Cat Cay, Bahamas to Fort Pierce, Florida

On the morning of June 21, our weather guru gave us the thumbs up for good weather to cross the Gulf Stream to Florida.  At 0715, we pulled up our anchor and followed Manatee through Cat Cay Cut into the Florida Straits – a bit bouncy, but benign.  So long, Bahamas!

Bouncing through Cat Cay Cut

We watched Manatee hoist her sails and followed suit, but our main sail did not go up smoothly.  First, the stack pack zipper line fouled itself on a batten, then for some reason the second reef line was too taut preventing the sail from fully raising.  It was tricky because even though we pulled in the sheet, the boom was snapping several feet back and forth as Dave steered upwind through the bouncy seas.  I asked him to go to starboard just enough to keep the boom to that side but not so much as to pull the sail so taut that I could not fiddle with the reef line.  After about 15 minutes, I finally figured out that there was a kink in the reef line at the shuttle inside the boom preventing the line from fully releasing.  It was a little scary sticking my hand up in the aft end of the boom knowing that it could snap to port, but Dave did an excellent job of keeping the boat and boom steady in the rolly sea while I freed the reef line.  Sail hoisted and off we went.  We radioed Manatee, who’d been anxiously watching and knew we had a sail problem, to tell them that all was well.  We then exchanged our farewells over the VHF and waved to them as they sailed westward to Miami and we, northwest to Fort Pierce. 

Manatee, à tout à l'heure.  Fair winds!

We first met Rod and Evelyne in George Town, over a year ago, visited them briefly in Salinas, Puerto Rico two months later, then kept in touch during the year by email as we both traveled south with Manatee a few islands ahead of Wayward Wind.  Evelyne always said that we would one day sail together.  Last June, they put their boat on the hard in Grenada and flew home for the summer just before we arrived.  They returned to Grenada at the beginning of November to prepare and launch their boat as we left Grenada, so again, we just missed seeing each other.  We kept in touch and they caught up with us in Boqueron, Puerto Rico.  Finally we were able to sail together for the past month covering a lot of territory – Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas.  They were a great buddy boat and gave us both moral and physical support.  We had a lot of fun together and we wish them a good, lightening-free journey around the south tip of Florida to their home in Tierra Verde near St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Yikes! We were on our own and hadn't exactly gotten off to a smooth start with the fowled reef line and my nerves a bit raw. Dave went below to rest and I was at the helm. I had a glitch with the handheld GPS and the chartplotter whose data did not agree when it came to speed. It worried me because one said we were traveling at 6.5 and the other at 4.5, which is a huge difference especially when it comes to arrival time. We did not want to be entering the Fort Pierce inlet before sunrise. No, no, no! I finally realized that I'd removed one unnecessary waypoint from the chartplotter but had neglected to remove the same waypoint from the handheld GPS. The GPS was averaging the speed to this waypoint which, at that time, was way off to port, thus the difference is speed readouts. Adding to this was the fact that it did not feel that we were traveling at 6.5 knots because the sail was luffing a bit and clunking with the easterly roll. How could this be?!? Ah, ha! We were already in the Gulf Stream which was adding about 4 knots to our speed even though through the water our speed was only about 2 knots! Wow! Certainly a new experience for me. When we'd traveled south last year, we left from Charleston and motored at an angle against the Gulf Stream to the Abacos, so it was not as noticeable, at least to me, who was green at the time.

Once we got this straightened out, we relaxed though still we did not want to arrive too early.  Even so, it was not easy to resist seeing what ol’ Wayward Wind could do.  At one point, for about five minutes, we were easily cruising in the low nines with the winds only blowing at twelve.  Pretty amazing that only twelve knots of wind could move such a large boat so quickly through the water with the help of the Gulf Stream, of course.

 

Proof that Wayward Wind was doing 9+ knots!

