Total Distance: 9 Miles Under Sail: 9
Average Speed: 4.5 kts
Conditions: Clear, 65-70 F, Wind North at 5-10 kts, Seas 1-2 ft

Saturday Girls Afloat - My best friends Jennifer, Leigh and Anne came down to Miami for a week of a girls retreat for some sailing fun. And what fun we had! Jennifer and Leigh both have sailed with me before on a charter boat in the Chesapeake cruise 2 years ago. Anne has never set foot on a sailboat. She is about to be hook on the sailing drug. The girls arrived in the afternoon and settled into Rhapsody in Blue nicely. We went over all the safety equipment and pre-departure checklist. After an exhausting briefing the sun was starting to set. Of course that only means one thing,"Sundowners"! My dockmates Edgardo and Graciela came over to celebrate.
Next thing I know Edgardo says lets go out into the bay for a sunset cruise. Since I haven't sailed in over 2 months, he didn't have to twist my arm very hard. My thoughts were, we would just go out into the bay, motoring, and watch the sunset. Plus, the girls weren't up to speed on sailing just yet. Once out into the bay, Edgardo wanted to raise sails. The wind was perfect for a sunset cruise of around 10 knots. Next thing I know the girls are securing the cabin and cockpit for a leisure sail on Key Biscayne. In quick fashion the sails were set for a nice downwind sail. Ed and I set the whisker pole on the jib. Rhapsody was flying across the bay a 6.5 knots in 10 knots of wind. We toasted the end of the day and asked for fair winds and following seas for the next week.
Coming back into port was a nice reaching tack . What a way to break the girls into sailing again and introduce Anne to my sailing world. Everyone had a great time. Since, I am still recovering from my shoulder surgery, the crew won't let me do much. Nice to just command from my ‽Chair of doing nothing"! With a full crew, docking was easy peasy!