Key West - We sail!

Intent on holding that line!

Natalie: We had a fun day sailing and taking walks down the docks. Woke up to some bacon and pancakes then worked on some of my homework while Sarah, Dad, and Grandpa got ready to go out sailing. We had ham and cheese for lunch then at 1:00 we headed out on a sailing adventure! It wasn’t very fun for me because I got seasick and so did my Dad. But we came back early so I was ok! After that Grandpa and I went for a walk around Caroline St, and with Hoolie, too! Sarah and I had more ham and cheese for dinner when everyone else had chicken salad and to top it off we ate ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert!

Sarah: This morning I woke up and was ready to sail! Dad made amazing pancakes for breakfast with bacon. After that we had to do our homework for school. When I finished my homework I helped grandpa get the lines ready for our departure. Soon later we officially left, right away we put the main sail up. It was wonderful feeling the wind and hearing the waves brush against the bow of the boat. When we went past the beach we put up the jib and turned off the diesel. We didn’t see any sea life and Natalie was a little sea sick so we turned around. Our highest speed was 4.5 knots, but the on the way back it averaged at 3. I sailed the boat mostly back and was able to put ropes on a piling. Afterwards we went to CVS and got ice, basically walking around some more. We had dinner and ice cream; we might also be watching a movie, bye.

A Saturday tradition is for Philip to make pancakes with bacon so he didn't miss a beat this morning and all was well. The main event of the day was sailing in the afternoon. The winds were forecast to be 10 kts or so, not too bad for some of our less sailing experienced crew. getting off the dock was an all-hands on deck exercise. Two lines on each side had to be removed off pilings, two forward lines removed, aft lines untied, dinghy untie and retied to a side line staying with the dock, and the electrical line unplugged and tied to the boat. The stepping platform had to be removed too and the anchor raised. No big deal - but don't forget anything! More than once we've come to an unexpected stop backing out of a slip due to a forgotten line.

The new moon ove Schooner Wharf, warm night, light breezes, bliss...

Now everyone is tired, full of chicken sandwiches and watching Captain Ron, the favorite movie for sailing families. I think the kids have seen it a dozen times and we've seen it at least five times that I can remember. That's where we learned the "Captain Ron Maneuver" that's we've adopted when going into a face dock. We used it once at Hinckley's in Savannah when the tide was running 2 kts, the wind was blowing  and there was exactly one boat length of dock space among expensive Hinckley boats. They had their crew out to catch us (about five dock hands...) and Ann was at the helm as usual and headed in at about a 45 degree angle, swung at the last moment and put it in reverse. The  boat lost forward momentum but continued to turn and was flush against the dock. That's when one of the dock hands shouted out, "Captain Ron Maneuver!" We both said, "Yes!"