Indiantown

Another winter has come full circle. We are back at Indiantown Marina and are preparing the boat for haulout.

"What has happened since the last update?" you ask. Well, Alan took Christina to the public dock for 0615h on the 19th. She hopped in a taxi and headed for the airport. When he arrived back on the boat we also were on our way. We had been paying careful attention to the weather reports and had discovered a small opening that would allow us to cross the Gulf Stream safely. Disappointed that we would not be able to attend the Junkanoo celebrations in Marsh Harbour, but concerned that we would lose our opportunity, we pulled up anchor and motored out into a light breezes. As the sun rose, so did the wind velocity. By the time we arrived at the Whale Cay Cut, the wind was registering 20kts on our indicator with gusts to 30kts. Fortunately the wind was from the west so the ocean swell had not had a chance to build. None the less the trip out into the ocean and back in around "the whale" was rollicking to say the least. It was the one time when I am sure the photos would have done the wind justice but we were too busy to take pictures. We had a great sail, close hauled up to Spanish Cay. That is the point at which we needed to turn to the north-west. Guess which direction the wind was coming from? Pounding into the waves under motor did not appeal to us so we headed into the Spanish Cay Marina.

Most marinas are well protected from the prevailing easterlies but suffer when the wind has any west in it. After a hair raising docking in a cross wind, I had discovered that the boat really does go in reverse fast. I even managed not to hit anything. Apparently the peanut gallery on the dock was impressed.

We took advantage of this unexpected marina stop and enjoyed long showers. The night was pretty rolly though. The next morning we headed out early - into a north west wind. The forecast said it would clock around to the east and we would have a lovely downwind sail. We waited, and waited, all the while heading west with the sails pulled in tight. By dusk we had reached Mangrove Cay and put down an anchor in a shallow spot that was only barely protected. It was time to catch a few hours sleep. In the middle of the night we wondered who was knocking on the hull to come in - turns out that Alan had forgotten the snubber on the anchor chain and it was knocking gently on the bow.

0300h and we are on our way again. We were headed for the edge of the Little Bahama Bank, at Memory Rock. By the time we were to reach there we would be able to get a US Coast Guard weather report and make a decision whether to cross or to turn down to West End to wait. At 0730h we decided the seas and wind were settled enough for us to head west. The wind was northeast but under 10 knots. We tried sailing with the spinnaker for a while but could not maintain enough speed to guarantee we would make the crossing in reasonable time so the spi came down and the engine went on. All in all it was an OK day. With the wind behind us and the engine on the diesel smell was overpowering at times. We only saw 2 boats until we arrived within a few miles of the Florida coast. I saw a couple of Portuguese Mar 'O Wars floating by. Alan swears he saw a sawfish which is an endangered species. As we approached the Fort Pierce entrance we we hailed on the VHF radio and asked to move out of the channel to make room for a big freighter. He was very polite and waved as he went by. We were anchored by 1930h. It was time for a light supper, a call to US customs and immigration and some sleep.

Sunday was filled with odds and ends. We called the nearby marina and asked for permission to bring in our dinghy so that we could go to Customs. They replied that we could but unless we bought fuel at the dock or lunch in their restaurant the charge would be $12. We decided to take the big boat in and fuel up although we did not really need fuel. As we headed in, a big catamaran roared by and took the prime spot at the fuel dock so we were relegated to the end. When we had finished fueling we were instructed to head to another dock while we left the boat. Unfortunately we were at the shallow end of the dock, half an hour until low tide so guess what happened? we went aground... again. After same skillful maneovering with ropes we managed to get free. Tied up in our new location, it was time to call a taxi to take us to the airport. No we were not abandoning Voila! We had to head to the airport to report into Customs and fill out all the paperwork. An hour and a half later, the cab arrived. The paperwork was fairly painless and we had the cab drop us off at Publix to pick up a few groceries, before walking the last few blocks to the boat. By that time the day was pretty much shot in terms of making any progress south so we decided on a late lunch at the restaurant. Great fish and chips.

Today we motored south in a cool north wind. This is becoming familiar territory now and we managed to get through the St. Lucie / Stuart area without incident. We did notice that there has been great progress on the Southpointe Anchorage Marina while we were away and the mooring field has reopened. Perhaps we will spend a few days there next fall.

We arrived at Indiantown Marina about 1500h at which point Alan jumped ship to catch up on all the gossip (and to move our car close to the boat) We have been cleaning up and packing. We need to find room in the car for most of the boat cushions so that we can replace them. There are so many shapes and angles that they are difficult to measure accurately.

It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate on a boat. We have been making frequent contributions to the "For Free" table, much to the delight of our fellow cruisers. Our British friends needed an explanation for the bag of Bisquick.

With luck we should be out of the water tomorrow. After a few days with my Dad it will be back home to family, friends and snow.

We have done a reasonably complete inventory - still pages and pages. It will help us plan when we are at home - 1500 miles from the boat. There is always a debate about how much to cart back and forth.