Day 1-April 11, 2018

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did.  So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.  Dream.  Discover.  Mark Twain.

Closed up the house and threw off the bowlines by 11:00.  Well, sort of threw off the bowlines, except for one.  We (I won’t say who) forgot to remove one of the six dock lines, and with no clue until feeling the slight tug at the stern, then a pop as the line shredded.   Heads shaking we were hoping it was not how the rest of the day would go.  Luckily, it was not a line we needed until we return and did not slow us down. 

Continuing along the outer rim canal and  into Charlotte Harbor,  we found winds of 7-10 knots on our stern, just enough to put the sails up, wing and wing, but not enough to move us more than 3 knots.  As we crossed the harbor we were hailed by Richard and Peggy Northrup on their sailboat “Wild Oats,” returning home from a trip to the Keys.  An hour into the trip, we gave in, turned on the engine, motor sailed to the ICW and then south into the Useppa Island Anchorage where we would meet up with two other sailboats to spend the night.  With winds predicted from the northeast at 20, we anchored, well-protected southwest of the island, but even so, backed down hard on the anchor to guarantee it would hold well.  

  

Joining us in the anchorage were long-time sailing friends, Tom and Sandy Wells, on “Higher Porpoise,” and Mark and Suzanne Stillwell on “Dragonfly.”  On the way over to our boat for dinner, the Stillwell’s dinghy motor, which I might add they had just had serviced, quit, and Tom towed them over instead.  Now some of you know how important a dinghy is to a sailboat, but for those who do not, it’s so important you don’t leave home on a trip without it in good working order, especially if you are anchoring out, or going to a mooring field, which were both in our plans for cruising to the Keys.  So now what would you do?  “Turn around and go back home? Continue on without a dinghy with only the oars, and hope you don’t need one? Or do you find a way to fix it?”  Our morning destination was Ft. Myers Beach Mooring field, and fortunately we know the owner Brandon Mayer of Sweetwater Marina on the Caloosahatchee River.  After talking with him that evening Mark and Sue decided to continue on and have him actually bring them another motor.

“Expect the unexpected!” one of our favorite cruising sayings.  All in all it was an uneventful beginning to our cruise, but sure there are many unexpected happenings to come.  Although no one likes to have adversity, it is definitely a time for creative problem solving, testing your inner strength, resiliency, tenacity, and nerve, to hopefully learn and grow from the experience.

Nautical Miles traveled: 24.8