South Florida Sailing

[Frantic]

Had a great overnight trip this past weekend on our CP19. We sailed with my Wife?s sister and her husband on their new to them Catalina 22. This was only their 4th time out, but they are doing pretty well so far. We sailed out of South Dade Marina into Manatee bay with winds around 15 kts and very light chop. We anchored on the North side of Main Key to avoid some strong winds out of the South that started building in the evening and enjoyed a nice dinner of Cuban sandwiches, fish dip and some wine while the kids watched cartoons in the cabin.

The next day the winds were really blowing! 15-20 knots with a few stronger gusts and some pretty rough seas. I put a reef in the main and headed out of Manatee bay toward Barnes Sound. As we sailed across the bay toward the inlet, we were escorted by pod of dolphins for a few minutes. It was a particularly exciting dolphin sighting because it was the first time our kids got to see dolphins in the wild! I?ll never forget the look on their faces. They are both big fans of sea life so it was a real treat for them! It took several tacks to get out of the inlet, but it made for an exciting sail! Especially when my jib got fouled on the mast and when I went forward to free it, the wind ripped it out of the blocks (I had forgotten to tie a knot at the end of the lines)! Of course this happened as we were right in the middle of the narrow pass with shoals on either side! Thankfully I was able to contain the jib and get back underway again before running aground.

We sailed into Barnes Sound and just zig zagged around a bit, gibing back and fourth as we waited on our consort to catch up. Being new sailors in those conditions, they wisely decided to take the long way around. We sailed past Short Key, which these days is always full of powerboats and jet skis on the weekend and looked for another spot to stop for a swim. Just north of Short Key, the GPS satellite view showed what looked like a large beach, so we checked it out. It turned out to be a terrific little spot. Not much shoreline, but at least a 100 feet of  shallow sandy bottom totally mud free and must of it less than a foot deep. We anchored in about 2 & 1/2 feet of water and waded ashore and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out there. The kids loved running around in the shallows. Late in the afternoon, we got back aboard and started heading back. We sailed well ESE to tack back WSW in now much lighter winds of about 10 kts and got the angle just right so that we didn?t have to pull off any additional tacks. From there. It was a dead run, wing-on-wing across Manatee Bay and back into the Marina for the haul out.

This was our 4th trip out and our second time overnighting on our new to us Compac 19. I was heartbroken when we gave up our 16 and gave way to the ?3-foot-itis? as a result of now needing a little more room down below for the children, but I have to say, it was worth it. Now that I?ve got quite a few nautical miles behind the helm, I think I actually prefer the way the 19 sails. We effortlessly averaged 4.8kts on this trip and had some very steep chop in Barnes Sound. I thought the pounding would be a lot worse with the flat bottom, but it really wasn?t too bad at all. This was a very enjoyable trip, and the kids loved it. My oldest has asked me when we are going out again for the last two days, hopefully that sticks as they get older!

I can?t quite figure out how to post images here, but there?s  an imgur gallery linked below. I also posted some pictures and video on the Facebook group.

https://imgur.com/a/dtbZRO8

[kickingbug1]

   having just finished pushing a foot of snow off my driveway and the next door neighbors in 5 degree weather i was happy to read your post. now if my feet would just warm up.

[crazycarl]

Like Steve, I spent the morning shoveling snow for the 13th day in a row.   Your post is a great way for us snow bounded to escape.  Thanks for posting.  Your wife's hat says it all!

[brackish]

Unlike the two previous posters who are somewhat used to it, I did not have a foot of snow to shovel, I spent the morning breaking up and removing a four inch slab of ice on the walkway leading from my back door to the carport and the firewood rack.  That is the only place I've gone in the past three days, no sense in doing the driveway, although I have a Subaru Outback a fairly capable snow and ice car, there is no place to go, everything is closed.  More expected tonight and they can't tell us right now if it will be snow (great) or ice (not good)

Enjoyed your warm weather post.