FL 120

[Wolverine]

What can say. My adventure started with an angry driver pointing a gun at me, my GPS taking me 90 miles out of the way on side streets and ending with my trailer lights blowing out. Oh, in between I ran aground and me and my Compac 19 washed up on shore.
Ever try to use the head in a small boat on a 45° angle? Would I ever do it again? Of course! It was a blast! I'd write more but I have a difficult time with phones.

Forgot to mention we were treated to the Blue Angels practicing right above us 3 days in a row.

[Riley Smith]

The Blue Angels made one pass right over me at about 100 ft. They were tucked in tight in that still air Thursday....most awesome thing I've ever seen. I KNOW they saw me too because they put on the smoke as they went zooming by for about 1/4 mile. I could smell the kero.

[Riley Smith]

I was tired when I made it to the dock which, after misgivings, amounted to absolutely no drama. Leaving that dock had been a horse of a different color. Charles Brennan came driving up just as I had finished rigging the boat. And there was another fellow named John with crew of Jean(?) that were ahead of me trying to get off the dock, so he helped us both. I didn't see how they did it because I was too caught up in getting my boat ready and rig up to face the wind, which at the moment had me (and them) pinned to the dock. In my case the shallow draft allowed us to get nose to the wind at one end of the pier and once Charles pushed me off and flipped the bow line aboard, I was sailing immediately, and it was ON!
 The premise that I could actually do this thing all depended on the wind. Intuition and a good sampling of radar and satellite fodder after the day's previous storms told me there'd be a window. Wednesday was nice, but breezy, and held the prospect of a fast ride down Big Lagoon. I had dawdled and fretted up until the last moment, arguing the pros and cons, and figuring out what the heck to do if things went south. But somehow I needed this; the psyche needed it, suffering from life and the problems of this world. And so I had it all together and ready, and finally decided this was it. There ain't no replay, so I  loaded the ice chest and lit out for the two hour drive, with Gilligan's Island theme playing in my head. I'd catch the afternoon train to the sandbar if possible.
I had tied a reef in the gaff rig; a line at the boom jaw on a cringle, and a line on the boom aft. I even rolled up the sail and tied it with the reef lines, something I often don't worry about. This was going to be intense I thought, and I was right. Once Charles assisted in getting the boat into position, I was off. The wind was almost too much for the single reef but I was able to handle it and the boat surged eastward toward Big Lagoon. At first, there was a reach component to the track, and it blew so strong that I'd have to round into it to control the boat. Finally I was able to set the heading on a run, and we began surfing toward Sand Island. S R Cat loves a downwind. The boat was flying and I was happy. THIS is what I needed.
I could see John far ahead and wasn't gaining on him, so that little boat he has is pretty fast. I really liked the way he'd rigged storage and accommodations. My accommodations were the stars though, and I felt privileged to be able to be there. The ride was a blast. One time previously I'd ridden this train down Big Lagoon. That time I worried the whole way about the end of the boom catching a wave, but with the "new" line I use to set boom height, things were dandy. The boat was surfing the waves and I had to work the tiller on occasion to keep her playing nice. Finally I neared Sand Island and the waves hitting it on that long fetch got rougher. And then I was into the side channel and it was calmer and there were bunches of boats pulled up to the shore ahead. I had made it!
And once there, I had enough time and hands to call my wife and tell her I made it. But the phone, that all important piece of comm equipment, wasn't into it. I borrowed a phone from a lady named Lisa and got in touch with Sonya and told her everything was fine. Amazingly she picked up because she usually won't answer an odd call. A big thanks to Lisa (didn't get her last name) for peace of mind. And the added worry of no comm in case of emergency. ( it's a long story about the phone, but it WAS working when I left).
The military occupies land adjacent to Sand Island to the north and they love high performance engines and aircraft. The Blue Angels call this home but there wasn't too much disruption in the night hours. They also fly Jet Rangers (helicopters) low level just off the gulf side of the beach to train and I saw a couple of those. It's black out on that water and those warriors take their life in their hands on many occasions. I sat and listened to some of the guys with larger boats play guitar and talk until finally I went to sleep. Sometime during the night I awakened and sat up and the local great blue heron was stalking past the boat transom. I had probably sensed it and sat up to see what was happening. Then I saw some lights up in the air way out on the gulf...that glowed brightly and slowly faded away. Flares?  With the military operating all manner of sorties in these waters and skies, no telling what it was. I saw a plethora of military trainers, a C-130 doing low-level work out over the water, and the T-45 primary jet trainer is very fast and very loud.
Thursday I awakened at 7am and proceeded to get coffee before going while I had a whisper of a breeze out of the NE. Something had told me it was going to be a grueling journey back to the dock because there was almost no wind. I got the boat shipshape and raised the sail and headed west, silently creeping by all the campers. At first the catboat moved ok; enough to tell you were moving. As I neared the end of Sand Island, that little breeze that was channeling through died in the wind shadow of the island.
 Yes, grueling. And it was getting hot. But my old buddy Mike Miller had taught me a trick. Umbrella! So I kept the sail up to capture anything that came through and sought cover in the shade, peaking over the coamings while sitting in the bottom of the boat. It was very quiet and I parried a few more zephyrs of wind into distance, slowly heading toward the west until I got right in the middle of Big Lagoon, where it died for an extended period. There were some cumulus clouds out on the gulf and they weren't dissipating as they would for good weather. Sooner or later there would be wind. How much patience do you have?
I have a lot and am an expert in making my boat go in very little wind. I'd be alright sooner or later. All these thoughst got intruded upon by the Blue Angels. Dummy me didn't think of the camera until it was almost over, but once they flew in a diamond formation right over me at about 100 ft elevation. They even squirted smoke for a ¼ mile to let me know they were looking at me too! It was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.  They were packed tight in the calm air and looked like they were on rails. I could smell the kero as they went past. I imagined what it looked like in the lead aircraft as the wingtip was anchored on my little boat as the center of the circle. (all the other guys are focusing on the lead aircraft in most of these maneuvers). Yeah, awesome.
Eventually the show was over and finally a little wind began to appear. Out of the SW. Pretty much on the nose. "Oh well, what did you expect?" I asked myself. SW was bad and it meant the weather was coming again. Sooner or later. Eventually the wind WOULD pick up. I worried about it getting so strong docking would be a nightmare. Being pinned on a dock could lead to all manner of woes with wind from that direction. After the Blue Angels though, it held enough for me to sail the three or four miles close to the dock before it began to die again. I drifted up the dock and stepped out in the end.
I missed all the action Thursday night. I was home in bed, without even enough energy to put the boat in the shop. The storm washed all the salt off her and I'll put her up after all this spree of rain is over. I'm hurting in places I didn't know I had. I slept very well, something that is hard to do with a messed up cervical disc. And wouldn't you know it, I'm ready for another run at life's problems. Thanks to all involved for pitching a good time!

