We finally arrived at Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage late Friday evening after a lengthy debacle on 75. We had planned on arriving before dark so we could see to untarp the boat & unpack the car but as luck had it we did it with flashlights instead. It's amazing how tiring riding in a car for many hours can be. Reality is, we're just too damn old to drive it straight through like that any more... Well, Troy is... I'm only 29! 😉

Saturday, Sunday, & Monday were spent putting Cantankerous back together, making repairs, Troy playing karate kid... Wax on, Wax off... Me running new lines & trying my hand at splicing lines together to make nice clean loops to attach hardware to instead of Troy attaching them with a bowline knot, laundry, provisioning, sewing repairs, & engine maintenance.

Our day today started out well. They moved us from the hard to the dock on the water this morning around 9. We finished preparing Cantankerous to leave Charlotte Harbour Boat Storage. We got the sails back on, the dingy on its lift, fuel loaded, water tanks filled, last few grocery items, & lunch; we were ready to go. ⛵️

There's suppose to be 20 knot winds for the next couple days so several of the folks waiting to have their boats put in the water are a little concerned about water being blown out of the harbour making it difficult or impossible for them to get out. We have a 5' draft. That means we need at least 5' of water to get anywhere. This is why it's wise to have & keep a membership to Tow Boat for the "rare" occasional brain fart & need a tow. 😜 Without a membership it'll cost you a small fortune to get a tow... Especially when you lose your mast in Dry Tortugus & are stuck for 4 days waiting to get towed back to Key West... OUCH!!! Kari was the fortunate one to experience that with her dad not me... Thank you Jesus!!! 😅
As I mentioned, many are concerned about getting out so since we were the first to leave out today we were asked to relay back our success or failure (please, like we would fail 😂😂), to those thinking about heading out tomorrow. Leaving the boat storage we travel a small river to a set of locks that dumps out into Charlotte Harbor.

We headed out around 1:30-2. Not too long after we headed out the Troy & Lisa shit show began!!!
We had nice wind & it is a sailboat so Troy put out the sails & shut off the engine. The wind caught the sails & jerked Cantankerous to attention. Ahhh... Smooth sailing! CRAP!!! Someone forgot to lash down the dingy... I'll mention no names, Troy! 😚 When Cantankerous came to attention the dingy flipped, flopped, idk but the bag of life vests that "were" in dingy were now in the river! Troy turned her & I grabbed the pole to try to hook the loop on the bag... Easy peasy. NOT! Clearly my hand eye coordination sucks! We made a pass, I missed. We made another pass, I missed again. We made a few more passes & I freaking missed every time! 😡 By this time the bag is getting to close to shore. We needed to take some sail out so Troy started to furl in the Genoa (the large sail on the bow, front of boat) but the wind was whipping it around so hard the sheets (2 lines attached bottom rear of Genoa used to furl it in & out) got tangled around it. I was on the bow stooped down so it wouldn't hit me in the head while it was whipping around. I needed to get the sheets out of their tracks to untangle them so he could bring the Genoa in. Staying crouched down I turned to get a sheet just as the Genoa whipped around smacking me right in the face knocking my sunglasses off my face & into the water... Script sunglasses no less so there went $300! 😡 By this point I was frustrated, Troy was frustrated & both on the edge of just down right pissed off & now I have a goose egg on my forehead too! I finally got the sheets untangled, Troy furled the Genoa in & we made a couple more passes on the life vests which I FINALLY hooked!

Things went smooth from then on to the lock. We had an issue at the lock trying to get out the other side. We got in the lock, the gate closed, the exiting gate cracked open to let water out so we could go down to the same water level, then the exiting gate opened. We got ready to exit & the exiting gate closed... BEFORE we could exit! So, we went through the process again & got 2/3 way out when gate began closing ON US! This isn't suppose to happen. The exiting gate isn't suppose to close till we manually close it! Troy gunned it to get us out but it left a big scuff/scratch about 3 feet long on the port side. Grrr!!! Hopefully he can buff it out but I think it's a little too deep. After the lock we sailed to Cayo Costa state park & anchored for the night, but not till after we went aground right before the anchorage... Luckily we were able to get off without having to call for a tow! 😊We're now settled in for the night. Glad the day is over... We're both pooped!!! Night! 😴💤💤💤