WC Fall Gathering - Final Details

[kmoose]

Got some action photos of Blue Heron's Seafari. Another beautiful specimen that is just as stunning rocketing through the slop as it is up close at the marina.

Conner's Seafari is as equally nimble and looks surprisingly well groomed for such a well equipped daily driver. I would take that boat anywhere and if he ever let me I probably wouldn't come back...

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by kmoose

Got some action photos of Blue Heron's Seafari. Another beautiful specimen that is just as stunning rocketing through the slop as it is up close at the marina.

Conner's Seafari is as equally nimble and looks surprisingly well groomed for such a well equipped daily driver. I would take that boat anywhere and if he ever let me I probably wouldn't come back...

Agreed.

I finally got to see her bottom. Wow. The best part was feeling her heel over.
Really fun.

When I was on that other boat smoking` a following sea into Sebastian...well, you just tip your hat. The 25 Seafari is a dancer. I would not be confused with Arthur Fiedler. Yet.

[kmoose]

Better weather prevailed and some choose to camp out on the bar.

[kmoose]

Grabbed up the wife's cell and dug these gems out.....

[77SceptreOB]

Great pics! Looked like everyone was having a great time.

Our 23' Sceptre spent 31 years of it's life in Clearwater, Fla. Would have been nice to be there and participate...maybe next year.

[Blue_Heron]

Thanks, everyone, for a great time and great food. Special Thanks to Bill and Carla for hosting Friday night, RUSTYNTABITHA for the tuna steaks and the laughs, KMoose, Melissa and Connor for risking life and limb to catch grouper and then share with all, and to GoSlowSandman for the wellington of beef. Awsome, all.

Hard to believe, but IslandTrader's 21 looks better in person than it does in the pictures.

Fortunately, Kmoose was able to rescue the stranded campers so they didn't have to wait for the high tide.





Dave

[Capt Chuck]

Looks like everyone had a great time!! The SeaCraft line-up pictures are legendary

Yo Sandy

I see you eyeing those water pigeons over your left shoulder. They would fit perfectly in that steama pot

Hey Denny

What did you do, take part in some of "Don's Lightning" and fall asleep at the wheel & forget the tide

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by Capt Chuck

Looks like everyone had a great time!! The SeaCraft line-up pictures are legendary

Yo Sandy

I see you eyeing those water pigeons over your left shoulder. They would fit perfectly in that steama pot

Hey Denny

What did you do, take part in some of "Don's Lightning" and fall asleep at the wheel & forget the tide

Yo Chuckles,
Birds are best roasted, and yes I would. Just dumping many photos from my work mandated smart phone and doing some editing. I hit a button by mistake and they loaded to my puter.
Don`t ask...



Gillie came from across the dang country. No decoder ring needed. We just have that same generational understanding.
That is the secret. Understanding and Google Earth. I want to hit the west coast and be confused while looking north.
Ocean on my port???

Rusty, I am a bit critical when it comes to food, but damn Son, that was the best fish dip I have evah had by far! Yes I want the recipe. No, Hell yes I want that. I can`t think of the last time my puny mind could not steal what was in a dish! All of the food was yummy and your pride and understanding shone through. Well done folks! Even Dave`s beans n rice were yummy.

I had my doubts. He makes molds and breathes VOC`s.

Cheers,
GFS

[Blue_Heron]

Originally Posted by gofastsandman

I had my doubts. He makes molds and breathes VOC`s.

VOCs, Yum

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by Capt Chuck

. . . Hey Denny

What did you do, take part in some of "Don's Lightning" and fall asleep at the wheel & forget the tide

Chuck,
I had some of "Don's Lightning" at Long Point and knew enough to stay away from that stuff, as good as it is!

Actually I think the root cause was that I've just been cruising too long and got overconfident! Ever since my first Bahamas trips in the mid-late '70's, I have ALWAYS used the Bahamian moor whenever I anchor for the night, i.e., 2 anchors set 180 degrees apart, with both rodes leading to bow cleats. The current really rips off the Little Bahama Bank, and if you aren't ready for it, you'll either end up in the gulf stream or hard aground when the tide changes! With 300' of line on the bow anchor and 100' on the stern, it's easy to let out 100' off the bow, drop the stern anchor, and pull back 50' on the bow line.

I had spent 2 nights anchored off the N. end of Anclote in relatively deep water with plenty of swinging room, using 6:1 scope with 20' of chain with only one anchor and no problems. On Saturday night, it was blowing 20-25 kts from the NW and getting cold, so I anchored in a little closer to the beach than normal behind some trees to get out of the wind. Definitely should have put out the stern anchor! Obviously wasn't thinking too clearly after that all-afternoon feast at the sandbar! About 4 am Gillie woke up sliding off the bunk with the boat healed over about 30 degrees to stbd and me sound asleep on the stbd side of the hull! Said it reminded him of Gilligans Island, with "Gillie and the Professor" high & dry on the beach! We improvised by stuffing his back pack under the center cushion to raise it up to keep him in the bunk. Gillie then went back to sleep! He must be used to sleeping through earthquakes - I think he can sleep anywhere!

When daylight came, the anchor line was pointing SE out into the water, so I first thought we'd had a wind shift of 180 degrees during the night, which I’ve never experienced in Fl. with a slow moving cold front! However, I later concluded that we were simply a victim of the "pendulum effect", aggravated by all the line I had let out, where the boat was swinging much more than normal due to the turbulence coming off the clump of trees. High tide was about 11 pm, and I think it touched bottom sometime during the outgoing tide just long enough to hold it there, and the tide did the rest. Looked like we touched at about half tide; the boat was almost fully afloat on the incoming tide when Ken and Dave arrived, so a brief tug was all it took to get us off, but thanks Ken, you probably helped us get underway about a half hour sooner than if we'd waited for the tide! We were fortunate that it was a soft sand beach, so no damage done, but a good lesson learned!

Several years ago I discovered a good songwriter and singer named Eileen Quinn http://www.cruisingworld.com/people/eileen-quinn, a Canadian sailor who writes lots of song about the cruising lifestyle. The lyrics in her song “Cruising Too Long” totally explains how I got into that situation . . .

"Early in our cruising, we feared we'd run aground.
We never did, we took such care with each little new thing.
Over time we grew less timid, confidence we found.
NOW WE RUN AGROUND A LOT, BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING!
NOTHING LIKE EXPERIENCE TO HELP YOU GET IT WRONG!

These are the signs we've been cruising too long:
All the islands look the same!
West Marine knows our name!
We haven't cut our hair this year (haven’t cut mine in 10 years!)
All our T-shirts mention beer!
We've been cruising far too long!"

Despite my anchoring debacle, Gillie and I had some good laughs about it! I've been to most of the gatherings and overall it was the best one yet, thanks to folks like Dixon and Susan for getting the ball rolling, Bill & Carla for hosting the Friday night feast, Rusty & Tabatha, Kmoose and Connor for providing all the seafood, and Sandy for his special culinary talents! And thanks to guys like Terry and Dave for their outstanding craftsmanship and creativity in setting the standards that inspire the rest of us to keep these old boats shipshape and running better than ever! Denny