Last year's spring trip was cut short by daily thunderstorms. To remedy that situation Jack and I promised each other that we would not make any plans for the month of March. Advancing age complicates this as we get caught up in medical appointments and testing for ailments we might have but thankfully don't.
Nonetheless this season has been complicated by Hurricane Ian's destruction in our favorite sailing spots and along the Gulf coast. The hardest part of the trip is leaving the dock. The to-do list gets longer not shorter. The discovery that our auto pilot isn’t working was a big disappointment but we decided to leave anyway. It mus have been damaged by the lightning associated with Ian. We can steer just fine. It’s just more work. We had to steer around the usual collection of crab pots immediately as we left our canal so it took a few minutes before we could hoist the sails. A pleasant surprise was discovering that our used sail which replaced the on shredded in Ian set nicely and gave us a little faster ride down Charlotte Harbor. Our goal is Pelican Bay by sunset and we engaged the diesel to arrive on time. We enjoyed a light dinner on deck and will plan the next few days as we wait for our new sail.