Blowing like stink...

I've been sitting at the computer for most of the past couple days... I think Joan could tell that I needed a break: "Would you take me for a boat ride?"

Let's see... temp is in the 80s, hazy sunshine, oh, and the wind is out of the south and blowing like stink! Yeah, that sounds like a good day for some C-Dory cruising. ;-)

It is reasonably protected from this direction in our canal. I say "reasonably", because the boat has a layer of blown dirt on it, and it sprinkled for about 30 seconds in the middle of the night. It was spotless two days ago... now, more spotted.

I got the boat ready while she poured some sodas; we untied, rotated, and headed down the canal. I knew it was going to be an interesting ride when I had to give the boat more throttle to keep the nose from blowing to the side as we came around the first turn. Out in the ICW, there was 2' chop, closely spaced. Whitecaps in the turning basin. Oh well, the boat was dirty anyway, so it was going to get a bath today regardless... at least we'll have some fun with it first. Lumpy, but still nice to be out and about.

A few excursion boats were out, but not much recreational traffic. Understandable. With the window on the downwind side open, the cabin was very comfortable... and dry. The windshield wipers got a workout, though. Joan sat out in the cockpit for a while, perfectly protected by the cabin.

Not a bad way to spend a windy afternoon.