Sailing Trip Part 3

We all woke up around 6:30am and had showers at the marina. Each day we will need to be ready for action by 8:00am. These are very long days with instruction going well into the night until around 9:00pm. Breakfast each morning was coffee, toasted bagels with cream cheese, fruit, cereal, and yogurt. After getting acquainted with the major systems on the boat we were ready to head out. Arlin was on the helm and safety duty, so he backed us out and we headed into Pensacola Bay for our first day of sailing lessons. We did lots of tacking and jibing and man-over-board drills (the figure 8 method). Everyone got turns at the helm and working the lines. About 2 hours before sunset we headed out west down the intercoastal waterway to find the night's anchorage. It was a 'spoil area' just inside Big Lagoon and right by Perdido Key. Andrew was anchor duty, so he learned to take charge of setting the bow anchor in about 10 feet of water. He had to give hand signals to Arlin at the helm to maneuver the boat into the right spot, and then he had to drop the anchor and pay out the right amount of scope so the anchor would set properly.
Afterwards we took the dinghy to the shore to look around. I was dinghy captain that day, so I got to drive! It was a scrubby little part of Perdido Key but there was a pretty sunset and it was nice to stretch our legs after being on the boat all day. There were some remnants of an old gun battery but it wasn't all that great really. I saw some pelicans - they are my favorite seabird. I love the way they hover low to the waves in formation like a bunch of bomber airplanes, and they way they dive and crash into the ocean to fish. Ron grilled us barbecue hamburgers for dinner and Mary made a coleslaw salad. After dinner there was lots of textbook type instruction and then it was off to bed.