Sailing School Part II

This is part two in a three-part series where I describe our sailing school adventure in St. Petersburg, FL. See Sailing School Part I here.

Tuesday: February 7

Morning Coffee

Tuesday morning brought a pleasant surprise: The boat had a coffee percolator! It had been a long time since any of us had percolated coffee, it felt like a relic from the past. I took it upon myself to perc the first round of strong, dark coffee, which would become my morning routine. One of us cooked eggs and cut up some fruit, and we had the breakfast of four kings and a queen!

The First Test

After breakfast, Kelly grabbed a white board, propped it up on the galley counter, and proceeded to diagram the rules of the road, more navigation, and emergency procedures. We also tied knots, lots of knots! When we felt like we had prepared as well as we could, Kelly administered the first test, the Basic Keelboat Exam, which we passed with flying colors.

Anchors Aweigh

After coming up with a sail plan, we raised the anchor and headed back out to the channel. For the first time, we hoisted the sails. But the channel was busy and the wind was light; our progress was slow. It was a good time to bask in the sunshine on a calm sea and learn more about navigation as we were underway.

Heeling a 48 Footer

Soon we passed under the stunning Sunshine Skyway bridge with Kent at the helm. It was fun to see a different perspective having driven over it just days earlier. The wind picked up on the other side, and in the beautiful open water of the outer bay, we found the wind and experienced heeling in the 48 footer – such a thrilling sensation. 

Later in the afternoon, we did the important work of practicing the crew overboard drill and heaving to, each of us taking turns at the helm. Without fuss, we headed south into the Manatee River where we would anchor for the night. Once again, we carefully walked through the anchoring process, switching roles this time with Kent and myself on the foredeck, and Joe and Christian at the helm. 

The Dinghy Down Dance

Once on the anchor, we decided to get out the dinghy! It was a little bit of a dance to lower the dinghy down onto the water, unhook it from its suspension, then enter the dinghy without tipping over. Let’s just say that Kent is tall and neither of us is lightweight. But we overcame our challenges, got in the small boat without incident, and took a few laps around the Jeanneau. That night we celebrated the gorgeous sunset with another sundowner and our Day 4 recap.

Wednesday: February 8 

Another First 

We high-fived each other for nailing the first test then motored out of the Manatee River, turning south toward Bradenton. The Anna Maria drawbridge lay before us and getting through it was going to be a process. It opens on the hour so timing was a consideration. In addition, we would need to radio the bridgemaster to alert them of our intentions. It’s really not my thing to get on a marine radio and talk to a stranger but I was already outside of my comfort zone, so your girl did it! (Say Anna Maria bridgemaster three times fast – it’s not easy!) With acknowledgement from the bridgemaster, we waited. When the bridge opened, we cruised on through, making accommodations for others also passing through.

One Crew

Our destination for Wednesday night would be a marina. This came as great news because some of us needed a proper shower (not saying who) and shore power seemed like a good thing. Captain Kelly threaded the needle and got us into the slip. Under his direction, we tied the bow and stern lines and the spring lines. When the boat was secure and to Kelly’s satisfaction, we disembarked, used the shower facilities at the marina, and tidied up for dinner at the Seafood Shack Marina Bar and Grill in Cortez, FL. 

At this point, the five of us had spent days learning and working together, figuring things out as a crew. One thing we learned quickly: there’s a lot to do managing a large sailboat and it demands teamwork. To kick back and eat delicious food with our mates felt really good. 

I am proud to report that we all passed our Basic Cruising Exam on this day. You can see us celebrating and blowing off steam in our Day 5 recap.

If you’d like to see actual edited videos of our experience, please enjoy Sailing School Part 2

Thanks for sticking with me here! Leave your questions/comments in the comments!