Well the boats already in the water...

This is the second part from the post "running with the big dogs."  We spent an arduous 5 days working and wondering how the boat was doing docked in the St. Pete Marina like a "real boat." We borrowed the Sequoia this time so there would be no trouble pulling the boat out regardless of ramp conditions.  Our plan was to drive down late, sleep on the boat, pull it out in the morning, and take it home to clean it.

We ended up deviating "slightly" from that plan.  In the morning we pulled the mainsail down and brought it to Island Nautical.  They are an official Doyle sail manufacturer and we had them size and replace the 4 battens in our main.  Over lunch (and drinks) we decided that we didn't really need to head back right away. After all the boat was already in the water and we had a newly battened mainsail that needed testing!

We provisioned at a local publix, reattached the main, and cruised out into Tampa bay.  By this point it was in the late afternoon.  We sailed aimlessly south in the beautiful cool evening until the sun set. We then tossed out the anchor and settled in for the night.  

The next morning we cruised back into the marina and pulled the boat out effortlessly albeit unwillingly.  Just like all of our short trips we were not even close to ready to pull out.  Maybe a longer trip would satisfy that feeling.

The trip was fun and unexpected. So much so that we did not even get pictures. (or at least ones worth sharing)  Now that we had the boat home it was time to start contemplating the next step. A wet slip!