Its been a bit, and a lot has happened, so please be patient, this blog is likely to be a long one, and I'm a little long winded to begin with, ok, a lot long winded, but I was trying to be nice, I have feelings too. Our last update was 6 days ago, but internet was hard to come by in Lake Worth. We managed a quick update to facebook in McDonalds, and check the weather a couple of times, but that was it. Miami on the other hand is wonderful, they have free wifi provided by the city, how cool is that?
Last Thursday after a wonderful evening aboard MV Barbara, we left the Pine Island anchorage at sunup, hoping to make a few miles so that we would have a short trip into Lake Worth on Saturday. The wind was still strong, and coming from behind, and we were making good time, so we made the executive decision to push on to Lake Worth in one day, 68 miles, and 8 bridges. Now that we've done it, we know the flaw in "my" planning. Bridges never work out the way you think they should. You think we would have learned that from two days earlier, but one of us is a slow learner. So, after a frustrating delay from the last 6 bridges, and an unexpected opposing current, we dropped the anchor in the dark, in an unknown harbor. Luckily it worked out well and we were in a good spot. We received a text from our friends on Anthyllide, "where are you guys", and we texted back and forth, flipping our anchor lights on and off, and finally figuring out that they were right behind us in the anchorage. Too funny. They had waited up by Saint Marys for a weather window and had just gotten in the day before after 3 days at sea, where as we slogged our brains out for 7 days. Having listened to their story, I am not sure which route was harder, but I can do simple math 7 vs 3, so I know which one was longer.
On the bright side, we did get to see our first manatees. We found out we hate bridges, and the people who make their schedules. We also found out that the Florida ICW is a beautiful place, probably the nicest part of the ICW, definitely the cleanest water, and the towns are boater friendly, something that seemed lacking in a lot of other places.
Our plan was to leave immediately Saturday morning to head further south to Miami. That plan didn't last long, as we woke up completely worn out. I guess our 7 day rush needed a recuperation day. Besides that, our friends were here, and we hadn't seen them in a week. Catch up... Saturday night I sat down and figured out a possible itinerary with the 27 bridges that still needed to be lifted for us to get through the ICW. It turns out that even if everything went well, as planned, it would still take us 3 very long days to make the short 74 mile trip. And, as I am learning, nothing goes well when bridges are involved. I wanted to adopt the manana attitude, but I knew I would end up racing to get to the bridges, and possible do damage to the boat, my marriage, and my sanity. Which by the way, hangs precariously by a strand most days. For the uninitiated, "manana", (sounds like man-yaw-na), is Spanish, I think, for tomorrow, but is more loosely translated to whenever mon! Besides that, all the guides said stay away from this stretch on the weekend.
There was a weather window opening on Tuesday with north winds and light seas to push us down the coast on an overnight. So we opted for option 2 and spent Sunday and Monday doing some provisioning. Okay, we blew our kids inheritance. Sorry kids, but at this rate there isn't going to be anything left. But, we have some nice new cloths, a pole spear, some dive skins, and a bunch more parts for the boat. We also took the time to hook up the pressure salt water in the boat, reorganize, clean, and get some general maintenance done.
So yesterday we made the jump outside. We left to absolutely balmy weather, hot sun, fresh breeze, and beautiful seas. But that's where it ended. The trip wasn't bad, but the waves outside the 3 mile mark got rather large, and our speed was knocked down to 0, so we had to stay between 1 and 3 miles off shore. We did manage to sail for 7 hours before we gave in and started the engine. But it was hard going, uncomfortable, and usually not in the direction we wanted to go. The problem was that the winds were not strong enough to push us over the large waves, so the boat would flail around causing the sails to lose their wind, which would allow the waves to toss us around, which would cause the sails to lose their wind which would.... Nuff said. We did however make it safely to Miami, then ended up sleeping the afternoon away, as we were exhausted. We'll spend the next few days visiting with friends that are already here, those that are on their way, provisioning and getting Vita ready for 3 months in the Bahamas.
Yes ma'am, misses helms(person).
Bye bye Lake Worth
Hello Atlantic Ocean
Bye bye sun.
Hello moon.
Good morning sunshine. You just don't get views like this everyday. Some things can never be measured with money.
Hello Miami Beach.
Not all the boats you meet in the channel have pointy fronts and squat rears. Some have wings.
This is our sea berth. One of those little jobs that I finally got finished in Lake Worth. It is perfect when the boat is rocking around like a tilt-a-whirl. It holds you in a nice comfortable little cocoon.
Merry Xmas everyone, and have the bestest of the New Year.......
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