We towed Galactica up to the Robert Allen Access ramp on the south side of the Florida pool. The ramp had a very long line to the high water ramp which wasn't set up for a masted boat--trees over hanging. This began a two hour hunt for an open ramp.
The GOOD!
As we were leaving our area, I am always amazed and pleased by the positive waves and thumbs up that Galactica receives while being towed. She got a double thumbs up at the gas station by another customer followed by two attendants walking around her.
As we pulled onto highway 70 to begin the journey to MTL, I received a text from someone we know with a picture of Galactica turning onto the ramp! :)
20 minutes later, we were driving past Columbia and I received a text from a VP where I work saying that he admired a big blue boat and then realized it was my wife and I that he passed.
Back to the lake, we quickly raised the mast, connected the Genny and mainsail boom. We then hopped in line for the next 40 minutes where I finished the minor rigging duties while waiting. The lake only had about 1/6 of its ramps open since most were underwater. Galactica launched swiftly and error free! Rather than fight for access to the single pier in the center of the ramp, I motored to the other cove and picked up Angie there--actually, I came up to the top of the low water ramp and she swam out to Galactica!
We spent the rest of the day enjoying a wonderful sail, spending the entire time beating to windward, practicing our seamanship and enjoying the day!
Although I like to steer, we found that in any sort of wind or after a lot of tacks, it's much better for me to operate the sheets and winches leaving Angie to steer the course! 
We sailed into the sunset...literally! :)
We found a lonely little cove and swung to our anchor for the night. The forward hatch windscoop that I picked up was a life saver. It catches wind and redirects it into the boat. We enjoyed fresh corn on the cob, peanut butter tortillas, lemonade, margaritas and a beer before bedtime!
What a good day!
The BAD.
Due to the high water and the testy nature of some people around crowded ramps, we decided to leave early before the day-tripper crowds arrived. With only one ramp, a pier in the middle and no good shore to land on, we didn't want to fight with a crowd. Shame, it was perfect sailing weather on the main channel! Angie didn't want me raising the sails because she knew we'd lose track of time. I wanted to check out a cove a couple miles from our ramp so we lowered the Evinrude FTL drive and rocked to the silo arm. Angie complained about the amount of spray drenching her so I slowed down on the return trip.
We were in the middle of the main channel just minutes after this picture was taken. In 80 foot of water, we hit something floating below the surface. That's BAD.
The UGLY!
So I had seen and navigated around a couple tree limbs in a couple bays. They may have been iceberg like with most of the mass below the water. Regardless, when we hit something both feeling and hearing the double bump, I immediately watched the stern to see if the engine kicked up or if I could see what we hit. It must have been a big mass with sunk under the motor as we passed over. Now for the UGLY. Although, we had a picture perfect approach and tie up at the dock while nobody was there, a strong wind joined the cross current making it difficult to load onto the trailer gracefully--naturally, people were starting to show up to use the ramp. I pulled Galactica out of the water and we hid in some shade to de-rig for the drive home. I saw the battle damage immediately. Two nasty holes which chipped out the gel-coat.
I'm taking her to get a repair estimate Tuesday.
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