It was living a dream. A family of four, (Mother, Father and two young daughters aged four and six), and a dear friend sailing off in July to a destination over a thousand miles away. The Key West sun glittered on the water, the wind beckoned us. Today was the day.

I had been living on a 32 foot sailboat, (a Westsail 32) in Key West for the past year and a half. It was time to visit home, Philadelphia, to see friends and family.

We pulled up the anchor and sailed through the harbor. As we left the safety of the leeward side of the island the breeze picked up. Six foot choppy waves crashed into our haul.

My friend, Lizabeth, had never been sailing and the ocean's motion made her ill. I looked at my husband.

"Do we head back and try again tomorrow?" he asked. I let him know I was fine. It was Lizabeth I was worried about.

"Let's keep going." Her words startled yet excited us. We charged into the sea, green water rolling down our decks. The engine was running as well as having up sails.

Two hours later we were still fighting to get away from that beautiful island. Suddenly, the engine sputtered and died. I took the helm as my husband went below to check the engine. It was a clogged fuel filter.

He climbed into the engine room hovering over a hot engine. Sweat dripping from his brow and sizzling on the engine inches away. He called for a wrench to loosen the filter casing.

Meanwhile, I tried to control the slamming of the boat, knowing he was likely to be horribly burned if I didn't. I needed my friend to get the tool. The motion of the boat slowed her down and minutes passed as she tried to get up and find the wrench.

Finally, he had it in hand and began changing the filter as Lizabeth crawled onto deck. Within minutes, he had changed and bled the filter and was back on deck. He was soaked to the bone, reeking of sweat and diesel.

For twenty-eight hours we beat into the waves. Even with the reef protecting us, the ocean and wind fought us, a fifty mile trip took over a full day. At last, we pulled into the first stop along our trip, Boot Key Harbor in Marathon.

We set our anchor and took a deep breath. The first leg of the trip was over. We finally had a chance to relax and get rest knowing soon we were going to leave on out next leg.