A couple of lessons learned while actually cruising.....

[Charlotte Radford]

Cruising down the Florida intercoastal during the first week of December was extremely COOL! I had never been on an actual sail for several days. It met all my expectations and more. What a wonderful vacation! And I got to be the captain because the hubby couldn't make it. What a lot of responsibility!

I learned several lessons from the great voyage. One of them is that when you take a tool, or really, anything, from its place it is really for the best if you return the tool TO that original place. I don't normally do repairs at my home, and my hubby knows this rule. I didn't but I definitely do now after major wasted time looking for things I needed IMMEDIATELY!

I also learned that when something gets wet, it is very unlikely to dry out other than in an electric dryer (something which a 27 footer doesn't come with....natch). It was the first part of December and very humid. Not really cold. So everything just stayed wet. Other than the one wet suit that fit my son (who is disgustingly thin!). My solution to this is that I will just bring more clothes and have dedicated ones that will get wet and can stay wet.

The other thing I learned is that dinghy wise....you get what you pay for...meaning, of course, that the cheaper the dinghy, the more wet you will get when you use it. And the thing is fairly hard to control sometimes....oh, and MAKE SURE you check the patch kit....and that it has glue (NOT just the plastic patch) in it too....we didn't and when we sprung a leak due to a ragged screw on the back end of the Owl, when we opened the patch kit, the instructions CLEARLY said you needed to provide your own adhesive. Not helpful when you are on the water and need a patch immediately!

Despite the very small snags, it was a wonderful experience and I cannot wait to do it again with some other sailors and boats in May.

Hope everyone is staying safe and dry. Fair winds!

[Charlotte Radford]

We left the first week of December and sailed down to Sebastian in a little over a day. My son and his friend JP were along for the ride (and as crew). Both are adults and we are all close friends as we sail together often. We are sailing junkies!! We stayed in Sebastian (right next to Captain Hirams) until Wed morning of that week, and the wind was from the south so it blew us all the way up to Merritt Island in about 18 hours. We sailed through because the weather was starting to turn bad....cold and cloudy. [which it did on Thursday, and on Friday, JP was sick so we headed back to O Town] Every photo I took looks the same: water with waves....but I am getting better at it, and hope to have some good pics from my next long trip (1 week) in May.

[Joe Goodrow]

Nice Going....

[zeehag]

if you have a hypolon dink--get the 2 part glue like epoxy--is the best--always have that on hand--i found isnt necessarily MORE clothing--but the RIGHT KIND of clothing--stuff that dries readily is best--especvially in a wet kinda boat--lol mine is a kind that doesnt get tooo wet inside, but when i cruise with phillip, his boat is wet--lol---i hang stuff on hangars over the galley--then in the head-lol--sometimes other way around lol....depending on potential use factor for the time of day.if near galley--cooking stuff will help dry clothing..LOL...i like a windbreaker type cover on top --keeps most of the wet off...and much of the cold out...after a particularly wet time of it we stop in marina for a day or 2 and gett he laundry washed lol...we use many bopat towels to dry out boat...and selves LOL---i have topol boxs--they are usually filled wioth tools lol---but i also have the emergency tools box--lol--the ones used most often.....close at hand and ready for grabbing tools....

sounds like you had a goood trip--when do you go out again???