Stats for April 21, 2019

Origin: Little Sale Cay

Destination: Fort Pierce Anchorage

Distance: 140 miles

Speed: 9.2mph

Time on the Move: 15 hours and 19 minutes

Mike and I woke up at 4 am to attempt our trip back to Florida. After moving to Little Sale Cay the evening before, we had no cell signal so we weren’t able to see updated weather or wave predictions. There was no way we were heading across the Gulf Stream without updated predictions, so we planned to head towards Grand Cay, which is northwest of Little Sale (and only slightly out of the way), until we got signal and could update our apps.

We hoped to have a signal and make a decision about our plan by 7 am. At that point, we would either continue west and cross back to Florida, or head to either Grand Cay or West End as a waiting spot if the predictions had changed and the weather looked worse. Sure enough, it only took 5 minutes of scanning our trusted weather apps to see that the forecast hadn’t changed, so we might as well head for Florida. In all honesty, the weather didn’t look PERFECT, but it looked DOABLE and we were ready to accept doable. The sun was rising as we sent messages to our moms and buddy boats, letting them know the details of our crossing.

This was our planned route. We were headed due west across the shallow banks (blue on the map below) and then we would get a push north from the Gulf Stream through the deep deep water (the white below) to arrive at the Fort Pierce inlet. We thought we’d we able to anchor just before sunset.

This was the wave prediction for our crossing in the gulf stream. We were expecting 2 foot waves, with a fairly short period so they would be a bit choppy, coming out of the north. The winds were expected to be out of the north at around 10 mph. The rule for crossing is never cross in winds from the north over 10. You can see we cut it a bit close on that one. That might have come back to bite us later.

Our day started with choppy 1-2 foot waves on the bow and that continued the whole way across the banks. I was thankful these waves weren’t on the beam, rocking us side to side, as the bow is the area I’d prefer to take waves. We saw only about 5 boats along the banks. It felt like we were the only people out there in a whole lot of water.

We played games to help pass the time and keep our minds distracted from the bouncing. The waves on the bow weren’t uncomfortable, just lots of little bumps. And a 15 hour day is a LOOOONG day…

We knew we could change course and head to West End if the waves got worse before we got off the banks. We could see some waves on the horizon, but they didn’t seem to be any worse than the ones we were bouncing through already. I was nervous the waves would increase as we went on and they didn’t right away, but they did add in a 2 foot swell coming from the north, so it rocked us on the beam in addition to the bouncing waves.

After we crossed into the deeper water, we started dodging tankers and cargo freighters. Also, the waves on the bow and on the beam seemed to pick up a bit. When we hit an intersection where both directions peaked, we took a pretty good dip down into the troughs. We started rolling a bit more in the confused seas. It felt like we still had FOREVER to go, but I was actually able to read a bit without feeling sick, so that helped pass some time.

We needed a distraction, so we started making a list of things we were looking forward to when we got back to Florida. It was interesting to see that most of what we were excited for was food. Where some of these ideas came from, I have no idea.

Tobin started to feel sick, maybe, or just sleepy, so he cuddled up. I was just wishing away minutes, wishing the rocking would stop, and wondering how much you can actually rock on a boat before you tip over. I don’t think we were anywhere near that close, but it was definitely a test of the comfort level. We still had 40-50 miles left at this point and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t just 10. I wished I could sleep like Tobin. I hadn’t slept well the 2 previous nights due to the storms that came through in Angelfish Point and the wind and waves and desolation at Little Sale Cay. I just couldn’t wait to drop the anchor and be “home” (home–as I have referred to Florida for weeks now, though it is actually far from our real home. This can be confusing to children, I’ve learned. )

There was a point here where the rocking was so intense that I made everyone sit down. The kids played with Froogz (suction cup building toys) on the sundeck table and that kept them occupied. Or maybe they were more occupied crawling around on the floor chasing the rogue Froogz that went rolling with the seas. I felt like I would go crazy if the rocking didn’t stop. Mike did some tacking back and forth to lessen the rocking, but he knew he didn’t want to delay our arrival much later because it would be completely dark.

FINALLY we started to see land, started to get intermittent cell signals, and started to feel like we would actually get there someday. Then, all of a sudden, just as we crossed the territorial sea line (the imaginary line that means we’re back in the US), the rocking stopped. The rocking STOPPED!! I made pizza for dinner and Mike started the process of checking back in with immigration using an app on our phones. We had a quick Facetime interview with an officer and we were officially back in the USA. The water was calm and amazing and all the rocking was (almost) forgotten.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we neared land, and luckily we got in the inlet with no problems and headed for an anchorage nearby. We even had friends, Livin the Dream, at the nearby marina tell us we could come tie up by them, but we were too cheap to pay for a marina so close to bedtime. The anchor dropped just as it was getting dark dark out (what I affectionately call it when it’s so dark you can’t really see) and we were set for the night. WHEW!! Thank GOODNESS that day was over!!

That night, I was instantly aware of so many lights around us at the condos and nearby buildings, a train whistle off in the distance, a motorcycle accelerating on the bridge, the muddy brown water, and other drastic differences from the Bahamas. It was stunning to me, and equally refreshing and disappointing. We will never be able to recreate the amazing experiences we had in the Bahamas, and while we were eventually anxious to get back to the US, this was the definitive end to the amazing adventures we had there. It was bittersweet.

The next morning the kids wrote about our crossing. I think they did a great job capturing the trip. I should have had Tobin dictate his rendition to me, but he was excited to do math and I was busy helping Mike get tied up in a marina, so that one got away from me.

We have so many more adventures ahead, but a new chapter is definitely beginning here. Thank you for reading and following along!!