Position           35:34.49N 075:21.90W

Date                2359 Friday 3 February 2012

Thursday was spent on getting the boat fully ready for a Friday departure.  Brian Lockett, an OCC member form Washington DC arrived and together with Gary and Greta was to form the crew for the trip south to Fort Lauderdale.

We had a very convivial take away supper chez Gary and Greta and trundled more provisions down the jetty.

Friday reveille at 0600 got the day off to a good start aiming for a 0800 departure.  Given the amount of fresh and prepared food provided by Greta that was brought on board and all of the usual last minute jobs we did very well to slip at 0825 and head down river.  The forecast for the first 24 hours showed little wind but given the challenge of Cape Hatteras motoring was no hardship compared with what might have been.  The weather continued unusually warm although we all welcomed the ability to close in the cockpit as wind chill driven by the boat speed set in.

The approximate distance to Fort Lauderdale is  820nm; the United States is a large country.

Midnight saw us well on the way with 24 miles to go to Cape Hatteras and 9 knots of wind dead on the nose, of course.  Total sailing in the day 2 hours, the remainder at best was motor sailing.

Catering got off to a really great start – this is going to be a good trip, I am missing the Mate but Elizabeth may rest assured that the galley is in excellent hands.  Lunch was roast beef sandwiches on swirly deli bread bought specially for me and the evening meal was a delicious beef casserole.