Nassau, Chubb Cay, overnight to Fort Lauderdale and we start up the ICW.

26:34.9N 80:02.88W

30th March 2015

7578 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

            As promised this blog is from the land of the free, we made it J J. Leaving Nassau early doors we motored all day in absolutely zero wind to get up to Chub Cay which was our jump off point for the crossing over to Fort Lauderdale.

Our last view of Paradise Island Nassau in the dawn light 

A little bird who joined us for an hour or two on the way up there was another one but this one was prettier.

Chubb Cay was a fitting last anchorage in the Bahamas, white sandy beaches, water that was so crystal clear that I could see the anchor dug into the sand on the end of 30 meters of chain and a glorious sunset to boot. We had a swim around the boat and found the sea bed covered in really big star fish but the swim was cut a bit short when I spotted a 3ft Ramora attached to our hull, they are probably harmless but after the shark and barracuda I am still a bit twitchy when it comes to big fish. Even the thought of a bag of fish and chips brings me out in a cold sweat.

Star fish in 5 meters of water taken from the deck.

            The next morning we pulled the anchor up and headed out across the banks for the 120 mile jaunt towards Bimini and America. All went well during the day and we made reasonable progress averaging about 6 knots reaching Bimini as the sun went down. After that it was out into the Gulf stream for the crossing, the wind soon whipped up to over 20 knots and with the stream running at 3-4 Knots our leeway was absolutely shocking, if I pointed the nose at Fort Lauderdale I am sure our predicted land fall would have been New York. It ended up being a slow crab across the stream with our nose pointing somewhere down below Miami while being buffeted by a confused sea all of the way and so it was a very tired Paul and Norma that eventually sailed into Fort Lauderdale at 9 am the following morning.

America in the dawn light

Typically we had to wait for a cruise liner to exit Port Everglades which caused us to just miss the bridge opening, the result of which was us sailing around in circles for half an hour waiting for the next scheduled lift. Our meandering track while we waited brought us into contact with the local sheriff who shot up in a high speed rib and moved us over to the other side of the river to wait, he was very nice about it though and said, I quote, “The guy in the bridge should have told you but they’re not very bright”. With that little drama out of the way we motored through the bridge and completed our first mile of the Intra Coastal Waterway up to our mooring buoy in the Los Olas marina ($45 dollars a night, ouch).

Inside Fort Lauderdale Los Olas bridge and the marina ahead on the ICW

Now I know I am in America

The boat on the buoy next to us was a sister ship of Spectra from Galveston Texas but unfortunately the owners were away and so we couldn’t swap notes, Norma did however give it a thorough scrutinizing down to almost the cellular level and found it wanting in several aspects and so she was happy.

            We spent two days in Fort Lauderdale with Mike and Kate and shared the culture shock of being back in the big wide world.

How to indicate you don’t need a waiter in Bubba Gump’s shrimp bar

And of course how to get the waiters attention

The customs clearance process after all of those months of chasing new visas consisted of a telephone conversation and a welcome to America from the Border Protection officer, I almost insisted that he should jolly well come down to the boat and look at my visa but decided not to push it. The only thing that marred the stay was our generator finally going bang, big cloud of smoke and it is no more which oddly enough is almost a relief as it has been a thorn in my side since the Cape Verde islands and now I can put it behind me. Not having a generator is not such a big issue at the moment as we have nearly 1000 miles of motoring ahead of us on the ICW so plenty of wiggly amps for the batteries there. The problem will be the crossing back to the UK in June as I really do not want to be running the main engine for battery charging and so I will purchase a small portable petrol generator which will provide battery charging for that trip and then sort out a wind generator and solar panels for the future.

            Mike and Kate have parked up for a couple of weeks in Los Olas at great expense I must add, (sorry Kate I know you wanted to break that to Mike gently) and gone ashore over on the West coast for a family birthday get together for Kate who is 21 again. We plan to meet up with them in St Augustine in a few weeks time from where Mike will be heading back across to the UK in Right Turn while Kate proves the theory that nothing goes to windward as well as a 747 jumbo jet. So we said a fond farewell to them both at the marina and collected 1½ packets of cheese for storage in our fridge while they are away, we are a strange lot doing this cruising lark you know.

            We have now completed two days on the ICW, last night we dropped anchor in Roco Baton Lake amongst a hundred speed boats, swimmers and girls woo wooing at the tops of their voices, it was absolute carnage. Two hours later at the first hint of night descending there was a mass exodus which left a grand total of five yachts and one motor cruiser on the lake. This morning after a chat with the neighbours we found out which direction the shops were in and went ashore in the dinghy to find a Target shop to complain about Norma’s new America phone which worked for exactly six hours. With no idea on how to find the shop Norma asked in a travel agents that we were passing, the girl looked it up on the internet and then called us a cab, brilliant, but it gets better. The cab took us to the store which was about 10 miles away and we explained the problem, no hassles the shop assistant said he would contact the provider and get it sorted while we went and had breakfast, all good so far. After breakfast, while I took advantage of the free WiFi Norma went outside to feed her smoking habit and as is Norma’s want got into a conversation with a lady called Cindy. Cindy was having a day away from the family shopping and was fascinated by our adventures and so long story short she happily offered to drive us back to the dinghy dock. She even waited while we picked up our repaired and working phone and then we drove off in air conditioned luxury. Cindy had only recently moved to Florida from California with her husband and as we entered the freeway she admitted to having absolutely no idea where the dinghy dock was but with a smile assured us that we would be able to find it. And we did albeit in a rather circuitous way but what a star, if all Americans are half as nice as Cindy this will be a great trip. We gave her our Spectra card and she said she would look up the blog and so if you do Cindy thanks a million.

On the subject of the blog I had an email from Yachting Monthly asking if they could link it to their website as it was in their words, “a very good read” so I was pretty chuffed about that. I have also been contacted by Sailing Today who have asked me to contribute articles for their despatches column so doubly chuffed about that too. The first article has been written and accepted and so will go to print in the next edition, I have asked them to mail a copy of the magazine to the RTYC so any members out there who are still reading this can have a read when it turns up.

That’s it for now, we have motored another 15 miles this afternoon and requested seven bridge openings which only leaves a cool beer to drink in the water front bar that is literally 50 meters from where we are anchored by the Lantana Bridge and my day will be complete.

One of the many bridges that open on request along the ICW

Gemma, Duncan, Lily and the bump flew into America yesterday and after they have visited Mickey Mouse and friends we will be meeting up with them in Riviera beach Marina the day after tomorrow so happy days…

PS: we are still looking for some extra crew to come back across the Atlantic at the beginning of June.

Three legs of about 2 weeks each,  each leg should take 7 to 10 days so allow 2 weeks to include changeovers and shore time. The legs are:

Norfolk Virginia to Bermuda,

Bermuda to the Azores,

Azores to Cork

….anyone interested in all or part? Please drop us a line.

Spectra {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com

No attachment or pics please as this is a very low bandwidth satellite link and costs a small fortune per minute for downloads and they block up my weather reports.

If you want to send normal email pics attachment etc.

Paul {DOT} russell732 {CHANGE TO AT} hotmail {DOT} co {DOT} uk and I will pick it up when I am on WiFi