We pulled anchor at 0925 and headed down Sarasota Bay and out into the Gulf through a narrow inlet. Then headed south into big winds gusting from 20 to 40 knots! The crew was slow to get the sails down, causing a rip in the big 130% genoa along the cover. We also noted that the boat under power was not going as fast as it should. Five knots turned into three knots and even one knot as the wind increased! We almost lost steerage way driving east into the wind into Charlotte Harbor through a very narrow inlet. But with persistence we slowly made our way to Useppa, where we anchored in the dark at 2130. Whew!
The next morning we discovered why we had less power. Bob Mothershead dove to discover our propeller and rudder encrusted with barnacles. I had had the boat hauled and hull repainted in January, but forgot to get the propeller and rudder scraped before we left St. Petersburg. Bad me! Good Bob! Bennie used his local contacts to find a sailmaker near Estero, our next stop. So we chugged down to the Salty Sam Marina arriving at 1530 to hand our genoa over to Kurt Martin of Sail Service & Repair, who fixed the tear that night.
The next morning we retrieved our sail and departed nearby Fort Myers into the Gulf again at 1400 or 2 p.m. The plan was to sail all night due south, leaving the coast far offshore, to arrive at Key West by noon.
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