My wife and I celebrated our 44th Anniversary by taking a romantic sunset cruise on the "Copacetic", a 36 foot cameraman, out of Fort Myers Beach. We had been keeping an eye on the weather, as it was June and rain showers can pop up any time. While there were isolated showers forecast for the area, things looked good to go at departure time. With 22 other passengers, we met the vessel at the dock, boarded, and got underway. The cruise started off excellently. The captain, Dave, motored the vessel out of the harbor channel and into the Gulf of Mexico. The he and the mate, Joel, hoisted the sails and we headed towards Sanibel Island Light. As we started sailing, there was a general euphoria amongst the passengers. I cracked open a beer that I'd purchased from the mate and sat back for a relaxing sail. My wife and I were seated in the center of the boat, just aft the main mast under a canopy. Visible on the western horizon was a line of dark cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning was visible far off in the distance. As we tacked towards Sanibel Island, a squall suddenly approached from the south. Apparently the boat was approaching a shoal at this time and the crew was prudent to quickly douse the sails and restart the motor. Then the rain squall hit us and my wife and me were immediately joined under the canopy by all the other passengers. The wind driven rain was somewhat horizontal, so that the cover didn't help much. We all got drenched. I held up a square PFD to block some of the wind and rain, and that kept a little of the rain off my wife. The squall quickly passed, but all the passengers and crew were cold and wet at that point. So Captain Dave headed back to the mooring in the marina, continuing under power all the way. On the way back in, there was a double rainbow (a good sign). And, over my shoulder I observed a wonderful sunset (thankfully). It was dark when we tied up to the pier. Captain Dave offered everyone a refund. However, we did not take him up on his kind offer ... we were copacetic. A thank you to Captain Dave and Joel for getting us out and back safely. Their keen seamanship and professionalism was apparent. To say the least, the cruise was a memorable adventure. Evidently, when sailing in Florida waters in the summertime you have to be Zen and go with the weather.
Одговор домаћина
Jul 2022
Hi Ross - Many thanks for this very complete review of our Copacetic product, and about the professionalism of the Captain and the Mate. We definitely agree that their main concern is always about sailing safely, and keeping our passengers comfortable. I definitely agree that the double rainbow was a great sign for sunnier days ahead!