed back to the boat, for a pic of the Irish Pennant.
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Any guesses as to the  new desktop wallpaper, on the computer?!? 

Back at the gathering, we all talked a while, both at and over each other, reminding me very much of a TSBB Chat Night, back when it was more than just me and Roland chatting for 1 hour, on Monday nights at 7PM Eastern. (Hint! Hint!) 
Then I went back to my boat and prepared to go to sleep for the night.
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The weather was so good, I didn't even bother with a tarp I had brought along, for any inclement weather.
The wind was blowing straight into the cockpit, so I wasn't bothered by any mosquitos.
What it WAS blowing in, was negative calories!!    Woke up in the night, quite chilled in the 60ºF air and had to break out a 2nd blanket.

Thursday:
Fort McRee to Big Sabine, 19 miles:
Next morning, I checked my current consumption and between the trolling motor leaving the ramp and the CPAP machine and anchor light running all night, I was down to 85% charge on the LFP battery bank. (Two 100 A/Hr LFP batteries.)
I was impressed. 
At 15% consumption per day, I could go 5 days and still return to the ramp, with plenty of reserve energy, without even using the solar charging array.
Of course, that doesn't take into consideration running the tiller pilot all day and any incidental trolling motor maneuvering, but it still seemed like a Good Omen. 

Everybody was already getting ready to head from Fort McRee to Big Sabine for the next stop, about 19 miles away.
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While I liked the looks of this boat, I was glad to be rid of all that rigging/shrouds overhead, on my own far simpler boat.

Raised the sail and motored West, out of the channel and around Sand Island, then to the East, out into that narrow passage between Sand Island and the main land.
Another shock:
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That's me in the center of the pic, in the middle of the Fleet!    Usually, it's all I can do, to admire all the Fleet transom art with my binoculars, as they all sail off over the horizon. 
I was (mostly!) staying up with everybody!! 
Still might not be the Best In The West, but I ain't the Least In The East, any more, neither!! 
Winds were light and it was somewhere between a close reach and a beat, but I was still hanging, with everybody!!

Jim Kolb got a video of me passing Sand Island, that I promptly pilfered.

Here's his boat, that he designed and built himself:
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Further East, there were dredging operations going on, using a barge and a humongous tug boat, so I kicked on the trolling motor, to have good steering authority, when I got closer to his prop wash.
Actually started passing people!    I saw one guy in a cat boat, looking up at his sail trim and could clearly see the look of puzzlement    on his face, even from a distance.
Called over to him: "Got the trolling motor on!! Your trim is FINE!!"    He looked relieved and laughed.

Winds finally picked up to around 10-12 mph and I set the tiller pilot, locked down the main sheet and sat back and observed how my New Toy was behaving.
Quite Well, in fact. 
3.5 steady and peaks on the puffs of 3.8 and 4 knots
This is the same average speed I used to get out of the Windrose 18.
While the Windrose 18 could get up to higher hull speeds, it also would bog down in lighter airs, where the SCAMP just keeps right on going.
It accelerates far more quickly, and keeps moving in what the Windrose used to consider as: Bob n' Bake conditions.
So while it's top speed is slower, it's more consistent lower speeds, makes it the Little Boat That Could.
As a result, for the whole FL120, I made as good as or better time than what I used to do, in Urchin.

The Simrad TP-10 Tiller Pilot right out of the box, is set up with sensitivity way too high and the dead zone turned off.
(The Dead Zone describes how far the boat can deviate from a compass course, before it decides to correct the action.)
At the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet I had played with it a little and it was way too sensitive, causing it to hunt back and forth madly, at every little wavelet. 
It would surely run the batteries down and wear out the worm gear, at that rate.
A short dinghy is a lot antsier than, say, a 48 foot full-keel hull that almost needs a city block, to turn 90º, so I widened the dead zone considerably.
I had also reduced the sensitivity (how quickly it corrects a compass course deviation) from sensitivity 10 out of the box, down to sensitivity 3.
Must have got the sail trim and TP10 adjustments just right, because it would go for several minutes at a time, without even engaging.
I kept looking over at it, to check that it was actually running and not in standby mode, and my weight shift was enough to change the boat balance and kick it back on.

I sailed along, listening to my Bluetooth speaker and enjoying the music, the weather and the day. 
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Solar shower to the left, Luggable Loo at right, and Wonderboom speaker at top.  The sounds resonated well, inside the veranda.

