So of we went.... Lifting anchor at about 7am or earlier and running non stop until about three or so - just enough time to get settled into a new anchorage and to enjoy a couple of hours of sun, before eating and hitting the hay ready for another early start. By this time, the weather was starting to get decidedly cooler. Some nights were just a couple of degrees above freezing, but the days were warmer... if the sun came out - which it didn't manage to do for the first week or so.
Travelling the ICW in a hurry, in the winter, really is a two sided experience. Motoring in a very narrow channel makes it almost impossible to use the autopilot and necessitates a nodding dog action, 'up' to see where you are going, 'down' to look at the depth sounder. Couple this with looking at the ubiquitous 'Skipper Bob' pilot book listing all the anchorages, hazards and bridge opening times - did I forget to mention, there are 85 bridges over the ICW's 1100 mile length? Oh and then theres the tugs and barges....
The other side to this is the scenery and anchorages en route. Some of the places we stopped for the night need to be seen to be believed. Not a person for miles around. No roads, no mobile phone signals and a couple of dolphins swimming around your boat at sunrise - idilic just doesn't do it justice.
Some of the ICW is just full of shallow spots or has such a torturous route (if you are in a hurry) that on occasions it makes sense to do a short twenty four hour ocean passage to make up some distance - weather permitting that is. We managed a couple of these, from Beaufort in North Carolina to Charleston in South Carolina and from Charleston to Fernandina on the boarder of Florida and Georgia. You can probably guess by now that Georgia has most of the bendy shallow bits!
Pretty much since Norfolk, we had been in full wet weather clothing, hats, gloves and fleeces - it had become chillier and chillier and although we had made some excellent distance, time was rolling on. It was a huge relief therefore when on arriving in Florida, the sun came out. Its bizarre to experience it, but one day it was frosty in the morning and the next afternoon, we were in shorts and t-shirts. I think its something to do with Florida not being subject to the same weather patterns as the rest of the continental US, but it was a welcome shock nonetheless.
With only another couple of hundred miles to go, it was time to start looking at potential weather for crossing to the Bahamas. Unfortunately it all looked terrible, not just for the next few days, but for weeks afterwards. It was now the end of the first week in December and things were getting perilously close to my 'eviction' from the US. As a plan, we decided to head as far south as we could, in order to make the passage to the Bahamas easier. The trip includes a crossing of the gulf stream (like on our trip from Bermuda if you want to know more about it!) and as such the weather has to be good in order to make a safe passage. So with that in mind, we set off from Fort Pierce, Florida with the thought of ending up in Miami a couple of days later - if the weather played ball. Some nasty weather was forecast for two days time, but i thought we should just scrape in if we were lucky.
Well what was meant to be a nice easy passage along the coast turned a little bit sour, when the forecast winds of 10 to 20 knots quickly became 25 to 30. Many boats decided to stay on the inside and continue down the coast on the the ICW. It would take them longer, but they would be sure of a weather window for the crossing before Christmas..... probably.
We stuck with it. It was uncomfortable, but not desperately so and we were making progress, albeit slow when suddenly, the autopilot decided to put the rudder hard to port and stuck it there, refusing to budge, even with the power off. Being only three miles from shore as we were and being blown towards it at a couple of miles per hour, this had the makings of a pretty serious situation. Spanners and screwdrivers flew about and thank God, we had the thing apart and regained control a short while later. We thought at that point that maybe we should return to Fort Pierce and take stock, but we decided to push on and hand steer (the wind vane autopilot wasnt rigged at the time) and see what the weather gave us.
Not a bad decision as it turned out. Later that afternoon, the winds dropped to about 6 knots - very light and a sudden thought occurred to us - how far was Miami? How far were the Bahamas? How do we clear out of the US whilst at sea? With those questions answered and a quick radio call to our incredulous fellow travellers on the ICW to tell them that we wouldnt be seeing them in the anchorage that evening, we turned left and set a course for Grand Bahama, from where I'm writing this now, having been holed up in a marina to shelter from the nasty weather that was forecast (it was nasty and some)
So, a rather hasty and unplanned exit from the US and we were both somewhat disappointed to leave - I'll tell you why in my next post, but to arrive in the Bahamas, ahead of a storm and before I was due to get kicked out of the US was a bonus that neither of us expected and to be honest, we are very glad to be here!
Since we crossed, there hasnt been a suitable window for other boats to join us and by the looks of it there wont be for at least another week, if then. Rather too close for comfort.
So here is where we will spend Christmas this year. Away from families and friends, but we will be thinking of you all as we constantly do, so have a good one, all of you. And if anyone finds a cheap flight or owns their own jet, then you more than welcome to join us. We wont be sailing far as the weather looks somewhat windy, but there is plenty to keep you going whatever!
I'll do another post shortly with some thoughts on America and its people - not what I expected at all, but for now, I'll concentrate on putting up some photos... enjoy!
As they say in the Spanish Caribbean... Hasta Bananas
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