Through the night – the shortest night of the year – we had a lovely sail in the nearly full moon with two reefs in at 7.4 knots.  After leaving the Gulf Stream, we slowed down and arrived at Fort Pierce at 1100.  We were exhausted (but happy!) so took a slip at Harbor Town Marina because we did not want to hassle with putting the dinghy down to get to the airport to clear customs.  We called customs, got our arrival number, then took a $12 taxi ride to the airport and spent only five minutes to clear in.  Easy!  We then took a taxi to the local Publix supermarket where we replenished our vegie and fruit supplies.  The organic fresh strawberries were fantastic!  Also Dave and I shared a rare roast beef submarine sandwich on whole wheat with nearly everything on it and ice cold lemonade.  YUM!  We walked back to the boat in the heavy, hot humidity then went for a swim in the pool to cool down.  For supper, I had a bowl of Grape Nuts for the first time in a year and a half.  I was so happy that we'd made it back to the States by June 22 so that I could call son TJ to wish him a happy birthday - 35 years old!  It was great to talk with TJ and Mom.  I then went to sleep at 4:00 and did not arise until 7:00 the next morning.   We woke up the next morning refreshed and relieved that we'd made it to back to the U.S.   BTW, our phone number is 707 321-6137, so give us a call, when you can.

A bit later while down in the salon, I looked out the window and saw the side of a big motor boat passing quite closely to us.  I went above to see if I needed to fend off, but as the current here is very strong and it turned out to be a big boat, there wasn’t much I could do.  I was so impressed with how the captain slid that boat right into the slip without a problem.  Later on, as we walked by, I complimented the captain, “Nice parking job!”  We chatted a bit with Captain Jim and First Mate Peter, who were both obviously highly skilled.  A few minutes into the conversation, Captain Jim admitted that he didn’t really mean to come so close to WW, but the current is “wicked,” as 21-year-old Peter says, and it was pushing him quickly.  Anyway, I’m not such a big fan of motor boats, but Absolutli Rutli is a beauty.  It is only 30 years old but looks like a classic.  And Jim and Peter keep her in excellent shape.  Turns out she is owned by Thomas J. Herzfeld, known as the leading expert in closed-end funds (whatever those are).  Jim and Peter say that he is a down-to-earth guy.  They find it a pleasure to work for him and take great pride in the boat which Mr. Herzfeld recognizes and appreciates.  The next morning, I watched as Captain Jim and FM Peter skillfully maneuvered Absolutli Rutli out of her slip against the strong current, turned her around stern first and motored away bound for Titusville to meet up with the owner and his family.  It was fun to get a glimpse of the motor boat world.

 

Peter holds in  the bow while Jim moves the stern out using a lot of throttle!

 

 

 

 



Captain Jim in action.  Love the hat!

Enthusiastic First Mate Peter shouts, "This current is wicked!"

What a classic beauty.  So long, Absolutli Rutli.

Across from us was a beautiful Amel sporting a Norwegian flag.  Curiously it was named, Clitorius.  We later met Clitorius' owners, Ingrid and Svain (sp?), at the marina restaurant.  Ingrid is bubbly and Svain is a pony-tailed, cigar-smoking, straw hatted, bead-wearing friendly guy with an endearing chuckle.  They are in their fifties and were able to take a year off to travel with their two children, 16 and 20, along with another friend, Tore.  That's five people on 51 feet of boat! They said the only difficult part was passing along the North Sea with a forecast of 35 knots that turned out to be 60 knots.  That’s a lot of wind!!  Ingrid said she thought she was going to die, and she wasn’t sad for herself because she had lived her life but she was sad for her children because they were so young, and she was MAD at her husband.  Plus she and the kids were dreadfully seasick.  But she said she trusted Svain at the helm and learned that the boat could handle it, so now she, herself, feels that she could handle almost anything and says, “Bring it on!”  They sailed to Bermuda, then through the Caribbean and now are on their way back to Norway.  We also met Kevin, an nice American guy who is on a Gozzard 36 (just like Manatee). 

We thought that perhaps “clitorius” meant something “different” in Norwegian.  Nope.  It’s the same thing.  Svain said that when they traveled to the English-speaking islands, a customs agent handling the paperwork would suddenly smile, enthusiastically say, “I like the name of your boat!”  And stamp, stamp, stamp, “You’re approved!”  This happened more than once.  So now we know – if you want to clear customs quickly, name your boat after certain female anatomical parts.  Hmm…wonder if the same holds for male anatomical parts…Testaclese...Nah.


Linda, Svain (the Norwegian young Sean Connery) Ingrid, Kevin, Dave