We were up by 7 am and underway by 7:30. We were supposed to have 10 - 15 knots dead behind us so I got the spinnaker out and began rigging it while Amy motored us out of the harbour. We fell on to course and immediately saw wind in the 20 to 25 knots range, which was way too much for our spinnaker, so we opted to put up the full main and roll out half a jib.

We took off at an average of 8 to 9 knots and the wind continued to build. An hour later we were over 10 knots and decided to roll the head sail in. The wind continued to build and soon enough so did the seas. We were racing off the edge of solid 6 footers under main alone, but when the boat hit 11.5 knots, we decided it was time to slow the rocket down and we dropped the main all together and went with just 50 percent of the head sail.

With the new configuration, the boat slowed to 7 or 8 knots and the ride settled down some. We spent the next 5 hours surfing down waves all the way to Thompson Bay, where we anchored in the north end of the harbour in 4 feet of water. We were both surprised to see almost thirty boats anchored here.

Around 3:30, Jon on Freebird dinghied by and invited us to a Mardi Gras party on his boat at 5 pm. Before the party I made us a quick dinner of Mutton snapper fingers and then we joined Don and Barb (Next Exit), Rich (Feral Cat), Bob and Mary (Our White Magic) and Jon and Joann (Freebird) for three hours of margaritas, music, snack food and story telling. A good time was had by all.

We returned home around 8 pm where Amy called it a day and I watched 2012 for the second time with the weasels. Tomorrow we are going to inquire about propane refills and get on the schedule for some quality time with the laundry machines at the Long Island Breeze.

More to follow, end of line.