Of Spinnakers and Following Seas

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Day 5: Kit Ship's Log--Weather: Partly Cloudy, Temps Forecast around 70, Wind north at 15 knots--Sick Bay Report: Dan recovered from cold, Marilyn NOW has the head cold, Capt. Steve back pain slightly better. Last Day at Sea.

Since this would be our last day of sailing and we had to drive to Hawks Cay Resort near Marathon Key this evening, we told Capt. Steve that we wanted to get back to the marina around 3:00. That meant we would only get 2 delicious meals from Kathy today. Capt. Steve suggested that we sail to the south to get a full sailing experience since the north wind we've had all week persisted.

Marilyn now has Dan's cold just as he has gotten rid of it, as I note in the log. Poor girl. First she has the chest pain and shortness of breath and now the cold. It may be hard for the rest of us to avoid the cold. Bummer. Not fun to have on a Florida vacation.



Anyway, after another wonderful breakfast, we headed out to sea. Once out of the harbor area, Capt. Steve decided to fly the spinnaker today. He got out on the deck and unfurled the sail. Once deployed with a 10 knot northerly wind, we were cruising a little over 10 knots, which was very cool. The spinnaker itself is very pretty and kind of exciting to see. We sailed and sailed. We put some music on the computer and enjoyed our good fortune to be here. Once again we were treated to our final lunch from Kathy. I'm going to gain 10 lbs. on this boat!!



After sailing southbound, it was time to turn around and head back north to Stock Island. The spinnaker was brought down. (Don't know the correct nautical term.) We used the two 15 horse motors to bring us back to the marina. We all agreed that this was a most relaxing way to spend 5 days. Capt. Steve and Kathy were most accommodating and made us very comfortable the whole time. They are very nice people. Steve had a great sense of humor. He and Dan were trading lines from the Marx Brothers the whole trip. After arriving at the marina, we loaded up the rental van and headed east to Hawks Cay Resort.

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Photos

Kathy Helming the Boat
While Steve deploys the spinnaker.

Sea Turtle
One of many we saw during our 5 day cruise.

Comments

[Steve]

Gee, I want to go...
.... oh, wait a minute, I did! Good to hear the charter story, warts and all! And to go from here to the frozen north (!) You are a braver man than I...