The Adventure (Really) Begins

As I write today, we are wending our way along the bay side (also called the "inside") of the Florida Keys, passing Matecumbe and tracing along Marathon, on our eventual way to Key West.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks, first the Miami Boat Show, then a wonderful visit at our familiar port of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, and now embarked on our first family cruise with our younger son Jon, his girlfriend Autumn, and their friend RJ.  

We arrived back in Miami on Feb 9th, and turned over XYZZY to the Mondo Team for cleaning and staging.  We settled back into a rental condo for the week, and I was really surprised how much I missed being on board. But it was great fun to meet Peter and Steve who came over from Fusion Austrailia to see the debut US Fusion 40, and we had a wonderful reception at the Miami Boat Show. We met so many folks with dreams similar to ours, some at the beginning of their search, and some coming close to the end, and we really enjoyed sharing our journey with them all.  We were certainly the smallest catamaran at the show, but definitely the prettiest as well, and not only by our judgment! XYZZY is definitely a unique package!

XYZZY at the Miami Boat Show - the prettiest little cat!

Peter and Steve from Fusion Australia with Rian

Our Mondo Team

Once the show was over, we moved her over to the CGSC dock and spent one day taking some of our vendors out for a test sail day.  Sail Magazine also came along and collected information for a spread on multihulls they are doing this summer-can't wait to see what they have to say! 

Our CGSC friends then threw a dock party on Thursday the 18th, and we had the pleasure of sharing our new home with all our old friends.  It was wonderful to see everyone and show them what we've been working on so hard for the past five years.

CGSC Welcomes XYZZY!

Parked at the Main Dock

A couple of days later we got our first onboard company (son and friends), and set about planning our first family cruise. We had thought about going to the Bahamas, but checking the forecast, it didn't look like we would have a good weather window for quite a few days, so we changed our plans and headed for Key Largo instead.

Jon, Autumn, and RJ go Exploring

Since then, we've been meandering along towards Key West, getting used to cruising life: learning about where to get water, how long our fuel lasts, the ins and outs of our electronics and trying to figure out how to entice the washer/dryer to work. (Seems to be on an unpredictable schedule, no matter what combination of buttons we use...)

Faro Blanco Yacht Club - Marathon FL

An Early Morning Swim

There are still a few things that need to be finished, a few to add (water maker!), and a few that need replaced (the bow sprit design to fly our Code Zero has blown out twice in only 8-10 knots of wind; the design will need to be reworked) but we are slowly learning to trust our boat and know her strengths and foibles. 

Over the next few weeks we are looking forward to a vist from our older son and his family, and to continuing to cruise around South Florida. We will be aiming to end up back in Sarasota at the beginning of April, for some additional work before the Sarasota Boat Show.  After that our tentative plans are to head up the ICW to go north for the comin hurricane season, and spend the summer along the East Coast.  We hope to get up to see friends in New York, Massachusetts, and Maine, before needing to head back down for the fall boat shows.

And so, our blog will transition from a build commentary to a cruising commentary, as we begin our real adventure!