Not sure when this happened in relation to the accident, but my Hunter 27-2 was out of service while I waited for a new forestay. So, I ended up using Otis for one of our club races. Despite being the smallest boat out there, I wasn’t the last boat to cross the finish line. Was a great day of sailing even if it didn’t count for racing due to not having any idea of a handicap for Otis.

In 2018, my wife and I took Otis to the Cedar Keys messabout in Cedar Keys, Florida. I knew better than to ask her to sleep in the tiny cabin on the boat so we got a waterfront hotel room. I also brought down the strip built Kayaks I had built. Was a great event as usual with some high winds allowing for some good testing of the higher cockpit coamings!

April 3rd, 2019 at 3am in the morning I woke up in my house to the smell of smoke. Shortly after, the fire alarm went off. A 12 volt Lithium Iron Phosphate batter on a trickle charger in the garage right next to Otis had burst into flame. The garage sprinklers rained water down on the battery causing the phosphate to burn even stronger. By the time the fire was put out, Otis, along with our home, was burned beyond recovery.