The Crossing

It is only 50 miles from Florida to Bimini but the crossing is one of the most treacherous with the Gulf Stream current of 4 knots to the north and with all the freighter and cruise ship activity.  We pick our weather window carefully and cross with east southeast winds and seas 2-4 feet.  We watch continuously for big boat traffic. 

Leaving Key Biscayne - Bill Baggs State Park Lighthouse

Leaving at 4:30 pm planning for a 12-14 hour crossing, we arrive safely at Gun Cay to anchor on the west side.  We average 4 knots and log 48 nautical miles in 12 hours.  But we actually sailed 5-6 knots the whole crossing as we were going against the current.  We sailed 135 degrees most of the way and tracked 101 degrees straight to our destination! The current is ferocious.

Arriving in Bimini 

It’s great to be out on the open ocean as we sail with both sails, the jib and the main.  The waves build and the sun sets.  We have a half moon that lights our way. There are some dark clouds that affect our wind, but we see Orion clearly and the Big Dipper emerges. Cassiopeia is clear and we see the Seven Sisters.  It is not clear to the horizon, but lovely just the same. 

We immediately see 3 brightly lit cruise ships out of Miami. It is Saturday and one of the most frequent departure dates for cruise ships.  One of the ships is converging with us!  As it nears, Gordon identifies it as Disney Magic on his Automatic Information System (AIS) linked to his chartplotter.  Daryl calls the boat on VHF Channel 16 and the boat immediately responds to his call.  Daryl identifies our boat and asks if we are on their radar.  Disney navigator requests our position and Daryl responds with latitude and longitude. Disney navigator finds us on its systems and acknowledges our position, and advises it will clear us no problem.  Very cool.  We do the same thing with composite tug and barge, Galveston, and freighter, Pacuna J.  The Galveston actually thanked us and diverged from its path and gave us way. We must get an AIS system linked to our chartplotter!!

It was fun sailing with Fair Winds side by side.  Its profile in the setting sun and then the bright moon was beautiful to behold.  I was surprised at the amount of rocking and rolling it did in the 4-5 foot seas because it’s such a big boat. I guess we are all small out here.  We encountered one problem at sea.  Fair Winds battery voltage got so low some of its systems started to drop off.  Refrigeration and radar are 2 of the first systems. They went dark on navigation lights and moved up close to us for protection so other boats would see us. 

Before we knew it we were on the shores of Bimini and near the lighthouse at Gun Cay.  Time to rest and be grateful for another safe crossing.  

    

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)

Five days and 200 miles on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) take us from Titusville to Key Biscayne, where we plan to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini.

Sailing Bliss

Fair Winds Sailing Partners

The ICW is a famous journey and destination for many sailors.  It changes from wide open water with small towns to a narrow channel with ultra-urban cities with lots of bridges.  The water changes from tannic brown to sea green.  As you go south you see incredible wealth, huge mansions and even huger yachts.  The guide book speaks of conspicuous consumption and you can see it left and right!  One mansion has a golden replica of Winged Victory in its front yard. The gardens, pools, lawn furniture, statues of amazing creativity – one has life sized giraffe statues, others have nautical themes, each one seems to outdo the previous.  Most have super yachts along their seawall. It is a different world! Still, all along are pristine wetlands that are environmentally protected public lands preserved for current and future generations to enjoy nature as it was. 

Huge mansions and huger yachts

Miami under one of many bridges

One of many Miami skylines

Miami - Emerald City of the ICW

Ultra Urban Residences

Pristine areas all along the ICW

Golden Winged Victory

We sailed a lot the first 3 days with an east northeast wind of 15-20 knots, sailing 5-6 knots. We actually had to reef the jib and did not need to use the main sail. This is what sailing in season is like! There are many boats going south and few (almost none) going north, much like I-95 with cars this time of year. Lots of big yachts and trawlers. Lots of sailboats.  We mostly motored the last 2 days because of 39 bridges! All fairly close, about 2-4 miles apart, and opening on a schedule that requires 6-7 knots which is faster than we typically go.  Fly Away hull speed is 6 knots! To go 7 knots lowers our stern and we take on water in the drains, not a lot and not bad, but not good either. 

Each bridge is unique – height, width, and design.  One bridge looks like a Disney castle and another bridge is ultra-modern like something in a futuristic James Bond movie.  Fly Away and Fair Winds travel well together for each bridge opening. One bridge is 55 feet and with tide level shows 54 foot clearance and Fair Winds is 55 feet above water so must wait for an opening while Fly Away at 47 feet tall can sail through.  That works because the next bridge is too far for us to reach if we wait, so Fair Winds motors faster and we meet up at the next bridge.  One other famous bridge is the Julia Tuttle, at 56 feet, Fair Winds must sail the side span not the center which has a lower clearance.  All ICW bridges that are fixed must be a minimum 65 feet but when the Tuttle was built the specs were transposed to 56! A serious uh-oh.

