FL 120 2K23 Day 4: Spectre Island to Deadman Island

[Charles Brennan]

FL 120 2K23 Day 4: Spectre Island to Deadman Island

We awoke to light airs and mostly downwind.
I was impressed this guy managed to fill his sails.
He complimented my new home made curtains on his way past us, so NONE of you will hear anything pejorative about him, from me!
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Annabelle, yet another Catalina 22, motorsailing along.
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All the early risers ahead of me.
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Lance Bell on his Hobie Tandem Island Trifecta, coming up behind us.
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Joined by Rory Jones on his yellow Hobie Tandem Island.
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Rory opted to pass me to port.
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And pass me, he did!
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Lance wanted to say something to Rory, so he cut across my bow.
What!?!?!? You cut across my bow?!?   
You Cut Across My BOW?!?!??    
Man!! That's COLD!!
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Glenn coming up from behind with his Secret Weapon: A spinnaker.  Maybe a Gennaker, I don't know.
Frankly, the wind gets that light, I have an iron jib and I'm not afraid to use it!!
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It did move him right along, however.
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And far better than my own Drifter/Reacher, apparently.
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A Hunter 260, from last night
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Also seemingly has no problem passing me by.
I think this is why I am such a good boat documentarian: EVERYBODY passes by me!!
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Fun to sit on your own bow every now and again, and make somebody ELSE, do all the work!!
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This guy in the Catalina 27 wasn't even part of the FL 120, he had just been cruising for the previous 2 weeks and happened upon us.
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Not for the first time, I envied a boat that had a Masthead Rig and not a Fractional Rig, like mine.
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Bit of a conundrum, here.
Too early for lunch under the Navarre Bridge and we'll be way too late for lunch when we finally cross under the Pensacola Bridge.
Looks like we're having Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches aboard, today, guys.
Well, Peanut Butter and Blueberry Pecan Bourbon jelly . . . . . I mean, we're not PHILISTINES!!
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Doesn't matter how much air draft I have available; I always feel like I'm scraping the top of the mast on the underside of the bridge!
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And breathe a sigh of relief, once I'm through.
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Check out the yellow pennant. Scott W. made up a bunch of them, so we could all tell who was participating in the FL 120.
Kind of like the red bandanas we tie to our bow pulpits on the BEER Cruise, as an homage to Doc Holiday, who first inspired these sailing get-togethers.
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So, you head west down the Santa Rosa Sound until you get to English Cove, then hang a right.
After miles and miles of this:
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Always a little unsure of myself when I have to actually navigate someplace I haven't been before and it is comforting to see another boat on the same course as me.
Unless we're equally lost . . . .
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Nope. The GPS is pointing us right at our destination, just past some really expensive properties.
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And, no sooner did we beach our boat, than these people immediately picked up and started to leave.
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Was it something we said?

Guess their Mothers warned them about Sailors!!
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Totally Gratuitous Token Perve Shot for my readers.
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Ed walking past our buddy's Hobie Cat.
Don't know what he was in search of: Newer companionship, or just getting away from ME, for a while!!
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Notice the attenuation in boats, again?? 
Gotta be pretty stalwart to get to this destination: Deadman's Island.
I think it got its name, because by the time you get there, you feel like a Dead Man.
That's my Theory, anyway.
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Our guys from Georgia, on their Siren 17.
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Friendly chat and lies-swapping.
Ed mentioned that my boat has been struck by lightning twice, and that I've been struck four times.
Everybody is always suitably impressed, but I can't help but notice them sidle away from me, every time it clouds up.
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A lot of potential sidling away, coming up.
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I was going to park next to Jason, but then realized I'd have a hard time leaving out of there in the morning.
Like Doc once told us all: Never sail INTO someplace, you can't sail back OUT OF.
Words of Wisdom.
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There's Zephyr the Precision 165, I mentioned earlier.
Small boat perhaps, but he was right here, mixing it up with everybody else the whole trip.
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Urchin just behind Liber (meaning: "Free" and a good choice for a boat name).
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Another sunset and another grilled supper. 
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Never gets old.


Charles Brennan

[Wayne Howard]

Speed-O-Man has been to several B.E.E.R.s  He docks his boat up on the Blackwater River somewhere. Captain Ron and him cruised through the FT. McRee anchorage in 2007 wearing sombreros and speedos stuffed with extra hair. And yes, there are kids in therapy still.

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Oh, goodness, Wayne - I remember that!  'Bout died laughing.

Charles - FOUR times?  Dang.  It thought it was only two.

[Doug SC]

I really enjoy the way you tell your stories and your photos! Thanks CB!

[Brian N.]

Charles - great photos and terrific narrative!