Up to The Field Club

We had a truly spectacular crossing of the lower gulf.  We went directly to the Boca Grande pass then through several bridges up to the Field Club.  It is one of the most elegant clubs in all the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs.  They are always friendly and welcoming.  The ride up was beyond our greatest expectations from the boat.  We sat in our enclosure with about  20 degrees of heel (leaning over) with a steady 20 knot wind and making a steady 7.5-8.5 knots of boat speed.  If we had put in all the side curtains we would have been dryer when we were hit with a rain squall but it did serve to wash out the cockpit.  We have been used to the luxury of a cockpit shower to clean up messes so it is on the short list of improvements.  The bimini also leaks from some lack of flashing and the waterproofing showing its age.  One is easily fixed with 303 waterproofing but the other is a bigger issue.  We are considering redesigning the entire cockpit dodger/bimini/enclosure to suit us.  If anyone wants to buy a full enclosure, let us know!  It isn't so bad that it will be at the top of the list, but it's one of the items.  Other than the minor inconvenience, it was a fast, comfortable ride.  We had planned on coming in at San Carlos bay near Fort Myers but we passed that up in the dark and kept on going.  We crossed into the ICW about dawn and motored on north.  With over 180 miles covered in 29 hours, we were pleased!  Suz and Sam bid us farewell on Saturday.  We truly, truly appreciated all their help.  We took advantage of a cheap car rental rate to have wheels for the two days we were there.  We took good advantage of the opportunity.  During our stay we replaced the AC pump; jury rigged a fiddle for the front of the nav table; made the mainsheet winch work better, chipped a ton of cetol off the jib travelers to make them work; repaired a drawer front that came off; reattached a bit of strip lighting in the v-berth; figured out the pullman berths in the main cabin; rearranged our clothes in the forward cabin; bought food; did laundry; went to Mass on Easter; and tightened the connection for the wifi bullet.  I still couldn't make it work but it had the right sequence of lights.  Most of these items on the boat are merely irritants and all the great features of Blue Moon still have us thrilled with our choice.

David had to climb the mizzen mast to reach the wifi extender.  It is the long, straight antenna on the spreader.  The radar and TV antenna are on the front of the mast.  Yep, we have tv if there is anything broadcasting.  In our home waters, that means nothing since we have no broadcast channels.

Suz spread out things from the cockpit to dry.  She called it our Chinese Laundry!