Fair Winds approaching Ocean Ave Bridge - Disney castles

Futuristic 17th Street Bridge

Fair Winds under side span of Julia Tuttle Bridge

We have good luck with anchorages along the way.  They are conveniently spaced and protected as we like to be anchored by 4:30 pm as sunset is 5:30 pm. Short days! We pulled off the ICW about ¼ mile just north of Sebastian Inlet, then anchored off Harbour Town Marina in Ft. Pierce (where we stayed coming in from Bimini in October).  The third night was huge protected anchorage at the north tip of Lake Worth and then we just pulled off ICW at Lake Lettuce in Boca Raton area.  (where Daryl’s phone popped out of his pocket and into the 12 foot water when we weighed anchor, ugh) Our last night of the ICW took us to Dinner Key a city marina where we planned to get a mooring ball, shower, do laundry, refill diesel and water, and go out to a restaurant to eat!  Unfortunately, it was so rough that Jean and Gordon couldn’t pick up the mooring and all the other boats were crashing and rocking.  So we checked with Coconut Grove Sailing Club where Jeff and Elise stayed for a few months on their cruise.  It’s well protected and has nice amenities, even a boat taxi service from your boat to shore and back. After not reaching them on phone or VHF radio, we motor to their dock to see if we can get a mooring.  Daryl rounds the last buoy marker to let me off at the dock, when, bamm! We go hard aground.  I take the boat hook and sure enough – it's shallow, feels like mud, not sand, not rock.  We rev the motor back and forth, fly a sail to heel over and then Gordie pulls us, but couldn’t get purchase, no luck.  Ugh, we continue to rock and pivot and about 20 minutes later success! Free!  So much for new bottom paint on the keel, but luckily, it is an all lead keel, and no permanent damage.   No Coconut Grove or Dinner Key for us, we motor 3 miles east to the safety and comfort of Key Biscayne.  It is a most pleasant anchorage. It is here that we discover that our 5’6” draft may not be able to navigate the approach to Angelfish Creek pass.  Angelfish Creek pass is the best position to cross to Bimini and maximize the Gulf Stream northerly current of 4 knots at the its apex.  So we decide to cross from Key Biscayne, and we reposition ourselves to the southern tip, at Bill Baggs State Park and No Name Harbor, and had a serendipitously nice day exploring by bike and hiked up the lighthouse, 42 stories.  

Bimini is approximately due east, so we won’t be sailing against the current, but we won’t be helped by it either.  Fair Winds is ok with the change as they can power across it better than we can.  We are monitoring the weather for a good window to cross and fortunately for us it seems to be favorable Friday to Sunday.  We plan to leave 4 pm Friday and arrive about 4-6 am Saturday morning. 

Looking forward to a safe crossing!

   

Back on Track

We leave Titusville Municipal Marina on Saturday, November 14, 2015, after three weeks of visiting the cats and house sitting for me and lots of completed projects for D.  We are headed south down the intracoastal waterway (ICW) to Angel Fish Creek, about 220 miles south, where we will catch the Gulf Stream and cross to Bimini and many other Bahama islands.  Our friends Gordon and Jean will be sailing on Fair Winds and joining us as we cross and enjoy the Bahamas.

I got to visit Cinnamon and Spice in Maine and house sit for friends Stu and Anne.  My cats are so lucky to get to stay in a Maine farmhouse with many rooms, levels, and windows; oh, the things that they see from those windows!  Stu and Anne are vacationing more often and longer in Florida easing into retirement from law and farming.  Their dog Casey and cat Sawks, along with my 2 cats, make it difficult for pet sitting for 2 weeks, so I offered and they accepted. The great thing about this trip was visiting with Anne and Stu before they left and having my good friend Laura come and enjoy the organic farm experience.  As always she was all in for the adventure as we took care of the cats and dogs, fed chickens, moved the chicken fence, picked broccoli and salad greens, walked the property and took a couple of day trips into Bucksport, Bangor, and Belfast.  Did I mention the lobster rolls? All in all, it was a mild and colorful fall trip.  Next I go back in December to do it again! 

D stayed and worked on the boat.  He got the bottom painted – sailed it to Cocoa, had it hauled, blocked, pressure washed, sanded, painted multiple coats, and sailed it back.  Then he found his old sail maker, South Sails, who made Ceilidh’s spinnaker, and had a new head sail made for Fly Away. Much needed and so beautiful.  He had it made with linen colored canvas cover.  He also did so many projects I will never be able to thank him enough – added lights to the cockpit, no more eating in the dark and guessing how much pepper you just sprinkled.  He replaced the fluorescent light over the refrigerator with a bright LED light, so much improved, you can even find the one thing in the very bottom of the fridge.  He built a new shelf for the v-berth making it more convenient and organized. He found a canvas maker to modify our main sail cover for winches. He polished the hull making Fly Away look years younger. 

We are back on track, and looking forward to the next leg of our open ended sail.