Oh my goodness! This was a post that I thought was posted in December…..with the internet coverage it’s sometimes tough…..please forgive me for the delay dear friends!

With old man Winter on his merry way to the Midwest, we are making plans to head as far south as we can early December to get Lost Loon in the water (Grenada!) But, before hurricane season would be over, we made plans for some fun in the sun in Florida. We are fortunate to have friends, Jeff and Cynthia, who kindly shared their perfect location in Punta Gorda ( and boat!) from which we launched a multi-couple trip to the Florida Keys for fishing, golfing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking and just relaxing. It was a fun time to reconnect with good friends from across the country.

Upon our brief return to Punta Gorda, (before we would make the 24 hour interstate trip back to Minnesota) I was offered a chance to head out for a daysail with a friend we met on a sailing excursion to the Bahamas a few years back. Tim has a Tartan 30 that sits in his backyard in Punta Gorda.

We left the dock by 0830 and because he is minutes to the Ponce Inlet we were “sails-up” in beautiful Charlotte Harbor in no time. The sky was bright blue without any evidence of clouds. The temperature had hit 80 by 9 am, but we had a nice southwest breeze for cooling effect and pleasingly built from 8 to 13 and peaked out at 20 knots!

There were a few tender moments we contemplated having to reef the mainsail for better control, but enjoyed the 20 degree heel as the boat sliced through the waves. We watched fishermen as they headed out to their different spots for the day and other sailboats appear in the distance. From Ponce Inlet we sailed southwesterly on a course toward Burntstore Marina.

Stig, as she was aptly named by our friend the ophthalmologic surgeon, surged forward approaching 7 knots of speed. We made one tack and with the wind at our backs the relative temperature now soared. We were lucky to have wished for and received just a few bits of cloud cover as the morning turned to afternoon and our breeze settled to just a whisper. With the water turning to glass, our speed settled to under 3 knots (a speed at which we could likely swim faster). We discussed the chances of getting more wind to get us back “home” and adequate cloud cover to keep us cool before we would have to turn on the engine. In moments, we caught a few minutes of light 7-knot breeze to get us close to the inlet.

The Genoa is furled and mainsail flaked on the boom as we enter the maze of canals that make up Punta Gorda Isles.

We sailed 28 nm according to the iPad tracking course! It was a surprise opportunity to whet my whistle for our upcoming winter season of sailing!