Rum on the rocks is good. Sloop on the rocks is bad. We had committed to Venice inlet. There was enough light. You go in through a narrow mouth between a north and south jetty. The jetties are lined with fishermen, tourists, and others who gather for a sunset, a beer, some talking with friends, and boat watching.
You do not want to make a mistake as you come in this inlet. The rocks are close by. We decided to swing around and take another look at the entrance and our charts. The water at the entrance was a little choppy as it swirled around. The wind was out of the south and the tide was going out, so we needed to be sure we could make a clean run in and not be pushed to the north and against the rocks.
Venice is a nice little place to visit, especially by water. It is on the west coast of Florida between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. The Ringling Circus made its home here and Venice has held onto a certain charm combining old with new. The best thing they have done is to keep some fishing village thinking intact. You can golf, swim, collect shark's teeth at a beach world-famous for shark's teeth collecting, but the feeling of Florida fishing village lingers. The fishing? It is good along the jetties, the beaches, and off the pier. There a few good seafood places close to where you come in from the Gulf of Mexico, and a few of them you can tie up next to, hop off your boat and you're there.
As we turned to make our run in, a speed boat rushed by on our starboard and his wake pushed us to port toward the north jetty. The kid driving the boat looked like he was 12. He acted like he was 2.
The Kid picked up a fender to throw at him, but knew we need those fenders once inside.
I made a turn and we bumped something deep as we turned. It didn't sound like we scraped along rocks but it was a thud and didn't sound good. The Kid went below to look around.
"No holes! I don't see anything. I don't see... Hey! The lights are out."
"Whattaya mean?"
"We lost our cabin lights. Do you have lights on deck?"
"We've lost our electric."
No lights and now the sun had slipped into some clouds on the horizon and our daylight was all but gone.
"Should we try to go in?"
"We can't go up the coast without running lights."
A few fisherman had lanterns on on either side of the channel. Straight in and off to starboard a restaurant was flickering with candlelight in their windows for a romantic by the water meal for their patrons. That was enough. In we went. Lanterns port and starboard and candlelight off the bow.
This little town had become even more charming as we sailed right in through its inlet, and over to a nice little dockage, all by candlelight. We tied off and as we did, another pass by the 2 year old driving the speed boat, and not obeying the 'No Wake' signs, pushed his wake at us and drove our port bow against the pier. We bumped it hard and our lights came back on.
The next day we will check underwater for damage, take a look at the electric and get her ready for sailing up the coast. For now? Some Chianti and a candlelight dinner on deck and we'll probably tip the waiter who lit the candles in the restaurant window.
The Captain and The Kid
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