We got up oh so early Thursday morning. Dave was awake at midnight, and I got to sleep in a whole two hours more... and then before I knew what was what, Dave was kissing my cheek and saying, Hey Hops, time to get up !

By three a.m. we had raised our anchor and were carefully navigating our way out of the Biscayne Channel... and listening to the ever-increasing chit-chatter on the radio as fellow cruisers were doing the same as us, always nice to know that there are fellow boats around, even if you can't see 'em!

We watched the well lit Miami skyline slowly disappear as we motor-sailed "away"



and as much as we were hoping the winds would shift to South, as forecasted, they never really did. The sails were giving us a bit of a push, but were up mostly up to provide stability and prevent us from flip-flopping from side-to-side. And since engine was on, we decided to make some water and get the tanks filled en route...

The winds were mostly 10-15 knots (E-SE) and we travelled along between 5 and almost 7 knots. Nice !

The starry lit sky (and the light pollution from Miami) made for nice "night-time condition" departure, and sunrise was a few hours later, spectacular even though it was a bit of a cloudy morning. By then we saw no land around us, anywhere.



We crossed the Gulf Stream (water temperatures went up to 29.5 C) and had over 30 degrees difference in the compass reading. The depth-meter didn't even register anymore and the charts showed well over 2000 !

Here's our S-curve track as seen from the Garmin Blue Chart app



The idea is to first head South of your rhumb line, then turn slightly North to take advantage of the Gulf Stream Current that runs about 2.5 plus knots (or more) and then as you exit the Gulf Stream, you start correcting back to your rhumb line.



Dave saw scores of flying fish, and I, not a one. And then by 9:30 or so, we both cried out, LAND-HO !! Off in the distance we could see such mesmerizingly beautiful turquoise blue waters...

The last hour or two of our journey, we noticed the skies starting to darken, the swell starting to pick up a tad... we were glad that we had left early in order to beat the forecasted system which was scheduled to hit that afternoon.

We radioed the South Bimini Sands Marina once we were a few minutes away, to confirm, once again, that we could enter the very narrow channel (with rocky ledges) with our 6'4" draft boat, and they said, c'mon in mon, no worries. Easy for them to say, eh ?

So we turned into the wind, brought our sails in, got our lines ready, dropped our fenders, raised the yellow Q flag, and then I saw them, a whole school (probably a University) of flying fish. WOW !! And then, still with a smile, I promptly gritted my teeth, Dave clenched the wheel, and we pointed ourselves into the channel, que sera sera !

And obviously since I'm writing this and you're reading this, it means we made it through with more than enough inches to spare on both sides of the rocky ledges and below (we could see the sandy bottom)! The only damage done was that we lost our brand new Q flag that we had raised only moments before. But hey, if that's all the damage done, then we're totally cool with that !

Once inside, the dockhand was waiting for us on the slip, helped us with our lines, handed us our customs papers and said, when you're ready mon, come to the office.

So Dave filled out the pages of paperwork, took the cash, grabbed the $5.00 cab that they had called for him, and WOULD YOU BELIEVE, 20 minutes later (ok, maybe 25?), he was back. I barely had time to make a sandwich and eat it.

This is the picture taken of the channel, from the inside.



This marina is so well protected (sort of like River Dunes), and sheltered (which, given the predicted Northern Winds) is exactly where we wanted to tuck away for a few days while the blow, blows-over, HA !

We were so glad to see Serendipity come in shortly after us. And then were able to say hi to Chances as well, whom we haven't seen since, oh, forever.

We walked to the beach which is only minutes away, the skies getting cloudier and darker, and the surf was already building so there was no swimming to be had. On our way back we sat at the pool for a bit, met some other fellow cruisers that we'd "heard" and seen before, but now could put a face to a name. Happy Hour was on, but so were the no-see-ums, and given our early morning start, we left everyone on the early side, and were asleep by NLT 7:30 !



I've been nervous and anxious (and kinda scared) for this crossing since oh, forever. I kept telling myself that hey, if our meandering journey from Halifax Harbors to Key Biscayne, put well over 2500 nm on our hull, then we (*I*) could certainly handle a 50 nm crossing.

So this has been a huge milestone for me, and one that has had me grinning from ear to ear, non-stop, since we got here.

What an AMAZING day !

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