Back To Florida Weather!

 It has been wonderful having more temperate weather, allowing us to go out on the water almost daily. The predicted conditions of sunny skies, light breeze, and an incoming tide sounded perfect to finally take our powerboat Coqui up to the Ft. Pierce inlet. Jim went with us since he had never explored there before, and I always like having that extra pair of hands onboard for launching and anchoring...we call him my 'boat boy'. 😉 Thank goodness he was with us this time! With a roller trailer, we have to be very careful when launching, so that the boat doesn't slide down the trailer prematurely and end up on the ramp itself. I have no problem at home holding back the Sea Fox with a dock line, but Coqui is much heavier. Last year we waited until we were backed into the water to undo the boat from the trailer, but this time Dave was anxious to get in the water, so he unhooked early. When I questioned his method, he just replied with "Jim's here." Those words will echo in my mind every time we launch now. I grabbed the stern line and Jim had the bow line wrapped twice around the trailer post when Dave started backing up. I knew the lines (which are probably old and came with the boat) would stretch, but suddenly the boat was rolling off the trailer and down the concrete ramp with the motor down and making an awful grinding sound as it skittered into the water. The bow line broke! Thank goodness I had the stern, but with the boats momentum, what a job it was holding it back (had I been alone, I would have had only the bow line and not the stern, so the boat would have continued on its way and Dave would have had to swim after it). Jim came down the dock, jumped into the boat and grabbed the dock, walking forward to get our bow back to the dock, since the wind was blowing our now sideways boat into the boat next to us. The guys checked out the outboard motor, prop, skeg, and the hull, and amazingly the only damage was a very slight bend in the skeg, hardly even detectable. We were so lucky...it sounded so awful. If the motor had not been down though, the hull could have been severely damaged. Antics at the launch ramp are always fun to watch, but we hate being the spectacles! That's okay though, because the brand new boat next to us had a man, his wife, and young child in it and he started his outboard with it tipped out of the water, not having a clue about running it (scary). Another boater coming into the dock, told him to put the motor all the way down and then the family took off, going right into the shallows next to a big sign saying "Caution, Shoal!" The same friendly boater went and rescued him (I hope the newbie takes a boating course). Later we said maybe he thought how we launched the boat so fast was how it was done. 😉 Anyway, all was well and worth our efforts. There was no one in our favorite creek, the sandbar was still uncovered, the water clear, and the guys even went swimming in the 67 degree water. Dave even saw large snooks and sheepshead fish in the current while snorkeling. What a good feeling to be back on track with watersports!