Cruising Back Home
Homeward Bound! We like to be at our own dock around June 1 for the official start of hurricane season. It's more assuring to be close to home where we can secure the boats for approaching storms. We've been lucky weathering at least five strikes since 1979 at our own dock. So we always plan to end our spring cruising by early June and watch for a weather window to make the ~150nm crossing back from the Clearwater area. We are so pleased to have Helmsley, our autopilot, back in service and tirelessly at the wheel! This year, the forecast for the weather window to cross the Big Bend was perfect, except for the light winds from the direction we needed to run. It is always the rule that "the wind blows from the place you want to go." But we have a 40 HP Yanmar diesel that enables us to travel a course even if the winds are not favorable for sailing. Sometimes we can set our headsail to give us a little boost in speed and settle the motion of the boat. Crow's Nest Mar...