Crossing the Straits of Florida to Fort Pierce and on to Saint Augustine
Wednesday May 13th to Saturday May 16th
Another beautiful day in the Abacos with sunshine sparkling on the crystal water was in progress as Charlie and the electric windlass hauled up the anchor. There was a light breeze as we motor sailed in a direction just north of west (course 287M) to our first way point on the edge of the Bahama bank.
A lovely day at sea, with not much happening but the constant navigation, some reading and other activities for Lady's crew.
We could see thunderstorms off in the distance, and as the day wore on, one came closer, and it looked like there might be a waterspout in it, so we furled the sails, put on life jackets and motored on.
The storm missed us, and we reached the Little Bahama Bank way-point just before dinner. The compass course of west was modified by the strong Gulf Stream taking us to our destination of Fort Pierce.
As we got closer to the mainland, we could hear the Miami Coast Guard's alert that they had a report of thirty people in the water. We saw the lights of a boat and helicopter searching in the area, and we kept a sharp lookout as requested by the "Pan, pan" alert.
We took turns sleeping and being on watch during the night, and by daybreak on Thursday we could see Florida.
We anchored near Faber Cove in Fort Pierce, hoisted the "Q" flag, and after a hearty breakfast, called Customs and Border Patrol. Last January, while we were in Hollywood, we had made an appointment with CBP to pre-register our passports using the "Local Boater Option". Fort Pierce is the furthest north location in South Florida that this re-entry method can be used and it was sweet. One phone call to the 800 number they had given us and immigration took about a minute.
We spent most of the day catching up on lost sleep, phoning home and returning other phone calls.
At sunset, Charlie continued the custom of blowing the conch horn. One other boat in the anchorage responded.
Friday morning we motored in to the Fort Pierce Municipal Marina, took on 30 gallons of diesel, and by 1000 we were clear of the channel and headed off shore. The wind came up as the morning wore on and by late morning we were 10 miles from land under full sail doing 7.4 knots. The speed over the ground increased as we picked up more current from the Gulf Stream.
The big event of the day was when we heard a VHF call from Warship 99 hailing the sailing vessel at a certain Lat/Long, looked at our position and exclaimed "That's us!" We hadn't even seen the ship that was 7 miles off our starboard bow, and he just wanted us to maintain course an speed while he crossed our bow.
By 1600 we were abeam of the Cape Canaveral way point, about 24 miles off shore, doing 9.3 knots over the ground.
Another night of alternate watches. The wind got light, and we started the engine for a speed boost. The engine would not do more than about 2100 rpm - usually we cruise at about 2400 rpm - cause for concern, but we were able to maintain a speed of about 6 knots as we entered Saint Augustine and tied up at the Camachee Cove Marina slip M23 at 1045 on Saturday.
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