From invigorating to relaxing ...

We finally just took the time to go sailing last week.  Alizee was happy to get out of the slip, and we found ourselves facing 20-25 knot NW winds with gusts even higher.  For our bodies, which have been land-locked for a month or so, it was invigorating to exhausting.  Our initial plan was to head north to Punta Gorda, but we were really a bit to tight into the wind, so we altered course, ran south a bit, and headed west to Pelican Bay, our favorite nearby anchorage.

We did some nice tacking on the way, and we arrived at our anchorage in four hours.  It felt like eight hours or more, and we were ready for sundowners long before sundown.  While we hoped the wind would let up in the evening, it didn't and we had 25 knots blowing all night and into the morning. This made sleeping a bit awkward ... we're too used to our nice stable, king-size bed at home ... and we were not just exhausted but sleep deprived in the morning.

Although we'd only planned an overnight sail, we were able to get our cat-sitter Alan to check in on our furry buddies that evening so we could spend another night on the hook.  We stretched our food supply a bit to do the extra night, but it was really worth it.  The winds moderated nicely on Saturday, shifted from north to southeast, and we had a lovely calm sail back to our marina that afternoon.

Got to get out more!  We really enjoyed it!