Thursday morning at 0810 Ladylove headed under the Seven Mile bridge at Marathon facing a stiff NE breeze. And here on Friday at 2100 she sits tied to the dock in front of Moore’s Stonecrab Restaurant on Longboat Key, just north of Sarasota. The crew agrees it was the best thirty hours of continuous sailing any of us had ever experienced.
After two hours of motoring over a very lumpy Florida Bay the wind shifted just a little more east. The forecast was for 20 so we reefed the main and rolled out the yankee. For the next several hours it was 7.5 to 8.0 SOG with a steady 18 knots of wind. When the winds went to 14 to 15 for thirty minutes or so it was time to shake out the reef. Still 7.5 with a nice surfing motion. And naturally the wind went back to 18 to 20 so now we were really having fun. When I awoke for the 0400 watch we were still flying. Only when we reached Sanibel Island did she finally slow down. Naples went by before that, around 0130. The last three hours into Venice we motor-sailed. Fuel, water, pumpout, and Guinness at the Crow’s Nest and we were ready to head up here to Longboat. We left the Gulf through the Longboat Pass at 1730, only 34 hours later.
There is no explaining being alone in the cockpit at 0100(my first watch) under a moonlit sky with a million stars and the green water rushing past. And now the 1500+ mile will end tomorrow at Port Richey, Ladylove’s new winter home just 45 miles north. The main is uncovered in anticipation of that one last ride before my crew goes home to cold Ohio.
After two hours of motoring over a very lumpy Florida Bay the wind shifted just a little more east. The forecast was for 20 so we reefed the main and rolled out the yankee. For the next several hours it was 7.5 to 8.0 SOG with a steady 18 knots of wind. When the winds went to 14 to 15 for thirty minutes or so it was time to shake out the reef. Still 7.5 with a nice surfing motion. And naturally the wind went back to 18 to 20 so now we were really having fun. When I awoke for the 0400 watch we were still flying. Only when we reached Sanibel Island did she finally slow down. Naples went by before that, around 0130. The last three hours into Venice we motor-sailed. Fuel, water, pumpout, and Guinness at the Crow’s Nest and we were ready to head up here to Longboat. We left the Gulf through the Longboat Pass at 1730, only 34 hours later.
There is no explaining being alone in the cockpit at 0100(my first watch) under a moonlit sky with a million stars and the green water rushing past. And now the 1500+ mile will end tomorrow at Port Richey, Ladylove’s new winter home just 45 miles north. The main is uncovered in anticipation of that one last ride before my crew goes home to cold Ohio.
