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After a few days rest and some time spent with friends, in person and via phone, I got antsy and left Marathon, heading north, up the west coast of Florida.
The day started well, a little yuloh practice then a slow sail out of Boot Key Harbor. The current was with me for once, but the light winds kept my speed under 3 knots all day. Slow going and plenty hot.
As night was approaching I would normally find someplace to anchor and call it a day. But my past experiences with this coast made me rethink that. The water is only 15 feet deep here, you can anchor anytime, anyplace.
So as the thunderstorms formed and brought some wind I kept on going, speeds gradually rose until I needed to reef. I decided to ride it out for all it was worth. Lightning lit up the sky in a 180 degree arc in front of me, then on top of me, then behind me over the next several hours.
At about 1:30 am the wind died and so I finally dropped the anchor and hit the rack. I got an extra 6 hours of sailing mostly at 4 knots. 100% glad I did it.
At sunrise there was just enough wind to get going again, so I did some chores and set off into light winds again, average speed about 2 knots.
As I write this I’m down to 1 knot, but still going the right way with the autopilot. Waiting for the thunderstorms of the afternoon and resting up as best I can in the heat.
Graduating to a smaller boat 