To go back to where we left off. We made it back from Lake Eustis last winter and on to Mid-Winters. Mid-Winters in Sarasota is like sailing in the tropics. It’s winter, so it’s not too hot and the water is blue. We raise our boards to sail over the sand bar to and from the race course every day. Furthermore, we provision for a beer each on the way in, which goes especially good with what we consider to be a good last race. Next time I think we should provision 2 beers each and anchor out on the sad bar for a bit.

Speaking of the tropics, in May, we traveled down to the keys regatta. We were going to fly in and crew, but a customer called the week before and said that if we could deliver a Navy boat to the keys regatta, then they would take it. By the grace of God we had a bare Navy hull in stock, right out of the mold. We put the racing equipment on her in a week, I canceled my flight and drove the boat right off of the line. The new owners are Stanford Sailing Team Grads and tied with Jeff for first place in their new boat.

Our class and it’s racers are very blessed with the places we get to travel. As many know, it’s a laid back class. Many novice sailors join us, anxious to learn, and happy to be making new friends in exotic locations. While not every regatta is in the tropics, every regatta seems to make the water we sail on seem like the best place on earth.

Nationals were in Pensacola. It was hot, but the sea breeze cooled us down. It was especially chill once we ordered our Bush Wackers, the Pensacola Yacht Club signature drink, and got pool side. Carrie and I finished second after leading by 4. We did not want to get conservative, and went the wrong way trying to get ahead of Zeke. Lesson learned, and we had a blast doing it.

That was just a couple weeks ago. Last weekend Carrie and I ran the race for the Sandy Douglass Memorial Regatta. Winds were crazy shifty, but the locals came out in force and the out of towners really enjoyed being in the cooler mountains. Robert and Nina Cummings from Texas were especially happy to be in the mountains. The competitors seemed to be especially thrilled about getting finished by our 3 year old on Sunday. Many were surprised when they heard his high voice call “finished” as they crossed the line.