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Sailing Adventures

Sweet Adeline

June 22, 2011.  In our effort to get things organized before heading out on the road, we have a long list of issues that need to be taken care of before we leave. It’s been several years since a hurricane has come our way, so we don’t want to tempt fate.  Among other things, the water is turned off, the outdoor furniture is brought in, the refrigerator is emptied and unplugged and the boats are pulled out of the water. 

   Alan is organized about getting all this stuff done.  He has daily projects lined up until the day we pull out of the driveway and head north.   Last weekend, in preparation for Sweet Adeline (the catboat), coming out of the water, we decided to do one last sail.  Perfect 15-20 mph winds blew out of the ESE.  Our last outing had been a little less than ideal.  But this sail was going to make up for the multiple problems of the last trip. 

The newly repaired engine responded beautifully and we made it out to the Indian River Lagoon channel easily.  The sail that had previously not gone up all the way, creating strange wind pockets, was hoisted to the top of the mast with no problems.  We did not careen into any adjacent docks.  Traffic on the Lagoon was light, so no speedboats trying to run us over.  And most important, we had consistent winds that continued out of the ESE.  The billowing sails pushed us north and the boat tacked beautifully for our return run.

It was a perfect sail until the last 100 yards.  As we prepared to head toward the dock Alan cleated the sail and turned to start the engine.  The next thing we both knew, we were in the water.  Capsized!  Relieved to find that the water was only about 4 feet, we both scampered to grab the items starting to float away.  Alan’s cell phone was, luckily, in a Ziploc bag that had a little air pocket, so I was able to grab it before it sank.  

There was no way we could put the boat upright, so we started walking her into the shore.  After a few minutes, a small boat came up alongside.  A total stranger jumped into the water and starting helping us push and pull Sweet Adeline into about 2 feet of water where he and Alan were able to get her upright again.  We bid our savior a hardy thank you.   She was full to the gunnel with water but Alan was able to bail out enough to get the boat moved to the lift and then use a pump to finish it.  So no one was hurt, nothing was lost, no damage to the boat and we had yet another sailing adventure.   But, we will not be going sailing again this summer!
   

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