Blackbeard Salvage...

Never believe a man who tells you that you can run all week on a tank of fuel...

Our sailing adventure began as most, the charter company providing the typical walk through. During this time, they show you how everything works, and what to expect. Standard walk through lasts about an hour. We were relatively new to bare boat charters (our second trip) so we asked a lot of questions. One was; "How far can this boat travel on a tank of fuel?". The answer was; "Don't worry, you can go all week on this fuel tank - no problem!" Our first mistake was believing him...

About an hour later we cast lines and headed out into Hawks Channel from Key Largo, waving goodbye to Coconuts!

Fast forward 7 days. We are returning from Key West, after a fantastic trip and lots of fun. It is late (typical for this group). We had decided to sail straight through from Key West to Key Largo. We had left very early in the morning, and we were in sight of Key Largo. For the last 6 hours we had been motor sailing, as the wind was coming straight down Hawks Channel. Key Largo was about 6 miles away. The end was in sight. Tie up, run to Coconuts, and enjoy the rest of the evening. Suddenly the engine starts to cough... Then silence. Wait, didn't they tell us that we could run all week on a tank of fuel "NO PROBLEM?" Open the hatch, stare at the tank gauge, "E".

Plan B; Sail it in. We begin tacking back and forth toward our destination. Tide is headed out. We get about half way to our destination and the boat touches down in the shallow channel. It is very sandy and shallow. We cannot get the boat off the sand bar... Don decides to call for help. We are relayed on channel 16 to Black Beard Salvage. They sound angry to be called out to assist, but agree to give us a hand. When they arrive they ask us to tie their line to our boat. I fasten the line to the bow cleat, and the salvage captain (Black Beard?) takes up the slack. Once the line is taut, to my surprise he hammers the throttles home (WOT). The sailboat we are on noses down into the water as the keel is dragging in the sand. I start yelling frantically for him to cease and desist, but he cannot hear me over the drone of his wide open diesels. The boat pulls free and then begins to bounce over every sand bar between where we grounded and the entrance to key largo marina. I swear that we bounced over about 100 sand bars on our way to the marina. To this day I am not sure how the bow cleat did not pull straight out of the fiberglass.

Once in the marina, we tied up, and Don went to settle with "Black Beard" As we were making the lines secure to shore, I decided that it would be a good idea to trip and test the water temperature. It was nice and warm, but full of diesel fuel. It was so thick with diesel fuel, that I ended up throwing out the rugby shirt I fell in with. I took a quick shower, and met the crew at Coconuts.

The moral of the story, when in doubt - call Black Beard out! AND Always check your fuel gauge regardless what the charter company tells you.