Cedar Key Small Boat Meet 11/23 Pt 1 of too many . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

(Apologies for the chopped-up report.  The TSBB server has suddenly limited pics to 8 per post.)

The WCTSS (West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron)  has their own version of the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet (CKSBM) sponsored by the city of Cedar Key, normally, the first Sunday in May.
The November meeting never has quite as much attendance, as it is not as heavily promoted, but you can guarantee that most all the Ususal Suspects will be there.

The PLAN:
Since I regard the big Cedar Key ramp as little more than a deathtrap, and the small Cedar Key ramp a Mast-Killer,  my plan was to launch at Horseshoe Beach, roughly 26 miles north of Cedar Key, on Friday.
Spend a leisurely day Friday, on either a close or a broad reach in around 10 - 12 knots of wind, making for a nice day's cruise.
Overnight at Ateseno Otie Key and be already there and waiting when the Saturday Stragglers come over to the island.
Sail over to Cedar Key Saturday evening for dinner at Capt. Tony's, then overnight in the bay, somewhere.
Sunday morning, sail once around Atseno Otie Key and pick a good beaching spot and meet up with the other CKSBM sailors and overnight on the beach or my cabin, depending on the weather.
Monday, sail back to Horseshoe Beach on a broad reach, or a run, then drive home.
Then I checked my Android app: Windy.

The REALITY:
Forecast was for 2 - 6 knots of wind on my nose on Friday, clocking around to  2 - 6 knots of wind on my nose, all day Monday.
Light winds on the nose: Urchin's Kryptonite.
Durn.
And perhaps some even stronger Sailorly Words.
I had just recently had all the character building in the CDCR in October, that I could stand and didn't want any more, just yet.
I was about to bag the whole idea, when I thought: Hey! Short Rib is a small boat!
And Short Rib is capable of using the small boat ramp. 
Most importantly, Short Rib is un-concerned with wind direction or velocity.
So I left for Cedar Key Saturday morning and launched, looking for some trouble to get into.
After all, I have a Bad Rep for being a Troublemaker, that I gotta keep up.

This is what most all the CKSBM regulars do:  They rent a condo, then park their boats in front of it for the weekend.
This is what I saw as soon as I got under the small bridge by the boat ramp.
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Nobody in much of a hurry, with the winds as calm as all that.

This is not a protected harbor, people.  Directly behind me is the Gulf Of Mexico.
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I offered the guys in the Sea Pearl, a tow over to Atseno Otie Key, which they readily accepted.
As many times as Short Rib has been towed in, I needed to pay it forward to someone.
Not visible in the pic, they are towing a smaller sailboat they had just purchased and never sailed.
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MAN!! It was FLAT!!  The guy in this Catboat was using his motor.
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Don't let this guy fool you.
He was paddling with oars and had just shipped them aboard, when I took the pic.
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The wind did pick up a little about a ¼ mile from the island, which is what this guy had noticed, as did the people whom I was towing.
They told me they'd sail the rest of the way in, in part, to preserve their pride.

Yup, an actual ripple on the water.
I measured the wind with my wind meter and checked the wind direction with my hand-bearing compass and calculated that I COULD have sailed down from Horseshoe Beach, in roughly: 50 hours.
Instead of driving it, in 50 minutes.
Guess I made the right call, after all.
This is the Sea Pearl I towed over.  It was an early prototype and is actually 22 feet long, instead of 21 feet, before they squared off the stern on production models.
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The owner, whose name escapes me which is all the more embarassing, since I was introduced to him last year and will likely need to be introduced again, next year.
Why am I so good with numbers and so bad with names?
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I had admired this same boat last May, but this time, got a chance to talk to the owner.
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This 12-½ footer was actually a 25-foot design from Ted Brewer and when the owner got the plans, he decided to make a model of it first, then concluded he wouldn't live long enough to finish building it.
He wrote the designer and got his blessing to build the half-scale sized version, shown here.
He regards it as: "an adult Beetle Cat" since you actually have seats for adults to sit on, instead of just sitting on the sole.

Part 2 of too many coming up,
Charles Brennan