[Wolverine]

If anyone has pictures of the boats on shore at Big Sabine, please post them.

[Riley Smith]

I had some pics to go with all that above but there seems to be technical issues at the moment.

[Norm L.]

Thanks to both of you for the posts. Good for you Riley. You finally got out as tough as it was but a nice entry to your mental diary.

Mr. Wol. Your post was great and should be added to the one about the restfulness of sailing.
Maybe the restfulness of GPS. We all have stories. Probably most about our GPS leader's pronunciation of local street names.
Skip the irate driver. It is crazy.

[Riley Smith]

Yeah, if I don't try and kill myself every once in a while, life isn't much fun! I forgot to mention  the dolphins at Sand Island. I was entertained for a while at the first of the becalming by about six or eight. It's pretty deep right there and they stayed for a while. There seemed to be several young and no males. No sooner than they had departed than the Blues showed up, so all-in-all it actually wasn't too bad. I have a recommendation here, Body Amour. I tried some coconut and something else and it was great! It'll keep you from dying of dehydration. It would have been better if all my ice hadn't melted, although it was still cold

[Riley Smith]

So maybe I can try again..... one of the nicest boats I saw. Charlie Jones was right but I thought he meant an open Core Sound, not one w/ accomoadations.

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 A Victoria 18 on the beach, too. I have a sail he'd like.

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Sunset at the bar
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