DonKeyHoTey and I went into the water a little after midnight. He was wearing a dry suit, I was wearing GoreTex foul weather gear with a bib. For the next 3 hours we thrashed about either in the Lightning, perching on the bottom of the Lightning, or hanging off the side of the Lightning! I was really wishing I had not done such a dandy job of waxing the bottom after the centerboard clunked into the well and we turtled completely! I would have donned my dry suit, but that was not going to happen because it was in a drybag that had long departed the vicinity. We sat on that slippery bottom for about an hour burping water out of the dry suit and me enjoying the polyproplene FrogTog suit I had on under the layers of GoreTex. Thank you MisterMoon for disqualifying me in the 2014 EC because I really put some time into exploring many possibilities when it came to undergarments. It was not unduly cold, but I did not stay submerged for a second longer than necessary and waves were breaking over the boat. Once we had rested a bit we dove back into the water to get more substantial lines to right the boat. It was quite satisfying as that shiny Lightning centerboard clunked into the down position as the boat came upright. DonKeyHoTey was delighted as he said he had never capsized a Lightning before and it came up much more easily than he had ever imagined!
The boat was awash but we quickly deployed the anchor and took stock of the situation. It would be 4 hours until daybreak. Rowing was out with one oar gone. The foremast was bent back above the joint, the mizzen was sheared off about 6 feet up. We were buoyant but the anchor held the bow into the waves, which then broke over the boat as we submerged. Moving about the boat was a dicey proposition with the possibility of a capsize always present. We moved amidships and maintained stability by standing on opposite sides of the broken mast while straddling the roll bars with our legs and leaning on the mizzen boom and sail. There would be no sitting down as long as the boat was upright because we were shifting our weight to counteract the rolling motion imparted by wind and waves. This also kept the water level below our knees and preventged hypothermia. I took a nap with my head on the boom and the spinnaker we plucked out of the water to avoid entanglement. Comfy!
Dawn broke, and so did we! Our lovely Lightning could be sailed, but only if we could dewater her. The wind and waves continued to build and not liking our chances of sailing the roughly 18 miles to Flamingo or the 36 miles to Islamorada underwater we reluctantly made the decision to punch the fool buttons on our Spot and both PLBs. A little over 2 hours later we welcomed the helecopter from Miami Station overhead and a half hour later the big rib from Marathon arrived. We were instructed to abandone the Lightning and board te rib. We did! No arguing. An hour later we were on te dock at Flamingo with ground support on the way as our support team rerouted from Key Largo, to Flamingo. The mixed crew of the Coast Guard were very professional and complimented us on our preparedness! One of them remarked ''you guys are really geared up", and how easy we made it to find us having waited until daylight, having radio beacons, and staying with the boat. I blew mh whisgtle just for fun!
Not the best way to end a camping trip, and further adventures would ensue before we recovered the Lightning nearly two weeks later after someone cut the anchior line! It drifted another 15 miles before our prodder and the Really Simple Sails balanced lugsail snagged on a lobster pot float and the Coast Guard called with approximate coordinates after a boater spotted her out in the Gulf of Mexico. Perfect ending!
Now, if I was gonna do this stupid stuff all over again I would beach somewhere around Middle Cape Sable and relax until daybreak. If I was going swimming again I would pick the dry suit with all the polypropylene underneath and the GoreTex on top as a dry suit is really not that warm without some bulk. I was really bummed that I lost my favorite yellow raincoat. It may have looked stupid but it was really confortable, blocked wind and water, and easilhy slipped over the flotation jacket and equipment.
As I said, I will take a dry suit. Every time! But circumstances may not allow you the luxury of having it on when you dump. I was asleep prior to our hitting East Cape Sable and the severity of the weather change from a few hours previous was an unpleasant surprize. So much for being an expert. This little camping trip certainly resulted in the greatest adventure of my entire life far surpassing any other experiencs. It provided us with many hours of severe self-flagellating criticism as we discussed our mistakes. Not to mention our friends who after the initial relief of seeung us survive began the well-deserved barrage of derision. We must have developed a thick skin from all the time spent in salt watera, but we will be taking a less gung-ho approach in the future. And tie things down better as every locker on the boat was opened in the waves.