Great points, y'all, thanks! Barb, points taken.

I've read Cat Sailing for the 90s all the way through, the boat handling chapter several times and the Nacra chapter a couple. I've got the port/starboard, windward/leeward, astern/ahead business and I've sailed monos before, so I hope I'm not too hazardous, but I think I'd feel more comfortable with a 9-mile run out to the barrier island than with a day around the buoys. Should get plenty of roll tacking practice in.

How are course charts read?

Rob, Carl Grey Park, north side of 98, east end of the bridge behind Gulf Coast Comm. College. Skipper's meeting is at 11. Sail on over!