In previous years, I have suffered UTI's, for primarily two reasons:
1) Not drinking enough water (or drinking too much coke, take your pick).
2) Not urinating enough and irritating the bladder lining.
The cooler on Urchin was all the way forward (for trim/weight/balance) and it was hard to leave the tiller and get up there to get a drink.
The Porta-Potti was under the cooler and stuff had to be moved all around to use it, so I would "hold it" until my bladder rebelled.
I now have a large thermos of cool water that is now right at hand and I was shocked at just how much water I consume, when it's right there.
I also now have a portable urinal and high coamings, so  . . . . . 
MUCH healthier cruising! 

Wind picked up a little bit more, but not enough to give me the confidence to try to sail through the Bill Sikes Bridge, so I kicked on the trolling motor again and powered through it.
Once through, I started looking for Quiet Waters Beach and looking forward to lunch, at Flounders restaurant.
Winds were behind me so I dropped sail and drifted right onto the beach and secured the bow with my beach stake.
Like this:
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After some thought, I put out a stern anchor, so the boat wouldn't slew onto the beach and went and got myself a Shrimp Po'Boy.
Walked over to a Circle K and picked up some more ice, after having discovered my newer, smaller, cooler was a 1-day of ice cooler, not a 2 or 3-days of ice cooler.

Looks peaceful enough, right?!? 
I was about to get a stern lesson,    in the differences between Windrose handling tactics, vs SCAMP handling tactics.
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Retrieved the beach stake, hopped aboard, (yes, you CAN just hop aboard, on a small boat!),    figuring I'd just pull the hull towards the stern anchor, drop the trolling motor and back out.
Done it over a dozen times on that very beach on Urchin, in various BEER Cruise and FL120 events.
That trolling motor did not have NEARLY enough "oomph", in its' strongest reverse speed.  Got blown right back up on shore and the motor grounded out on the sand and had to be tilted up again.
Hmm . . . . . OK 2nd try, push it out a ways turn the nose around and hop aboard and quickly drop and start the trolling motor.
Nope.
Not only pushed me back ashore, but ALSO closer to the rocks, to the East.
Two or three more similar attempts, with varying types of failures and the same results.
Oh, well. I guess I live here, now. 

Remembering the definition of Insanity, I decided it was time to try something different:
I walked the boat out much further in the shallows so I didn't have to fumble with raising and dropping the trolling motor and tied the anchor to the mid-ships cleat.
Figured I'd raise the sail and sail off on the anchor.  I'd done that a couple of times at Cedar Key and once at Fort McRee and looked like a Hero,    doing it.
Uhh . . . . . not this time. 
Boat veered off on a reach, while I was trying to pull in the anchor rode.  Got so tight, I was getting a rope burn    trying to hold it and had to give up line.
THEN the boat reached the end of the rode and slewed around and crash gybed while I tried to get to the other side and pull in the rode again. 
Nope.
It slung around on the anchor like a demented yo-yo, and crash gybed again.
This process repeated for two more revolutions, like a berserk merry-go-round until FINALLY!! 
The anchor broke free momentarily and I wasted no time, pulling it in hand over hand as fast as I possibly could, so it wouldn't dig back into the sand again.
And sailed off, looking like far less than a Hero.    My sole comfort was that a block away, I could no longer hear all the laughter. 

The remaining 13 miles to Big Sabine were relatively uneventful and I enjoyed watching how well the boat handled and how responsive it was. 
After my Adrenaline crashed and I could think rationally again, I realized I should have gone far out from the beach and away from the rocks, and out to waist deep water in the first place, anchored from the bow, re-boarded, then retrieved the anchor, raised the sail and simply sailed off.
Ya know: Like a Competent Sailor. 
Ah, well. Still learning the characteristics (and trust me: It IS a character!)   of this little boat.

