Friends come to visit

Our friends Mike and Kirsten decided last minute to come down for a visit. Mike was in Miami for a business trip earlier in the week but with a nor'easter bearing down on New England he decided to fly his fiancée, Kirsten down for the weekend rather then fly home to thier cold boat. A no-brainer right?!

Kirsten flew into town on Halloween. Miami beach is crazy on halloween. Thousands of people milling around, people watching. The costumes were impressive. There were DJs and dance floors set up down Lincoln Rd. If you ever get the chance to go to Miami for Halloween I would suggest it. If I ever get the chance again, I am; #1. going to have a costume and #2. grab an outdoor table at one of the restaurants and just to people watch.

The next morning we decided to go for a swim and a sail. Kirsten may be an olympic diver. Note: no manatee's were injured during this dive.

We had a great sail with about 20-25 kt winds. Mike and Kirsten finally got a taste of how Sarah moves. Dan and I took turns being rail meat and drank mimosas as our guests did the hard work.  I could get use to having a "crew."

There were a couple of races in Biscayne Bay. I think we won. This was the fastest we have sailed Sarah the whole trip down the east coast, seeing a sustained 7.1 kts for most of sail down the bay. Hull speed on paper is 6.7.

Only racer's are "brave" enough to have full sail up in these conditions. By the time we turned around to sail back towards Miami we had one reef in the main and dropped the staysail. Dan had the honor of dropping the staysail while getting soaked from spray coming over the bow (thanks Kirsten).

Winding down with some post-sail beers.

After a quick nap we decided to head into town for dinner and drinks. We went to an amazing Cuban restaurant for some authentic cuisine and cafecito. 

 Yelling, "Another round, on the house!" worked exactly once. 

I think I'll open a small business taking engagement photos.