Sail away with me honey....

                The best laid plans of…. yada yada….. We were supposed to have left on June 2^nd for our 7^th annual Bahamas sail. Well, the 2^nd came and the 2^nd went and all the food and supplies still sat on the floor of our office.

Ray and I forget how time consuming work and chores can be. We have such grand plans to throw it all off and go, but the bills need to be paid, the lawn taken care of for two months, mail to get, cars to care for, a house to secure….. on and on it goes and there are only so many hours to get it all finished. Friday night we finally threw in the “leaving today” towel and went for dinner.  Over some really good scallops, we both discussed this constant rush to get everything done, to get going, to pull anchor. At what cost?? We have been in some very harrowing situations because of our need to rush. Most of the time, it is because we need to rendezvous with company or we stay too long and need to get me home before school starts back. The point however, is rushing is dangerous. There are things we forget and worse, things that we overlook, such as weather! One year, we had family onboard and were constantly in a 25 plus headwind, taking water over the bow and really taking unneeded risks for the sake of getting somewhere quicker. Ray and I both decided that cruising was supposed to be fun. We are tired of 18 hour days of standing at the helm and dodging lightening and crazy winds. If we get all the way to Georgetown this year, “YAY”, but if we do not, we will still be in the Bahamas and we will still be on our boat, enjoying the summer and each other. So when it was said and dinner was done, Ray and I had both decided to go home and get some sleep.

                                                            Saturday, we got up and carried all of our provisions to the boat.

I then got the wondrous joy of finding a place for all the stuff we purchased. I made up the bunk, stored clean sheets and towels, organized the head, rearranged the fridge and put all of our clothes onboard.  This year, we have our kitty, Brisa, coming with us. That meant that I had to find a place for her food and litter. I am going to try and teach her to use the head!! She’s pretty smart.  When everything was finally stuffed and sealed, we shoved off the dock and into a rain squall. We figured that all we needed to do was drop anchor if it got bad. Charlotte Harbor is pretty shallow and there are lots of places to ride out a storm.

We never got rained on, though we could seethe rain across the harbor, but we did get a push from the wind. 15 knots off of the stern helped us get to Pelican Bay in only 3.5 hours! We were able to drop the anchor and toast our first night of adventure. Brisa was so happy for the engine to get turned off. She jumped up into the cockpit with us and looked all around at the water and mangroves. She did not seem to impressed, so back down to her new bed       (our starboard settee) she went and plopped herself between the pillows.  Ray grilled pork tenderloin and I made rice and beans. We invited our fellow traveler over for cocktails and dinner. It was a really nice evening with a crisp breeze to keep us cool and music playing on our new speakers. Later that night, the breeze decided to stop and the mosquitoes decided to join our party. Curt left to go back to his boat and Ray and I tried to get settled in to sleep. It had been a long day for all of us. The mosquitoes were relentless and the breeze was too faint to keep them away. Ray did not seem to notice, probably because they love me and leave him alone.

Brisa decided to jump up through the hatch and explore the boat. I was afraid she would fall over, but she was staying up near the mast and grabbing at the lines. I think she was trying to make sure the main was reefed?? She finally came below and stretched out just below the fan. Sleep finally overtook me too and we all three snuggled into the bunk for a good night’s sleep.

Another first for Ray and I, today. We decided to go down the Intercoastal to Sanibel instead of going out into the Gulf. The weather looked ominous and the stretch around Sanibel with winds and opposing currents is sloshy and takes forever. There wasn’t much chance of sailing anyway since the winds were coming in the direction we would be going. It was a very pretty run down the coast with lots of big houses, mangrove islands, birds and pretty water.

We listened to music and chatted and mostly relaxed. I made breakfast and lunch underway. Not usually something we can do while taking water over the bow in a strong headwind.  Now we are anchored by Picnic Island and the sun has come out! Brisa is passed out on the sofa and Ray is writing in his sailing journal. It is a perfect afternoon and I am feeling so stress-free!!! So day two of our Bahamas 2017 cruise has been great so far. I think I might go up on deck and take a nap. So much time and so little to do!!!!

 Life is good!