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More Following Sea

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• Following Sea: A race against time, with little wind for fuel

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We left off last time with the crew of Toad Hall heading out to the starting line in Key West for the near-100-mile return race to Naples Pier. As usual, the tide was going to play a major factor both at the start right off Key West Bight and all of the way out the Northwest channel.

The current pulled the fleet toward — and possibly over — the start line, and then would turn against us as we rounded Tank Island and headed toward green one. With little to no wind, we knew it was going to be a challenge.

Being a busy harbor, there was plenty of boat traffic about the bight as our start sequence began. The trick would be not to get pushed over the line early because, with the conditions, it would be very hard to get back and start cleanly. We chose to not be so aggressive and not try to hit the line at the gun.

We were a little late compared to the other boats, but soon caught them near Tank Island. The boats that tried to hug the marks hit a dead spot and even started to move backwards for a bit. We were on the outside with very little air and were soon fighting to get out of the shadow of a moored cruise ship. After we cleared the vessel, the wind freshened and we were on our way.

As we crossed to the other side of the channel, the spinnaker went up and we were soon moving nicely, but bucking a healthy current on the nose. We were just behind two larger boats in our class and holding our own. The fresh breeze was short-lived and we were all soon fighting for air again. What little wind we did feel soon shifted to the north and the chute was soon replaced by the number one genoa.

The wind slowly began to build and we held our place until we were out of the channel and into the open gulf. Our course was set for Naples and Krusty took over the helm. Once again, the cycle of hour shifts at the helm started turning. The boat and crew did fine through the afternoon and on until dusk.

The wind clocked around to the north-northeast and continued to lighten. It looked like it would be a long beat through the night as we could no longer hold our course to the finish. The wind was right on our nose. Around 2 in the morning while I was on the helm, we hit the doldrums and the boat stopped completely.

I moved the exhausted crew from side to side and tacked back and forth to try to get her moving, but as I turned the helm over to Krusty again, the sails still made that horrible flopping sound of no wind.

Worn out, I headed below for some rest.

As I fell in and out of sleep, I could hear Krusty and Bowline working the boat to try and get her moving, but still the sound of flopping, lifeless sails.

As they woke me for my next shift, once again I heard the welcoming sound of the hull cutting through the water once again. We were moving well as the sun rose to the east, but we were still beating because the wind was coming right from where we needed to go.

We could see Marco off the starboard bow, but the wind began to lighten again. With a time limit of 4 p.m., we were soon wondering if we were going to finish legally. Our boat speed was 2 knots and 30y degrees off course and we were running out of time.

It was then that Tapeworm asked if he could crack a beer and I replied “Maybe it will give us some luck.”

Within five minutes, the wind picked up, shifted and we were soon making 6 knots straight toward the finish.

We passed a bigger boat off Keewaydin and the wind was back on our nose close to shore. After a few tacks, we shot for the finish and got a gun. It was 3:35. We would later find out that we were one of only three boats to finish within the time limit.

We sailed back to Marco in good spirits and were soon at the dock. After a brief clean-up, we grabbed some well-deserved rest. Some of the crew made it to the ceremony at the Naples Yacht Club later in the day, but I decided to stay horizontal. We took a second on the race back and were not far from a bullet on corrected time.

M.C. Island and Bowline would soon head back to St. Thomas, and the rest of the crew to their homes locally. With her new rig, Toad took a third on the way down, and a second on the way back — with a great time had in between.

Another Key West race was in the books.