Step 3, Day 5 - Man Over Board! (practicing)

Another strong breeze for another great day of sailing!

No test today, so we just had sailing and MOB (Man Over Board) recovery practicing.  We left from our mooring ball with Sue at the Helm and took us expertly out of the narrow channel, especially given the current and wind, which was stronger as we left the protection offered at the mooring ball.

Captain Keith gaves just a destination and asked us to come up with the plan and the expected ETA.  We plotted the course, factoring in some tacks we would have to take and gave an estimate of 12:15p.

We arrived to what was basically a wide open spot out in Biscayne Bay and we started learning and practicing four methods of MOB recovery:

• Figure 8 - Good if you are in warm water and are not really in a hurry to get the victim back on board and want to go on a bunch of points of sail.
• Broad Reach/Close Reach - A lot quicker and involves only two points of sale.  
• Quick Stop - By far the easiest and quickest way to recover a MOB, except...
• Motoring - Probably the prefered way, assuming the motor starts or is already running.

Sue and I both did quite well on the practice of each type and recovered our victim on the first attempt and since I was the last to go, I stayed at the helm and took us back to No Name Harbor for our second overnight stay there.  When we pulled in to No Name Harbor, there was a spot on the sea wall in front of a monohull and behind another catamaran, captained by the friend of our captain that happens to be another BWSS instructor.  I manuevered us into the spot, and using both engines, was able to very smoothly pull us basically moving sideways and did so well enough to get a compliment from a person that was walking by.

We "got to" empty the holding tank, another valuable skill that I was just not that eager to learn.  All that being said, it was actually a very easy and really not that gross of a job.

With that done, I went for a walk on the seawall and noticed a couple coming to tie up on an older monohull.  They were on vacation from Switzerland, on a boat that he owns and keep in Ft Lauderdale for the couple of trips he gets to take a year.  They were super nice and happy that I was so eager to help get them tied up that they offered me a beer and we sat and talked for a while.

Sue found me and let me know that there was a manatee up near the harbor entrance that was eating seaweed from the seawall. I was stoked, I really wanted to see a manatee during this trip!

It is quite obvious why they are often called Sea Cows. Its back was covered with algae and a few boat scares :-(, but very docile and happy to be moving along the seawall, eating as it went.

We had another great meal (steak, potatos, salad, asparagus wine) prepared by Captain Keith, but soon after we were all zonked after being out in the sun all day and all of the grinding involved in the MOB drills, so off to bed we went.

-Mike