The food had been good so far and today was no exception. The night before we had made from scratch macaroni and cheese, and this morning was cowboy coffee and bagels with cream cheese grilled in butter on the Coleman double burner. We were up and sailing early, reaching Spy Key around noon. Spy Key has a often dry, small lake in the center and we were able to swim to shore and do a little exploring. As predicted, the lake was dry, but it was nice to be able to step on dry land for a few minutes.

The box you see on the foredeck near the anchor well above happens to be the least private toilet or "head" in the United States. Spy Key was the farthest we sailed with the wind, from there to home we would be tacking against the wind. Our boats, with their inefficient design, could sail 60 degrees off the wind, and topped out at 7 knots. We averaged 3 knots for our entire trip. We left Spy Key and tacked to our next destination, Nest Key. Nest Key had a dock with a couple porta-potties and was quite the party spot when we arrived, with several high dollar boats anchored off shore.

Our instructors, in Outward Bound fashion, had us "group mini-solo" that afternoon, which was a couple hours of either sleeping, journaling or contemplating the meaning of life. Mostly, we assume, to keep us away from the partying going on a few hundred yards away.

That evening, our instructors surprised us by telling us they had procured permits for our group to camp overnight once everyone had left. It was a welcome feeling to sleep on flat ground. We set up camp and everyone went to sleep. That night (the one without tarps) was the only time it rained on us after setting sail and everyone woke up soaking wet and covered in sand.