We left the Boy Scouts of America’s High Adventure Seabase with a 25 knot wind behind us 2 days after Christmas. Island Dreamer and our buddy boat Chantaclair took the backcountry route on the north side of the Florida Keys for our sail to Key West. The geography of the lower Keys with its shallow waters and many small islands on the Gulf side provided a flat water sail even with winds gusting to 30. Our crew of 6 boys and 2 adult leaders was from Colorado Springs. Even though they had not sailed before they learned to take the helm and trim the sails very quickly. One of the boys thought that steering the boat was easier than learning to drive his car. It certainly helped to have our first days be in protected waters.
We snorkeled at Content Key searching for what turned out to be the highly elusive Florida lobster. Fortunately we had caught a Cero Mackerel on our sail so we were able to have a seafood dinner. I guess next time I will have to get in the water instead of depending on the scouts to find those Wiley crustaceans. After a beautiful night a anchor in Johnson Key channel watching the stars then we finished our sail entering the Northwest Channel to Key West.
Harold and I have just finished the Winter Break season chartering with the Boy Scouts at Seabase in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. I worked with the Boy Scouts here at base preparing them for their week-long charters on the Morgans, CSYs, schooners, ketches, sloops and other kinds of sailing vessels; while Harold took a group of 6 scouts and 2 leaders on a cruise to Key West and back.
We were here at Seabase about two months, but now it’s time to head back to our home base in Miami. We’re getting the boat back in order and hope to leave on Tuesday, depending on the wind.
Margie and I worked at the Women’s Sailing Connection booth at the show. It was great chatting about how to be comfortable living on and operating a sailboat. There was real interest from many couples in increasing their knowledge in preparation for the cruising life.
A recurring theme was the difficultly of learning from your partner. Margie and I have been married for 30 years and even after all that time together (or maybe because of it) we still can get a little “testy” when we are teaching each other. Teamwork takes practice. One of the keys is knowing that both partners have something to offer. In order to work together effectively you don’t need to be at the same level; however, it is important to understand the basics of boat handling and sailing. When you grasp the concepts involved, it is easier to be on equal footing with your partner. This will make you want to work together as a team.
In order to encourage better communication between partners, we have put together a Women’s Boating with Confidence weekend in Miami this Jan. 30, 2009 through Feb. 1, 2009. Check it out
In my college days I was the House Manager at the TKE house at Butler University. One of the rooms caught fire due to an electrical short. After calling the fire dept. and using several fire extinguishers to no effect we evacuated everybody from the building. Needless to say I was quite concerned, adrenaline pumping, and racing around in a tizzy. The fire dept showed up and quite calmly went about putting out the fire and making sure everybody was safe. Watching how they methodically approached and calmly dealt with the situation was a life lesson for me.
Life on a sailboat is full of little adventures, though hopefully no fires. Even though your gut may tell you its time for instant action, the safest response is to take a moment to access the problem then take your corrective action. Practice for issues that may come up so when it happens the solution will seem natural and easy.
Look for early warning signs, like Margie saying let’s reduce the heeling. The boat will actually go faster when its not laying over on its side!. Prepare for problems in advance – backing down on the anchor to make sure its set is much easier than getting up at 3 AM in the squall.
After this much excitement maybe you can find a nice sunset in a protected harbor, a cold drink and some tunes from the island play list on the ipod. My guarantee – This will surely cause your calm to increase rapidly.
Margie and I will be at the st pete show helping to promote a new womens sailing website. Hope to see you there
Last week we took a group of high school seniors on a sail from Safety Harbor on the gulf side of Islamorada around to Indian Key on the ocean side. The weather was sunny and the wind was brisk–about 20 knots from the northeast and cool. We put the second reef in the main sail before we pulled away from the dock since it’s much easier to let a reef out than to put one in underway. And besides, the boat was crowded with boys and girls whose sailing experience we did not know.
Our objective was Indian Key, a Florida State Historical Site, where there are mooring balls and a dock. The ruins of shops, warehouses and even a hotel are all that remain of what was once the Dade County Seat in the mid-1800′s. That’s hard to imagine now that Miami has the honor.
From Safety Harbor it was a quick, down-wind run to the Channel 5 Bridge. It’s high-rise arch is the first good crossover for sailboats coming south from Miami in the Atlantic Ocean and going over to Florida Bay. The span clears the water by 65 ft. giving motorists a spectacular view of the blue-green, turquoise waters of the bay to the north where mangrove islands dot its surface. At the same time a panoramic vista of the Atlantic Ocean spreads out to the south. Both bodies of water are surprisingly calm in spite of the wind because of the nearness of the reef and the shallow depths of the bay.
Once under the bridge and turned towards the east, the uphill race began. We were able to close haul on a port tack and our dodger and bimini did a great job of keeping us toasty warm and protected. However, in trying to keep the bow pointed towards our destination, which we could just see off in the distance, we were heeling over, something to be expected when sailing up wind. As we got closer to our destination, we kept tightening and flattening the jib in order to point closer to the wind and to try to counteract the effect of making leeway to the south. In addition, the wind was getting a little gusty. With those gusts we would heel over at an angle that was uncomfortable and also beyond what I felt was of any benefit. We were only doing about 5 knots, and besides, it was becoming clear that there was no way we could make Indian Key without tacking.
So, you know what? We reefed the jib. This caused us to point a little more to the south of our previous eastward track, but the hull flattened out a touch giving us a much more comfortable ride. And there was another benefit. We increased speed. And before we knew it we were just south of the mooring field off Indian Key where we motored upwind just a couple of minutes to tie off to a mooring ball.
We ferried the kids by dingy to the dock where they explored Indian Key for half an hour. Then they were back aboard for the trip home. We retraced our steps with a downwind run to the Channel 5 bridge and then motored upwind from there back to Safety Harbor. We motored because the kids had to be back for soccer practice and we didn’t want any delays. The whole adventure took us about 5 1/2 hours. There’s nothing like calm seas with a good wind to validate sailing principles and skills. And that’s why we like to sail in the Florida Keys.
We went diving this weekend with our guests by the Channel Two Bridge in Islamorada. No lobster but we saw several Goliath Grouper. I guess they had a tasty dinner! We also saw a Spotted Eagle Ray and several Tarpon. In the summer when the water is warm this area is good hunting. Due to the recent cold fronts the water temp is down to 74F. Maybe this drove the little critters deeper?
at anchor by panhandle key
We spent the night anchored off Panhandle Key in Everglades National Park. A wonderful moonrise then Caribbean Pork Roast assuaged our disappointment. Of course the 7 knot downwind sail home was pretty nice too.
Captain Margie with Sue at the helm
Thoughts about sailing, living aboard, diving, Boat Maintence in the Floida Keys
