First day, meeting the tribe

I woke up a little after the wind abated. I had only slept in spurts through the noise of rigging and the vibrations of the mast. Every few hours I had checked my position to make sure that the anchor held.

I was anxious to see if I could easily lift the plow anchor after my boat had tugged at it for so many hours. I put the engine in forward at idle speed and jumped at the bow to take the anchor line in. When I saw the chain I tied the line and went back to the wheel to steer the boat forward to dislodge the anchor. It got out of the mud easily and I was soon underway.

A young guy was sailing another 27 boat. We started chatting and sailed a few hour side by side. He had been living on his boat since April. In his eight months on his Catalina, he had gone from an absolute newbie and learned the same ropes I was learning.

We both anchored next to Pine Island at mile 947, three miles from Vero Beach. He helped me finish my beers before I ran out of ice.