It had been a challenging day. In the early afternoon, Sean and I pulled over to a mudbank and put a reef in our sails, several other boats pulled over and followed suit. It was still brutally hot and the mud of Hap's Cut was doing nothing to improve my mood.

On top of this, my crew was deserting. Sean wanted to watch the America's Cup (Algeria vs America) which was going to be broadcast at 9am. He needed near a TV, and he figured he needed to ship on a faster boat to get there.

His plan was to go aboard Chris Breaux's Bolger Folding Schooner, which, at 31ft and flying a cloud of sail, was arguably the fastest boat in the fleet. He planned to get on the water at 4am and have an easy sail.