After a very pleasant sail, I reached Big Sabine and headed through the shallows to the semi-protected cove, unaware that the Fates were not through humiliating me,    for the day.
The centerboard bumped against the sand and I quickly pulled in the centerboard pennant, marveling at the difference between a simple pull on a line versus jumping into the cabin on the Windrose and putting about 50 cranks on the swing keel winch.
Since this was my first time sailing with a retracted centerboard, I was unprepared for how much leeway there was, alluva sudden-like and while the skegs help, it tended to "wallow" a little bit.
(Urchin used to "wallow" a lot more, with her swing keel up.)
There was enough side slip to put me on a sand bar and I frantically raised the trolling motor and felt the bottom of the rudder bouncing on the sandy bottom. 
The quick-release clam cleat did its thing and disconnected, and since I could feel the rudder still bouncing on the bottom, I jerked on the up haul line and cleated it off.
Bad Move. 
Didn't know (since I'm still learning things about this boat) that the rudder doesn't come up a little, nay, it comes up completely clear of the water, so I had NO steerage and the boat promptly headed up and crashed gybed. 
I swung the tiller over (to no effect) as the hull tilting against the sand bar, now swung around in the other direction, causing yet another crash gybe. 
Having figured out by now, that the rudder was doing nothing, I quickly un-cleated the up haul and let the built-in rudder weight drop itself in the water, a little.
One more crash gybe and another near miss, I finally regained some semblance of control and headed for the rest of the boats, on shore. 

Sailing into a lee shore, (again!) I tried out a technique I had read about but never tried, and "scandalized" the sail.  This is where you partially drop the sail, to reduce sail area which then reduces speed.
Worked well and when I got all my lines and anchors secured, I went over to where everyone was gathered.
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Scott Widmier, who hosts the FL 120 said from his circle of chairs: "Hey Charles, it's not as if EVERYBODY    was watching you out there, or anything!" 
While I might have sensed, rather than heard, a few faint snickers from somewhere, at least, nobody was laughing at me, to my face! 
Later on, Scott came over to my boat to check it out and asked me what differences/compromises this boat had, compared to my previous boat.
Told him: Three things.
1) 6 feet less fore cabin.
2) 2 fewer berths.
3) No rain shelter (currently, but I'm working on it).
Other than that, I have exactly the same equipment I used to carry on Urchin, albeit in smaller form factors (e.g. a Luggable Loo instead of a Porta-Potti and 4 lb anchors, instead of 12 or 16 pound anchors).
I gave up nothing, equipment-wise and feel like I have gained a lot of convenience and utility, from this boat. 

Another night with winds blowing into the cockpit, but I had both blankets set out ahead of time.
And STILL got cold, in the middle of the night. 
My own fault, of course. 
I had read where some CPAP users turn off the heater element and the moisturizer, to conserve battery current and I thought I would try it.
Bad Move. 
I woke up in the night, shivering and my teeth chattering, wondering how that was possible in May.  Took off the nose piece and the air wasn't all that cold.
Realized that un-heated air going into the lungs, was pumping cooled blood through the capillaries in my lungs and dropping my core temperature.
Felt like an Idiot. 
Turned all the CPAP gizmos back on and slept soundly, the rest of the night.

Charles Brennan

[Wolverine]

Great report, sorry for your trailer woes. I feel your pain.

I have given up on trailering. In 2024 while returning from the Fl120, both trailer lights went out. Twice. I stopped, purchased a new set of LED lights and they too stopped working. At night. In a down pour. The next month on the way to southern IL for our annual get together, a trailer tire blew out and destroyed the fender and light so bad I couldnt remove it or the tire. We waited 3 1/2 hours in 90+ degrees for trailer assist to jack up the boat, remove the fender, and replace the tire. The next day the other trailer light and the plate came off.
Last year I was too busy to get the boat and trailer ready for IL so I paid a local trailer dealer to install new fenders. The day before departure I tore a calf muscle and couldn't attend. This past January while heading to the keys, a fender came off outside Miami while on 95. In the dark. The shop didn't install lock washers. On the return, a 2 year old tire failed and so I swapped it with the spare. 2 hours from home, the other 2 year old tire ruptured.

I plan on attending the OBX130 this year, but I will be sailing 2 days to the start and 2 days home rather than trailer the boat for a 4 hour round trip.

IF I trailer the boat again, it would have to be for an epic trip like a week in the Apostle Islands and a 2 week return trip to the North Channel. Together, and I would have to devise a way to bring a spare trailer along. 😉

[Chris Muthig]

Sounds like a great trip, I plan on going next year (I believe I will have more PTO available to me, so maybe I can attend the whole thing).  I had the fun of tearing out my kitchen.

[Doug SC]

I always enjoy your trip reports. Your lighthearted renditions of your trailer and sailing woes are both amusing and informative. If we can't laugh at ourselves, we tend to end up in a bad place. I often run into and contend with the unexpected when sailing.