2 November 2018

Today turned out to be a fairly quiet but busy day.  The weather was very hot and quite humid which, having not adjusted to the Florida climate, we found quite wearing.  We were anticipating continuing on down the AICW (Atlantic Intra-Coastal Waterway) today or alternatively sailing onward to the Bahamas.  However, after a quick trip to Publix (the local supermarket) for a few snacks and drinks plus having a non-descript breakfast at a local café we were all pretty hot and bothered.  We also consulted the marine weather forecast which although not particularly bad did show a 10-15kt southerly wind with a 4 second interval for waves which would not have made for a pleasant sail. 

Haigri just after the brief squall

I also had a few final issues with downloading grib files via our Redbox and Iridium satellite phone.  This turned out to be an error on my part as I was using the wrong email platform and not mailasail’s program.  However, after some tremendous IT support from Mailasail – including them having to uninstall and reinstall the email programme on my computer – all is well and I now have Caribbean grib weather files.  Unfortunately, all this took longer than expected and as there are few marinas with full services within a reasonable motor of our current position we decided to stay put.

Haigri in her berth at Riviera Beach Marina

Our delayed stay actually turned out to be ok as during the afternoon the wind got up and a brief squall brought with it thunder, lightening and rain.  This was actually a blessing as cooled things down a little.

Peanut Island looking north to West Palm Beach

Tomorrow we will continue our journey and hope to make reasonable time through the 18 restricted bridges (open only at certain times) and 3 bascule bridges (open on demand) to Fort Lauderdale from where we will set off across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

Peanut Island and the AICW

(to the left is the Lake Worth inlet to the ocean)