Day 1 Recap

At approximately 10 AM this past Saturday, Helina gave us the green light to depart Miami for the Keys!

And...we're off!

The winds were in our favor as we headed south.

As I explained before we left, I was a bit worried about how Helina was going to do on the trip. While we are at dock, the cockpit is a free-play zone, but when we’re out sailing, it is a play-free zone, and Helina isn't accustomed to being restricted in this area of the boat.

Overall she did well on the way down to The Keys. We affixed her little highchair to the table in the cockpit, which kept her in one place, yet she still got to feel like she was a part of the action.

Because her usual cockpit toys were off-limits, we kept her entertained with a few actual baby toys, our camera case, as well as a cockpit staple usually hidden while we’re docked: a cartoon-like fly swatter.

High Five!

At first, I was a bit disgusted that she was playing with a fly swatter (although I don’t remember the last time it did any dirty work). Normally, I wouldn't have let her play with such a filthy little thing, but it was keeping her entertained, so I was willing to look the other way. Then our friend, who was sailing with us, told me about a recent report that said American’s should eat more bugs. Armed with this new knowledge, I decided it was in Helina's best interest to continue playing with the swatter. In addition to the potential health benefits, I also saw it as good training. We could use someone on-board who is designated to control the mosquito population—always a plus in Florida!

Helina spent a good chunk of the sail down in her little seat, eating/reading books, throwing toys on the ground, and swatting at the air…

Busy Girl

We even converted the captain's seat's cup holder into a snack dish, so Helina had something to occupy her hands and mouth:

Captain Crunch

Unfortunately, Helina had a bit of trouble napping on the journey south. She was (and is) battling yet another daycare-induced mystery sickness, so she was a bit off in terms of her routine and disposition. As we approached our destination, I put an over-tired Helina down for a nap, but instead of sleeping, she decided to scream bloody murder. It was awesome. So, I shirked my boating responsibilities (my job is to put the anchor down) and comforted poor sobbing Helina. Thankfully, our friend (the one who told us to eat bugs), was able to help Eric anchor without too much trouble.

We spent the rest of the day at anchor getting settled, preparing the dinghy, napping in the hammock, and battling the humidity (a battle that Helina clearly lost):

Some Like it Hot

Given the fact that Helina was suffering from a cold (after having just recovered from a vicious cold the previous week), she did very well on the sail down (the sail back is a different story, but more on that later...). While much of the weekend was enjoyable, it was not without incident. More on that later, too...