SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

Last summer, I was delighted to be invited to join two of my girlfriends on a sailing trip—my third, no less! This trip would surely herald my promotion from nautical novice to savvy seafaring expert. I was to join them on a charter in Southwest Florida and sail along the Intracoastal Waterway. Many moons ago I had spent some time camping in the Everglades, but this was to be my first venture to Florida’s west coast.

The month was June, not the best time to go to Florida, but the only window in my friends’ hectic schedule. I therefore did what all true Brits do when planning a trip—checked the weather forecast. Horrors! I rebooted my weather app four times, but to no avail. A muggy 85 degrees F and rain, rain, rain for the entire week. Wall-to-wall rain, and I didn’t even own a raincoat.

Pip, a veteran of the waves, and Dawn, another capable seafarer, met up at Boston’s Logan Airport where I found them busy ordering our supplies online to be delivered that afternoon directly to our boat. What a treat! A few hours later, after a short taxi