We awakened this morning to a very large cruise ship on our stern. I don't think I've ever been this close to such a big ship without being on it. It was awe inspiring watching this vessel cross behind our anchored boat.
We cleared customs yesterday on our way into West Palm Beach, but we did not receive our cruising license. Without that, we were not allowed to leave our current port because our boat is registered in Jamiaca (to save on taxes - legally!). I called the office, but I could not get a human on the phone. So, despite our eagerness to get moving on one of our longest sailing days of the trip, we had to wait until the customs office opened at 8:00 a.m. We lowered the dinghy and headed across the basin to a marina near that office, which thankfully was not far away.
We were nervous because anytime you interact with bureaucracy things can go badly, and perhaps influenced by our experiences in Israel, we dreaded entering the US Customs and Border protection office. However, we were attended to by a very friendly officer, and within twenty minutes, we had our cruising license, which allows us to cruise in US water with our Jamaican boat for another year. I did not even have to use my Jamaican accent, which I had been working on just in case.
Our goal is to be home by April 15 because we have doctors appointments and other reasons to be back on the 16th. I calculated that we were about 900 nautical miles from West Palm Beach to our home, not counting entering and leaving various ports and anchorages. That means we need to average over 64 nautical miles a day, which at our usual cruising speed of 10 knots means about 6 and a half hours of sailing a day. When you factor in that some stopovers include out of the way marinas and anchorages and some inevitable bad weather days, our plan starts to look questionable.
The seas were extremely calm today, and our options were limited because there are only so many good inlets for us given the size of our boat. We decided to push hard and get to Port Canaveral. One reason was to take advantage of the great weather, and the other was to get ahead of our 65 nm average. Since we were not off our anchor until around 10:15 a.m., we decided to push our engines harder than usual and cruised at about 12.5 knots, which resulted in about eight hours for our 105 mile trip today, and almost double the fuel burn of our usual 10 knots. We also decided to do another 100 miles tomorrow to St. Augustine. From there we should be able to get to Hilton Head in two more hops by Thursday. Of course, this all depends on the boat performing well and mother nature being kind. Tomorrow looks like the ocean route will be practically glass, so that's another reason to press on. Doing 205 nm in two days gives us a little cushion.
However, it is well known that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule. We are well aware of that. So if the weather turns, we will not take risks.
The trip could not have gone any better, with two foot following seas and the stabilizers working flawlessly. We had music on, and I was dancing at the helm to Meghan Trainor (Going to see her with our girls in September!). Ann could only shake her head. As we entered Port Canaveral, I got an email notification from MarineTraffic that big brother had noticed.
We usually arrive at our daily stops around mid afternoon. Today we arrived just before sunset, due to our late start and our longer than usual journey. The view was pretty, and we were very happy to tie up and secure the boat, just before dark.
As I prepared to wash down Empty Nest, I got an even better view of the sunset.
All tied up and ready for a calm evening. We always sleep better in marinas than at anchor.
This is the first April Fools Day that I did not celebrate with mass emails to everyone I know. I have to say I love retirement. No more stress from teaching, and no more spending March trying to come up with something funny.
Tomorrow is my Mom's 79th birthday, so let me be the first to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
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| Mom with Tamara and Benny, 2002 |
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