We got to the boat last night around 2100 and promptly went to work putting things in order, picking up provisions, and filling lots of diesel cans as we expect to have to motor a lot.
This morning we returned the car, filled water, and were ready! As we tossed off the lines and headed out Frank said, "something's wrong--we're not moving." "Yes we are," I replied but he had already thrown it into reverse to get back in the slip. Something was definitely not right. He said we barely moved with high RPM's and suspected a fouled prop. Frank won (?) the toss and dove on the boat. The prop was seriously fouled and the rudder and hull were covered in barnacles, too. After about an hour of bloody, challenging scraping, he was done. We hit the fuel dock for a BSF and we were on our way ~1200!
Kids were great--they hung out on deck a bit, but mostly slept!
As we headed out we watched storms grow along the FL coast. By some miracle they all stayed behind us and we got an amazing lightning show from a distance! And we picked up a seagull that decided to ride our boat and poop everywhere. Yippee!
Nightfall brought some new challenges. We haven't had a masthead steaming light for some time so we usually throw on the anchor light with our nav lights--better to be lit wrongly and seen than not seen at all! Well, our anchor light is now flopping at the top of our mast, blinking in and out. Awesome. Add that to the list...
Katreina and I took the watch at 2000. Mars was amazing and I loved sharing the beauty of the night sky with her. Then about an hour into watch, as I was sitting at the helm with K at my right side, BAM! SLAP! Something had come from the port side and literally slapped me in the left cheek, then ricocheted off me and hit K in the face! We screamed, waking up the Captain. I was sure it was that damn bird, but it was a flying fish!
Thankfully the rest of the night was peaceful. We are on our way!
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