The race was fun and challenging. We started at 8:00 am (after about 3 hours sleep) and sailed my new spinnaker right after the start. Stevie (my cousin from Detroit) was brand new to spinnakers and I used it only once before. We sailed east in the Intercoastal Waterway to Destin Pass and then out into the Gulf of Mexico. Current (tides) were with us thankfully or we wouldn't have made it with the little wind we had. A few large swells left over from the storm (Isidora) greeted us at we entered the Gulf.
I actually got a little tired for the first time ever (at about 3:00 in the afternoon). I felt better after about an hour with Stevie taking over the helm. The winds were too strong to have me in on the boat, but too light for me to be fully trapped out. I was in, up towards the front, out all the way, half way, etc. for about two hours straight. Stevie had to stay at the main beam near the mast (out of the wind).
We then headed west to Pensacola Pass hugging the beach (about 1 mile off at most) approximately 41 miles away. It went well except light winds and for almost an hour there was no wind. We rounded the Pass at about 5:00 pm. and headed east again in the Sound under spinnaker.
I was letting Stevie sail the boat for the last 10 miles in the Gulf and now for about 10 miles under spinnaker in the Sound. We just passed under the Pensacola Bridge before dark. East of the bridge it opens up real wide and the shoreline is completely natural for about 25 miles (no buildings and no roads for about 10 miles). We had a little worry about barges and saw two, but had no trouble. Winds were light (thankfully).
It was my first time sailing the cat at night and I was a little nervous at first. However, after a little while I could tell when we were sailing well by the sounds coming from the boat moving through the water. You couldn't see the sails to tell how they were trimmed. We still had the spinnaker up too. It turned out to be the most beautiful part of the sail. So many stars and fish were jumping all around.
The hardest part was coming through an area called the "Narrows." It was dredged and we were told to stick to the channel. There were islands in the way, marinas, docks, and much else we couldn't see. Well, the wind and current don't always cooperate, but we did our best. We sailed out of the channel a few times, but it was high tide and we didn't run aground. It was very dark though and I could barely make out were we needed to go. We mostly went from channel marker to channel marker.
It was eerie to see boats coming and going behind us in the darkness (65 boats racing). You could only see them if they were lit (very few) or you could see their darkness against the slightly lighter sky. Really quite eerie with us all ghosting along.
We made it through the Narrows and under two more bridges (I don't like them - no wind and always current). We finally arrived at where we started at 3:05 am. Nineteen hours and 5 minutes, 100 miles later. We got third place in class and I haven't heard the overall results. I'm expecting about 23rd out of the 65 boats. MichaelCoffman took first on the same boat as me and was third overall!!!!
I was pleased with our results, but more importantly we had a wonderful time. Stevie fell asleep a few times, but I was really alert and felt strong. He really enjoyed himself. We can't wait for next year!
The hardest part was navigating with spinnaker, in unfamiliar waters, in the Narrows, against other boats, at night, after 19 hours on the water. That's all. It's a guy thing (no offense to the women who were in the race).
Mike taipan 4.9 #213
