So we have had an eventful couple of months and have been learning more and more each time out. We were fortunate to avoid the wrath of Erika and we hope that this luck continues for the next few years :).

We have had great luck in coming back into port and have had A+ dockings the last 3 times back in our cramped marina. I have the ropes all cut to measure and staged perfectly for a quick getaway and for an easy arrival. I am very happy with those lines and they have saved us a great deal of time fidgeting with lines and trying to get it just right. Probably not perfect from the viewpoint of an old salt but it works and that is all we care about. We have also been having great fun motoring around the Intracoastal and have not had (knock on wood) any negative events popping up (like engine issues or davit collapses). So since we felt pretty brave the weekend before last we decided to head up north 3 bridges (I tend to measure distance by the number of bridges I need to have opened) :) - anyways we headed up to Port Everglades and headed out to sea for our second time. One main reason was to go out 3 miles to dump our waste tanks which were VERY full and this was successfully accomplished! We also decided to pull out our genoa head sail for the first time and on 9 kts of wind I was able to roll us along at around 4kts. I had studied up how to pull out and retract the genoa and this went uneventfully and rather fun until I needed to pull the sail back in and I couldn't get the clamp to release on the line. So I fidgeted and cursed at it for a while contemplating how we head back into port with our genoa flopping around :) - then I found if I fully open the clamp that the line would release so once I figured that out we were golden. It was a bit rough (for us!) and we didn't want to push our luck so we marked the success and headed back to the intracoastal and went north for a little ways past Bahia Mar and all of that and then had a leisurely motor back home to our Loggerhead.

We had been eyeing the Danny storm and then Erika came along and I sweated how to prepare and as a new boat owner I had visions of losing it all etc. Was very concerned. I consulted all of the Preparing Your Boat forums and quickly realized that I would get the sails taken down and I would visit West Marine to spend way too much money on supplemental lines so that I can comply with my Hurricane Plan that I had filed. So I paid for a vendor to come in and remove the sails and all of that. Worked very well and it is a fairly complex project. The guys came right in and did a nice job and even hauled the sail away and stored it. The fact that Erika melted down and all doesn't in any way make me regret having gone through the process. Erika did manage to wreck our last weekend here due to heavy wind and rainstorms that came blowing through.

We have ambitious plans coming up this labor day weekend to do a Sunday/Monday down either at Miami Marine Stadium anchorage or Key Biscayne. I still want to avoid tight crowded anchorages (not that I fear my own ability to anchor and not hit anyone) - because instead I don't trust all of the other idiots out there that pull right up next to you and don't have an idea of what they are doing.

Wifey and I want to start spending nights out on the boat, we haven't done so since Bayside and Boriken sleeps very comfortably and I really want to see sunsets and sunrises and enjoy cool night time breezes. We also want to give our Cabana floaty thing (6 seater with covered roof!) a test float and lounge around. We will be relaxing....!

See you at sea!
Bill and Marisol
s/v Boriken