A Week With Jax
09 April 2013 | Dinner Key Marina, Elliot Key
Clavo
Wow! So much has happened since we last checked in. Where to start? Jacque joined the motley crew last friday for a week of outfitting and intermittent debauchery.
Her first day in town we took the dinghy out for the maiden cruise. The twenty ponies on the outboard made for swift travel. After opening her up a bit in Biscayne Bay we decided to maroon her on a little key outside the marina for some Coronas and sunshine. All of our pale body parts appreciated a little sun kissing and more importantly, our heads needed a break from shopping.
The following morning things got interesting. With nobody scheduled to work on the boat, we decided to do some food provisioning and take the Fille de Joie out on a sail just the five of us. Needless to say, Murfy's Law began to come into play. With Debs at the helm we made our way out of the marina and into the channel leading into the open bay. We assumed that the dinghy was mounted high enough to clear the water passing beneath the bridge deck. Boy were we wrong! As the dinghy filled with water it turned into a sea anchor behind our boat that really wanted to flip over. Everyone stayed calm and we were able to get the dinghy in the water and back behind the boat on a line called a painter. The trouble then became an amateur mistake as we used a polypropylene line, instead of nylon, to tether her to the boat. Polypropylene is rather slippery when new and quickly unworked the knots we made, unleashing our dinghy into the open water. This forced us into a man over board drill to rescue our boat. A small powerboat started approaching the brand new dinghy and, fearing the maritime rules of "finders keepers," we kindly asked them to back off. We approached perfectly and Clavo hopped into the dinghy as we decided to bring the boat back to the dock to reassess our game plan.
Docking is when things got truly exciting! As we were heading into the slip the wind began to blow big easterly gusts throwing us off course. Tom made his first approace (which was right on point) and the boat got blown down wind. We realized we were in need of a little help when the boat actually hit the pylons downwind of us. I guess it was a matter of time before she got her first scratch, so why not get it out of the way early on?!? Fortunately we had a few passer-bys who were willing to help us out by taking some of our dock lines and helping us walk the boat to her proper slip. With nerves frazzled we broke into the wine rations early and spent the rest of the afternoon retracing our steps and planning our next attack to avoid a repeat offense. The most impressive and telling part of the whole experience was that everyone kept their cool. In this sport, having your wits about you and your composure calm is half the battle.
The next few days were spent running errands by day and hitting the town by night. It may have not been the most ideal way to spend a vacation for Jacque, but in order to get to the Bahamas in a punctual manner, there are a number of things we need to have dialed in before casting off.
After an exhausting 48 hours in shopping mode we figured we'd get back out on the water again. The weather looked good for the next couple of days before with a front approaching into the weekend, so we decided to make our way down to Elliot Key. It is situated about 16 nautical miles south of Dinner Key marina and looked like it would make for a great overnight trip. We got going mid-day and had great easterly winds allowing us to beam reach almost all the way down to our destination. With Debs at the helm we were even able to sail through our only major navigational obstacle, the small channel through Featherbed Bank. Once we arrived, we tested the windless anchoring system in 8 ft of water and settled in for the night.
The following morning was beautiful! Perfect temperatures and a nice breeze. The kids and Deb jumped in the dinghy to go submerge themselves by a beautiful beach just down the way from our anchorage. The water was refreshing, after staring at the polluted and murky waters surrounding Miami for weeks with no desire to jump in. After our soak we leisurely made lunch and headed back home to Dinner Key marina. The winds had shifted further south which gave us some practice "running" or sailing down wind. With these large cats, jibing can be dangerous so we have to make 270 degree tacks. It is a little counterintuitive, but at the very least it hones our sailing skills. The sail was relaxing, the other cat was up on deck and most of the crew drifted off to sleep in the shade. We were back to the dock a couple of hours before sunset, so we had ample light for our second attempt at docking. This time around we made a couple of approaches and finally nailed it on the third try. A good sailor friend had reminded us that the two rules to docking are: never come in hotter than your willing to hit the dock and never be afraid to re-approach, multiple times if necessary. In retrospect we all agree that its very sound advice.
The weather turned to shit on Friday 4/5, so the Becker's and Jacque decided to get a room at the Hyatt downtown. It gave everyone a little breathing room and allowed Jacque to get freshened up for her red-eye back to London. We dined on the 15th floor of a neighboring hotel with a beautiful view overlooking the bay. With bellys full of delicious food and libations we all decided to retire early. Tom, Deb and Jax to their hotel rooms; Liz, Clavo and Isabel to the boat.
Things moved nice and slowly on Saturday. We had a nice Argentinian lunch as a family and took Jacque to the airport. We were all sad to see her go, but her life in the UK was a beckoning her home. She'll certainly have to join us when she has some extra vacation and the Fille is cruising the Eastern Caribbean. Until then she will be missed.
Whew! I think i got it all out. We'll check back in soon.