From: Honeymoon Harbor, Gun Cay N25 38.458 W079 18.762 at 9:00am
To: Port Everglades, Florida N26 07.179 W80 06.615 moored at Las Olas at 5:30pm
It’s a nice clear morning once again. It’s a good day to cross the Gulf Stream with the winds on our quarter stern from the SE 8-15knots. We can pick up the weather from the U.S. again. It’s kind of reassuring to hear that computer generated voice spewing out the weather statistics when we turn on the weather channels on our VHF. After getting up and having a cup of coffee, we put the dinghy on the deck, listened to the weather and hailed Shining Star. We noticed that he was up and about and since he was familiar with Gun Cay and the rocky path out, we followed him out in the deep water close to the shore, then we each plotted our separate courses across the Gulf and to our chosen ports of entry. It was really nice of them to invite us to share their dock at their cooperative to clear in, but Wayne wanted to go to a different destination. Maybe we’ll catch up with them again sometime in the future. Fair winds Shining Star. It was nice sharing parallel courses, parallel lives for a brief time.
Tip of Gun Cay with the lighthouse as seen from Honeymoon Harbor
It was nice crossing today and I’m glad we put in the long day yesterday to be able to cross with the wind and waves following us. We put the auto helm on again (Otto) and set a course 23 degrees south of Port Everglades and watched as the Gulf Stream carried us on a leisurely S course back to Port Everglades. It was quite a gentle day as far as wind and waves – much different from our last trip across heading to the Bahamas. There was a decided lack of sea life for me to watch this trip. Portugese Man of War floated by and one flying fish leapt out of the water and went about 75 ft in the air fleeing from Kolibrie. I watched our speeds climb from 6.5 - to 7.5, then consistently stay in the upper 7s to mid eight knots as we entered the Gulf Stream currents. I thought 8.88 knots would be our top speed until we actually 9.31 knots at 2:02pm. Wow! Our little Bayfield doing 9.31 knots (course over groundspeed) – even if only for a little while!It was finally time to make sure that we had no fresh produce onboard before we entered the U.S. so with a sad adieux, I deep-sixed a bag of onions and some lettuce and we polished off the last two oranges and split the last banana. It seems ludicrous to have to do that, especially since most of the produce originally came over from the U.S. or other ports that import their produce to the U.S. but rules are rules…
We pulled into Port Everglades between close to 5pm with the current giving us a boost in. As we turned past the turning basin we could see the first bridge was already in the up position. Drat. We missed the 5pm opening. We circled trying to hail the bridge to find out it’s schedule and to see if it was true that this new bridge was actually 55 ft. We read that it was but wanted to be sure. It didn’t look that high to us – maybe we’re just not used to the height of the bridges anymore, I don’t know. We hailed him under all of his names with no response. I noticed that we now have cell phone coverage again so looked up the phone number and called. The bridge tender answered and told us that yes this bridge was 55 ft. high and to look at the tide board on the side to see what the current height was (duh), and to stay in the middle for the most depth.
So after circling for 15 minutes, we finally went under the bridge and continued up the ICW to Ft. Lauderdale and the Las Olas Municipal Marina. I called to see if they had any mooring balls left and was told yes – there were two left. By the time we got there, there was only one left – the one next to the bridge, and park wall. Yikes! We swing about 10 feet from the park wall and we’re quite close to the park bench. We could have a conversation with whoever sits there without every raising our voice. The depth at our mooring says it’s 9-10 feet though so with a 2.5 tide difference we should still be good.
View of the bridge sign from our boat
Wayne cracked open a beer and we settled into the mooring and proceeded to call Customs to check in. We were on hold for about 17 minutes during which time Niles from Fair Winds came by to chat. They’re heading for the Bahamas tomorrow morning and are looking for a buddy boat to cross with. This is Niles and Pat’s first crossing and it should be a good one. No north component, and they’re heading for West End. I gave him the scoop on the West End and then we talked journaling before he returned to his boat. 4 am comes early. Wayne finally got through to customs and we used our Local Boater’s Option numbers (I.D. Cards) to check in. I really like this LBO process. It makes check-in a breeze! We’ll wait to check in at the marina until tomorrow morning. They close at 5pm and we have to get the dingy back off the deck and put the engine on it to go across the ICW to check in. I can’t believe how much warmer it feels here. It’s in the 80s.
Strange but heading down south this year, it got colder the further south we went. Now heading back north, it’s getting warmer… Another boat came by to say hi! They recognized us from Nassau Yacht Club and on the way over when we found ourselves in the middle of that flotilla. I guess there was a group of 18 boats that all left together. Wow! The group had decided to go straight through, and on the way over, his fuel pump bit the dust. Yikes. Glad they made it into the harbor with no mishaps. They used a siphon hose to feed fuel into the engine. Note to self – get spare electric fuel pump and siphon hose…
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment