Most Stressful Not at all Stressful Passage

We've been on passage all week. All is well: we haven't had a single storm to negotiate, haven't had to reef sails, and for the most part, it hasn't even been too hot. But it's been a little bit of a difficult passage for a more benign reason.

We've had a gentle breeze coming from exactly the corner of the Gulf that we've been trying to get to all week. We could beat into the breeze and get to Key West in a month, or we could try to motor sail, which is our usual course of action. But due to a combination of some residual dirty fuel and a dirty bottom (theories), we've been going through fuel more quickly than we're used to in similar conditions. So it's been a constant stress of "Will we or won't we make it? Should we continue toward Key West or cost ourselves a good day and a half to try to get to a fuel dock?"

One should never sail with a deadline, but year in and year out, we set out with a schedule based on dates that someone is going to meet us at some particular island. It really should have never been an issue this year.

Except...

We took some friends out last Sunday. A tribute to the recently deceased John Zaffuto. Lovely day, but the engine was acting up on the way in. This may well have been the spirit of Mr. Zaffuto taking care of us, because we could have been well out to sea before figuring out that we had a good bit of water in our fuel. I don't really even want to think about how our week could have shaken out.

It took me and a very helpful mechanic in Bay St. Louis most of Monday to change out 5 filters and get the engine running again. So rather than a leisurely trip with time to stop, we sail straight through.

The only real excitement was Thursday, when Rosie leaned to far out onto the bowsprit barking at dolphins. I guess I saw her go overboard, because I know I yelled and threw the motor into reverse to stop the boat. By the time I had the swim platform down, the rest of the family was just getting back there, and Ro happened to be right there, trying to scrabble herself up out of the water.

That does get the heart pounding.

Clean fuel looks like the Cool Aid in the filter on the left. That one on the right is all water and gunk.

Hard knock life for these two

You're allowed to watch the dolphins, but you're on the leash now.