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It seems I survived the weekend adventure.

And what an adventure it was. Sailing is cool. Slow, but cool. The boat I was in has been all over the place. It has crossed the Atlantic Ocean a few times. Cruised around Africa. Cruised around Europe. Gone to the island Napoleon was exiled to. Gone to South America. And so on. It goes where it wants to go.

But in this case it did not really go anywhere. Just Key Largo.

Anyhow we got off to a slow start. We had to tack twice because we sort of fucked up the first tack.

But then it was all good. The boat remained on the second tack for almost the rest of the race. We were on the "high side" and passed many boats. So we made good time. The boat had a rating of 177 which meant it had 177 minutes taken off the time.

There were two critical areas. One was the Featherbeds. In this area the safe water channel is narrow. You have to use it, or else get stuck. Many boats had to tack to get through this channel. Not us.

After that there was one more narrow channel further south. Again - no tacking to get through this area.

It was a lot of fun. I like sailing.

Ill post more photos tomorrow. Right now I am pretty beat. Sailing is hard work.

Weekend Off

The day has arrived.

I still have to do some shopping. Of course I have done ZERO up to now to prepare. Sort of.

I did obtain an air mattress. So that is something. But here is what I still need.

1. BEER. Lots of beer. Beer for up to three days of heavy parting. That is a lot.

2. A bottle of good rum, as a boat gift. I have to bring something.

3. Food. For up to three days. I am thinking sandwich material for lunch and snacks and everything not dinner, and some manner of more substantial food for dinner.

4. If I can swing it, I may also bring some buffalo steak as a boat gift. But I do not know about this. Can I even find it? Who the hell has that?? And second how much does that stuff cost?

5. A sheet of plastic, so I have something to hide under if it rains. I will not even check the weather because there is nothing I can do about it.

I think I have the rest of the stuff I need. ICE! I forgot the ice! I need that. I wonder if it is OK to lug two coolers? Ill bring em and then ask. If not then Ill leave one ashore. No big deal.

So.....there may not be any more posts till Monday. Internet access may be hard to come by. Of course my phone has internet, so I may be able to get access there. But writing a whole post on the phone is a pain in the ass. And typing on that small keyboard when drunk is not exactly easy.
I am bringing the waterproof shockproof boat digital camera. I hope I remember to use it!

Booked Passage

It would seem I have something to do this weekend! Something that will be a new experience. A trip to Key Largo. Now I have been to Key Largo plenty of times, so that is not new. But the mode of transportation will be new!

I am getting there on board a 40 foot sailboat.

It all begins Friday! Here is the general cruise itinerary.

FRIDAY:

1. finish any last minute shopping. I should have all the food and booze and beer and water and whatever I will need for the weekend.
2. Arrive at the Yacht Club at around 4 PM. The ship sets sail at 5 PM.

PORT OF CALL:

Hobie Beach, somewhere on the causeway beach or the Virginia Key portion of the beach. There shall be a beach BBQ and massive amounts of alcohol consumption.

My "cabin" is going to be an air mattress on top of the helm. Out in the open night air. If it rains it is going to totally suck.

The sea, she be a harsh mistress. If thar be rain thar be rain.

SATURDAY:

Race to Key Largo begins at 8 AM. I may or may not be awake when this happens. I assume I will be awake however, because sleeping out in the open means that when the sun rises it will probably wake me up. Unless I relocate to other sleeping quarters where the sun can not annoy me.

And then I get to sail south on Biscayne Bay. All the way to Key Largo. That should take 4 or 5 hours. Along the way there shall be more drinking and general fun having.

Arrive in Key Largo sometime in the afternoon. Then the party continues.

PORT OF CALL:

Who knows. Probably none. Like it matters.

Sunday:

Wake up when the sun annoys me, then maybe relocate to another area. Or remain awake. Party on!

Arrive at the Yacht Club whenever I get there - sometime in the late afternoon. Unload the remainder of my supplies and load them in the truck - if there are any left. Finish up any last minute party matters that still need to be attended to, if anyone is still alive. Try to grab some sort of de-grunging. Like maybe a quick shower / rinse down at the pool. Or whatever. Then return home.

It will be an adventure.

On the 19th, I am going to look at something.

Sofa King Worth It.

OK so maybe I should not have driven home. But fuck it - I did. So what of it??? Wanna fight about it????

So here is what went down. I have secured passage on a sailing vessel for a Miami to Key Largo regatta. This is really cool.

See I have never been on a sailboat of this magnitude! This is a 42 foot boat. A REAL sailboat. And if I want to go, I am there.

Well fuck! It seems I am going to Key Largo this weekend. I mean why the hell not?? I already have passage - all I have to do is make the formal request.

I may also have another opportunity to fulfill a dream of about 1 year. To be a homeowner. And of course by "homeowner" I mean a sailboat. It seems some Canadian croaked.

Pitty party on three. One. Two. Three!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Thus ends the pitty party.

Anyhow someone with a sailboat in Miami kicked the bucket. The boat is still here. The family of the bucket kicker is in Canada.

Now here is the good part. It is possible that I may be able to get said sailboat for a song and a dance.

So....should I do it??? Should I live on the water in a 40 foot sailboat? Can I live OFF THE FUCKING GRID!??!?!?!

Who knows. But I am not going to get too excited about it right now. I think I can exist on a sailboat off the grid. Skipper and Fat Fred can keep the birds from shitting all over everything. In theory. Maybe.

At any rate, this is an interesting proposition. Canadians with sailboats living in Miami do not die everyday. So if I am going to do this I need to shit or get off the pot. Do it or not do it.

But in the meantime, I really think I am going to be crew for the regatta from Miami to Key Largo. It will be an adventure.