Back home

An eventful day. Just after we left the dock we found that we do indeed have an engine problem. Started, but when I added throttle it didn't respond, and clanked. I shut it down. But there was a fresh breeze from the east, as forecast, so we felt we could sail home. We sailed through the last bridge on the south side of Tampa Bay easily, and crossed the bay in one Hou at hull speed. To avoid trying to sail in Pass a Grille against the wind, we opted for the official ICW route by the Skyway Bridge. By the time we reached the Pinellas side of the bay the wind was dying. We ghosted the length of the long channel paralleling the Skyway, but when we turned toward the Bayway it died entirely. No big surprise. The prevailing easterly wind here calms down at midday when the land heats up, and a seabreeze comes up from the west a couple hours later. That wasn't forecast today, but it happened anyway. While we were waiting for the afternoon wind I experimented with pulling the boat with the dinghy, rowing. See pic. It works, but we didn't go more that maybe 1/2 knot. A couple of passing powerboats kindly offered help, but we explained we were just killing time until the wind came up. After an hour, it did, but it gave us a one-mile beat to windward in a wide channel. We sailed through the Bayway "10 ct." bridge with apprehension but not much difficulty, and bore away for a nice reach through Boca Ciega Bay. When we reached the Corey Bridge, the wind was directly against us. Anywhere else we'd have just anchored and waited for a favorable wind, but we were only a half mile from home, so we gave it a go. We pulled our way through by hand along the bridge's fender. That was harder than I expected. Many of the boards on the fender were loose, and there was a bit of a current against us. But we worked together and finally pulled through, literally. Docking under sail was tricky but we got it done without tears or damage. And we were home.

Until today, our easiest cruise: fair winds mostly, fair skies every day, and enjoyable stops, some familiar, some new. Of course, it's today's adventures that we'll remember and talk about.