Back on the water!!!

Thrilled to have our boat back and our rudder (nearly) as good as new - we decided it was best to hop back on the horse and nip our sailing anxiety in the bud. We were in great moods because Maranatha was sailing like a beaut and our boat yard bill was less than we expected it to be.

The weather looked decent - 15 knots of wind, with a slight chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, though a cold front was coming in the next day. We were thinking about heading to Naples and making one last attempt at getting to the keys, but the wind was at our nose and considering there was that chance of thunderstorms, we established that the safe bet was to head up Pine Island Sound and stay in relatively protected waters.

Happy with our safe and responsible decision, we continued on our merry way heading to Captiva Island where we'd look forward to hitting the beach if the weather permitted. Then we got a text from our most reliable weather source (thanks Gary!) letting us know that a tornado warning was in effect. HA! You've got to be kidding me. There was no mention of a tornado on the last weather report we had checked or I assure you - we would have stayed in port.  

Shortly thereafter, we noticed all of the boats on the water were heading the opposite way. They were all power boats and were whizzing by at speeds Maranatha couldn't dream of. We love our vessel, but a racing boat she is not. The sky was getting darker and though we were trying to stay calm, our nerves were shot to hell when a man in a power boat yelled to us "TORNADO!" Twirling his finger around in the air and shouting at us to turn around. Matt and I looked at each other and then out to the north, expecting to see a funnel cloud on the horizon. This required some serious thinking - we were two miles from our destination in the direction of the storm, but we weren't moving very quickly. On the other hand, we could head in the opposite direction, but it was much farther to a safe anchorage or marina. We can't out run a thunderstorm, so although it seemed crazy to keep going, we went for it. The squall line hit us less than two miles from Captiva, and the boat struggled to gain ground in the strong winds and steepening waves. We decided we were wrong and had to turn around. Now we were fleeing, surfing the waves, dodging the shoals and looking for any kind of shelter.

How we managed to get ourselves in another sticky situation so quickly is beyond me. In any case, Matthew handled the boat beautifully while I took the Wook down below to try to keep everything safely stowed and the boat dry. As we turned west we gained some protection from one of the islands and the waves became less threatening. We tucked into an anchorage and were grateful for our ridiculously over anchored vessel.  We sat down below, once again wet, cold and spooked and decided that maybe it was time to head home.

That night we would not sleep. The waves and the wind were consistently churning us from side to side in our berth and we were up every half hour or so to check the gps and make sure our anchors had held. But we were safe! We saw no signs of tornados and had definitely had enough excitement for one trip. The next day the wind was high, but started to diminish in the afternoon allowing us a much needed nap and a riveting game of crib ;) By evening, seas had calmed and we came to the deck to enjoy a gorgeous sunset. These moments are why we are out here, these peaceful and refreshing moments that make you feel alive. Ahhhh, bliss.

Maranatha on anchor after the storm lifted