We made it

But not with my pride intact.

Elf handled the conditions just fine. We were on a beam reach under reefed main and working jib making 5-6 knots under complete control.  There was a little spray from time to time, but only about a half dozen hit us in the cockpit. Those few times were when a breaking whitecap slapped the aft quarter of the boat and blew upwards.

The winds continued to build and Kate ably dropped the main.  Conditions stabilized to exactly what was predicted: sustained 20-25 with occasional gusts in the low 30's, by my estimation.  The shallow waters of the Bay kept wave heights down, but they did tend to be steep seas.  We were still making good time at around 5 knots and reached Vaca Key around noon.

The challenge began when we started the motor. First was the little pass we explored in search of a marina.  With the tide in opposition to the strong wind, we were on a bucking bronco and needed virtually all 9.8 horses to keep directional control while fighting the wind out the channel.  

We did find a nice protected marina a little farther south: Faro Blanco Bayside.  My docking skills in a 25 KT oblique headwind were not up to the task, and the boat didn't shoot into the slip on the first attempt as I'd intended. In part, I'd been distracted by the dinghy, which had blown behind the motor making me worry that it would foul the propeller.

And then it did foul the propeller.

Dead in the water, we blew across the basin in about 30 seconds, resting sideways against the bow on two fishing charters boats. It took Kate and 4 or 5 other guys to hold us off the other boats while I jumped in the dinghy to free the propeller.

Fortunately, I'd like the motor early enough that there were only two wraps, and we were free in only a couple minutes.  In the process, I simply cast the dinghy loose so my second docking attempt was much easier and successful.

Whew, talk about making an entrance!  At least we took 1/2 of the time to dock than the 60' motor yacht that came in after us.

Kudos to Kate for handling the sails flawlessly on a wet, pitching deck! 46.88 NM averaging 4.9 KT over 9:33.  Total odo 323.14