28.24.3N 80.37.5W

Hi there,

Well, we have arrived here in sunny Florida after a rather rolly crossing from The Bahamas. We had an great sail over the Banks (the area of shallow water that extends west from the habited islands) but once we got into deeper water the wind died down and we had to motor-sail with a bit of wave action coming in on the beam. But not too bad! We crossed with Shearwater (Dave and Cal) and we both arrived safely off Cape Canaveral mid afternoon yesterday. Total journey time of about 32 hrs.

We had a bit of excitement on the approach channel to Port Canaveral.  A military launch came speeding out to us and told us that we needed to get 500m out of the way as a submarine was coming out of the base there. So both Shearwater and we spent an uncomfortable half hour rolling around off the approach while the submarine exited.

We also had a rare sight today when a rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral to the ISS. We had a great view from the balcony of the yacht club here.

Went through all the check-in procedures at US Customs and Immigration. We needed to call an 0800 No when we arrived. You then get 24 hrs to go to the local Customs and Border Protection office here in Port Canaveral. We were a bit concerned as the process is a bit complicated, but it all went fairly smoothly. So we are now officially classified as “Legal Aliens”.

We will probably move a little further north tomorrow, but not too far as I need to get some charts and cruising guides before we go too much further.

Will try to keep this blog updated…. But we may do it weekly.

Best Wishes,

John & Georgina