FL 120 2K23 Day 1: Gainesville to Fort McRee

[Charles Brennan]

FL 120 2K23 Day 1: Gainesville to Fort McRee

FINALLY!!
Broke the "Curse of the Noon Balloon"!   
My boats throughout my life, used to be called the Noon Balloon because no matter what departure time we set, we never seemed to get out before Noon.
Not anymore!  Left EXACTLY at the planned time of 7AM!
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Really helped, loading everything except perishables and hitching up, the night before.

Late lunch break in progressively rainy weather, in Pensacola.
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And the weather was not looking much better at the ramp, either.
Lots of lightning flashes, although I have as much luck getting those on a camera as I do, getting dolphins on a camera.
So we sat it out for a while, leaving the mast horizontal, while we waited for the storm to be elsewhere.
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That's Glenn from California, rigging his ComPac 16.

But, clear up it did (at least, for a little while) and Jason, from Louisiana in his Marshall Sandpiper, ZigZag, was right there to take advantage of bluer skies.
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A Tri-Maran all the way from Texas.
There were quite a number of boats from Texas and I asked all the owners the exact same question:
"Y'all come all the way over here to the Fl 120 as a practice run, to get in shape for the TX 200?"
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And I got a pretty much, universal answer:
"You sail the FL 120 to have FUN; you sail the TX 200 to SURVIVE." 
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This guy (also from Tx) added that it is nice to have the occasional restaurant or bar, to pull up to.
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DEFINITELY did not like those skies, but the radar showed a lull, so we rigged quickly and launched.
Ya GOTTA love living in an era, where you can keep a Doppler Shift Radar showing stuff in near Real Time, casually stowed in your hip pocket. 
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Son-in-law Ed helping get the boat ready, while I parked the truck.
(Note all the fenders deployed, after my recent Cedar Key debacle, even with the wind blowing the hull away from the dock.)
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I'll take a light rain, over a violent thunderstorm, any day. 
Heading towards thunder clouds, not so much.
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Then, there are the times, you wish you DIDN'T have a radar  in your pocket!!
(Uh, oh.)
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Ah, well.  There is no Bad Weather, there is only incorrect attire, and I decided to get (mostly) correctly attired.
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That PLB around my neck, resulted from my wife reading an article that stated someone lost at sea can be denied an insurance claim, for up to 20 years.
Kinda makes me feel like a belled cat.
So if I ever DO have the Big One, Out There, instead of clutching at my chest, I'm supposed to flip up the antenna and clutch the Big Red Button.

Lots of Brave Souls already beached, by the time I got to Fort McRee.
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One of those boats that makes me feel better about my own organizational skills!
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West Wight Potter 15 named Harry from Colorado.
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Skipper 20, IIRC.
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CLC Pocket Ship, with a name almost bigger than the boat.
My Seasonal Rose built by Johnny Ray.
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Superb craftsmanship throughout, which made the bow sprit ladder look even more incongruous.

Scott Widmier's ComPac Sun Cat.
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I've been taken to task recently, (Yeah! I'm talking to YOU, Roland!!) for mis-identifying various ComPac cat boats in my posts.
Apparently, Sun Cat, Day Cat, Sunday Cat, Picnic Cat, Tuesday Cat, Somewhere Over the Horizon Cat,  Overnight Cat, Extra Crispy Cat, and Barbecue Cat, etc. means a lot to the owners; but Scott called it a Sun Cat, so if I got it wrong (again), take it up with him!

Catalina 22 pop-top from South Carolina.
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And a DIFFERENT Catalina 22 pop-top also from South Carolina!  Next to it is Penny Mae a B&B Belhaven 17 from Texas.
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To the left, is Wayward Son, a Montego 19; to the right is Pat Johnson's famous Bubba Bote.
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A Crab Claw rigged catamaran motor-sailer and proof of what happens when rednecks keep modifying whatever is at hand, until suddenly, they have a boat! 
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Everything you need, nothin' you don't and all, right at hand.
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Fat Cat a Combo Cat, that points surprisingly well, as we'll see later on.
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Glenn in his ComPac 16.
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Rory Jones and his Hobie Tandem Island Tri.
BTW, the man is a bottomless source of cool sea stories.
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Transmogrifier, John Churchill's Thistle Cruiser.
Yeah, I never heard of one, either.   
Dunno if you can get them that way, or if he just modified his.
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Never managed to track down the owner, to find out what this boat was.
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Lance Bell's Trifecta another Hobie Tandem Island.
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Not sure, but I think this one is Jellybean an 18' Normsboat, from Texas.
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Steve Gully's boat Modi-5d which started life as a Puddle Duck Racer and Steve added a front end to it and made numerous modifications.
5 of them, apparently.
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Amazing little boat.
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Drascombe Lugger.
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A closer view of [Transmogrifier showing port lights detail, just like what I did to Urchin
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As close as you get to a Skipper's Meeting at Fort McRee, on a  FL 120.
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Dracarys a Weta Trimaran.  Zipped right along, it did.
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Cruising with my wife, the fare usually tends towards rib-eye steaks, portobello mushrooms with Gruyere cheese and a small salad.
Cruising with the guys, trends more towards fried Spam, or grilled Bratwursts!!
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This Totally Gratuitous Token Perve Shot, was courtesy of a big Catamaran that pulled up next to us and who had no idea what the FL 120 was.
(I know why my readers, read my posts!)
She later performed some gymnastics on the rigging next to her, that left little doubt as to her night job.
They had highly eclectic and LOUD tastes in music. 
(Willie Nelson, Hip-Hop, Rap, Pop, EDM, and Broadway Show Tunes?  Seriously?!?)   
When they finally left around 3:00 AM, no one missed them.
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Sea Pearl 21 who was a late straggler.
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A view of the Fleet before turning in for the night.
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After the "music" stopped, I got a pretty good night's sleep.

Charles Brennan

[Norm L.]

Always love your boat inventories. Years ago I decided if I could have a kit boat built (if I did it myself it would have had to be in the condo living room and decades later I'd have the keel done) it would be the Belhaven 17.

[Roland of Macatawa]

Yes, Charles, that is a Com-Pac SunCat;
and a very nice looking one!
Roland

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Urchin is looking all spiffy!