Lessons Learned

So we got towed twice in 24 hours a couple of days ago. Did we learn anything from the experience? But of course!

1. Get towing insurance! It's a couple of hundred dollars but can save you big money if you ever need it (think $600 for those two tows). Because we're newbies to the whole sailing thing and I'm somewhat paranoid, we bought insurance first thing. Thank goodness.

2. If you think you need diesel, go ahead and fill up. Enough said.

3. When running low on fuel with old diesel in a tank that probably hasn't been cleaned since Panama, change your fuel filters.

I'm not sure how we're going to deal with the sludge in our tank, but Vlad will no doubt figure something out that doesn't involve us paying a fortune. Other than that, I may be the only one in our party who had a good time when our engine gave out in the channel and we had to hoist the sails and turn around before we ran aground (I make it sound like we were sooooo calm), but it was fun in an adrenaline surging kind of way. I'm glad I got to experience something going wrong and our quick reaction to it. A good way to learn those lessons, for sure.