Fish out of water

I tried sailing to Stock Island a second time on Wednesday. The small craft advisory that went into effect Monday was still in place. The wind was blowing around twenty and the seas were very rough. I'd never been out sailing in this area under conditions like that. The water didn't look like waves at all, but more like the deep, angry claw marks of some giant beast. Each wave was some six feet tall and they were positioned one right after the other so that the boat pitched up then down continuously at what seemed like thirty to forty degrees. It felt like traversing row upon row of deep, jagged ravines. Some waves were breaking.

I wasn't able to stay close enough to the wind to make much progress heading upwind. After about an hour of trying unsuccessfully to gain some ground, I turned back. Sailing on a broad reach or down wind was easy and very exciting, it was just close hauled that was difficult to maintain. It was a lot of fun and a little encouraging considering the boat seemed to be doing absolutely fine safety wise.

Yesterday was a different story. I left Fleming Key around sunrise and made it to Stock Island before lunch. The wind and seas had died down dramatically overnight. Sailing upwind was still a tedious drag, but at least doable in the reasonable conditions.

Jordan's Ghost got hauled just a few minutes after I arrived at 3D Boatyard. I took a bus back to Key West to buy some tools and a few spare groceries, then headed back to Stock Island to get started.

My bottom paint should be getting delivered today. I'm planning on resurfacing and painting the bottom, repainting the topside and applying some non-skid, and improving the ice box and head plumbing. That may be a little ambitious considering I've only got about two weeks.