Key West 2006-Ready to Rumble
Filed in archive Sailing by thefluidpen on January 11, 2006
Ft. Lauderdale, where high-rises move because they are cruise ships, rolled out the welcome mat with "unseasonably cool temperatures" (in the 70s), some sprinkles and a steady northwesterly breeze that swayed the palm fronds ashore and heeled the boats that ventured out to sea.
Last night, C Squared sailed down from West Palm Beach, where it was launched at Cracker Boy Boat Works, aka "The Crack." This 50-mile trip, with only a skeleton crew of boat captain Bill Erkelens and navigator Robert Flowerman on board, was quick and wet. The breeze was on the beam all the way pushing the nimble Wyliecat 44 to speeds beyond 15 knots-all without spinnaker.
Now the boat is parked it at the eastern end of the 17th Street Bridge, at the Hyatt Marina, where several other racing yachts also are tied up. Everyone is toiling to get ready for Wednesday's feeder race to Key West, a 160-mile run down the coast of Southern Florida.
. "You towed the boat?"
"All the way across from California."
"How was the trip?"
"Great."
"Did you have aligator?"
"Yeah, in Louisiana."
"Tastes swampy, eh?"
"Nah, mine was more like chicken with seabass. Found Jesus, too."
"Where?"
"At a gas station, in Texas."
Although it is "only" a coastal race, and a feeder to a larger, more important event, the yachts and their crews still have to be prepared for tough conditions, because they will be exposed to the vast Atlantic that will dish up a breeze and swells that run into adverse local current, which produces patches of rough water.
Find out how we were doing in the next part of this blog that will be filed after the finish in Key West.
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