I had a conference in Sarasota and we normally stay at the Longboat Key Club resort. This time we stayed at the Longboat Key Yacht Club since we now have the boat. I put the boat in the water at City Island with the two older boys as a storm was moving out and we motored through Sarasota Bay to the yacht club. The bay still had four foot swells that were breaking over the bow. I had the boys go down below and keep the forward hatch closed. The swells tossed the boat around a bit, but the high sides kept the water out with out any problems. After motoring through the bay I was able to land it without any problems at the dock. My wife and youngest were waiting with the dock master for our arrival. I had been very nervous navigating through all the expensive boats, but in the end I did not have any problems.
We drew a lot of attention at the Yacht Club since we were the smallest boat with the most people staying onboard. Over the week a few people came over to check out the new Tattoo 26. They seemed pretty amazed that so much was in the cabin below.
By staying at the Yacht Club we had full Longboat Key Club Resort privileges. So, while I went to my conference during the day my family played on the beach and at the pool. The Key Club is a gem of a resort where Floridians go for weekend getaways.
After a few days of conference we motored the boat out onto the Bay and raised the sails. The wind was very gusty and the bay was packed with boat traffic. Large motor cabin cruisers kept running up real close to us and cutting us off at times. After about an hour I lowered the sail and just motored us back to the ramp. At one point a wind surfer totally cut across my bow and I had to throw the motor in reverse to keep from running him over. So, if you are going to or through Sarasota Bay I would not do it on a spring weekend.
When we were docking the boat at the ramp there was a bad gusty wind to the rear of the boat. My wife was able to use the boat hook at the bow. But then the wind blew the rear of the boat away from the dock and I had to use the engine to pull the boat back against the dock. It was a little dicey for a minute, but then I was able to get a dock line secured at the rear. We were able to get the boat on the trailer without any problems and made it home safely.
Pax tanking a nap
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