Not A Typical Monday

[CPYOA]

Not A Typical Monday by John Bevilacqua

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At work we are pilots and sometimes have long, irregular hours, but with the compensating weekdays off. Three of us were free on Monday and decided to get out on the water on my Com-Pac 16. One friend, Frank, was a confirmed stink-pot owner who had never been sailing and who got his kicks spending the weekends fishing off his 120 hp bass boat. The other, Lou, was a true adventurer who loved anything outdoors, and had enjoyed an afternoon on my boat once before. After a relatively pleasant, light traffic ride to Fort Lauderdale, we setup my CP 16 and launched out of John Lloyd State Park, a little tree-lined oasis across the ICW from industrial Port Everglades. I was already happy that we had chosen a Monday to use the boat, as parking and congestion at the normally busy park was minimal. The docks were quiet and the only observers to our departure from the dock were a couple a well fed brown pelicans.

The trip up the ICW was pleasant and quiet, with the added benefit of having the Whitbread Round-the-World fleet to admire on the way out. The CP-I 6's Johnson outboard, a 6 hp, provided ample power to propel the boat through the inlet at Port Everglades, out into the Turquoise Atlantic. As soon as we were able we raised the sails and killed the engine. Already the hassles of trailering and setup were paying off. We enjoyed the quiet and the warm breeze as we traveled down the beach line on a comfortable beam reach. The little boat was a real workhorse this particular day, as we not only had three grown men on board, but also three full sets of scuba equipment The CP 16 seemed not to notice the additional burden, as we progressed through the chop with not a drop of water coming on board.

Around 1:00 PM we anchored about a half mile off the beach in 20 feet of water. We ate a decent lunch and pondered all the hustle and bustle going on only a mile or so to the west. Out here it was an entirely different world. Frank and Lou then donned their dive gear and rolled backwards off the gunwales to check out the scenery in yet another world--2O feet under the boat. They found some nice Patch reef with various sponges, corals, and small fish. A little further out they found snook and even a few huge barracuda that chose not to bother the land dwellers that day. Getting back on board was somewhat of a challenge, even with a swim ladder, but accomplished with no bruises to the boat or crew members.

We sailed for while longer and then had to somehow get rid of Lou (nothing sinister here), who had a prior family commitment he could not miss. While the easy, boring thing to do would have been to motor back through the ICW to the dock and parking lot, it was not the adventurous way, and Lou would not hear of it. Instead we chose the amphibious assault method We sailed about 50 yards offshore, and Lou, his clothes and other belongings in a knapsack, rolled off the gunwales once more, and like the closet Navy Seal he is, assaulted the beach. While he did surprise some elderly tourists on the beach, he managed to get to his appointment on time, and had a great time doing it.

All in all it was not your typical Monday. My other days off look equally as bright this year with the Florida Keys, the Naples area, and other neat places a relatively short drive away. My Com-Pac 16 has really opened up vistas in South Florida that I never would have experienced without it. Wherever I get transferred next, there's one thing for sure--my Com-Pac 16 will be right behind me.

Printed with slight editing and with permission from the author.

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This article was last updated on August 01, 2003.