26:46N 80:00W

 

It’s the frustrating story of every sailor’s life – waiting for weather windows.  Unnerved by the carnage in the Salty Dog rally we were anxious for a good window to cross the dreaded Gulf Stream so that meant sitting it out.  Autumn gales have been particularly ferocious this season and we had to wait for several days in St Augustine for reasonable wind to head down to West Palm Beach.  Having Anna on board meant an extra person for night watch and what a luxury that was.  We normally do six hour watches but this time is was a mere four – bliss!

 

We had fun in St Augustine with fellow cruisers Pete and Kourtney off Norna who we crossed the Atlantic with.  There was also a pirate weekend on with dozens of costumed pirate wannabes roaming the streets.  Conditions were pretty awful though with strong winds so every dinghy ride ashore was a wet one. 

 

West Palm Beach was disappointing despite its exotic sounding name.  The anchorage was miles from shore, the area ashore was off limits at night (described as very dangerous) and getting anywhere entailed a bus ride with an interesting array of passengers. In fact we’ve decided it’s only “losers and cruisers” who take public transport in the US.

 

Having a few days to fill in we visited the glitzy local malls for some last minute retail therapy (it could be a while) and celebrated David’s birthday on Bandit in fine style with French toast, bubbles, bacon and bananas.  We had a lovely meal out with fellow cruisers Pete and Carol off Jack Tar which was fun.  We also did the dreaded last provision.  Our next stop for fresh supplies will be Haiti – probably three weeks away – so the fridge and freezer are full.

 

Finally our weather guru Chris Parker, who we listen to every morning on SSB radio at 7am, gave the news we’d been waiting for.  The persistent north and easterly winds looked like easing tomorrow.  It looks like a Sunday departure for the Bandit crew.