Captain Skip ,,, once you get the boat back in shape ( you will, don't
even have one negative thought ) ,, get a white fiberglass dinghy and name
it "**** happens".

After reading all about your mishap, not knowing much about your boat or you
personally; I decided to do some computer sailing.

I Googled Boot Key Harbor ,, I knew the Gulf is shallow ............ but
holy cow!

That area is so treacherous my computer ran aground.

I sail in the New England area. Mostly along the coast of Maine. Some NH,,
and Mass. One good thing about Maine, you can be in deep water right up to
the moment you hit the shore. And then you sink.

Anyhow,, one of the Google hits was a web page from a couple who sailed the
same area as you about 4 years ago. It was like reading a police report.
They got in the harbor down there and then a storm hit and a few of the
boats dragged anchor. From the page, it sounded like a pinball effect as
boat hit boat. Another boat dragged and went up on a reef.

From what I learned; the keys is an area where one must be careful and then
have some luck.

Don't let the "I told you so's" get to ya. As far as sailing with only the
two of you, go for it. I go out by myself. Not because that is/was/ my
plan but I don't have a crew. So, off I go.

My advice: fix the boat and as your doing it have one important thought in
mind. Not the galley, not the head, not the berth ...

Think: how can I make this sailboat easier to sail with two people ... Do
everything and anything that will make shorthanded sailing easier.

Stuff like the mailsail that reefed into the mast or boom. Lines that lead
to whatever...

When you get that baby done, the only thing you should need to do is push a
button.


Good luck..




"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
There's no doubt we fouled up. I believe I've been candid about
that. I believe I've also been candid about how we got where we ended
up. If it weren't for the fact that they have no chance, I'd be a
Libertarian, which main - perhaps only - plank is personal
responsibility. Been that way since I was single-digit old...

Whipping the dog who's barfed in the car doesn't make a better dog :
{))

Posting your - sometimes duplicate, other than the outcome -
experiences and how you dealt with them is instructive - to us and to
others reading. I've enjoyed seeing the discussions our mishap has
spawned. This being a relatively small group, you mostly probably
don't know that similar discussions are happening in many of the
mailing lists I annoy with my logorrhea from time to time. Among them
has been discussion of weather and sea state conditions both in
general and on that specific occasion in the area in which we came to
grief. Without making excuses, I believe we were in the wrong place
at the right time. We paid the price.

Now we're doing the best we can to get back on the horse. Directions
to the barn, and later, the trail, would be appreciated. Shooting the
horse so we won't get back up (yah,, I know a long-stretch analogy,
but Lydia's a champion horser) isn't worth the dog food it would
provide :{)) - so perhaps y'all could feed it for us until we make it
back?

L8R

Skip and Lydia, blessed, despite it all

Morgan 461 #2 Disaster link: http://ipphotos.com/FlyingPig.asp
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain