We finally did it. Got the boat out of the slip and spent 4 glorious hours sailing around Tampa Bay. The smiles may never come off of our faces! We saw countless numbers of dolphins and another Tayana 37 dropped sails and motored over to us to say hello.

Since that first day we have moved the boat to it's dock at the house on Terra Ceia bay. It was a great 7 hour sail with fair winds. We are finding the deep draft keel a real challenge in the skinny waters of the bay.

We spent our first overnighter with the Boca Ciega Yatch Club at the Twin Dolphins Marina on the Manatee river. Found the boat to be very accomodating for us both. A member of the club shot the pictures of the boat under sail for us.

Next overnighter was a real event. We were all packed and set for a Labor Day Weekend cruise and Gustav was supposed to miss us so we headed out despite the cloudy skies. We were not going far the first day and barely made it to the mouth of the Manatee River when the rain and wind came so hard we could not see the channel markers. Steve had recently installed the C80 Chart Plotter and I relied on it to get us to the anchorage. After the squall passed it had cooled down and we spent a pleasant evening, grilling steaks and having cocktails in the cockpit. Sleeping was a problem as the anchor chain kept scraping on the bobstay & bowsprit shroud and the echo was loud in the v-berth. The next morning was dark and windy and after a leisurely breakfast we decided just to stay put. Hours later the wind and chop had increased significantly and we thought it might be best to head back to port. The current had the boat at a 45 degree angle to the anchor and the wind gusts were becoming more frequent. We only have a manual windlass and try as we might we could not get the anchor up without a major struggle. After about a half an hour of playing around we decided it was safer just to ride it out. Thankfully there was no rain at this point so we could open the hatches and be fairly comfortable. Toward evening the winds started to let up and a light rain started. Before we went to bed we moved the anchor rode off the roller so it wouldn't catch on the shroud and got a pretty good nights sleep. There was some wear on the cap rail and rode so we will need to fabricate a new solution for a peaceful night at anchor. The next day, Labor Day, was glorious and we sailed for hours in good wind.