If you browse our site and social media pages, you may have noticed some stunning photographs of Hawkeye, the Island Packet Yachts 439 that we use for sunset sails on Tampa Bay. What you may not know is the fun story behind the photos! Read on...
It was a beautiful February weekend, and my wife, Kathryn, and I had just enjoyed a mini-cruise down to Longboat Key Club Moorings with our good friends Matt and Lindsay. Despite some lingering red tide (and the coughing it induces), we managed to have a fun weekend of sailing and relaxing. The boat performed great and we had excellent wind! It was mid-Sunday, and we were heading back to our home port at Harborage Marina in St. Petersburg. We had a gentle wind (maybe 8 knots) out of the Northeast, and the sky was completely cloudless (typical February day in Florida). I cooked up the idea to launch the dinghy and coerce (I mean, ask) the rest of the crew to jump in!
What followed was an epic photo shoot that yielded 251 pictures and videos.
We hove-to and carefully lowered the dinghy into the water. Matt, Lindsay and Kathryn climbed in, and I (somewhat guiltily) realized the water was a little choppier than I had initially assessed from the safety and comfort of the “mothership.”
Matt handled the outboard engine, Lindsay was on the handheld VHF radio (so we could stay in touch) and Kathryn used my iPhone to start snapping away. (She was smart enough to leave her iPhone on board the big boat.)
For about 15 minutes, I tacked up and down Tampa Bay and coordinated with the crew in the dinghy to get the staging and lighting just right. We were trying to get the iconic Sunshine Skyway bridge in the background for most of the shots.
After a while, Kathryn snatched the VHF from Lindsay and very clearly told me, ”We’re done.” The choppy waters were testing her. We carefully boarded the crew and raised the dinghy. Sure enough, Kathryn would develop some minor bruises from bracing against the sides of the dinghy in order to stabilize the phone in the rough seas — major wife points!
Thank you again to Matt, Lindsay and Kathryn for being such good sports about this!
We are hoping to enter some of these images into a photo contest here and there. Will let you know how that develops. We also plan to stage some additional photo shoots that feature the downtown St. Petersburg skyline — the stunning backdrop for our sunset cruise route.
Safety Tips
These are some good all-around safety tips to remember whenever a dinghy is involved:
Careful boarding/loading the dinghy, as this is where many slips and falls occur.
The driver should always wear the kill cord for the outboard engine!
Remember to load the dinghy with enough PFDs for everyone, and consider having them wear them if the conditions warrant it.
A handheld VHF is a great safety item for the dinghy, especially as they are generally waterproof/floating.
In my case, I was alone on Hawkeye. While sailboats with inboard propulsion do not generally have kill cords, we must still remember the danger of singlehanding, especially when using autopilot.
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